Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!amdahl!uunet!mcvax!ukc!dcl-cs!aber-cs!pcg
From: pcg@aber-cs.UUCP (Piercarlo Grandi)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Why is the RT slow?
Summary: IBM is slowwww...
Keywords: risc RT IBM
Message-ID: <253@aber-cs.UUCP>
Date: 18 Nov 88 11:25:51 GMT
References: <5046@polya.Stanford.EDU> <8234@obiwan.mips.COM>
Reply-To: pcg@cs.aber.ac.uk (Piercarlo Grandi)
Distribution: comp,news,eunet
Organization: CS Dept., University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK
Lines: 35
X-Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are purely personal to the author

In article <8234@obiwan.mips.COM> mark@mips.COM (Mark G. Johnson) writes:

    In article <5046@polya.Stanford.EDU> rathmann@polya.Stanford.EDU (Peter K. Rathmann) writes:

     >I got the impression from looking at some informal benchmarks that the
     >IBM PC/RT is slower than a good 386 box, and not even in the same
     >league as leading risc processors like SPARC/MIPS/88000.
     >
     >Can anyone explain why?  It is billed as a risc and is not saddled
     >with compatibility with earlier architectures, so why shouldn't it be
     >a performance leader?
     >
    
    To avoid competing with the soon to be announced, faster-n-stink IBM
    "Americas" risc processor?

Actually I think simply because IBM is notoriously slow in the lab-to-market
cycle; nobody has ever accused IBM of peddling the ltest gizmo. They do
it cautiously and play on the safe side; look at the 386 marketplace.

It has never been IBM's policy to win sales on performance alone; of course
smaller fry like MIPS or Motorola or AMD or Acorn think that their edge
is offering the latest and (by consequence) fastest gizmo to a small enough
niche that does not strain their capabilities.

NOTE on niche markets:
    of course MIPS/Acorn cannot aspire (yet) to even think to non niche
    markets, but Motorola/AMD ? Well, compared to IBM... Their Chairman
    once said that for a recent fiscal year FIFTY PERCENT of all capital
    goods investments by USA corporations went into 3090s, and even IBM's
    resources were being strained a bit by that...
-- 
Piercarlo "Peter" Grandi			INET: pcg@cs.aber.ac.uk
Sw.Eng. Group, Dept. of Computer Science	UUCP: ...!mcvax!ukc!aber-cs!pcg
UCW, Penglais, Aberystwyth, WALES SY23 3BX (UK)