Pixar Beige Box... 970 or G5?

chilleymacchilleymac
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Forgive me if I ramble. I have been a lurker on these boards for a while and an occasional poster. Over the holidays I ran into an old highschool friend who, unbeknownst to me now works at Pixar. He is not a Mac guy but is in more of an IS or IT position at Pixar. We got to talking about his job and I of course asked about Macs. He said that they do use some macs there and that they are using a test machine in a beige box that is supposedly very fast. It is being tested with Shake compositing. He said he doesn't know what is in it and really doesn't care because it is sealed somehow and he is a PC guy. He said that the folks that using it are calling it the G5.



I have not seen this guy for a long time(almost 10 yrs) and he could be full of crap but this was pretty interesting to me. I don't run into much inside information in South Carolina(not exactly a Mac hotbed)

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    screedscreed Posts: 1,077member
    "it runs very fast" from a PC guy can be very... oh what's the word? tentative? ambiguous? splunge?



    He might expect the Mac to be a sloth and is surprised at the speed of what may be a dual 1.4GHz. And the G5 is just an inside joke (as in, there is no G5, there will never be a chip dubbed the G5...)



    Or it may indeed be a prototype 970.



    The only really interesting bit from this -- if true -- is that Steve is using Pixar as a kind-of-in-house hardware testing ground.



    Screed



    [ 12-30-2002: Message edited by: sCreeD ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 20
    bungebunge Posts: 7,329member
    [quote]Originally posted by sCreeD:

    <strong>

    He might expect the Mac to be a sloth and is surprised at the speed of what may be a dual 1.4GHz. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    What I find promising is that it's the folks using the Macs (presumeably at least part time Mac users) that think it's fast. That's a good sign.



    If it's true (chilleymac's story sounds true enough, but his source might be full of do-do of course.)
  • Reply 3 of 20
    kreesurgeonkreesurgeon Posts: 8member
    I think it's great that apple have gone back to biege, that's great news. here's a picture :eek:
  • Reply 4 of 20
    stunnedstunned Posts: 1,096member
    Most of my PC friends also think that the Mac is a high end and fast machine.





    However, the truth is otherwise.



    Well, as for G5, we can only hope.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    ugh.
  • Reply 6 of 20
    programmerprogrammer Posts: 3,467member
    I wouldn't be surprised at all if Apple calls their 970-based PowerMacs the "G5". The 970 is a 5th generation PowerPC chip, it just happens to be from IBM this time. Apple could also just be calling the prototype machines G5 for the lack of anything better yet, and their marketing department will come up with something different to grab headlines when the machine hits the streets.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    daeargimandaeargiman Posts: 15member
    [quote]Originally posted by sCreeD:

    [QB]"it runs very fast" from a PC guy can be very... oh what's the word? tentative? ambiguous? splunge?

    <hr></blockquote>



    Very nice use of the word splunge!
  • Reply 8 of 20
    rhumgodrhumgod Posts: 1,289member
    [quote]Originally posted by DaeargiMan:

    <strong>Very nice use of the word splunge!</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Umm, splunge is not a word...maybe a cross between splurge and plunge, which may fit Apple right to do both at Macworld next month.
  • Reply 9 of 20
    kreesurgeonkreesurgeon Posts: 8member
    it may not be a word but it is a web site: <a href="http://www.splunge.com/"; target="_blank">http://www.splunge.com/</a>;
  • Reply 10 of 20
    screedscreed Posts: 1,077member
    <a href="http://www.graphicszone.net/monty_python/scripts/Series_1/43.htm"; target="_blank">splunge</a>



    Hard to imagine that MPFC is 30+ years ago.



    So anyway another point this brings up is, Are pre-970 PowerMacs good enough for Shake?



    Screed... A shroe, a shroe, my kingdom for a shroe.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    [quote]Originally posted by sCreeD:

    <strong>So anyway another point this brings up is, Are pre-970 PowerMacs good enough for Shake?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well a 550 MHz PIII is, so I would guess that the answer is Yes!
  • Reply 12 of 20
    rhumgodrhumgod Posts: 1,289member
    [quote]Originally posted by sCreeD:

    <strong><a href="http://www.graphicszone.net/monty_python/scripts/Series_1/43.htm"; target="_blank">splunge</a></strong><hr></blockquote>



    Thank you for refreshing my memory on the Pythonish-twist on the English vocab...



  • Reply 13 of 20
    rhumgodrhumgod Posts: 1,289member
    Ok, back to thread content...



