Intel Designs vs the PowerPC Family


NOTE: A seldom-quantified chip characteristic is a design's IPC number, which together with clock rate, enables one to make cross-family comparisons. For this chart we measure IPC by SPEC2000 number/clock rate. It should be clear that
performance = clock_rate * efficiency
          that is,
SPEC2000 = clock_MHz * IPC
Obviously, focusing on the clock rate alone, to the exclusion of the IPC -- as the naive computer user from his ignorance is wont to do -- is misleading. The fact that the word "speed" is used as a synonym for both "clock rate" and "performance", further compounds the error. Phrases like "faster CPU" suffer from the same ambiguity.

Tests for dual-core chips use only one core. SIMD and AltiVec units are not used in the tests.

Last update: 25 Aug 2008
CLOCK
PERFORMANCE
CPU chip clock
(MHz)		 mill.
trans.		 process
(µm)		 size
(mm2)		 Dhry-
stone
MIPS		 SPEC 95 SPEC 2000 IPC
(SPEC 2000/MHz)		 GFlops
per core in
clusters,
dbl. prec.		 PS7
Bench		 power
dissipation
watts		 pricing &
availability		 pipeline front-side bus cache,
on-chip (off-chip)		 ALU units
units/ins-per-clock/bits		 recent
Apple, etc.
product
int int fp int fp int fp real
(theor.)		 real/
theor		 norm.
score		 typ. max. US $ at length simul
instr.		 lines MHz thru put/sec L1 L2 L3 int fp SIMD*
O    l    d         I    n    t    e    l                    

Pentium MMX (Intel)

 

 

 

 

 

200

4.5

0.35

141

-

6.4

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

7.3

15.7

95

6/98

200 mob.

0.25

95

3.4

5.0

230

4/98

233

0.35

141

-

7.0

4.5

- - -

- - -

?

?

7.9

17.0

106

6/98

233 mob.

0.25

95

3.9

5.5

359

4/98

266 mob.

-

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

5.3

7.6

466

Celeron (Intel)

 

266

7.5

0.25

131

-

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

16.9

106

6/98

300

?

?

159

Pentium II (Intel)

 

233

7.5

0.35

203

-

9.4

6.7

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

34.8

161

6/98

233 mob.

0.25

131

7.5

10.6

466

4/98

266

-

10.7

7.5

- - -

- - -

?

?

9.8

19.5

198

6/98

266 mob.

8.6

12.1

696

4/98

300

-

11.9

8.1

- - -

- - -

?

?

13.0

?

305

6/98

333

-

13.0

8.8

- - -

- - -

?

?

15.3

23.7

412

350

-

13.9

10.2

- - -

- - -

?

?

?

24.5

519

400

-

15.8

11.4

- - -

- - -

?

?

?

27.9

722

Pentium II Xeon (Intel)

 

400

7.5

0.25

131

-

16.3

12.1

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

38.1

2800

7/98

CLOCK
PERFORMANCE
CPU chip clock
(MHz)		 mill.
trans.		 process
(µm)		 size
(mm2)		 Dhry-
stone
MIPS		 SPEC 95 SPEC 2000 IPC
(SPEC 2000/MHz)		 GFlops
per core in
clusters,
dbl. prec.		 PS7
Bench		 power
dissipation
watts		 pricing &
availability		 pipeline front-side bus cache,
on-chip (off-chip)		 ALU units
units/ins-per-clock/bits		 recent
Apple, etc.
product
int int fp int fp int fp real
(theor.)		 real/
theor		 norm.
score		 typ. max. US $ at length simul
instr.		 lines MHz thru put/sec L1 L2 L3 int fp SIMD*
G    3         a    n    d        G    4            

PPC 603e (IBM, Motorola)

 

 

 

 

 

200

2.6

0.35

80

283

5.6

4.9

- - -

- - -

?

? - - -

4.0

5.0

-

4/98

0.29

43

2.5

4.0

98

300

424

7.4

6.1

- - -

- - -

?

?

4.0

6.0

160

PPC 604e (IBM, Motorola)

 

250

5.1

0.25

47

??

11.1

7.8

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

6.0

10.6

295

4/98

375

??

15.6

9.7

- - -

- - -

?

?

