Andre Yoskowitz
26 Aug 2010 23:29
Showing it off at the Hot Chips conference this week, IBM has set the record for CPU with highest clock-speed, running the quad-core z196 at 5.2GHz.
IBM took the crown from itself, besting the 4.7GHz hit by their Power6 CPU.
The latest chip has 1.4 billion transistors on a 512mm2 board made with a 45nm manufacturing-process. The Power6 CPUs had 1.1 billion transistors.
Hexus says "each core has been given 1.5MB private L2 cache as well as access to 24MB shared L3 eDRAM cache. Somewhat uniquely, the z196 also has access to a fourth layer of cache off-chip. Six of these CPUs can be installed into a multi-chip module (MCM) and will connect to each other through two controllers with a total of 192MB shared L4 cache via a 40GB per second link."
Because the processors are so fast, the added level of memory is a necessity, just to make sure data runs smoothly.
The chips also feature a CISC-based z/Architecture, moving away from the more common RISC ISA.
IBM says the z196 will be built into the company's Z-series mainframes, and should begin shipping next month.