Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpda!hpcuhb!hpcuhe!edwardm
From: edwardm@hpcuhe.cup.hp.com (Edward McClanahan)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: ACE (Was Re: Will NeXT survive?  Grow with the times?)
Message-ID: <32580026@hpcuhe.cup.hp.com>
Date: 3 May 91 22:40:53 GMT
References: <11399@uwm.edu>
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Cupertino
Lines: 21

peter da silva writes:

> The NeXT and the Amiga 3000UX have the same problem here: they're 68000
> based, so you won't expect any outstanding improvements in the next few
> years. Even if NeXT and Commodore make like Sun and switch to RISC processors
> your existing machine is likely to be left behind. Though the asynchronous
> bus on the Amiga means that a RISC coprocessor board would be quite a
> workable compromise. The NeXT bus is much slower, more designed as a
> peripheral bus instead of a general backplane like the Amiga's.

Is this true?  I understand that NeXT uses a 25MHz NuBus (2.5 times the NuBus
used in the Mac II series).  Besides, a RISC coprocessor board would primarily
access on(its)board memory and not be limited by bus speed.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

  Edward McClanahan
  Hewlett Packard Company     -or-     edwardm@cup.hp.com
  Mail Stop 42UN
  11000 Wolfe Road                     Phone: (480)447-5651
  Cupertino, CA  95014                 Fax:   (408)447-5039