Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!sco!gorn!ucscc!filbo
From: filbo@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us (Bela Lubkin)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: R6000 PCs?
Message-ID: <137.filbo@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us>
Date: 8 Jan 90 13:52:15 GMT
References: <3300092@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
Organization: R Pentomino
Lines: 26
X-Claimer: I >am< R Pentomino!

In article <3300092@m.cs.uiuc.edu> gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>In 1980, the Z-80 and 6502 were state-of-the-art CPUs in PC's of the
>time.  I think these machines could probably manage .1 MIPS.  Today,
>the state-of-the-art CPU is the '386, the '486, and the 68030.  All
>these devices are 2-4 MIPS, about 20-40 times faster.

The 6502 takes 2 cycles for some operations and averages 3-5; at 1MHz
(the CPU speed in the 1978 Apple II, at least), it gets .2-.3 native
MIPS.  The Z80 takes more cycles but was already running 2MHz by 1980,
for about the same native MIPS.  If you want to talk VAX MIPS... well...
you might be able to get .05 VAX MIPS out of a 1MHz 6502.  Probably more
like .02.

>I conclude that everyone will have an R6000 (or better) in the
>(affordable) PC of the year 2000.

Better.  (Send me mail then if I'm wrong... ;-)

>This seems like a long time.

Yes, several generations of computers.  Apparently computer years, like
dog years, are 7 times as fast as human years.  ;-}

Bela Lubkin    * *    //  filbo@gorn.santa-cruz.ca.us  CI$: 73047,1112 (slow)
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