IBM z Processors Climb to 5.5 GHz
More GHz, please.
The core of IBM's venerable mainframe architecture, the z196 chip, is currently shipping as a 5.2 GHz quad-core processor. The next product generation will apparently climb to 5.5 GHz, according to a report published earlier this month by the Wall Street Journal.
There was no clock speed information on the next Power chip, currently called Power7+. Power7 runs at up to 4.14 GHz today and IBM says that the next generation will be 10 to 20 percent faster and it is more than likely that a slight upward adjustment of the clock speed will arrive as well.
IBM's zEnterprise servers have a starting configuration price point of about $75,000 for the z114 (up to 14 processors at 3.8 GHz) and scale into the hundreds of thousands of dollars for z196 systems with 24 processors/96 cores. A single 5.2 GHz quad-core z196 processor, called central processing complex (CPC) is rated at a power consumption of about 300 watts.
In comparison, a 4.14 GHz Power7 chip is rated at 190 watts thermal design power.
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Wolfgang Gruener is an experienced professional in digital strategy and content, specializing in web strategy, content architecture, user experience, and applying AI in content operations within the insurtech industry. His previous roles include Director, Digital Strategy and Content Experience at American Eagle, Managing Editor at TG Daily, and contributing to publications like Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware.
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back_by_demand Up to 20% more speed for only 50% more wattage, OMG!!!Reply
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Contribute to global warming much? I though performance per watt was supposed to go up not down -
nevertell Not X86, so don't really jump to conclusions about the performance. Nor can you natively run Crysis...Reply
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fudoka711 nevertellNot X86, so don't really jump to conclusions about the performance. Nor can you natively run Crysis...Reply
But we all wish it could run Crysis! =D -
mlopinto2k1 Wouldn't CUDA destroy the performance of these outdated racks? That is, if you replaced every tray with 4 high end streaming cards. Just sayin. Even the PS3 supercomputer the military made would probably rape this thing.Reply -
freggo back_by_demandUp to 20% more speed for only 50% more wattage, OMG!!!...Contribute to global warming much? I though performance per watt was supposed to go up not downReply
It's like in cars or pretty much any other machine... the higher in performance you get the more unproportional the required power goes.
Like making a car go from 0 to 40... any small engine can easily do that. Make it go from 160 to 200mph takes some major hardware upgrade :-)
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mlopinto2k1 IJustWantToPost43Why did Apple ever switch to x86 :shakes heads: It's blatantly obvious.Reply
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mlopinto2k1 freggoIt's like in cars or pretty much any other machine... the higher in performance you get the more unproportional the required power goes.Like making a car go from 0 to 40... any small engine can easily do that. Make it go from 160 to 200mph takes some major hardware upgrade :-)I understand this logic, but why even bother when there are alternatives? These companies need to combine their tech and making something truly inspiring and amazing. Kind of like when full color television hit the scene. People were blown away .Reply