IBM Unleashes The World's Fastest Processor

malware · May 22, 2007, 11:11 AM

IBM today simultaneously launched what it claims is the fastest processor in the world and an ultra-powerful new computer server that leverages the chip’s many breakthroughs in energy conservation and virtualization technology. IBM's new POWER6 chip is a 64 bit, dual-core processor with 790 million transistors running at up to 4.7GHz and 8MB of on chip L2 cache. At 4.7GHz, the dual-core POWER6 processor doubles the speed of the previous generation POWER5 while using nearly the same amount of electricity to run and cool it. This means customers can use the new processor to either increase their performance by 100 percent or cut their power consumption virtually in half. Also announced today is the IBM’s new 2- to 16-core server which offers three times the performance per core of the HP Superdome machine. The new server is also the first ever to hold all four major benchmark speed records for business and technical performance.

Source: IBM

DanTheBanjoman · May 22, 2007, 11:19 AM

Worlds fastest processor is rather misleading. Just highest clocked, it's very ineffcient and sucks up a lot of energy from what I understand.

PVTCaboose1337 · May 22, 2007, 11:45 AM

Rofl, this is a joke, see that guy? How many processors does he have... yeah, efficiency problems.

kakazza · May 22, 2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTheBanjoman

Worlds fastest processor is rather misleading. Just highest clocked, it's very ineffcient and sucks up a lot of energy from what I understand.

"Demonstrating its remarkable versatility, the new IBM System p 570, running the POWER6 processor, claims the No.1 spots in the four most widely used performance benchmarks for Unix servers – SPECint2006 (measuring integer-calculating throughput common in business applications), SPECfp2006 (measuring floating point-calculating throughput required for scientific applications), SPECjbb2005 (measuring Java™ performance in business operations per second) and TPC-C (measuring transaction processing capability) (1). This is the first time that a single system has owned all four categories. The new System p 570 now holds 25 benchmark records across a broad portfolio of business and technical applications (5)."

And before I go on: Click source link, read, click more links.
http://www.tpc.org/tpcc/results/tpcc_perf_results.asp
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/p/benchmarks/

mdm-adph · May 22, 2007, 01:00 PM

You know, I've always found it rather odd that the three processors in the three top gaming systems (Wii, XBox 360, PS3) are PowerPC based, while everything else seems to be going to Intel.

Does Intel not like the gaming market or something? Or are Power processors simply better suited for some reason?

NamesDontMatter · May 22, 2007, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdm-adph

You know, I've always found it rather odd that the three processors in the three top gaming systems (Wii, XBox 360, PS3) are PowerPC based, while everything else seems to be going to Intel.

Does Intel not like the gaming market or something? Or are Power processors simply better suited for some reason?

Power and Price. And look at the cell processor, it takes only like what 16 of them for a super computer? IBM won the console war :P

mandelore · May 22, 2007, 01:15 PM

hell, id like a dual core processor @ nearly 5Ghz with 8mb ondie cache, wonder how much it overclocks??

Zalmann · May 22, 2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandelore

hell, id like a dual core processor @ nearly 5Ghz with 8mb ondie cache, wonder how much it overclocks??

It's a server processor, not intended for workstation or desktop use, and it does not run windows.

DanTheBanjoman · May 22, 2007, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kakazza

"Demonstrating its remarkable versatility, the new IBM System p 570, running the POWER6 processor, claims the No.1 spots in the four most widely used performance benchmarks for Unix servers – SPECint2006 (measuring integer-calculating throughput common in business applications), SPECfp2006 (measuring floating point-calculating throughput required for scientific applications), SPECjbb2005 (measuring Java™ performance in business operations per second) and TPC-C (measuring transaction processing capability) (1). This is the first time that a single system has owned all four categories. The new System p 570 now holds 25 benchmark records across a broad portfolio of business and technical applications (5)."

And before I go on: Click source link, read, click more links.
http://www.tpc.org/tpcc/results/tpcc_perf_results.asp
http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/p/benchmarks/

A record in some absolute number which says nothing about being efficient, and a link to IBM themselves.
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/47607/Eer...it-update.html
The colorful bars is what I read, if you compare the 4.7GHz things to the 2.2 Power5+ I would say it isn't very efficient compared to its older brother. 60% faster, over twice the clockspeed. The Xeons in the list are MP's, which means they are memory starved Netburst processors. In a few months we have Tigerton which will come a lot closer to the Power6 but is a lot cheaper. I'm not impressed by the Power6.

oldcrank · May 22, 2007, 01:43 PM

Yes, but will it run Linux. I'm done with Windows anyway.

bigboi86 · May 22, 2007, 01:43 PM

Those CPU's look just like AMD's without the IHS. Aren't AMD and IBM collaborating anyway? Does this mean some of their design can be introduced to the PC market?

