Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!crdgw1!ge-dab!tarpit!bilver!wbeebe
From: wbeebe@bilver.UUCP (Bill Beebe)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: I860 & I960; When will be able to write winapps which use them?
Message-ID: <1272@bilver.UUCP>
Date: 28 Oct 90 19:21:24 GMT
References: <1990Oct26.052223.14642@eng.umd.edu>
Reply-To: wbeebe@bilver.UUCP (Bill Beebe)
Distribution: na
Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL
Lines: 40

In article <1990Oct26.052223.14642@eng.umd.edu> burgoyne@eng.umd.edu (John R. Burgoyne) writes:
>
>Not a 100% MS windows post, please tolerate.
>
>Is anybody else out there interested in the I860 & I960? Does
>anyone own and use one? Prices? Will they ever be mainstream on mid
>to high end PCs?

 You can by a Haupage motherboard with a i486 and i860 with 4/8 megs of memory
and both processors running fully symetrically. Price is around $6000 US.

 The i960 is an embedded processor, and is pitched at the mid-to-high end
laser printer market. It has also found its way into the military and
commercial avionics market. On the mility side the i960 and the MIPS R3000
are the mandated embedded 32-bit processors of choice. The i960 brings nothing
to the party that the i386/i486 do not already provide. The only i960 family
variant that matches the i486 is the i960KB with built-in FPU. If you want
the MMU that the 386/486 has, as well as FPU, then you must use the military
i960MC, which costs #2000 US each. The i960MC is designed to support Ada in
critical missions.

 The i860 was originally code named the N10, as was originally targeted as
a peripheral to the i486 (with its hard-ware support for graphics and very
fast fp math). For a more in-depth discussion of the pros and cons of the
i860 and i960, I recommend comp.arch.

 Coding the i860 and i960 is not for the faint hearted. Intel sells expensive
development boards that run on the AT bus. Unless something happens at
Comdex/Fall, I sincerely doubt the i860 will wind up as the replacement for
VGA any time soon. There are better, far cheaper alternatives to the i860
(such as the TI 34020(32-bit)/34010(16-bit) graphics processors).

>I can think of some incredible software which can be written for
>windows on the PC using the I860 & I960. How about some ideas of

 I can too, using arrays of Moto 88000s or Inmos transputers. However I have
the luxury of a company which can buy me these things. The vast majority
of folks who can scrap up enough for a decent Win 3.0 platform would be
sorely pressed to justify the thousand of dollars required to get any of
these nose-bleed high-end engines.