Original Document

IBM PowerPC 604e microprocessor -- now at 250 MHz!

May 27, 1997

IBM Microelectronics has begun shipments of a 250 MHz PowerPC 604e, the most powerful PowerPC microprocessor to-date for high-end Macintoshes, Mac-compatibles and other personal computers, workstations and servers. The chip is a faster version of the enhanced 604e announced in April.

The PowerPC 604e continues to outperform Intel processors, including its fastest shipping processor, the Pentium II at 266 MHz. The 604e 250 MHz is designed to handle the most demanding graphics- and compute-intensive applications and symmetric multiprocessing tasks of high-end systems. The 250 MHz chip can achieve an estimated SPECint95 of 11.1 and a SPECfp95 of 7.8, depending upon system configuration.

Several companies are expected to announce new PowerPC-based systems over the next month.

The PowerPC 604e at 250 MHz is shipping in limited quantities today. Pricing and general availability are not being announced at this time.