GJSNeptune · May 22, 2007, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigboi86

Those CPU's look just like AMD's without the IHS. Aren't AMD and IBM collaborating anyway? Does this mean some of their design can be introduced to the PC market?

They collaborate, yes, but I'm not sure if it includes chip design. I know they're working together on the the chip fabrication processes though.

Dippyskoodlez · May 22, 2007, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTheBanjoman

Worlds fastest processor is rather misleading. Just highest clocked, it's very ineffcient and sucks up a lot of energy from what I understand.

I'm sure a lot of people are going to downplay these because they are "Power" chips.

The previous chip had apple riding their coat tails for all round performance reasons...

But now IBM can unleash the beast that will be Power.

Isn't this the CPU thats socket F?

bigboi86 · May 22, 2007, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GJSNeptune

They collaborate, yes, but I'm not sure if it includes chip design. I know they're working together on the the chip fabrication processes though.

Yea, I remember reading about that. That has to lead to some new CPU designs!

Dippyskoodlez · May 22, 2007, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GJSNeptune

They collaborate, yes, but I'm not sure if it includes chip design. I know they're working together on the the chip fabrication processes though.

Socket design.

GJSNeptune · May 22, 2007, 01:54 PM

Whatever their collaboration entails, IBM is clutch for AMD. In fact, we owe a lot of thanks to IBM for their role in computers and technology for many years.

mandelore · May 22, 2007, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zalmann

It's a server processor, not intended for workstation or desktop use, and it does not run windows.

ahh, sod that then

kakazza · May 22, 2007, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldcrank

Yes, but will it run Linux. I'm done with Windows anyway.

Rather, what does NOT run linux?

kakazza · May 22, 2007, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTheBanjoman

A record in some absolute number which says nothing about being efficient, and a link to IBM themselves.
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/47607/Eer...it-update.html
The colorful bars is what I read, if you compare the 4.7GHz things to the 2.2 Power5+ I would say it isn't very efficient compared to its older brother. 60% faster, over twice the clockspeed. The Xeons in the list are MP's, which means they are memory starved Netburst processors. In a few months we have Tigerton which will come a lot closer to the Power6 but is a lot cheaper. I'm not impressed by the Power6.

"Met een prijs/prestatieverhouding van 3,54 dollar per transactie per minuut scoort het systeem ook beter dan de Power5+-inzending, die op 4,42 dollar uitkwam."

Cheaper for more performance

bigboi86 · May 22, 2007, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTheBanjoman

A record in some absolute number which says nothing about being efficient, and a link to IBM themselves.
http://tweakers.net/nieuws/47607/Eer...it-update.html
The colorful bars is what I read, if you compare the 4.7GHz things to the 2.2 Power5+ I would say it isn't very efficient compared to its older brother. 60% faster, over twice the clockspeed. The Xeons in the list are MP's, which means they are memory starved Netburst processors. In a few months we have Tigerton which will come a lot closer to the Power6 but is a lot cheaper. I'm not impressed by the Power6.

You have a weird taste in processors...

So what if it's not as efficient or efficient enough clock per clock? It's still owning benchmarks, and doing more work.

DanTheBanjoman · May 22, 2007, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigboi86

You have a weird taste in processors...

So what if it's not as efficient or efficient enough clock per clock? It's still owning benchmarks, and doing more work.

And it uses a lot more power and costs more. Plus it's not about my taste, it's why it doesn't impress me. This Power6 seems to be to Power5 what the P4 was to the P3, ie not a bad idea though it will fail in the long run.

And efficiency not only means IPC, but also performance per watt.

WarEagleAU · May 22, 2007, 02:14 PM

Some folks are just die hard intel fans. I wonder how this compares to an oc C2D or C2D quad?

the title is misleading, but it will work for server procs I guess.

Atech · May 22, 2007, 02:19 PM

Damnit, I want one of these, along with a workstation board!

Dippyskoodlez · May 22, 2007, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanTheBanjoman

And it uses a lot more power and costs more. Plus it's not about my taste, it's why it doesn't impress me. This Power6 seems to be to Power5 what the P4 was to the P3, ie not a bad idea though it will fail in the long run.

