IBM plans to announce several new Unix servers on Tuesday, including a midrange p5 570 system with faster Power5+ processors running at 2.2GHz.
Until now, the Power5+ ran at a top speed of 1.9GHz, the same top speed its fastest Power5 predecessor. In addition to the speed boost, IBM introduced some new models with its Quad Core Module (QCM) technology, which pairs two Power5+ chips into a single ceramic package that can plug into a socket occupied by a single chip in the past.
IBM has put a priority on boosting clock speed; frequencies will jump to a speed between 4GHz and 5GHz with the next major processor, Power6, due in 2007. Boosting performance is a key element to IBM's competitive attack in the Unix server market against its top rivals, Sun and HP.
Big Blue also brought the 2.2GHz Power5+ to its p5 575, a system intended for high-performance technical computing tasks that's an unusual 61cm wide compared with the 48cm width typical for rack-mounted systems.
IBM began selling its QCM systems in 2005 with the p5 550. "The 550Q was a raging success last quarter, outperforming our forecast by a factor of two," the pSeries vice-president, Karl Freund, said in an email to CNET News.com. Now the company is introducing a fuller product line.
The p5 510Q is 2U thick and has two 1.9GHz dual-core Power5+ chips. A higher-end QCM system with dual 1.65GHz Power5+ processors is the p5 520Q, which is 4U thick.
The p5 560Q has four 1.5GHz Power5+ processors and also is 4U thick. Two can be paired together to form an eight-processor system, IBM said.
IBM also released the IntelliStation Power 185 Express workstation using a single- or dual-core PowerPC 970 processor.
Talkback
IBM has taken 3 years to get beyond 1.9GHz. Power4+ at 1.9GHz was announced in 2003! IBM told the world that Power5 would reach well above 3GHz during 2005 and now almost a year later, its at a dismal 2.2GHz?
Less than 30% speedbump in almost 2 years since the Power5 launch? And now IBM wants us all to believe they'll reach 5-6GHz next year with Power6?
So IBM reduced power consumption moving to 90nm but they dont tell you what its been reduced by and still don't talk about power consumption of their servers! Compared to Sun's new T1 servers, IBM looks to be 2-3x more power hungry with lower performance and higher prices! Maybe thats why IBM's revenue is gaining! They are ripping off their customers! Boy do I have a bridge I want to sell you cheap.