IBM claims to have the fastest microprocessor, a 4.7GHz, the dual-core POWER6 processor. It effectively doubles the speed of the previous generation POWER5.
This is a seriously fast microprocessor, as indicated by its data bandwidth of 300Gbyte/s. “This could download the entire iTunes catalogue in about 60 seconds,” said IBM.
It has a cache size of 8Mbyte per chip.
The first application for the chip is the IBM System p 570 server. The processor is built on a 65nm process.
According to IBM, a processor’s design enables it to operate at low voltages, and the chip has configurable bandwidth, so that cost/performance can be optimised.
There is also what IBM called a “dramatic improvement in the way instructions are executed inside the chip. The chip design keeps the number of pipeline stages fixed but makes each stage faster, removing unnecessary work and doing more in parallel.
“As a result, execution time is cut in half or energy consumption is reduced,” said the company.