And efficiency not only means IPC, but also performance per watt.

But, how does it SCALE?

This isnt intended for 2-4 cpu setups...

Try a 100+!

newbielives · May 22, 2007, 02:50 PM

Yours for the tiny sum of 60,000$

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldcrank

Yes, but will it run Linux. I'm done with Windows anyway.

May 22, 2007, 11:11 AM	#1
malware Eligible for custom title Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Bulgaria Posts: 5,413 (1.73/day) Thanks: 78 Thanked 986 Times in 497 Posts System Specs	IBM Unleashes The World's Fastest Processor IBM today simultaneously launched what it claims is the fastest processor in the world and an ultra-powerful new computer server that leverages the chip’s many breakthroughs in energy conservation and virtualization technology. IBM's new POWER6 chip is a 64 bit, dual-core processor with 790 million transistors running at up to 4.7GHz and 8MB of on chip L2 cache. At 4.7GHz, the dual-core POWER6 processor doubles the speed of the previous generation POWER5 while using nearly the same amount of electricity to run and cool it. This means customers can use the new processor to either increase their performance by 100 percent or cut their power consumption virtually in half. Also announced today is the IBM’s new 2- to 16-core server which offers three times the performance per core of the HP Superdome machine. The new server is also the first ever to hold all four major benchmark speed records for business and technical performance. Source: IBM Last edited by malware; May 22, 2007 at 11:22 AM.

Processor:	Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 G0 VID: 1.2125
Motherboard:	GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P rev.2.0
Cooling:	Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme + Noctua NF-S12 Fan
Memory:	4x1 GB PQI DDR2 PC2-6400
Video Card:	Colorful iGame Radeon HD 4890 1 GB GDDR5
Hard Disk:	2x 500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 32 MB RAID0
Optical Drive:	LITE-ON IT LH-20A1L 20x SATA DVD±RW LightScribe
CRT/LCD Model:	BenQ G2400W 24-inch WideScreen LCD
Case:	Cooler Master COSMOS RC-1000 (sold), Cooler Master HAF-932 (delivered)
Sound Card:	Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic + Logitech Z-5500 Digital THX
PSU:	Chieftec CFT-1000G-DF 1kW
Software:	Laptop: Lenovo 3000 N200 C2DT2310/3GB/120GB/GF7300/15.4"/Razer

Processor:	Dual Xeon 5506
Motherboard:	Asus Z8NA-D6
Cooling:	2x Thermalright HR-01 X/passive
Memory:	6GB Corsair something
Video Card:	EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
Hard Disk:	None
Optical Drive:	None
CRT/LCD Model:	24" Asus
Case:	Thermaltake Swing
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	620W CM
Software:	Win2k8

May 22, 2007, 11:45 AM	#3
PVTCaboose1337 Graphical Hacker Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 7,478 (2.80/day) Thanks: 798 Thanked 1,174 Times in 834 Posts System Specs	Rofl, this is a joke, see that guy? How many processors does he have... yeah, efficiency problems. __________________ CPU-Z validation sig pics temporarily blocked

System Name:	Whim
Processor:	Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.4ghz
Motherboard:	Gigabyte P67A-D3-B3
Cooling:	Cooler Master Hyper 212+
Memory:	2 x 4GB G.Skill Ripjaws @ 1600mhz
Video Card:	Gigabyte GTX 670 2gb
Hard Disk:	WD 640gb Black (Main), WD 2tb Black (Secondary)
Optical Drive:	LG DVD-RW Drive
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus VE228 and Samsung 2053BW
Case:	Cooler Master 430 Elite
Sound Card:	Onboard > PA2V2 Amp > Senn 595's
PSU:	Seasonic 650w
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate (Tweaked)

May 22, 2007, 11:19 AM	#2
DanTheBanjoman Señor Moderator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Utrecht, Utrecht, The kingdom of the Netherlands Posts: 8,498 (2.58/day) Thanks: 41 Thanked 1,453 Times in 1,077 Posts System Specs	Worlds fastest processor is rather misleading. Just highest clocked, it's very ineffcient and sucks up a lot of energy from what I understand.

