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macintologist · 06:13 AM

It seems like it's been at 3.4Ghz for more than a year. Does anyone know when they will upgrade their processors? Maybe when Apple hits dual 3ghz we'll see who is the king of speed. Can anybody here who follows PC news tell us what's happening with Intel?

Gankdawg · Oct 2, 2004, 06:11 AM

What is a Penium?

macintologist · Oct 2, 2004, 06:14 AM

Originally posted by Gankdawg:
What is a Penium?

fixed

storer · Oct 2, 2004, 08:17 AM

The name; Pentium 5; is gay. Get a new name. G5 sounds better. or officially name it P5.

Peter · Oct 2, 2004, 08:37 AM

i thought they were going 64bit in the new year?

storer · Oct 2, 2004, 08:40 AM

i don't get this 64 bit thing. please explain.

The Godfather · Oct 2, 2004, 12:29 PM

64 bit CPUs allow you to handle more RAM without resorting to RAM paging hacks that make your computer harder to maintain, like what happened when PCs started to have more than 640kB of RAM (enhanced memory, extended memory and all that sillyness). But that was a limitation of Windows, not the CPU, I think.

32-bits -> 4 gigs of RAM without resorting to RAM paging hacks
64-bits -> 4 billion times more RAM

The G5 computers that Apple sells leaves 31 bits of the supported 64 "RAM addressing" bits to offer you support of 8 gigs of RAM !!!

Spliffdaddy · Oct 2, 2004, 12:53 PM

It'll do 4GHz - but Intel refuses to let me show 'em how.

In reality, Intel's problem is the immense heat generated by their CPUs. Same with the G5.

ManOfSteal · Oct 2, 2004, 01:02 PM

I think Apple should come out with a 3000MHz G5...it's all about "numbers", and 3000MHz looks more enticing than 3GHz...

mdc · Oct 2, 2004, 01:03 PM

overclocked to 6ghz

Spliffdaddy · Oct 2, 2004, 01:21 PM

Liquid nitrogen isn't exactly suitable for use outside of a laboratory environment. Besides, it would take a truckload of the stuff to maintain that 6GHz operation for more than a few hours.

4GHz can be accomplished - indefinitely - with phasechange cooling - something commonly found in refrigerators, airconditioners, etc.

Superchicken · Oct 2, 2004, 01:43 PM

Intel is focusing on the Centrino, and they're kinda... I dono what they're doing. Nobody is really demanding faster chips, I suppose people who bought 2.8s when they were the highest available are still sitting pretty.

Until longhorn comes out there's few reasons for consumers to have even faster comps. This is the sort of environment that is going to allow Apple to grow a lot, which is good. But yah since the intro of the G5 they have jumped all of 400Mhz, and we complained about the G4

Lancer409 · Oct 2, 2004, 03:00 PM

I like AMD better ...

CD Hanks · Oct 2, 2004, 03:07 PM

^^^ I <3 AMD

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Until longhorn comes out there's few reasons for consumers to have even faster comps.

GAMES (aka, a big fat profitable reason)

willed · Oct 2, 2004, 06:23 PM

Originally posted by Lancer409:
I like AMD better ...

What speed are they at now?

MilkmanDan · Oct 3, 2004, 11:32 AM

Poor intel, the Centrino was killed by their own marketing. For the longest time their marketing was 'faster is better, buy faster stuff every year.'

Now their new cool chip is a slower clock speed, and its left people scratching their heads.

Spliffdaddy · Oct 3, 2004, 11:35 AM

Yeah, scratching their heads at how fast that little sucker is.

MilkmanDan · Oct 3, 2004, 11:39 AM

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
Yeah, scratching their heads at how fast that little sucker is.

When they first came out they ran at a slower clock speed. Especially the laptops. Thus we have the 'over 6 hour of battery life' ads.

Abit667 · Oct 4, 2004, 12:31 AM

Originally posted by MilkmanDan:
Poor intel, the Centrino was killed by their own marketing. For the longest time their marketing was 'faster is better, buy faster stuff every year.'

Now their new cool chip is a slower clock speed, and its left people scratching their heads.

The pipeline length between the P3 and P4 allowed them to get higher clockrate then they ever got out of the P3 but still a very high performing chip, more like an Athlon XP. That plus the large amounts of cache they are putting on those things makes for a really nice cpu. They need to clock those up some more and stick them in the desktops.

dlefebvre · Oct 4, 2004, 12:35 AM

Apparently Intel is in stall mode with the P4. It shows you how much Apple is ahead of it's time. They stalled with the G4 years ago. How avant-garde!

Splinter · Oct 4, 2004, 01:53 AM

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
Yeah, scratching their heads at how fast that little sucker is.

Agreed. My dad's new IBM x31 laptop with he 1.6 centrino runs quicker then any of my friends 3 ghz PIV

And as any AMD or Mac fan will tell you MHZ isn�t everything as with both their chips have slower clock rates then the PIV but both can outperform the PIV.

Originally posted by willed:
What speed are they at now?

The AMD are the main 64bit suppliers for PC users at the moment
Their mainstream Athlon XP stopped at 3200+ for now I think. It�s clocked at 2.2 and for prices approximately $50 cheaper then the PIV 3.2GHZ and getting slightly less good results on the benchmarks then its 1GHZ faster competitor.

However the AMD 64bit FX53 running at a measly 2.4 GHZ and costing a whopping $733 outperforms its main competitor the PIV 3.4 GHZ Extreme Edition priced at $1000 by %35!
http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040318/index.html

macvillage.net · Oct 4, 2004, 01:58 PM

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
It'll do 4GHz - but Intel refuses to let me show 'em how.

