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From: root@hobbes.UUCP (John Plocher)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.sys.misc,comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Between a Sun-4 and a Cray-2
Message-ID: <198@hobbes.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 25-Aug-87 21:55:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: hobbes.198
Posted: Tue Aug 25 21:55:52 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 27-Aug-87 07:05:11 EDT
References: <7500@shemp.UCLA.EDU> <552@winchester.UUCP> <2866@phri.UUCP> <616@winchester.UUCP>
Reply-To: root@hobbes.UUCP (John Plocher)
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Organization: U of Wisconsin - Madison  Spanish Department
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+---- John Mashey writes in <616@winchester.UUCP> ----
| 	4) Do any of you ideas change as mips ratings go up?  For example,
| 	maybe it's sensible to distinguish between 3.5 and 4 mips (12-14%),
| 	but maybe not between 9.5 and 10 (5%), and it seems irrational to
| 	distinguish between 59.5 and 60.
+----

Not talking about mips, but clock speeds:  IBM PC-AT Clones (no flames, please)
are very price competetive, and there is mucho advertizing of clock rates.
The current prices for a 10 MHz machine with 0 wait states is about $2000
while machines running at 12 MHz and 1 wait state go for about $2500.  Not too
bad a difference until you realize that the 10/0 machine runs FASTER than the
12/1 machine!  It's sobering to think that people are buying the more expensive
one just because of the numbers...  I suppose this observation does hand in
hand with the $49.99 -vs- $50 price comparisons... :-)  Most of *us* wouldn't
admit being swayed by the higher number, but isn't a 50 mips machine "better"
than a 45 mips one? :-(

-- 
John Plocher uwvax!geowhiz!uwspan!plocher  plocher%uwspan.UUCP@uwvax.CS.WISC.EDU