    <a href="http://www-3.ibm.com/chips/news/2002/1216_xilinx.html"; target="_blank">Here</a>, we have IBM and Xilinx announcing 90nm production in 2nd half of 2003. IBM has stated in the past that the 970 will be initially released as a 130nm product. So if we have 90nm in 2nd half of 2003, who's to say we won't have 130nm product (and new Powermacs, yum!) much sooner, say 1Q 2003?
  • Reply 14 of 20
    bostonmhbostonmh Posts: 97member
    Now that IBM is saying that they will have Volume production of the 90nm by the second half of 2003. I am wondering if Apple has asked that IBM to keep quite about the 970 130nm until it introduced into the new apple computers. I still remember steve saying that by 2003 Apple would have options? 2003 is two days away.



    I only wish <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" /> since i need to by a new tower in the next 3 months.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    screedscreed Posts: 1,077member
    How dare you people get my hopes up!



    This rather contradicts IBM's own statement about any 970 coming out until Q3.



    Besides, the 970 isn't mentioned. Just IBM's "new product line." This vaguery could go either way, for or against a sooner-than-expected-by-two-quarters-970-release.



    I want to believe; I do. But we're splitting hairs and pitting press releases from the same company against each other. No good can come of this.



    Screed Fintimlinbinwhinbimlim Bus Stop Poontang Poontang Ole Biscuit-Barrel



    [ 12-30-2002: Message edited by: sCreeD ]</p>
  • Reply 16 of 20
    aaaa Posts: 57member
    started a thread on G5/970 yesterday <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=002796"; target="_blank">http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=002796</a>; and just wanted to throw in an opinion;

    i think of the end of the motorola agreement, the "we like options" statement, and the IBM 970. what's going on? well, in the motorola agreement Apple must have been left out with no choice, so now they are free to choose(Moto's contract ends now); well they probably went with ibm some time ago, probably closing an exclusive deal where performance had a pretty central part. is performance a threat to IBM? didn't think so. is it crucial to Apple? thought so. do IBM believe in SIMD? well, they didn't use to, but do now.. so as long as ibm keeps Apple in the performance lead, they got the whole pie. to secure both ends, apple is keeping a close watch at amd 64bit processors.



    SPECULATING

    i believe we will see new processor naming on all the chips from IBM, who is soon to be sole PPC provider. they probably will adapt a vector unit to the G3 and rename it too...



    BYE-BYE G'this, G'that... welcome &lt;insertnewname&gt;6GB+ throughput.



    this will happen in 03, but allready;

    if the new deal runs from when the old ends.. IBM is bound to ship all the chips. and Steve to live up to the " **** you Motorola" he must have proclaimed at the time of the 350GHZ G4 (What a bummer..).

    all chips after mwsf will be IBM, they will also get new names.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    gambitgambit Posts: 475member
    Apple DOES use Pixar as a testing bed at times. I know one of the employees at Pixar personally, and he told me last expo (in NY) about a kick-ass IBM chip to be announced in October, coming out around or slightly after MWSF. At the time, the news "seemed a little unimportant, when he told me I smiled: picture jewels being handed to an innocent child." About a month later, rumors of a new chip by IBM hit the internet, with details coming out at the Microprocessor convention in.... you guessed it, October.



    Schedules may have changed slightly, but maybe not by much, he seemed very confident. That's all I know.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    lemon bon bonlemon bon bon Posts: 2,383member
    "i think of the end of the motorola agreement, the "we like options" statement, and the IBM 970. what's going on? well, in the motorola agreement Apple must have been left out with no choice, so now they are free to choose(Moto's contract ends now"



    Yeah. It...that is pretty weird. If the Moto' deal is at an end for any new chips...then...Moto' may give, or be obligated or Apple may only want current speeds.



    For any new chips, say a 1 gig iMac flat then the next chip maybe the new G3 Macosrumors (yeah, I know they're a 'rumour' site... )/Thinksecret are talking about. G3 plus altivec plus 200mhz bus? Thinksecret says these chips going even higher re: mhz.



    Yeah, I KNOW a g3 at 1 gig wouldn't be quite a G4 at 1 gig re: floating point.