8.0

14.5

645

9/98

PPC G3 (IBM, Motorola)

 

750

233

6.4

0.25

67

427

11.0

8.1

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

5.6

8.8

$495

4/98

4 ? 64 66? - 32K (1M) - 1/1/32 1/1/32 none

500

0.22

40

1160

23.8

14.5

- - -

- - -

?

?

6.0

-

?

9/98

PPC G3 (IBM)

 

 

 

 

 

750CX

550

21.5

0.18

42

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

5.5

5.5

?

11/00

4 ? ? 100 - 64K 256K ? 1/1/32 1/1/32 none

750CXe

600

20

43

1392

26

16

- - -

- - -

?

?

70

6.0

-

?

7/01

133 - ?

iBook
iMac

750FX
SOI, Lo-K

900

38

0.13

37

2088

40

22

- - -

- - -

?

?

95

6.1

-

?

5/02

5 ? 64 200 - 64K 512K - 2/2/32 1/1/32

iBook,5/02

750GX
SOI, Lo-K

1000

?

52

2320

52

30

469

- - -

?

?

-

8.3

-

?

3/04

- 1024K

750VX
SOI, Lo-K, AltiVec

1800

?

0.09

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

?

?

?

Q2/04
cancelled ?

5+ 400 (= 200x2) - (4 MB) 4/2/128

( iBook?? )

PPC G4 (Motorola) AltiVec, SMP, non-NUMA

 

 

 

 

 

7400

450

10.5

0.20

83

825

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

?? GF
(0.45 GF)		 - 101

8.0

8.0

?

7/99

4 ? 64 100 - 64K (2M) - 2/3/32 1/1/64 2/1/128

Cube

7410, Nitro

667

10.5

0.18

83

1223

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

6.3

6.3

?

1/01

old TiBook

7440

700

33?

83?

1264

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

8.0

8.0

?

10/01

7 16 64 133 1.1 GB
(dual: 1.1)		 64K 256K - 4/4/32 1/1/64 4/2/128

TiBook 667
iMac2

7450, G4e

867

33

106

1566

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

14+

17+

$435

7/01

(2M),
1/4-CPU

PM 733,
800, 867

7455, G4
Apollo 6, SOI

1000

33

106

2280

---

---

306

187

0.31

0.19

- - 267
(dual)

21

30

$295

1/02

167 1.3 GB
(dual: 1.3)		 (2M)DDR
1/4-CPU

PM 800,
933, 1000

7455, G4
Apollo 6, SOI, Lo-K

1420

3192

---

---

418
(or 560?)

248

0.30 - 0.40

0.19

338
(dual)

30

42

$475

1/03

PM 1400

7457, G4
Apollo 7, SOI, Lo-K

1333

58

0.13

98

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

?? GF
(1.33 GF)		 - 101

14

?

$189

9/03

133 1.1 GB
(dual: 1.1)		 512K (2M)DDR
1/4-CPU

AlBook
iBook(7447)

7470

1500

?

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

For 7/2002,
cancelled

7 ? 64 266 (= 133x2) - ? 512K (4M)DDR
1/4-CPU

7457-RM, G4
Apollo, SOI

2000

?

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

For 2004,
cancelled

7 ? 16 (RapidIO) 333 (= 167x2)
RapidIO@ 500 MHz		 - 64K 512K -

7448, G4
SOI, Lo-K

1700

?

0.09

?

3910

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

21

30

?

03/06

7 ? 64 200 - 64K 1024K -

8641, G4
1 core
SOI, Lo-K

1500

?

?

3450

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

H2/05

 7 ? 128 (mem)
16 (RapidIO)		 667 (= 333x2)
RapidIO@ 500 MHz
mem controller
on chip, ECC		 - 64K 1024K -

8641D, G4
2 cores
SOI, Lo-K

1500
2000

?

?

3450
?

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

15

25

?

H2/05

 64K
* 2		 1024K
* 2

PPC 7500 (Motorola) - [ "Motorola source" reveals 7470, and 7500, The Register Feb 11, 2002 ]

 

 

 

 

 

7500

?

?

0.13

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

For 2/2003,
cancelled

14 ? 128 (mem)
16 (RapidIO)		 266 (= 133x2)
RapidIO@ 500 MHz		 - ? 512K - 4/4/32 1/1/64 4/2/128

PPC G5 (Motorola) SOI, SMP, NUMA - [ 8500 data from MacOSRumors & The Register, so use with utmost caution. Anyway, these optimistic rumors of late 2001 never materialized. 8540 data from Motorola ]

 

 

G5 - 8500

1600

58

0.13

192

??

