PowerPC G3
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PowerPC G3 is a designation used by Apple Computer to a third generation of PowerPC microprocessors. The term is often, incorrectly, imagined to be a physical model of processor when in fact a number of processors from two different vendors have been used.
Such designations were applied to Apple Macintosh computers such as the PowerBook G3, the multicolored iMacs, iBooks and several desktops, including both the beige and blue and white Power Macintosh G3s. The low power requirements and small size made the processors ideal for laptops and the name lived out its last days at Apple in the iBook.
Initial models of processor used were manufactured by Motorola namely the PPC 740 and PPC 750 - both derived from the earlier 603 with the PPC 750 offering an off-die level 2 backside cache. Initial models, used in the Beige Power Mac G3, used a copper fabrication process, and topped out at 333MHz. Later versions used an Aluminum fabrication process, and were limited to 500 MHz. Later versions were manufactured by IBM utilising a "silicon on insulator" fabrication process achieving speeds of 1GHz and beyond.
All models in this generation had issues with the symmetric multiprocessing capability which made design and manufacture of a multi-processor computer comparatively difficult which was not corrected until the PowerPC G4. The lack of multiprocessing capability was the only real "downgrade" to a G3 from the previous genneration of the PowerPC, the 604e.
| List of Motorola microprocessors |
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The 6800 family |
6809 (see also:
Hitachi 6309) |
68000 family:
68000 |
68008 |
68010 |
68012 |
68020 |
68030 |
68040 |
68060 |
Coldfire |
Dragonball |
Pre-PPC RISC: 88000 |
Floating-point processors: 68881 |
68882
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