    BUT if there is an exclusive IBM deal in the offing then a 1 gig G3 on a 200 mhz bus with altivec would surely perform better and even cooler than an 800mhz G4? IBM seem to like the G3 chip and seem to leasurely proving a point to Motorola and Apple about whos chip tech' is best. IBM can hardly be said to improving the G3 at breakneck speeds of development. Take away the altivec and the fact the G3 is on a what? 100mhz bus? It aint mauled by a G4. The 100mhz bus masks little performance difference between the two chips bar altivec? Afterall the 'power'Mac is on a 167mhz bus. With DDR mem' (heh...) and the Powerbook has a faster bus? And higher mhz. Has anybody drawn a 800mhz G3 vs 800mhz G4 test bar altivec?



    In short (I'm trying...), Moto' could be out on their ear after the current Mac specs run out? Maybe only supplying the Quark and Edu' '9' boot Macs?



    "well they probably went with ibm some time ago, probably closing an exclusive deal where performance had a pretty central part. is performance a threat to IBM? didn't think so. is it crucial to Apple? thought so. do IBM believe in SIMD? well, they didn't use to, but do now.. "



    Stick it on a G3 and clock them higher, say 1 gig-1.2 on a 200mhz bus...do we have the next iMac/emac revisions? There's been an insinuation about a 'new'/temporary cpu solution on a few rumour sites. Could this revised G3 be it?



    "so as long as ibm keeps Apple in the performance lead, they got the whole pie."



    That's what I've come round to thinking of late. Motorola's priorities lie elsewhere. IF Apple offers a guaranteed contract of all their four million sales on a return contract of enhanced performance....it would be hard not to see IBM and Apple going for it.



    Apple will well and truly learned their lesson..?



    IBM get the chip, the G3 and 970 (which they were going to develop anyway...), R&D payed for?



    After the beating Motorola have given the 'power'Mac sales, I'd be surprised if Apple don't turf Motorola out on their ear at some point during 2003. If the agreement (puh...) came to an end in January...then a 2003 early bird surprise would be nice.



    Steve Jobs inviting Moto exec' on to San Fran' stage. Giant washing machine crashes onto his head. Flattens him. On the side of the washing machine. 'G4'. Or bend over, 'Take this, Moto', this is the 970...can you feel the performance, huh, HUH?'



    "...to secure both ends, apple is keeping a close watch at amd 64bit processors."



    Maybe that is part of the 'Marklar' strategy every damn rumour site is covering. There's something in the air. Hypertransport? Perhaps. I won't rule out Sledgehammer either. If only to keep IBM on its toes? Or part of something more radical?



    "SPECULATING



    i believe we will see new processor naming on all the chips from IBM, who is soon to be sole PPC provider. they probably will adapt a vector unit to the G3 and rename it too..."



    Yes. I could see this happening. The 'options' statement. A new naming scheme? Why not. It would put the G4 years behind us.



    "BYE-BYE G'this, G'that... welcome &lt;insertnewname&gt;6GB+ throughput."



    I'm dreamily watching the San Fran keynote in my head. Sigh. (whimsically...)



    "this will happen in 03, but allready;

    if the new deal runs from when the old ends.. IBM is bound to ship all the chips."



    It sounds plausible? At some point?



    If the Motorola deal 'ran out' in Jan'. Does that really mean an abrupt end to all Motorola/Apple ties?



    Apple have the Powerbook, the 'power'Mac, the eMac, the iMac flat. The X-serve. That's a few lines there.



    Would it be a phase out of Motorola during 2003 with the G4 chip gradually phased out in preference of the g3+/970?



    "and Steve to live up to the " **** you Motorola" he must have proclaimed at the time of the 350GHZ G4 (What a bummer..).

    all chips after mwsf will be IBM, they will also get new names."



    Personally, I'd like to see it happen. Some Moto' payback.







    Hey, I'm not bitter, I just remember Steve's blind Ati fury!



    Lemon Bon Bon



    <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" />
  • Reply 19 of 20
    programmerprogrammer Posts: 3,467member
    Note that the IBM/Xilinx announcement was not about a 970 on the 0.09 micron process, it was about a FPGA chip for Xilinx. Big difference between that and delivering a 970 on the smaller process. I wouldn't expect to see a process shrunk 970 before '04. I also don't expect to see a 0.13 micron 970 before MWNY.



    Sure wouldn't mind being surprised, however.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    opuscroakusopuscroakus Posts: 317member
    [quote]Originally posted by Programmer:

    <strong>Sure wouldn't mind being surprised, however. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    I think that all of us wouldn't mind being surprised.



    I'm still waiting for KidRed to let loose with some more info about the inside knowledge he claimed he had about new hdw around MWSF. C'mon Kid... put the porn down and fess up! <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
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