---

---

1342

1364

0.84

0.85

- - -

30

30

$700

For 2/2002,
cancelled

10 ? 128 400 (= 100x4)
mem controller
on chip		 - 128K 512K (2-8M) ?/?/64 ?/?/64 8/4/128

(future)
PowerMac
G5,
cancelled

2000

??

---

---

1678

1705

?

?

?

Cancelled

2400

??

---

---

2013

2046

?

?

?

8540
integrated

800

65?

?

1852

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

6.5

6.5

$200

"soon"

 ? ? 64 333 (= 167x2)
mem controller
on chip		 - 32K 256K - ?/?/32 none none
CLOCK
PERFORMANCE
CPU chip clock
(MHz)		 mill.
trans.		 process
(µm)		 size
(mm2)		 Dhry-
stone
MIPS		 SPEC 95 SPEC 2000 IPC
(SPEC 2000/MHz)		 GFlops
per core in
clusters,
dbl. prec.		 PS7
Bench		 power
dissipation
watts		 pricing &
availability		 pipeline front-side bus cache,
on-chip (off-chip)		 ALU units
units/ins-per-clock/bits		 recent
Apple, etc.
product
int int fp int fp int fp real
(theor.)		 real/
theor		 norm.
score		 typ. max. US $ at length simul
instr.		 lines MHz thru put/sec L1 L2 L3 int fp SIMD*
P    o    w    e    r    4         a    n    d        P    o    w    e    r    5            

Power3 (IBM) SMP, NUMA

 

 

 

 

 

Power3

375

?

?

?

-

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

1.10 GF
(1.50 GF)		 0.73 -

?

?

?

ca. 1998

12 ? ? ? - ? ? ? ?/?/64
2/2/64,
2/4/64
 none

Power4 (IBM) SOI, Lo-K, SMP, NUMA

 

 

 

 

 

Power4
2 cores

1300

174

0.18

414

??

---

---

839

1266

0.65

0.97

2.7 GF
(5.2 GF)		 0.51 -

150

150

$5,000

12/01

14 200 similar similar similar 96K 1440K
/2		 (32M) 2/?/64
2/2/64
or
2/4/64
(FMA)
 none

Power4+
2 cores

1700

184

0.13

267

??

---

---

1113

1699

0.65

1.00

3.7 GF
(6.8 GF)		 0.55 -

60

60

?

5/03

mem: 256
FSB: 64
next CPU: 128
 
 		 mem: 567 MHz
FSB: 567 MHz
next CPU: 850 MHz
 		 mem: 18.1 GB
FSB: 4.5 GB
next CPU: 13.6 GB
TOTAL=36.2 GB / 2
(dual,4 cores:72.4 GB)		 (128M)

PowerPC 970 (IBM) [Power4 derivative], non-NUMA (GPUL & GPUL2)

 

 

 

 

 

G5
IBM-970

2000

56

0.13

118

6444

---

---

1041

1168

0.52

0.58

5.0 GF
(8.0 GF)		 0.62 562
(dual)

66

97

$180

8/03

16 (int)
21 (fp)
19 (Alti-Vec)		 215 32 in +
32 out		 1000 (= 500x2) 7.1 GB
(dual: 14.2)		 96K 512K none 2/4/64
2/2/64
or
2/4/64
(FMA)
 4/4/128

PowerMac
dual G5

G5
IBM-970FX
SSOI

1600

0.09

66

-

---

---

- - -

- - -

0.43

0.58

- - -

17

29

?

-/05

?? ??

2500

7540

---

---

1082

1361

?? GF
(10.0 GF)		 - 714
(dual)

50

93

$180

7/04

1250 (= 625x2) 8.9 GB
(dual: 17.8)

PowerMac,
iMac

3000

8700

---

---

- - -

- - -

?? GF
(12.0 GF)		 - -

60

83

?

9/04
delayed

1500 (= 750x2) 10.7 GB
(dual: 21.4)

IBM-970MP
Antares
2 cores

2500

?

154

-

---

---

1438

2076

0.58

0.83

?? GF
(12.0 GF)		 - 860
(4cores)

40

100

?

10/05

1250 (= 625x2) 8.9 GB
(dual, 4 cores: 17.8)		 96K
* 2		 1024K
* 2		 4/4/128
each core

PowerMac
quad G5

Power5 (IBM) SOI, Lo-K, SMP, NUMA, SMT

 

 

 

 

 

Power5
2 cores

1900

276

0.13

389

??

