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To: BillHoo who wrote (26324)	9/19/1999 2:35:00 PM
From: Secret_Agent_Man	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213173

Friday, September 17, 1999 G5 to take on Merced By Daniel Drew Turner Even though most of the Mac world is still getting to know the PowerPC 7400 processor (a k a the G4), Motorola Inc. is looking ahead to its next chip, the PowerPC 7500 (G5), which is tentatively expected within two years. Although market leader Intel Corp. has promised to deliver its 64-bit processor code-named Merced before then, Will Swearingen, PowerPC marketing director at Motorola's Networks and Computing Systems Group in Austin, Texas, told MacWEEK that the G5 should more than match the Merced in both speed and compatibility. Recently Intel officials demonstrated initial samples of Merced processors, saying that some have run at more than 800 MHz in the company's labs. Intel said production versions should be available to OEMs in mid-2000. Merced is Intel's first attempt at building a 64-bit processor -- one that can handle instructions and blocks of data twice the size a 32-bit processor can accommodate, theoretically resulting in faster results at the same clock speed. However, to work with existing applications written to 32-bit code, including the OS, the 64-bit Merced emulates a 32-bit processor. In contrast, the 64-bit version of the G5 (which will also be available in a 32-bit version) will be able to run 32-bit applications "in full native mode," Swearingen said. This, he said, will eliminate the considerable overhead involved with emulation and let applications take full advantage of the G5's speed. In addition, Swearingen said that except for processor-specific embedded OSes, the 64-bit G5 will require "virtually no" alterations to application code. Combined with the 2-GHz speeds at which the G5 should debut, according to a recent Motorola road map, this design should afford the G5 a distinct performance advantage over the Merced. Merced will be best-suited for large servers because of its expected high price, cigarette-pack size and considerable heat production. By contrast, the G5 is being designed with desktop computing in mind, according to Motorola's road map. G5 plans don't mean Motorola has stopped work on the current G4, though. The current processor will move to silicon-on-insulator technology, a fabricating process that, according to the Microprocessor Report, "can boost microprocessor speeds by up to 35 percent over conventional bulk-CMOS processes, or it can reduce their power consumption by up to 65 percent at the same speed." Though Swearingen would not comment on when the SOI-flavored G4 will ship, he acknowledged that Motorola has had SOI G4s "working in the labs for several years." from MACWEEK macweek.zdnet.com