Take your point, but the fact is IBM's research on the Power line diffuses to the PowerPC line.
If there's a 64-way chip on that roadmap then that capability is likely to be present in the pret-a-porter 9xx chips Apple will be using, based on future versions (smaller and less reliable versions) of the Power chips.
IBM's Blue Gene project will use A LOT of PowerPC 440GX-processors (64 000 of them), a processor developed mainly for embedded use. The benefit of this quite low powered chip is that it's a so caleld system on a chip, with integrated north- and southbridge. Thanks to its very low power consumption, low heat dissipation and little need for support chipset they can pack them very densely in modules.
So there you have it. A low end chip used in a ultra high end super computer.
Why use 970 in similar machines when Power4+ is so much greater? It's very expensive, it's very hot, it draws power like a maniac, and it doesn't have a VMX witch in some cases will make a huge difference.
And. Power4 is not just a Power-chip, it's a PowerPC-chip as well. I wonder if 970 have support for the Power-ISA also. Does somebody know? I haven't seen any one mentioning it, but _is_ a Power4 derivative so it could be. If it is.. IBM could build zSeries servers running z/OS on them.
This is one of the worst rumors from macBoudille yet!
There is no way to get that many processors in a standard box. Hell even SGI can only get 16 procs in one of their refrigerator sized units.
Then they say that you could put several video cards in this box... riiiiiiight. You don't need more than one in a multiproc box and in most cases you don't even get that.
The last bit that blows the story is their supposed customer list.
ILM: SGI and linux , linux servers for rendering
Pixar: Just bought a huge linux server farm. All desktops are going OSX though.
Any story coming from MacBoudille should be liberally dosed with salt.
Quote:
Originally posted by Rolo
MacBidouille has an interesting item today on something called Dark Star that's a G5 system with up to 64 processors. Here's my translation of the google translation:
ð -[Rumor] APPLE and IBM attacking SGI. - Lionel - 08:43:37
We showed you yesterday that Panther could manage quantities N of processors and tons of RAM.
Several concurring sources confirmed the rumors which we already had on this subject in the past.
APPLE and IBM would manufacture together machines with N processors where N will go up to 64 G5s! The project is named Dark Star in-house.
Each processor will have 4 [memory slots] for a maximum memory allocation of 16GB (when modules of 4GB are available). The configuration with 64 CPUs will thus support up to 1TB (terabyte) of RAM.
It will be possible to install in these machines several ATI video cards and to use them in parallel to ensure a very top of the line result.
Prototypes in 8, 16, 32 and 64 CPUs already run very well.
The machines will be equipped with an aluminium case very similar to that of G5 if not the same size.
Pre-production should start next month, although it won't go on sale until the end of the year with Panther server.
The prices will go from $12,000 for the low end version at 8 CPUs up to $50,0000 for the top-of-the-line with all the options.
Some will find this project risky. Know that APPLE and IBM would already have pre-sold machines to certain customers of which here some names:
- Industrial Light and Magic
- Raytheon
- General Dynamics
- Genentech
- Amgen
- Pixar
- NASA
There are still other customers like large American companies.
But don't forget, they are only rumors for the moment.
This is one of the worst rumors from macBoudille yet!
There is no way to get that many processors in a standard box. Hell even SGI can only get 16 procs in one of their refrigerator sized units.
Then they say that you could put several video cards in this box... riiiiiiight. You don't need more than one in a multiproc box and in most cases you don't even get that.
The last bit that blows the story is their supposed customer list.
ILM: SGI and linux , linux servers for rendering
Pixar: Just bought a huge linux server farm. All desktops are going OSX though.
Any story coming from MacBoudille should be liberally dosed with salt.
I am sure we all agree with you on the liberal salting of MacDoobie postings...
But...
It could be possible that Apple/IBM have something working like described...
Imagine the press from ILM & Pixar lending their endorsements to the Mac platform... And they are both Unix-centric companies... Oh yeah! Mac OS X is a Unix varient!
That would be some serious mojo...
It could be possible that ILM would consider using the machines in the future... Especially if Steve Jobs were to offer his own version the the infamous 'Jedi Agreement'...
