On Oct 9, 3:20 pm, "Mac User #330250" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I would be interested in how you guys see this.
>
> When I see the CPU speeds of recent POWER chips (not PowerPC, but the G5
> derived from the POWER4+) it is very hard for me to believe, that the PowerPC
> developement wasn't able to compete with Intels /all-so-fast/ x86 chips.
>
> http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/hardware/index.html
> The POWER6 reaches speeds of 5 GHz in a server. Search for that on an Intel
> Itanium!
>
> Also, the last Power Mac G5 was able to address 16 GB of DDR2 memory with ECC.
> I cannot see the Intel version of it - the Mac Pro - be any step further than
> that.
>
> The cores are now up to 8 on the Mac Pro. With a POWER you could make it 32 if
> you liked, but that's not the point.
>
> Since the PowerPC 2nd generation MPC620 64-bits are possible. That was way too
> early, but where is Apples 64-bit operating system? When OS X 10.2 Jaguar was
> brand new the G5 came out - and was fully able to handle 64-bit. 10.3 Panther
> could have gone in that direction, but was still all 32-bit. 10.4 Tiger was
> starting with being able to run 64-bit console applications, and since 10.5
> Leopard also GUI applications can be 64-bit. The kernel and drivers where
> still 32-bits.
>
> Now with 10.6 Snow Leopard - and PowerPC support gone for good - there is
> finally a 64-bit version available; including kernel and everything else.
> Nice, but for most Intel-Mac users it will still be 32-bits as for backward
> compatibility Apple chose to not install it on the desktop side. Only the
> servers get the full 64-bits.
>
> So, I took the freedom to take a look at what I have:
> Power Mac G5 Late 2005 @ 2.0 GHz:
> * a G5 970MP dual-core processor, devived from the POWER4+
> * supports all 64-bit with 16 GB memory; native 32-bit support
> * an OS, that is 32-bits, but can at least run 64-bit applications: Leopard
> * not really any 64-bit applications (as they will be/are mostly Intel-only)
>
> Conclusion: my G5 is faster as a G4 was (I have 2x2 GHz), but not that much:
> my sister now has a G4 2x1.42 Ghz, and the speed difference just isn't so
> noticable.
>
> There is only one advantage of the G5 over the G4: it can be expanded with
> more memory (G4: 2 GB; G5: 8 GB or even 16 GB), and the CPU speed is generally
> faster (G4: up to 1.42 GHz without upgrades; G5: up to 2.7 GHz).
>
> Due to the lack of an advanced operating system on the PowerPC side a maxed
> out G4 is as good as a G5 generally is, excluding the memory expandability.
>
> If only Snow Leopard would have been compiled for the PowerPC platform as
> well... It could have been true 64-bit for those interessted in it.
>
> Just some thoughts...
> Cheers,
> Andreas
Some very interesting thoughts indeed. I'd argue in favor of the
PowerPC architecture.
* For one, it gave Macintosh computers a uniqueness on the side of the
gaming consoles. One of the last G5s -
the quad-core G5's CPU was based on the Xbox's and/or PS3's CPU. - Not
too shabby. The PS3 continues to be an amazing super computer gaming
system, even though they locked it with the release of the PS3 slim to
not be able to install Linux. Odd move considering the ability of the
earlier models actually increased sales for this feature. I'm
currently unsure if the PS3 slim is able to be anything but an
entertainment center. (someone correct me if I'm mistaken)
* Second, the PowerPC architecture doesn't appear to be totally
leaving the scene for Linux users and possibly other OS's. There's the
PowerStation http://www.fixstars.com/en/products/powerstation/ which
comes with YDL
OS. There's also other options of installing Linux on other PowerPC
gaming systems in various configurations.
In short, PowerPC lives on.
* Third, Apple was planning on moving to Intel's architecture. Steve
Job's stated, and I paraphrase "Apple had Mac OS X installed and
running on Intel machines from the very beginning of Mac OS X, just in
case". Um, yeah I understand Mr. Jobs. A little more info please?
Never mind, I can read very well between the lines, thank you.
* Fourth, Where the heck did the darn quality control go shortly
before and after the announcement of the switch to Intel? Um, bad caps
anyone? This was a industry wide issue with bad Capacitors plaguing
boat loads of computers and electronics. http://badcaps.net/
Michael G.M.
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