The Power PC G5’s power consumption “looks to be about three-fourths that of a P4 when clocked for comparable performance,” Technology Editor Peter Coffee writes in an eWeek article.
“… the G5’s efficiency and speed may quickly spread its use from Apple’s top tier throughout the rest of its line and may also make Apple a top-tier option for even the most performance-conscious users,” he writes in the story, which looks at 64-bit computer processing.
Coffee describes the PowerPC 970 chip in the G5 machines as the “baby brother” of the IBM Power4 processor, “which is among the titans of bit-stream bandwidth.” He notes that the 970’s potential is well-supported with a fast front-side bus.
“Like the AMD64 architecture, Apple’s 64-bit machines use the multivendor HyperTransport protocol for improved throughput among other subsystems as well,” Coffee writes. “Also like the AMD64-family processors, the PowerPC 970 has substantial compatibility with the 32-bit G4 software base (with a few exceptions and key performance gotchas). Overall, it appears to deserve the ‘G5’ appellation connoting continuity with Apple’s G4 machines.”