home about pictures reference trade links  

POWERPC 620 SAMPLING - PROBLEMS FIXED, IT IS CLAIMED.

(March 20th 1996) By now Compagnie des Machines Bull should be
getting the first deliveries of what it describes as the first "real
PowerPC 620" processors from Motorola. Motorola says the iteration of
the processor, codenamed 'Red October' should be complete and should
fix the multi-processor problems that have bedeviled the part and
have delayed it for a year.

The finalised version of the 620 will be fabricated using the same
design process as the new 604e (IBM calls it 5x, Motorola calls it
PPC2.0) and will run "much faster" than the original 133MHz clock
speed originally announced. It had better; by the end of the year the
604e itself is likely to be shipping at 200MHz which would easily
outstrip a 133Mz 620, in straight SPECmark performance. Motorola
sources were not saying how fast the initial 620's will run, but our
sister publication Unigram.x has been talking to Bull and reports
that the French company is expecting 180MHz parts.

Motorola says that the 620s will be shipping in volume by the end of
the year, but it isn't expecting to see any multi-processor systems
based on them until the beginning of 1997. This isn't due to any
shortcoming in the processor itself, but rather the time needed for
machine manufacturers to get their MP designs built and de-bugged.

Certainly, Unigram.x reports that Bull expects 200MHz parts for use
in systems based on its four-way PegaKid boards by the beginning of
next year. Its initial focus will be Windows NT, with AIX following.
Bull says the 100MHz bus clock that its PegaKid technology will
feature will drive 620 system performance significantly higher than
604e.

The paper says that Bull is promising eight-way 604-based Escalas in
April and says it will double the server's 3,515 tpmC performance by
year-end. Bull's entry-level PCI bus Windows NT and AIX Estrellas,
based on the guts of Motorola Inc's PowerStack technology, will be
available with a higher speed 604 and SunSoft Inc Solaris PowerPC
edition in April and with a 604e in September.

Though the 620 has always been pitched primarily at multiprocessors,
Bull is reportedly planning a high-performance uniprocessor 620
desktop for the beginning of next year. It hopes that the addition of
Solaris on Estrella, future symmetric multiprocessing units plus the
Internet makeover it still has in the pipeline for its servers and
desktops next quarter, will prove attractive to channel partners. The
merging of its Zenith Data Systems subsidiary into Packard-Bell
Electronics Inc means it has lost that channel, as the personal
computer company is said to have no interest in PowerPC.

Return to main reference page

 
Copyright © 2006 CPUShack.Net All pictures and content are property of CPUShack.Net. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of CPUShack.Net

Contact The CPUShack