May 22, 2007, 01:00 PM	#5
mdm-adph Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Your house. Posts: 2,426 (1.08/day) Thanks: 401 Thanked 344 Times in 247 Posts System Specs	You know, I've always found it rather odd that the three processors in the three top gaming systems (Wii, XBox 360, PS3) are PowerPC based, while everything else seems to be going to Intel. Does Intel not like the gaming market or something? Or are Power processors simply better suited for some reason? __________________ CPU-Z validation sig pics temporarily blocked

System Name:	The Black Vulcan!
Processor:	Phenom II X4 B50 (X2 550 unlocked)
Motherboard:	Asus M4A87TD-EVO (870)
Cooling:	Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro
Memory:	8GB DDR3 (4GBx2) Mushkin Blackline @ 1600MHz
Video Card:	ATI HD 4870 X2 2GB
Hard Disk:	Seagate 250GBx2 RAID0
Optical Drive:	ASUS DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Spectre 19-in LCD
Case:	Rosewill R103A
Sound Card:	Onboard HD
PSU:	Thermaltake TR650
Software:	Windows 7
Benchmarks:	Finished Super PI on legendary mode in only 13 hours.

System Name:	Lenovo T61
Processor:	T9300 2.53Ghz
Motherboard:	?
Cooling:	Laptop cooling . . . .
Memory:	4GB DDR2 Mushkin
Video Card:	NVS 140m
Hard Disk:	1 320gb 7,200rpm (that fedex has lost in the mail), 1 100gb 7,200rpm and 1 500gb external.
Optical Drive:	1 DVD/RW
CRT/LCD Model:	Viewsonic 22" @ 1680x1050 & an onboard 14" @ 1280x800
Case:	Lenovo
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	?
Software:	Vista Ultimate x64
Benchmarks:	3K 3dmark06

May 22, 2007, 01:15 PM	#7
mandelore Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: UK-small Village in a Valley Near Newcastle Posts: 2,917 (1.18/day) Thanks: 33 Thanked 152 Times in 127 Posts System Specs	hell, id like a dual core processor @ nearly 5Ghz with 8mb ondie cache, wonder how much it overclocks??

Processor:	Quad Extreme 9650 @ 4.4GHz 9C load :)
Motherboard:	Asus Maximus Rampage (mod) SE (watercooled NB/SB/Voltage Regs)
Cooling:	Arctic Web 437W TEC
Memory:	4GB (2x2GB) OCZ Flex2 PC2-9200
Video Card:	1GB HD4890 @ 1000 Core, 4.8GHz Mem
Hard Disk:	600 GB RAID 0 Perp Drives
Optical Drive:	Asus Lightscribe 20x DVD RW
CRT/LCD Model:	24" Dell HD 2407WFT rev 2 @ 1920x1200
Case:	Thermaltake Armor Series VA8000BWS Black Aluminum/Steel.
Sound Card:	Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatality Professional
PSU:	Enermax Infiniti 650 PCIE 2 Ready
Software:	Vista Ultimate 64
Benchmarks:	Currently: -SuperPi 1M: 9.78 seconds

System Name:	HP Pavilion dv6
Processor:	Intel Core i7-2630QM
Memory:	8GB (2 x GEIL 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM C9 1333MHz)
Video Card:	ATI Mobility Radeon HD6570
Hard Disk:	750Gb WD 2.5" WD Scorpio Black
Optical Drive:	Internal DVD+/-RW
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

May 22, 2007, 01:43 PM	#10
oldcrank Join Date: May 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 18 (0.01/day) Thanks: 12 Thanked 4 Times in 1 Post	Yes, but will it run Linux. I'm done with Windows anyway.

May 22, 2007, 01:43 PM	#11
bigboi86 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: techPowerUp! Posts: 1,107 (0.43/day) Thanks: 11 Thanked 36 Times in 34 Posts System Specs	Those CPU's look just like AMD's without the IHS. Aren't AMD and IBM collaborating anyway? Does this mean some of their design can be introduced to the PC market? __________________

System Name:	Just getting started....
Processor:	Athlon II Propus 620 @ 3.51ghz (quad core) L3 cache enabled
Motherboard:	ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO
Cooling:	Cooler Master Hyper 212 (great heatsink, 40c max load overclocked)
Memory:	Kingston HyperX DDR31600 4gb 2x2
Video Card:	ATI Radeon HD 4850 by XFX
Hard Disk:	Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB SATA
Optical Drive:	Sony Optiarc SATA
CRT/LCD Model:	Acer 21.5 inch viewable G215H 1920x1080p, AOC 22inch 1680x1050
Case:	Antec 300, stock for now
Sound Card:	Onboard, Turtle Beach headphones / crappy logitech desktop speakers
PSU:	Corsair 650 watt PSU <3
Software:	Windows 7 x64