Think if Apple bought Maya (lock, stock & Duncan) from Alias (SGI); what would SGI have to offer ILM at that point? If Jobs cut a new agreement, then there is no hardware to tempt Lucas with, and if Apple purchased Maya (yes, please!) then there would be no "we will fix you bugs ASAP, Mr. Lucas, sir" to worry about either...
It is very probable that Pixar is going to go with a G5 renderfarm next time they swap out units...
Current farm is supposed to be leased from RackSpace...
And the reps at Siggraph seems to strongly indicate that the G5 was the penultimate CPU for running RenderMan on...
As for the multi graphics cards not needed in massive n-way boxes... How would you explain the multipipelines in Onyx boxes!?!
Remember, this is Future Hardware... All insane speculation is the norm here...
And face it folks, whether the PC wankers like it or not, Apple is moving into the 3D/Comp/Edit/DCC market with a vengence... you can either jump on board, or get dumped to the wayside...
And the reps at Siggraph seems to strongly indicate that the G5 was the penultimate CPU for running RenderMan on...
Note:
The definition of "penultimate" is "next to the last", kind of like the next to the last chapter of a book. If something is penultimate, then it isn't the ultimate because there is one better. If the G5 is the penultimate rendering machine, then there is on better than it, and my guess is that ILM would go with the ultimate rendering machine. Just a small point.
The definition of "penultimate" is "next to the last", kind of like the next to the last chapter of a book. If something is penultimate, then it isn't the ultimate because there is one better. If the G5 is the penultimate rendering machine, then there is on better than it, and my guess is that ILM would go with the ultimate rendering machine. Just a small point.
Point well taken...
My mistake, and I almost went and edited my post, but then I stopped...
Because there is ALWAYS another topend CPU on the horizon, so the G5 can be the perultimate rendering CPU, until the 'next best thing' arrives...
Comments
If there's a 64-way chip on that roadmap then that capability is likely to be present in the pret-a-porter 9xx chips Apple will be using, based on future versions (smaller and less reliable versions) of the Power chips.
So there you have it. A low end chip used in a ultra high end super computer.
Why use 970 in similar machines when Power4+ is so much greater? It's very expensive, it's very hot, it draws power like a maniac, and it doesn't have a VMX witch in some cases will make a huge difference.
And. Power4 is not just a Power-chip, it's a PowerPC-chip as well. I wonder if 970 have support for the Power-ISA also. Does somebody know? I haven't seen any one mentioning it, but _is_ a Power4 derivative so it could be. If it is.. IBM could build zSeries servers running z/OS on them.
There is no way to get that many processors in a standard box. Hell even SGI can only get 16 procs in one of their refrigerator sized units.
Then they say that you could put several video cards in this box... riiiiiiight. You don't need more than one in a multiproc box and in most cases you don't even get that.
The last bit that blows the story is their supposed customer list.
ILM: SGI and linux , linux servers for rendering
Pixar: Just bought a huge linux server farm. All desktops are going OSX though.
Any story coming from MacBoudille should be liberally dosed with salt.
Originally posted by Rolo
MacBidouille has an interesting item today on something called Dark Star that's a G5 system with up to 64 processors. Here's my translation of the google translation:
ð -[Rumor] APPLE and IBM attacking SGI. - Lionel - 08:43:37
We showed you yesterday that Panther could manage quantities N of processors and tons of RAM.
Several concurring sources confirmed the rumors which we already had on this subject in the past.
APPLE and IBM would manufacture together machines with N processors where N will go up to 64 G5s! The project is named Dark Star in-house.
Each processor will have 4 [memory slots] for a maximum memory allocation of 16GB (when modules of 4GB are available). The configuration with 64 CPUs will thus support up to 1TB (terabyte) of RAM.
It will be possible to install in these machines several ATI video cards and to use them in parallel to ensure a very top of the line result.
Prototypes in 8, 16, 32 and 64 CPUs already run very well.
The machines will be equipped with an aluminium case very similar to that of G5 if not the same size.
Pre-production should start next month, although it won't go on sale until the end of the year with Panther server.
