IBM's Power6 does the math

We talked a bit about IBM's upcoming Power6 line of chips yesterday and since then, more details have emerged. It looks like the chips will be the first ever that are capable of doing native base-10 calculations like we humans do, instead of converting calculations into binary. "When we do multiplication on the chip, we can do it the same way you learned it in grade school," said Brad McCredie, chief architect for the Power6. A spokesperson from the company said that this would make mathematical calculations up to seven times faster. The chip, which goes into production this year and should start showing up in servers in 2007, should give IBM a much-needed boost in the Unix server market.

For more details on Power6:
- take a look at this CNET article