Processor:	AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition
Motherboard:	Gigabyte GA-MA770-DS3
Cooling:	Tuniq Tower 120 (with Scythe SFF21E)
Memory:	2x1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800 CAS4 DHX
Video Card:	PALiT 9800GTX 512MB PCI-E
Hard Disk:	WD2500AAKS, WD1600YS, WD1200JD, WD400EB
Optical Drive:	Samsung S203b SATA DVD/RW
CRT/LCD Model:	LG L1920P, Viewsonic VA520
Case:	Lian-Li A05b (with two 120mm Yate Loon D12SM)
PSU:	Corsair HX520
Software:	Vista Business 32-bit/XP Pro 32-bit dual-boot

Processor:	Intel i5 2500k@ 5ghz
Motherboard:	Gigabyte UD3P
Cooling:	Water
Memory:	2x XMS3 4Gb, 2x Gskill 2Gb
Video Card:	2x Xfx Radeon 5850 1Gb
Hard Disk:	120gb Mushkin Chronos, 2x 2tb+3x1Tb
Optical Drive:	DVDRW
CRT/LCD Model:	24" Dell 1920x1080, 24" Acer
Case:	NZXT Stretch 810
PSU:	NZXT HALE90 850W
Software:	Windows 7 x64
Benchmarks:	2900Mhz 2500+ Barton mobile air cooled. 5Ghz 2500k Water cooled.

May 22, 2007, 01:54 PM	#16
GJSNeptune Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,743 (0.78/day) Thanks: 24 Thanked 112 Times in 103 Posts System Specs	Whatever their collaboration entails, IBM is clutch for AMD. In fact, we owe a lot of thanks to IBM for their role in computers and technology for many years.

May 22, 2007, 02:14 PM	#22
WarEagleAU Bird of Prey Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Gurley, AL Posts: 9,994 (3.98/day) Thanks: 3,810 Thanked 557 Times in 521 Posts System Specs	Some folks are just die hard intel fans. I wonder how this compares to an oc C2D or C2D quad? the title is misleading, but it will work for server procs I guess. __________________ =-TheEagle-= http://www.heatware.com/eval.php?id=62454 “You crazy? Surfing any website without an antivirus is like freaking with a dirty woman without protection” -OzzmanFloyd120 - Edited for content and clarity

System Name:	Boddha Getta
Processor:	AMD FX 6100 @ 4.432Ghz @1.401V
Motherboard:	ASUS M5A99X EVO AMD 990X AMD SB950
Cooling:	Custom Water. EK 240MM Kit, Supreme HSF - Runs 35C
Memory:	2 x 4GB Corsair Vengeance White LP @ 1.35V
Video Card:	XFX Radeon HD 6870 900/1050 (no OC yet)
Hard Disk:	WD Caviar Black 1.0TB, WD Caviar Green 1.0TB, WD 160GB
Optical Drive:	Samung SH22SL 22X Lightscribe DVD+/-R/RW LG BDRE Reader/Burner Lite ON Max Burner for burning Xbox
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus VH222/S 22: (21.5" Viewable) 1920x1080p HDMI LCD Monitor
Case:	NZXT White Phantom
Sound Card:	Onboard Realtek 5.1
PSU:	NZXT Hale 90 Gold Cert 750W Modular PSU
Software:	Windows 7 Pro 64 bit.
Benchmarks:	5.9 Windows Index rating 3D06 - 17472

May 22, 2007, 02:19 PM	#23
Atech Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 259 (0.11/day) Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 9 Posts System Specs	Damnit, I want one of these, along with a workstation board!

Processor:	Kentsfield Q6600 @ 2.8GHz "I eat source code before breakfast"
Motherboard:	Asus Striker Extreme 680i (NB:C55XE, SB:MCP55XE)
Cooling:	Zalman 9700, 1200mm fan, 5120mm fans
Memory:	8GB OCZ PC6400 - 4*2 @ 622MHz (stability problems)
Video Card:	Geforce 8800GTS
Hard Disk:	2* Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB - no RAID
Optical Drive:	Samsung Writemaster SATA DVD+-RW/RAM
CRT/LCD Model:	Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 74SB
Case:	Antec Nine Hundred + optional fans
Sound Card:	On board (sort of - SupremeFX ADI 1988B)
PSU:	Corsair HW 620w
Software:	Gentoo GNU+Linux amd64 (latest development kernel)

Processor:	P4 3.2Ghz
Memory:	1GB
Video Card:	MSI 5900XT

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)