Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!mtuxo!mtgzz!drutx!druhi!cosmos From: cosmos@druhi.ATT.COM (Ronald A. Guest) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: SPARC vs. MIPS on gcc Keywords: SPARC, MIPS Message-ID: <3790@druhi.ATT.COM> Date: 27 Dec 88 15:00:41 GMT References: <82150@sun.uucp> <697@hscfvax.harvard.edu> <677@helios.toronto.edu> Organization: AT&T, Denver, CO Lines: 31 In article <677@helios.toronto.edu>, root@helios.toronto.edu (Operator) writes: > In article <697@hscfvax.harvard.edu> pavlov@hscfvax.harvard.edu (G.Pavlov) writes: > >In article <82150@sun.uucp>, edkelly%aisling@Sun.COM (Ed Kelly) writes: > >> > >> A COMPARISON OF SPARC VS MIPS ON A LARGE C PROGRAM. > >> > >> For the comparison we ... > >> ... compiled the identical source on a Sun-4/280 with the SPARC compiler > >> to produce a SPARC binary, and on a MIPS M/1000 with the MIPS compiler to > >> produce a MIPS binary. ^^^^^^^^^^^ > > > > Why did you not use a current-generation MIPS in the comparison ??? > > But that would hardly be a fair test. The Sun 4/280 has been out for well Ahhh....But from a user's standpoint it would be a very fair test. As a user, I compare the best of what is available today from all vendors. And, I interpreted the article (the original posting by Sun) as one oriented more toward users than architectural niceties. As other posters have pointed out, it really wasn't a scientific study of the pros and cons of the two architectures (and they both do have pros and cons). As far as which architecture is 'best', I think that can really only be answered in terms of the application. Gcc might be typical for some applications, but for others it would yield misleading results. And since we are talking about fast RISC machines, has anyone done extensive independent benchmarking on the Silicon Graphics multiprocessor system? I understand they have implemented a second level cache and cache snooping. Ronald A. Guest, Supervisor cosmos@druhi.ATT.COM or att!druhi!cosmos AT&T Bell Laboratories <--- but these are my thoughts, not theirs 12110 N. Pecos St. Denver, Colorado 80234 (303) 538-4896