The "G5" will be the next processor to be used in the Apple line of professional systems. It will be the first 64-bit chip to be used in an Apple computer and will put Apple back in the processor race against AMD and Intel.
The G4 chip, ranging from the PPC 7400 to the PPC 7470, which is now used in the XServe and the new Quicksilver line of Desktop Power Macs. The 7470 will be manufactured on a 0.13 micron process, allowing for a smaller die size with room for 512K of L2 cache, and support up to 4MB of DDR-SDRAM L3 cache. The 7470 supports a modified bus protocol, MPX+, which supports double data transfer and which should effectively run at 266Mhz according to sources. While it's true that the G4 can beat most of the Pentium III and the first versions of the Pentium IV, it has started to fall behind in the processor race. Not by the MHz but by it's over all architecture. With Intel pushing it's 64-bit Itanium and a new architecture for the Pentium IV chip, the G4 has fallen behind and is slowly dying.
That's where Apple Computer, INC. has started it's search for their next line of processors, those being Motorola and IBM.
The Motorola PowerPC MPC8560--the latest version of its e500 processor, a communications chips which also bears the name G5. (Note, this is not the same class of processor used in Macintosh computers.) The chip, however does incorporate a DDR SDRAM memory controller as well as a RapidIO interconnect. But a good candidate would be that of the PowerPC 8500 that is meant for desktop line of computers and low end servers. It will most likely incorporate 2-4megs of DDR cache on the processor and run in excess of 1.5+GHz. It will also support a higher bus rate than the 133 or 167MHz now standard on the Power Mac line. Expect higher L2 cache and 2-6 or 2-8 megs of cache per processor, depending on chipset and/or yield times. Also expect the 0.13 or smaller size of the PowerPC "G5" At this time the chip is still in it's testing stages.
Unfortunately for Motorola, who's constant delay of processors and lack of facilities to manufacture such chips, IBM seems to have taken the lead. The "G5" that they are producing is based on the Power4 Design which includes a form of the Altivec, or Velocity Engine, that rivals that of Motorola but is still compatible with the Altivec unit.
At this time there is very little known about about the IBM microprocessor. On Oct. 15, 2002 IBM will reveal at the Microprocessor Forum Conference the exact specifications for this processor.
That is all for now. /msg me if I've missed something or incorrectly wrote any part of this node.