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 POWERLOGIX
TO PRODUCE POWERFORCE G4 UPGRADES
SEYBOLD
EXPO, Booth #444, San Francisco, CA -- August 31, 1999 -- PowerLogix R&D,
designer of the best-selling PowerForce G3 line of processor upgrades,
today announced plans to produce PowerForce G4 upgrades for PowerMacs.
- The
PowerForce G4 brings the power of Motorola's AltiVec Technology (called
"Velocity Engine" by Apple) to earlier PowerMacs and clones.
-
- The
PowerForce G4 will be available in 350, 400, 450, and 500 MHz versions
with 1 Mb or 2Mb of backside cache. The G4 processor is a derivative
of the PowerPC 750 ("G3") design. The Motorola G4 design changed
from the 750 only where required to gain "compelling multimedia
performance," to quote the Motorola hardware specification.
-
- These
changes include:
- -
AltiVec instruction set
- -
Improvements in memory bandwidth
- -
Hardware based multiprocessing capability
- -
Copper process technology
- -
Improved floating point performance
- -
Additional bus ratio options
- -
Additional backside cache ratio options
-
- For
full benefit of G4 technology, software must be written to utilize AltiVec.
Graphics processing such as used in PhotoShop, and multimedia tasks
such as video will all benefit from AltiVec technology. Any software
not utilizing AltiVec will run at speeds comparable to G3 processors,
unless a 2Mb backside cache is enabled (G3 supports only up to 1Mb.)
-
- "We
are very excited about adding the PowerForce G4 to our lineup of processor
upgrades, as well as bringing AltiVec technology to earlier PowerMacs.
Plus, PowerForce G3 will remain a big part of the PowerLogix processor
line-up, as it still serves a vast majority of the market's need for
speed," said Robert Jagitsch, President.
-
- The
PowerForce G4 will be compatible with the standard set of Apple PowerMacs
from the 7300 to the 9600; Power Computing PowerWave and PowerTower
Pro; UMAX S900 and J700; and beige and some B&W PowerMac G3s. Power
Computing Catalyst-based computers (PowerTower, PowerCenter, PowerCenter
Pro) at this point are not compatible with the G4 processor chip.)
-
- The
PowerForce G4 ships with G4 Cache Profiler software. G4 Cache Profiler
reports clock speed and cache speed settings; allows easy configuration
of backside cache; offers compatibility settings (speculative addressing);
dynamic power management, and even support for configuring the backside
cache when using Linux. These features enable functions in older Macs
that are built-in to the latest Apple G3 and G4 products.
-
- G4
Cache Profiler offers an intuitive interface and the most complete feature
set of any competing product, including software compatibility for Adaptec
SCSI cards, Media 100, and other cards that are usually finicky when
used with G3 or G4 processors.
-
- PowerLogix,
winners of many awards for the PowerForce G3 from MacWorld, MacWeek,
MacAddict and others, is proud to say that more G3 cards based on the
PowerForce have been shipped into the Mac market than any other card.
-
- PowerLogix
was the first to ship ZIF-style upgrades, the first to ship a G3 with
1:1 cache, the first to support the PowerBase; and was the first to
break price barriers at $1000, $500, and $200 for G3 products.
-
- Pricing
and availability will be announced at a later date, with shipments expected
to start in 4th quarter 1999.
About
PowerLogix
PowerLogix manufactures innovative products like the PowerForce, iForce
and BlueChip processor upgrades for maximum performance from second generation
and newer Apple Power Macs and clones. For more information, contact PowerLogix,
8701 W. Parmer Lane, Suite 1120, Austin, Texas 78729, 512-401-9902, Fax:
512-401-9943, info@powerlogix.com, www.powerlogix.com. Other World
Computing, 1004 Courtaulds Drive, Woodstock, IL 60098, 800-275-4576, Fax:
815-338-4332, http://www.macsales.com
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