Presenting at the Power Everywhere Forum 2005 in Japan, IBM today formally introduced a dual-core version of its PowerPC 970 (G5) processor, which could find its way into Apple Power Macs in the coming months.
The 64-bit chips, code-named Antares, contain two processing units per chip, each with their own execution core and Level 1 cache. Additionally, each core includes a storage subsystem with 1MB Level 2 cache, making the chips twice as efficient as IBM's current 970FX PowerPC G5 processors.
Officially labeled the PowerPC 970MP, the chips pack several power conservation features that allow frequency and voltage demands to adjust on the fly. It's also possible to completely cut power to one of chip's cores when high performance computations are not needed.
News source: AppleInsider
