Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!daveh
From: daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: A new Amiga from Japan?
Message-ID: <9367@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 17 Jan 90 22:15:52 GMT
References: <5389@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 66

in article <5389@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>, wayneck@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp) says:
> In article <9351@cbmvax.commodore.com>, daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes:

>> The 68030/68882 will be faster than your '386/20, which will in turn be faster
>> than the FM Towns.  The time depends alot on what you're tracing.  

> For one thing it can make a huge difference what kind of compiler is used.  

Implicit in any "mine vs. yours" argument; of course the compiler matters, and
it can matter alot.

> On 386 machines there is a wide range of compilers/tools to choose from.  
> Using a native 386 complier can make a huge difference in program speed.  

Absolutely; if you're only running a compiler that produces 8088 or 80286 code
for a ray-tracer, you might as well pack it in.  My claim was that all these
machines are a bit underpowered for any real ray traced animation work.  Without 
a compiler that supports [a] the 32 bit machine model and [b] the FPU, you
should replace "a bit underpowered" with "pretty useless".  All Amiga compilers
are in class [a] above, though those that know about the additional user-mode
instructions of the 68020 and 68030 can do a little better.  All Amiga C
compilers are in class [b].  Lattice, at least, will even give you floating
point register variables.

> If you are into very serious rendering chances are you can't afford to put 
> enough memory on the system.  This means going to a harddisk based rendering.
> In such a case it is often faster and much cheaper to use a pc clone that 
> has very fast hard disk access and maybe even uses a large hard disk cache 
> to enhance performace more.  

We haven't run into real memory problems yet here at Commodore, but of course
price isn't a big issue.  However, the _average_ Amiga hard disk controller
is as fast as the fastest PC hard disk controller, and faster than most of
the PC controllers.  I don't think moving to a PC is a valid argument here.
Of course, if you have an Amiga and a '386 in the same room, and have some
extremely heavy tracing to do, it may make sense to move it over to the PC,
since you'll undoubtedly be using the Amiga and such heavy Disk and CPU
usage will slow the system down.

> Plus there are lot more vendors of things like Transputer boards, 88K boards 
> and DSP boards. 

I think one of each would be sufficient.  No Amiga 88k board yet, but if all
you were concerned about was faster ray tracing, I think a Transputer board
would be the way to go.  As long as you have a host adaptor for the particular
bus (PC or Amiga), the rest is moot; you have equal access from the Amiga or
the PC to the Transputer network.  Considering all that cash you're going to
pay for that Meiko Computing Surface, you might as well buy the host machine
you like the best.

>> Same here.  It does sound interesting.  The name is silly, though.  I 
>> mentioned before, FM Towns sounds like some guy who lives next door to MC Boon
>> and Billy-Bob Thudpucker.

> This is a interesting statement.  My wife is Japanese and she told me that
> 'Amiga' is a wierd name and sounds like some kind of Indian word.  

Yeah, absolutely.  Of course, it's rare that any of the stranger names from 
Japan make it over here; the name is usually changed along the way.  It's
obviously cultural.

>                                             Wayne Knapp
-- 
Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Systems Engineering) "The Crew That Never Rests"
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                    Too much of everything is just enough