Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Understanding 64-bit PowerPC architecture

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the expand-your-brain-pan-man dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Each of the leading microprocessor manufacturers has announced the availability of one or more 64-bit desktop processors, but differences exist in architectural design, fabrication, support, and intended use of each processor. This article looks at the critical issues in a few of IBM's 64-bit POWER designs, covering 32-bit compatibility, power management, processor bus design, and the manufacturing process."

14 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. DUPE!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's a dupe.

  2. This has to be.. by creep · · Score: 5, Funny

    The fastest dupe I've ever seen.

    1. Re:This has to be.. by _PimpDaddy7_ · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's the speed of 64-bit architecture at work, baby...

  3. wow! by eshefer · · Score: 4, Funny

    a dupe posted by CmdrTaco to a story posted by Hemos.. It feels like 1998 again :-)

  4. link still loadable by tomcio · · Score: 4, Funny

    i think they did that because the other link is still loadable
    unlike the watercooling article

  5. OK! by Bombcar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Admit it! Some of you send in stories that are on the front page just to see if they get duped, right?

    I'm on to you!

    --
    Fellowship 9/11
  6. Re:What's going on? by vivek7006 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No you are not missing anything. It is fucking CmdrTaco who is missing half his brain.

    Seriously almost every dupe story is invariably posted by CmdrTaco

  7. Here are some other interesting stories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here are some other interesting stories

    http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/pa-m icrodesign/?ca=dgr-lnxw01fkjfdsa
    http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/pa-m icrodesign/?ca=dgr-lnxw01dhifads
    http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/pa-m icrodesign/?ca=dgr-lnxw01jj5324543
    http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/pa-m icrodesign/?ca=dgr-lnxw01hdshdgh
    http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/pa-m icrodesign/?ca=dgr-lnxw01jesusheadfuck

  8. Re:What's going on? by The+Bender · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, no, no. You fool, do you not pay attention? The other story was in the "Apple" section, and this one's in "Developers".

    Completely different.

  9. Re:Power != PowerPC by Arker · · Score: 4, Informative

    Power != PowerPC That is all.

    Hmm not exactly. Power > PowerPC. PPC is a subset of Power, a point which TFA does mention, and explain a bit.

    The PowerPC architecture that was born of this partnership is -- and always was -- a 64-bit architecture derived from the IBM POWER architecture.[...]
    Note that the performance of the PowerPC 970 family actually exceeds that of its award-winning parent, the high-end IBM POWER4 processor, in many areas. This is due to the fact that the circuit and process technology used for the POWER4 processor was designed to achieve levels of reliability necessary for the continuous availability server market -- levels that can be relaxed for the desktop and small-scale server market -- at the expense of transistor switching speed. Thus, the fabrication technology used for the PowerPC 970 was designed to eke out higher performance by trading away reliability; for these markets, the trade-off between reliability and performance is different.

    And yes, folks, it is a dupe. And a very recent one too. At least this time they got it in two different sections, first Apple, then Hardware. I'd have to say that Hardware is a better place for it, it's definately NOT just Apple that uses these chips.

    --
    =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
  10. Daja vu? Or is it just me? by cyberwinds · · Score: 5, Funny

    I saw the same black cat walking by a moment ago.

    --
    Together, we are strong; Apart, we are stronger.
  11. Re:What's going on? by Minwee · · Score: 4, Funny

    Remember, Commander Taco has decreased the dupe ration from from 20 grams per day to 30 grams.

  12. double exposure by Blitzenn · · Score: 5, Funny

    no. It's not a dupe, it's the 64 bit bus sending the same 32 bit information, doubled up along the bus. It's just looks like it's posted twice. It's much more efficient this way. Trust us!

    no. It's not a dupe, it's the 64 bit bus sending the same 32 bit information, doubled up along the bus. It's just looks like it's posted twice. It's much more efficient this way. Trust us!

  13. dupe detector? by zygote · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In the abscence of institutional memory or /. editors sitting in the same room :-) , could Slashcode be tweaked to scan for URLs that are identical in stories and flag them somehow?

    Some Perl script or such that looks at the post about to hit the front page, then looks at a say the last three or four posts that were on the front page. If it finds an identical or closely identical link, it then sends an email of the body of the two posts to the editor.

    I don't think it would get the server's load up too much.

    (much sarcasm, minus 1, bad dog.)

    --
    the future is here, it is just not evenly distributed - w. gibson