IBM launches dual core PowerPC 970MP processor

IBM launches dual core PowerPC 970MP processor

Apple complained that IBM was not progressing fast enough to let them compete with the Personal Computer market. They have now decided to move onto Intel based processors for their Macintosh computers from the next year. However, IBM has a treat for them as they have just announced the launch of new dual core processors with speeds up to 2.5 GHz.

They presented these processors at the Power Everywhere Forum 2005 in Japan and these new processors are expected to be incorporated into the Apple Power Macs in the coming months. They call these new processors PowerPC 970MP and they come with two processing units per chip, each with their own execution core and Level 1 cache. IBM has also added a storage subsystem with 1MB Level 2 cache on each core. This let the processors to perform twice as fast as the current 970FX PowerPC G5 processors.

This new range of processors would be made available in range from 1.4 to 2.5GHz speeds and these processors are said to be under development in collaboration with Apple since last year. IBM also inaugurated a new family of low-power PowerPC 970FX chips running at speeds up to 1.6GHz with a 512K Level 2 cache. These processors are used by Apple to power their Apple Power Mac G5 and iMac G5 systems.