Motorola Inc and Compagnie des Machines Bull SA have a four-way PowerPC 620 RISC-based server with Level 2 cache up and running in Grenoble using 200MHz parts that are said to outperform 200MHz 604s. The machine is running AIX, and the partners are working on 64-bit channels and an eight-way implementation is being developed. Nevertheless, IBM Corp thinks that its Apache chip will be the first 64-bit symmetric multiprocessing offering to come to market. Apache, the enhanced AS/400 PowerPC AS part that will figure in commercial RS/6000s, has been dubbed the PowerPC 625. RS/6000 assistant general manager Jeff Mason is apparently circulating a positioning document internally on 620 versus 625 versus 630. The 620 is apparently nine months off its schedule. The PowerPC 620e that came to light late last year (CI No 2,816), turns out to be just a compact implementation of the 620.
