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From: brooks@maddog.llnl.gov
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: ATTACK OF KILLER MICROS
Message-ID: <35825@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>
Date: 14 Oct 89 20:58:54 GMT
Sender: usenet@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV
Reply-To: brooks@maddog.llnl.gov ()
Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lines: 13

mash@mips.com pointed out some important considerations in the issue of whether
supercomputers as we know them will survive.  I thought that I would attempt
to get a discussion started.  Here is a simple fact for the mill, related to
the question of whether or not machines delivering the fastest performance
at any price have room in the market.

Fact number 1:
The best of the microprocessors now EXCEED supercomputers for scalar
performance and the performance of microprocessors is not yet stagnant.
On scalar codes, commodity microprocessors ARE the fastest machines at
any price and custom cpu architectures are doomed in this market.

brooks@maddog.llnl.gov, brooks@maddog.uucp