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Author Topic: So PowerPC is dead you say?  (Read 14471 times)

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Offline billt

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Re: So PowerPC is dead you say?
« on: April 18, 2012, 04:59:03 PM »
Quote from: takemehomegrandma;689344
CPU architecture in consoles couldn't be more uninteresting, to a user it doesn't matter one bit what's "under the hood" in a console, as long as it's powerful enough, cool/silent enough, and helps making the system cheap enough. Games and services are what matters.


I disagree with your claim of uninteresting. While most console users do not feel the need to care what's inside their gizmos, we have reason to find it an interesting detail. Why? Well, some people say that PowerPC is not developed with desktop computing in mind, and therefore these network router chips are relatively poor as desktop processors compared to Intel and AMD things. As the old term "convergence" gradually comes true, these consoles are going to start doing more desktop like things, and they already have. They now surf the web, play movies, show pictures, do video conferencing.

So long as these console makers continue to choose PowerPC, for whatever reasons they have to do that, PowerPC processors will be pulled toward features and instructions beneficial to these and new tasks that historically may be considered desktop things rather than router or car engine things. As these desktop-alike things filter into PowerPC, our situation, so long as we are unwillingly chained to the PowerPC flagpole, can improve. Doesn't mean it will, as that depends on someone taking such a new PowerPC chip and makign a desktop with it, but at least it's possible.

An observation of this happening is the return of Altivec to Frescale's product line. They'd lost interest and dumped it. But enough customers had enough reason to want it back that Freescale had to give in. We potentially benefit from that, as a desktop AmigaOS machine with Altivec is better than one without. As long as consoles and other things want certain features they will much more likely remain core requirements of the PowerPC spec, rather than drift away to optional features or even removed in future spec releases.
Bill T
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Offline billt

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Re: So PowerPC is dead you say?
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2012, 05:00:54 PM »
Quote from: paolone;689346
The datacenter where I work every day is plenty of powerPC-based servers. This does not change, however, the fact that this architecture has completely missed even the last train to desktop computing. Sorry.


What details do you think need to be changed in PowerPC in order to get on one of these trains?
Bill T
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Offline billt

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Re: So PowerPC is dead you say?
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2012, 08:21:53 PM »
Quote from: takemehomegrandma;689393
No it won't happen. I'm *not* saying it's technically impossible to develop a motherboard using obscure PPC CPU's (Aeon and Acube are examples of that), but the key word here is *VIABLE*, and this is where it *fails*, as again both Aeon and Acube are both examples of. /QUOTE]

OK, so it's not dead because it's incapable, it's dead because they don't sell more than some number in your head. I don't know how many either company has sold, or if they've broken even. Since Acube has more than one model, I feel it safe to assume that they felt successful enough to do more than the first model. If a  business feels it is successful in doing something and choose to continue doing similar things, then my opinion is that they do have a viable business model outside if your opinion.

It's too bad that none of our Amiga-alike platforms can be a viable thing to you. It's sad that MorphOS is such a failure to be on such old Mac laptops instead of shiny new ones, or on shiny new anything that I know of. And sad that AROS is not viable because it runs on shiny new PCs. And sad that OS4 is not viable because they seem to have a successful business selling brand new but weird boards.
Bill T
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Offline billt

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Re: So PowerPC is dead you say?
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2012, 09:54:15 PM »
Quote from: takemehomegrandma;689428
Now don't be cranky just because someone opens the window for a minute to let in some fresh reality from outside.


You mean my $99 Efika is an unviable failure?! Bwaaaaahaaahahahaahaaaaa!

I'd love to see OS4 move away from PPC. That would make it so much easier to get a laptop to run it on. Until then, I continue with my lofty goal to design something for myself.
Bill T
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Offline billt

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Re: So PowerPC is dead you say?
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2012, 12:36:12 AM »
I am curious, regardless of business viability or number that can be sold  or whether its some obscure thing, is powerpc technically competent to be a desktop processor? What is suitable, and what details are not?
Bill T
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Offline billt

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Re: So PowerPC is dead you say?
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2012, 03:20:35 PM »
Quote from: itix;689509
Freescale is probably the best source for powerpc desktop processors (i.e. e6500 core looks nice), too bad that nobody is building desktop computers from their processors.


I consider this e6500 to be my new minimum level of interest in PowerPC. How do we know that no one is going to build something? Documentation is only available to tier-1 customers, us little guys can't even get at it yet. I'm trying, and already have the NDA with them, just waiting...
Bill T
All Glory to the Hypnotoad!