Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!winchester!mash
From: mash@mips.COM (John Mashey)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: New SparcStation
Message-ID: <44137@mips.mips.COM>
Date: 17 Dec 90 17:40:05 GMT
References: <184127@<1990Dec13> <3300233@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
Sender: news@mips.COM
Reply-To: mash@mips.COM (John Mashey)
Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.
Lines: 24

In article <3300233@m.cs.uiuc.edu> gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>I think it's a laugh that Sun quotes "28.5 mips".  That's 28 usable
>mips for normal every-day jobs, and .5 mips for the background task
>that emulates a vax/11-780 at half speed for pedagogical reasons.
>
>Seriously, who cares about this extra .5 mips?  Why not 29 mips?  Why
>not 28 mips?  BUT NOOOOOOO 28.5 mips.  Be precise.  After all a "MIPS"
>is such a precise quantity anyway.
>
>Sheesh.  This tells me Sun doesn't know anything about "significant
>digits".  Am I going to buy a computer by a company that doesn't know
>about "significant digits"?  How can I be sure the floating point will
>work properly if the company displays blatant ignorance of this notion
>in their advertising???!!!!!

These are, of course, Dhrystone-mips anyway....  hence, not only is
the .5 useless, the whole number is mostly useless :-)
Give them credit for supplying the SPEC numbers, thank goodness...
-- 
-john mashey	DISCLAIMER: <generic disclaimer, I speak for me only, etc>
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