IBM preps 1GHz-plus PowerPC 750GX 'Gobi'

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Further details have emerged about IBM's next revision of its G3-class processor family, codenamed Gobi, but set to ship as the PowerPC 750GX. It will finally take the G3 family to 1GHz and beyond.

The chip is the successor to IBM's current top-end G3 CPU, the 750FX. That part, launched in October 2001, was due to ship in January 2002 and scale from 600MHz to 1GHz. The 1GHz version was expected to arrive late 2002.

Well, it's now May 2003, and there's still no sign of the 1GHz 750FX. According to industry sources, it's never going to get there. Instead, sources familiar with IBM's plans told us, it will offer a new processor, the 750GX.

View: The full story

News source: The Reg

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#1 DrunkenMaster on 09 May 2003 - 23:12

Scratching head.... Why are they putting a G3 past 1GHz anyways? Other than Macs, are they used for embedded devices? Motorola makes chips (non-G3(4) line ) for calculators, video game consoles.... are the G3's used for the same purpose too?

#2 malebolgia on 10 May 2003 - 01:30

I still can't wait to see how it compares to the PC processors.

#3 macrosslover on 10 May 2003 - 08:43

just let this chip DIE already. move on, everybody else has, why can't Apple/Ibm/Motorola. continuing the g3 is like intel still continuing the P3. spend all this development on a celeron type g4 chip that's cheap enough for them to put in their notebooks.

(1 reply) #4 amoeba on 11 May 2003 - 02:26

The reason why they're continuing with the G3 architecture is as DrunkenMaster said, they go in many embedded applications. A good example is the Nintendo 64 gaming system which employed the G3 architecture. I really doubt Apple is going to be using these all that much as they are trying to move into the OSX/G4 era as quickly as possible. In response to malebolgia, it doesn't compare to PC processors. Right now the fastest "number-crunching" systems are Athlon XP systems. One great thing about the G3 line is that it consumes little power and doesn't run very hot. Those two facts go back to my first part about the embedded-ness of the newer G3 processors.

#4.1 nfotxn on 12 May 2003 - 19:43

Actually it's the game cube that runs the PPC Gekko and custom ATI video that's closely integrated. The N64 runs a MIPS risc chip which is much older. I think it's important for people to understand that the PPC is not just a desktop and high performance architecture, it also runs a lot of embedded applications. Something intel would kill to have the x86 architecture do. Unfortunately it would seem that despite trying it's far too legacy to meet the lower power/high performance requirements of the job.

#5 Knight' on 11 May 2003 - 18:04

Forget the G3, lets get the 970!

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