IBM is working on a 1.8GHz PowerPC processor, its fastest to date,
that will run both 64-bit and 32-bit applications.
The PowerPC 970 processor, due out in the second half of 2003, will
dethrone the 1GHz PowerPC 750FX as IBM's fastest PowerPC chip, IBM
spokesman Rupert Deighton said
PowerPC processors are used in low-end IBM servers and in Apple
Computer systems. Special versions of the chips are also found
embedded in storage hardware, printers and specialised industrial
computers.
The PowerPC 970 sports a 900MHz bus and support for multiple
processors in one system. The bus in a computer links the processor
and the internal memory, while multiple processors working in
tandem boost a system's processing power.
IBM declined to say whether Apple will use the PowerPC 970, but
industry insiders said it is very likely that Apple will. Nobody at
Apple was immediately available for comment.
64-bit processors can handle twice as many bits of information in
the same clock cycle as the 32-bit processors common in desktop
computers today. Video and graphics editors, for example, could
benefit from the extra power. However, applications have to be
specifically designed to make use of the 64-bit architecture.
"64-bit works well for the multimedia, Internet kind of
applications that are now becoming the staple diet for PCs," said
Deighton.
Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are both readying 64-bit
processors for regular PCs. Intel and AMD's processors are based on
the x86 architecture as opposed to PowerPC's reduced instruction
set computing architecture. 64-bit processors are already used in
servers for memory or data-intensive applications such as
databases.
IBM will produce the PowerPC 970 in its new facility in East
Fishkill, New York, on 300 millimetre wafers using its 0.13 micron
(130 nanometer) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process. IBM says SOI
provides better transistor insulation and boosts performance while
limiting power consumption.
IBM will provide further details of the PowerPC 970 this week at
the Microprocessor Forum in San Jose, California.