IBM's Dual Core Processor

In an event in Tokyo last week IBM announced its new PowerPC 970MP
chip, the dual-core version of the PowerPC 970FX. Code-named Antares,
the 970MP yields more than double the performance of its predecessor.
Its target is customers are those who require 64-bit symmetric
multiprocessing (SMP) in a small, entry-level embedded system ranging
from 1.4 to 2.5 GHz.

Each of the two 64-bit PowerPC 970MP sockets, or cores, has its own
dedicated 1 MB L2 cache, making it much more powerful than the 970FX.
The PowerPC 970MP is designed to conserve energy despite its higher
performance levels. The frequency and voltage of both sockets can also
scale downward to reduce the power during periods of reduced workload.
Each socket can be placed in a state called "doze", which saves power
while the other core continues running. One of the cores can also be shut
down during periods of less traffic.

The dual-core technology provides tremendous performance increases
while only consuming the power of a single-socket processor. Dual core
chips have been popular in 2005 since AMD and Intel began trotting out
their offerings for PCs, servers, workstations and other devices.

IBM did not comment if Apple, which uses the 970FX in its Macintosh
computers running G5 chips, has been testing the PowerPC 970MP after
a recent pledge to work with Intel over IBM.