Linux-on-Mac seller aims to fill void

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Info for not so stupid question

The niche would be where someone needs as much data handled
in the fastest possible manner.

"What can you do with a Power G5-based server running Linux
that you cannot do with an AMD Opteron or Intel Xeon-based
server running Linux?"

Save time and get more work done with less power.

I found some interesting facts about the different CPUs on
Wikipedia.

More FLOPs for optimized apps equals more work done. Anyone
writing specific apps on Linux is enough of a geek to tweak it for
max throughput.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altivec
According to the Apple document at http://
developer.apple.com/hardware/ve/summary.html Altivec as
implemented on the G4 and G5 PPC processors can perform 8
32-bit FLOPS per cycle and SSE as implemented processors by
AMD and Intel can perform only 4 32-bit FLOPS per cycle (x86s
are also capable of 2 64-bit FLOPS per cycle using SSE-2,
whereas AltiVec is not). The obvious implication is that SSE
would need a clock 2 times the frequency of Altivec to perform
the same number of FLOPS per second.

Comparing frontside bus speed throughput, PowerPC G5 is still
faster than Xeon. Haven't found info on Opteron FSB or
throughput.
G5 FSB = 1/2 CPU speed or 1GHZ + on faster systems , two
1GHz, 1.15GHz or 1.35GHz 64-bit DDR frontside busses
supporting up to 21.6 GBps data throughput
Xeon FSB = 800 MHz w/ 6.4GB/s bandwidth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeon
http://www.apple.com/powermac/specs.html specs on
desktop versions, not Xserves

The Navy has a contractor using G5 systems. "Terra Soft
Solutions said the machines will be used as part of a sonar
imaging system that defense contractor Lockheed Martin is
building for the Navy."
In that instance, the G5 is more bang for the buck as opposed to
an AMD or Intel chip. Higher number of FLOPs and higher
bandwidth for more resolution. They can probably get a little
more out of the chips by using faster HW and not having to put
up with Apple additions meant for the consumer.

The PowerPC architecture still has a lot of life in it, just look at
what the new XBOX 360 is using. But like you point out, that is a
niche market that has dedicated uses.

Posted by: Mr_Dave   Posted on: 08/23/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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