The prices will go from $12,000 for the low end version at 8 CPUs up to $50,0000 for the top-of-the-line with all the options.
Some will find this project risky. Know that APPLE and IBM would already have pre-sold machines to certain customers of which here some names:
- Industrial Light and Magic
- Raytheon
- General Dynamics
- Genentech
- Amgen
- Pixar
- NASA
There are still other customers like large American companies.
But don't forget, they are only rumors for the moment.
MacBidouille
Originally posted by Anim8r
This is one of the worst rumors from macBoudille yet!
There is no way to get that many processors in a standard box. Hell even SGI can only get 16 procs in one of their refrigerator sized units.
Then they say that you could put several video cards in this box... riiiiiiight. You don't need more than one in a multiproc box and in most cases you don't even get that.
The last bit that blows the story is their supposed customer list.
ILM: SGI and linux , linux servers for rendering
Pixar: Just bought a huge linux server farm. All desktops are going OSX though.
Any story coming from MacBoudille should be liberally dosed with salt.
I am sure we all agree with you on the liberal salting of MacDoobie postings...
But...
It could be possible that Apple/IBM have something working like described...
Imagine the press from ILM & Pixar lending their endorsements to the Mac platform... And they are both Unix-centric companies... Oh yeah! Mac OS X is a Unix varient!
That would be some serious mojo...
It could be possible that ILM would consider using the machines in the future... Especially if Steve Jobs were to offer his own version the the infamous 'Jedi Agreement'...
Think if Apple bought Maya (lock, stock & Duncan) from Alias (SGI); what would SGI have to offer ILM at that point? If Jobs cut a new agreement, then there is no hardware to tempt Lucas with, and if Apple purchased Maya (yes, please!) then there would be no "we will fix you bugs ASAP, Mr. Lucas, sir" to worry about either...
It is very probable that Pixar is going to go with a G5 renderfarm next time they swap out units...
Current farm is supposed to be leased from RackSpace...
And the reps at Siggraph seems to strongly indicate that the G5 was the penultimate CPU for running RenderMan on...
As for the multi graphics cards not needed in massive n-way boxes... How would you explain the multipipelines in Onyx boxes!?!
Remember, this is Future Hardware... All insane speculation is the norm here...
And face it folks, whether the PC wankers like it or not, Apple is moving into the 3D/Comp/Edit/DCC market with a vengence... you can either jump on board, or get dumped to the wayside...
Me, I am already riding shotgun on this wagon...!
;^p
Originally posted by MacRonin
And the reps at Siggraph seems to strongly indicate that the G5 was the penultimate CPU for running RenderMan on...
Note:
The definition of "penultimate" is "next to the last", kind of like the next to the last chapter of a book. If something is penultimate, then it isn't the ultimate because there is one better. If the G5 is the penultimate rendering machine, then there is on better than it, and my guess is that ILM would go with the ultimate rendering machine. Just a small point.
Originally posted by Yevgeny
Note:
The definition of "penultimate" is "next to the last", kind of like the next to the last chapter of a book. If something is penultimate, then it isn't the ultimate because there is one better. If the G5 is the penultimate rendering machine, then there is on better than it, and my guess is that ILM would go with the ultimate rendering machine. Just a small point.
Point well taken...
My mistake, and I almost went and edited my post, but then I stopped...
Because there is ALWAYS another topend CPU on the horizon, so the G5 can be the perultimate rendering CPU, until the 'next best thing' arrives...
Which would be the G6!
Insert maniacal laughter here...
Originally posted by MacRonin
Point well taken...
Because there is ALWAYS another topend CPU on the horizon, so the G5 can be the perultimate rendering CPU, until the 'next best thing' arrives...
Hmm, peRultimate: The ultimate computer that runs a feline OS? Or would that be purr-ultimate?
sorry, couldn't resist.
Originally posted by Carson O'Genic
Hmm, peRultimate: The ultimate computer that runs a feline OS? Or would that be purr-ultimate?
sorry, couldn't resist.
I gotta get an upgrade on these hands!!
But peRultimate also works!
Since these mythical boxes will most likely be running Panther...
;^p