In reality, Intel's problem is the immense heat generated by their CPUs. Same with the G5.

intel's really just to focuses on the replacement for BIOS, and DRM these days.

They figure they have a stronghold on the processor. Most people don't even know companies like AMD exist.

Intel wants to make sure when Longhorn ships, and looks to use DRM to secure the comp even further... it's all using Intel hardware.

I personally disagree with it. I'd perfer you start teaching htme about 4GHz P4's

.

I like open platforms, and fast systems.

Zimmerman · Oct 4, 2004, 07:16 PM

Ok, why is your hard drive running in DMA mode2? Thats the mode that optical drives operate at, ATA 33. Move it up to mode 5 or 6 and enjoy the benefits of burst transfers and consistant rates over 33mb/sec. My 80 gig Suxtor drive averages 40mb/sec transfer and it's a slouch!

olePigeon · Oct 4, 2004, 08:00 PM

Intel's just sort of bleh. They really didn't want to move to 64-bit, took a gamble, and lost. AMD's now overtaken Inel in desktop CPU sales. Intel has no one to blame but themselves.

AMD was smart cuz they teamed up with IBM, who's making just phenomenal advancements in CPU technology. I don't know what's up with Intel. They used to be in the forefront of CPU innovation. Now it seems like IBM gets all the good stuff out and Intel's just in for the ride.

Drakino · Oct 4, 2004, 08:47 PM

AMD today released 90nm Athlon 64 chips going all the way up to a 3800+ rating. Overall the 90nm chips for them are pulling less power and pushing out less heat then their older chips clocked at the same speeds. So, looks like the 130->90 move for AMD went alot better then it has for Intel and IBM.

Superchicken · Oct 4, 2004, 09:33 PM

Ahh this means Apple is going to switch to AMD!

Nah the G5's doing good... you know what sucks... right when proc speed stops mattering is when Apple catches up. That said with notebooks it still seems to matter.

macaddict0001 · Oct 4, 2004, 10:05 PM

Originally posted by macintologist:
It seems like it's been at 3.4Ghz for more than a year. Does anyone know when they will upgrade their processors? Maybe when Apple hits dual 3ghz we'll see who is the king of speed. Can anybody here who follows PC news tell us what's happening with Intel?

its dying son and it won't come back.

CD Hanks · Oct 4, 2004, 10:10 PM

Originally posted by macaddict0001:
its dying son and it won't come back.

They've hit a roadblock that they are okay sitting in for the moment. No one has broken their 3.4Ghz speed for comercially sold consumer chips. AMD is getting their (slowly), and Apple/IBM is taking their merry time.

Soon as either the AMD or Apple/IBM groups pick up the pace, so will Intel. Until then, it's back to the drawing boards.

Luca Rescigno · Oct 4, 2004, 10:14 PM

Originally posted by manofsteal:
I think Apple should come out with a 3000MHz G5...it's all about "numbers", and 3000MHz looks more enticing than 3GHz...

Hell, have it be 3,000,000,000 mHz! Or if it's a dual, advertise it as 6,000,000,000 millihertz spread out over two processors.

Think of the possibilities. "Our new PowerMac... SIX BILLION!!!!"

As far as the Centrino, it's looking pretty nice... they're up to 2.0 GHz, and their performance is excellent due to the massive 2 MB of full-speed L2 cache they use. Apple should take a cue from Intel and put at least 1 MB of L2 in the next PowerBook revision - good way to boost performance without relying on a higher clock speed.

Spliffdaddy · 12:47 AM

Originally posted by Zimmerman:
Ok, why is your hard drive running in DMA mode2? Thats the mode that optical drives operate at, ATA 33. Move it up to mode 5 or 6 and enjoy the benefits of burst transfers and consistant rates over 33mb/sec. My 80 gig Suxtor drive averages 40mb/sec transfer and it's a slouch!

Test mule. RAM was way underclocked and I used an old 13GB hard drive that was limited to DMA-2. Heck, it had a pathetic Radeon7000 LE graphics card. All I was worried about, at the time, was the CPU clockspeed and FSB. I got the FSB over 1GHz and the CPU core speed to 4GHz. It ended up being the 3rd-fastest 'documented' Pentium4 in the world. The first 2 were lying, in my opinion - but so be it. Handling a 135watt+ heatload won't happen with direct-contact phasechange cooling because of the small die size and correspondingly small area for gaseous heat transfer. Only liquid and/or thermoelectric junctions are capable of cooling such a concentrated source of heat.
I haven't hooked up the Deliverance machine to a processor yet - but I imagine the current yields of P4s and Athy64s would probably clock higher than they did 6 months ago - and I have over twice the cooling capacity as I did when I created the 4GHz 2.8 Pentium4 Hyperthread.

Currently, the hot setup is dual mobile Athlons - something you never would have expected...and AMD never intended to happen.

The Hillbilly threat is real.

The Godfather · Oct 5, 2004, 10:09 AM

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Ahh this means Apple is going to switch to AMD!

Nah the G5's doing good... you know what sucks... right when proc speed stops mattering is when Apple catches up. That said with notebooks it still seems to matter.

Mac users are satisfied with G5 speeds these days. All gamers have switched to PC, do you think that 3.4 GHz is enough for them?

olePigeon · Oct 5, 2004, 01:33 PM

Originally posted by Drakino:
AMD today released 90nm Athlon 64 chips going all the way up to a 3800+ rating. Overall the 90nm chips for them are pulling less power and pushing out less heat then their older chips clocked at the same speeds. So, looks like the 130->90 move for AMD went alot better then it has for Intel and IBM.

AMD's using IBM's manufacturing plants.