Is my iBook G4 a true G4?
This may seem to be petty nitpicking especially considering the fact that I have been extremely satisfied with my iBook G4 in terms of speed. But.....I was browsing the discussion on the iBook G4 on Slashdot from when it was first released. Most of the discussion was not of interest to me, but late in the thread someone brought up something that piqued my interest. They stated as fact that the G4 chip used in the iBook is not a G4 but infact a variation of the G3 with integrated Altivec support. He used a specific model number that I do not recall or care to browse through that massive thread again just to look it up. My point in making this post is to inquire if anyone on the board can elaborate on this. I recall on the slashdot forum the G4 chip used in the iBook being compared to the Tualtin core version of the PIII. That in essence the iBooks processor being called a G4 would be like Intel dubbing that variation on the PIII a P4.
One final thing, could anyone point me in the direction of a site that has a rundown of the history of revisions to the G4 chip and the G4 motherboards used by Apple. I would find that to be very interesting. I have been looking around and haven't had much luck in finding anything comprehensive.
Thanks from the Newbie,
Lee Keller
One final thing, could anyone point me in the direction of a site that has a rundown of the history of revisions to the G4 chip and the G4 motherboards used by Apple. I would find that to be very interesting. I have been looking around and haven't had much luck in finding anything comprehensive.
Thanks from the Newbie,
Lee Keller
Comments
"Only G4 by apple's marketing (Score:5, Informative)
by Amiga Lover (708890) on Wednesday October 22, @08:40AM (#7280292)
These aren't the same G4 chips you're used to in Powerbooks, they're IBM manufactured "PPC 750GX". Yes, that's a G3 with AltiVec.
Previous PPC750s (the fx and so on) were called G3s. Add an AltiVec unit to it and Apple call it a G4
Remember Apple's marketing is perfectly justified in calling a chip anything it likes, and it looks to be using AltiVec as the demarcation between G3 and G4, rather than the rest of the core. It's still a PPC750 in these new iBooks however."
People got all wigged out when the G4 ibooks came out for some reason. I think there was some along the lines of a five page thread about it here.
As has been said above, it's a regular old Mot G4.
Originally posted by Mount_my_floppy
Simply typing hostinfo in the terminal will tell you what your processor is for future reference.
That worked nicely.
BTW, just downloaded the screen scanning hack and it works nicely. Sweet to have a dvd going on one screen and word for schoolwork on the other.
Originally posted by Flounder
The quote you posted is quite false.
People got all wigged out when the G4 ibooks came out for some reason.
I think most of the confusion came from the fact that there was zero mention of Altivec from Apple when the iBook G4 first came out. If you go to Apple's website and check out the tech specs on the iBook, it now says a G4 with the velocity engine.
I doubt the fabled IBM G3+Altivec (codename "Sandbox") ever was or will be.
Originally posted by Mount_my_floppy
I Know
Dude, is that a bowl of dog food or something on your desk between the monitors? You should look into cleaning your room.
Mach kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 6.8:
Wed Sep 10 15:20:55 PDT 2003; root:xnu/xnu-344.49.obj~2/RELEASE_PPC
Kernel configured for a single processor only.
1 processor is physically available.
Processor type: ppc7450 (PowerPC 7450)
Processor active: 0
Primary memory available: 256.00 megabytes.
Default processor set: 44 tasks, 113 threads, 1 processors
Load average: 0.00, Mach factor: 0.99
Originally posted by jxfreak
My Powerbook 1ghz gets this in the terminal: Isn't it supposed to be something else?
Something else like...? PB G4's have always used 74xx chips.
Originally posted by jxfreak
My Powerbook 1ghz gets this in the terminal: Isn't it supposed to be something else?
Processor type: ppc7450 (PowerPC 7450)
I suspect you would like it to be a 7455. As do I.
Originally posted by opuscroakus
I doubt the fabled IBM G3+Altivec (codename "Sandbox") ever was or will be.
Codenamed "Sandbox"? The name I've seen for a VMX enabled G3 is "Mojave" or 750VX.. Sandbox was new to me.
Originally posted by LKeller
I think the quality of the picture made my room look dark and dank. I think what you took for a dog food dish was a fish bowl. No pets other then them,
LoL! That metalic shiny object between the can of Pepsi and the prescription meds. is a fish bowl? I can see where he thought it was a dog food dish but fish bowl is a little...odd, its just not clicking. Post more pics!
Maciek
Originally posted by Henriok
I suspect you would like it to be a 7455. As do I.
Shock horror!
Originally posted by Henriok
Codenamed "Sandbox"? The name I've seen for a VMX enabled G3 is "Mojave" or 750VX.. Sandbox was new to me.
That was a joke.
Originally posted by SonOfSylvanus
Shock horror!
That it sucks. Never buy it. Boycott Apple. Switch to Dell.
That's what it means.
(oh, and my eMac is a 7455 so
EDIT: OH NOES my eMac is a 7450 according to the terminal! Guess I really AM through with this platform!