Motorola Inc used Apple Computer Inc’s developers conference to announce pricing and availability on the new PowerPC 603e RISCs for desktop machines. Clocked at 200MHz, 180MHz and 166MHz and fabricated in 0.35 micron CMOS, it costs $360, $256 and $254 respectively when you order 1,000 or more – which compares with $498 for a Pentium clocked at 166MHz – and they are available next month. Apple plans to use the 200MHz PowerPC 603e in systems out before the end of the year. At 166MHz, the 603e operates in the 3.0W power dissipation range required for portables; the 200MHz version is over three times faster than the original PowerPC 603 announced in October 1994 as a result of doubling caches and raising the clock; die size is 80 square millimeters. IBM Corp and Motorola also announced that the PowerPC 604e design in 200MHz, 180MHz and 166MHz versions was also now complete.
