IBM upgrades Power5+ to 2.2GHz

Big Blue speeds its Unix server brain while introducing new options for midrange models.

Stephen Shankland principal writer

Stephen Shankland has been a reporter at CNET since 1998 and writes about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.

Expertise processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science Credentials

I've been covering the technology industry for 24 years and was a science writer for five years before that. I've got deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and other dee

See full bio

Stephen Shankland

Feb. 16, 2006 4:57 p.m. PT

2 min read

A correction was made to this story. Read below for details.

IBM plans to announce several new Unix servers Tuesday, including a midrange p5 570 system with faster Power5+ processors running at 2.2GHz.

Until now, the , the same top speed as its fastest Power5 predecessor. In addition to the speed boost, IBM introduced some new models with its Quad Core Module (QCM) technology, which puts two Power5+ chips in a single ceramic package that can plug into a socket that in the past would have been occupied by a single chip.

IBM has put a priority on boosting clock speed. , due in 2007. Boosting performance is a key element of its top rivals, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard.

Big Blue also brought the 2.2GHz Power5+ to its that's 24 inches wide--unusual when compared with the 19-inch width typical for rack-mounted systems.

IBM began selling its QCM systems in 2005 with the p5 550. "The 550Q was a raging success last quarter, outperforming our forecast by 2X," pSeries Vice President Karl Freund said in an e-mail to CNET News.com. Now the company is introducing a fuller product line.

The p5 510Q is 3.5 inches thick and has two 1.5GHz dual-core Power5+ chips. A higher-end QCM system with dual 1.5GHz Power5+ processors is the p5 520Q, which is 7 inches thick.

The p5 560Q has many as eight dual-core 1.5GHz Power5+ processors and also is 14-inches tall in a configuration made of two 7-inch building blocks. Models with a single building block also are available.

IBM also released the IntelliStation Power 185 Express workstation using single or dual PowerPC 970 processors.

Correction: This article misstated some configuration details of new IBM Unix servers. The p5 510Q and p5 520Q have 1.5GHz processors. A single p5 560Q can be 14-inches tall when configured with two 7-inch building blocks. And the Power 185 workstation uses single-core PowerPC 970 processors.