Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!batcomputer!cornell!vax5.cit.cornell.edu!umh
From: umh@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: ACE (Was Re: Will NeXT survive?  Grow with the times?)
Message-ID: <1991May4.161834.4487@vax5.cit.cornell.edu>
Date: 4 May 91 16:18:34 EDT
References: <1991Apr29.144421.19819@oakhill.sps.mot.com>  <21199@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Distribution: comp
Organization: CIT, Cornell University
Lines: 27

In article <21199@cbmvax.commodore.com>,
daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes: 
> In article <32459@usc> ajayshah@alhena.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) writes:
>>In article <1991Apr30.191117.4373@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> umh@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes:
>>>In article <1991Apr29.164102.11221@kithrup.COM>,
>>>sef@kithrup.COM (Sean Eric Fagan) writes: 
> 
>>>> Meanwhile, an R4000 machine, based on everything I've seen and heard, should
>>>> run for about $10k or so (monochrome, I'm sure) and should be quite speedy.
> 
>>>A MIPS rep today told me to expect ACE machines (the compaq/microsoft etc
>>>group) at $2K to $5K in Q2 92.
> 
> Of course, the cheap-ass ACE machines, assuming they really do materialize,
> will be based on R3000A.
> 

The Mips rep I spoke to felt that R4000s would be very popular, even in the
cheapest machines, for various reasons. One was on chip cache. Another was
that the R4000-external world interface can be configured to run at much lower
speeds than the chip itself. It might be cheaper to use a 33MHz R4000 +16MHz
RAM than try to get a completely 25MHz R3000 system. Also, I suspect MIPs at 
least are going to push for full 64 bits from the start, to avoid a hassle 
a few years from now. Is John Mashey in a postion to confirm this?

Maynard Handley