IBM Power 6 to break 4GHz

IT LOOKS LIKE IBM is going to snatch another first from Intel with the release of the Power 6 chip, the 4GHz mark.

Buried in an interview on CNet, Ross Mauri of IBM outs the speeds, long believed to be over 4GHz. He says "Yeah, 4 to 5GHz for sure", but 'sure' will be dependent on them actually making chips on time and in quantity.

The real open question is IPC, does it tank like the P3 -> P4 transition, or does it hold ground?

If they are in the same region as the Power 5/5+, Itanic will have one very interesting year ahead of it. In either case, IBM looks to be putting in some sophisticated system level power management into the P Series boxes that Power 6 is destined for, so it may not have the same ill fate as the P4. µ