---

---

1452

2702

0.91

1.42

4.3 GF
(7.6 GF)		 0.56 -

160

?

?

6/04

14 ? ? mem controller
on chip		 similar 96K 1920K
/2		 (36M
/2)
1/4-CPU		 2/4/64
2/2/64
or
2/4/64
(FMA)
 none

2000

1820

2844

- - -

?

?

?

??

mem: 25 GB
FSB: 6 GB
next CPU: 64 GB
TOTAL = 95 GB / 2
(dual, 4 cores: 190 GB)

Power5+
2 cores

1900

0.09

251

??

---

---

?

3007

?

1.58

- - -

?

?

?

7/06

 similar

2200

?

?

 - - -

?

?

?

7/06

PowerPC 975-976 (IBM) [Power5 derivative], SMT (GRUL)

 

 

 

 

 

G6
IBM-975

3000

98

0.09

?

??

---

---

1650

1750

0.55

0.58

- - -

63

?

?

9/04
delayed

? ? ? mem controller
& HyperTransport
on chip		 - 96K 1024K none 2/4/64
2/2/64
or
2/4/64
(FMA)
 4/4/128

3400

??

---

---

1870

1972

?? GF
(13.6 GF)		 - -

86

86

?

IBM-976 (or 980)
2 cores

4000

?

0.065

?

??

---

---

2200

2320

0.55

0.58

- - -

?

?

?

8/05
plan

? ? ? - 96K ? AltiVec 2

Power6 (IBM) SOI, Lo-K, AltiVec 2, SMP, NUMA, SMT, BCD

 

 

 

 

 

Power6
2 cores

5000

700

0.065

341

??

---

---

3000

5200

0.75

1.30

12 GF
(16.0 GF)		 0.75 -

130

130

?

5/07

? ? ? mem controller
on chip		 300 GB ? 4096K
* 2		 (32M
/2)		 ? ? AltiVec (VMX)

PowerPC 980 (IBM) [Power6 derivative], (P6UL)

 

 

 

 

 

IBM-980 (or 990)

6000

?

0.065

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

2007

? ? ? ? - ? ? ? - ? AltiVec 2 ?

(6 GHz seems unlikely at 0.065)

Cell Series (Sony/Toshiba/IBM) SOI, Lo-K

 

 

 

 

 

Cell variant
3 PPE cores
SMT, water-cooled

3200

165

0.09

168

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

?? GF
(12.8 x 3 = 38 GF)		 - -

?

?

?

11/05

? ? ? mem
GPU
I/O
 		 mem: 22 GB
GPU & I/O: 22 GB
TOTAL = 44 GB		 32K
* 3		 1024K
/ 3		 none 2/2/64
2/4/64
(FMA)
AltiVec 2

SP: 25.6 GF
DP:  12.8 GF
x 3 = 115 GF

Microsoft
Xbox 360

Cell
4 cores

4600

?

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

12/05

? ? ? ? 6.4 GB (per core?) ? ?
1/2/64
(FMA)
 ? Sony/IBM
workstation

Cell
Single Power core
w. SMT & AltiVec (PPE)
+ 8 SIMD cores (SPE)

"Broadband Processor Architecture"

3200

234

235

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

?? GF
(12.8 GF)		 - -

?

?

?

7/06

21
(PPE int)		 ? mem
GPU
I/O
 		 mem controller
on chip

mem
GPU
I/O
 		 mem: 25 GB
GPU & I/O: 77 GB
TOTAL = 102 GB		 64K
+ 
256K x 8		 512K 4/4/128
+ 
4/4/128 x 8		 Sony
PlayStation3
---
home server
& HDTV
(2007)

4600

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

?? GF
(18.4 GF)		 - -

70

80

?

?

?
   Cell total
SP: 256 GF
DP:   18 GF

Cell variant ?
"Broadway"

?

?

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

9/06

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Nintendo
Wii

Cell

?

?

0.065

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

3/07

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Cell

?

?

0.045

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

? 2008

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Cell

?

?

0.032

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?

- - -

?

?

?

? 2011

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

PPC 400 Series (IBM)

 

 

 

 

 

PPC-440

700

?

?

?

??

---

---

- - -

- - -

?

?