Motorola Unveils Chattier Chip

[senne]

Zdnet.


I didn't know that the G5 already exists.....

The new chip is based on Motorola's PowerPC MPC8560--the latest version of its e500 processor, which is also known as the G5.

senne.

[azosx]

Originally posted by senne
Zdnet.


I didn't know that the G5 already exists.....





senne.

Yes, it does and has for some time now.

Unfortunately, as you can see if they released it now it would debut some where between 600-1000MHz, pathetic, and would likely cost 2-3x more than the G4 due to manufacturing costs.

Apple is sitting on it's hands waiting for Motorola to fix this "little problem" as x86 continues to smoke the G4 more and more each day.

Apple, here's a suggesting. Yes, we know x86 is out of the question. You are too stubborn and stupid to go this route. How about just releasing the G3 at some insane clock speeds, 1.5-1.7GHz to start, SMP of course, and kiss the G4 and AltiVec goodbye.

Nobody optimizes their apps for AltiVec. Ok, you're right, Adobe does, my bad. Apple was hell bent on creating this specilized processor much like the SPARC or MIPS. Highly optimized, low core clock speed and very expensive to produce. Unfortunately, the only people who did take advantage of this was Adobe with Photoshop. Everybody else writes to it like it has MHz to spare and that's why every windows port runs like crap and everything else is just feels a little slow and out of place.

I would just like to see Apple succeed this decade and sitting on their hands, waiting for some POS CPU isn't really a good start.

[senne]

Thanks for the information, you're a good man/woman








senne.

[theCaptain]

Lets not forget that OS X is optimized for Alit-Vec, so before you go off bitching about the G4's performance, remember that just that little engine alone creates a significant advantage in performance over the G3. Compare a 700mhz G4 eMac to a 700mhz G3 iMac or iBook, the performance difference is terrifiic. The G3 simply isnt powerful enough to power some of Apple's latest Apps like iDVD 2, DVD Studio Pro and im sure many more to come. The G4 is a hell of a processor, far superior to the G3, sure a G5 would be great but the G4 has a lot more life in it.

[sheepguy42]

I thought I read somewhere in Apple's site that the compilers in Jaguar for porting UNIX apps are AltiVec enhanced, so your code is already optimized for the G4. Just mentioning.... perhaps soon all apps will use AltiVec, and our superior processor will really prove itself. Then, just when people are starting to realize that the G4 really is better, they will be able to release the G5, which will really tip the scales for our platform of choice.... just speculating.

[LordOphidian]

It should be noted that this is the embeded G5, which is a PowerQUICC and not PowerPC processor.

Its not really a CPU as you would have in a computer. Its got the G5 core, with lots of other circuitry on the die to provide digital signal processing and the like.

The PowerPC G5 (the one that will go in the computers) is still on the way apparently. That is if Mot every gets off their ass and produces it.

[azosx]

Originally posted by theCaptain
Lets not forget that OS X is optimized for Alit-Vec, so before you go off bitching about the G4's performance, remember that just that little engine alone creates a significant advantage in performance over the G3. Compare a 700mhz G4 eMac to a 700mhz G3 iMac or iBook, the performance difference is terrifiic. The G3 simply isnt powerful enough to power some of Apple's latest Apps like iDVD 2, DVD Studio Pro and im sure many more to come. The G4 is a hell of a processor, far superior to the G3, sure a G5 would be great but the G4 has a lot more life in it.

The beautiful thing about the G3 is it's ready to ship at a much higher clock speed than the G4. Unfortunately, Apple won't let it. It's always holding the G3 behind the G4.

The GUI performance has a lot to do with the GPU, not CPU. You're comparing an eMac with a 32MB GeForce2 to an older iMac or iBook with an 8MB of VRAM or less. Of course the performance comparison is going to be a lot different. Bus speed and RAM should also be in consideration.

Apple wont produced a G3 machine with the same MHz and comparable hardware as a G4 and for good reason. The G3 would perform just as well in most situations. Yes, AltiVec is great but I'd rather have 700 more MHz from a lot less expensive CPU and power consumption than some instruction set that only Adobe optimizes for. For today's lazy programmers, MHz is all that matters.

OS X's AltiVec optimization does nothing for the applications you are running on it. IBM thinks AltiVec is a joke and for good reason, hardly anyone optimizes for it. 128-bit pipeline is great as well but it bottlenecks on Apple's inferior hardware.

Could you imagine how sweet a 1.5-1.7GHz iBook would be. Slap a 32MB Mobility Radeon 7500 in it with a 5400RPM HD and then tell me what the G4 is going to do about it? This would be possible today if Apple wasn't so stubborn.

[simX]

Originally posted by azosx
The GUI performance has a lot to do with the GPU, not CPU. You're comparing an eMac with a 32MB GeForce2 to an older iMac or iBook with an 8MB of VRAM or less. Of course the performance comparison is going to be a lot different. Bus speed and RAM should also be in consideration.

Actually, you're wrong here. While your argument about the G3s being ready for production at 1 GHz+ clock speeds is probably true, theCaptain is still right. With OS X 10.1, ALL of the GUI calculations are done WITH THE PROCESSOR. Quartz Extreme in Jaguar will take that load off the CPU and put it on the GPU.. but not before Jaguar. So right now, OS X runs much better on G4s because of the Altivec enhancement. And even when Quartz Extreme debuts, Altivec enhancement will still provide much needed speed boosts to OS X in all areas.