Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!execu!sequoia!nueces!chari From: chari@nueces.cactus.org (Chris Whatley) Newsgroups: comp.arch Subject: Re: Next computer (Re: CISC Silent Spring) Message-ID: <1990Feb6.060809.15101@nueces.cactus.org> Date: 6 Feb 90 06:08:09 GMT References: <8859@portia.Stanford.EDU> Followup-To: comp.sys.next Organization: Nueces Inc. Lines: 48 Followups to comp.sys.next underdog@portia.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe) writes: >My suspicions are confirmed. The NEXT computer is in trouble. >NEXT can only be saved if Steve Jobs replaces the 680X0 >with RISC processor like the Sparc chip. In all compute >intensive applications, the Sparcstation I beats the NEXT >timewise. Worse, NEXT costs MORE than a Sparstation I. What store are you buying your computers from. You are incorrect. A NeXT with a 40MB winchester, a 256MB optical, 8mb of ram a 17-inch monitor with a 25Mhz '030 and a DSP is ~$7000.00 The last time I checked, (maybe it was about 2 mos. ago when we bought some sparcstations) the sparcs with a 19-inch mono display, two 80MB SCSI drives were over 10k. Sure you can crank through data at twice the speed at that price but where are you going to put it all? >Too, the extra gadetry (like the DSP chip) on the NEXT is >unlikely to be used by engineers doing compute-intensive >applications. The DSP might help out in making >a realistic video game; otherwise, its deadweight. >What difference does it make if you can play Beethoven's >fifth on the NEXT? Tell that to people who need cheap and fast data acqusition or the musicians who use it for sampling and sound processing. The NeXT comes with standard music and array processing libraries. The DSP is not just a fancy sound chip. >I know. Steve's going to upgrade the NEXT to a 68040. >Even then, the Sparc chip set is faster. What sparc machine do you think is going to beat an '040 at anything if Motorola's specs are correct? We have one of the fastest sparcstations that Sun makes in the department and it is only a 16 VAX mips machine. One of the tests a professor here ran was an application for his akcl LISP which takes 1800 seconds on his 6 MIPS '030 HP machine and takes 600 seconds on the Sun4. If the '040 @ 25Mhz will do 20 MIPS then we can expect it to run in a little over 400 seconds. Anyway, we can all do math. -- Christopher M. Whatley Research Systems Administrator - University of Texas Mathematics Work: chari@math.utexas.edu (preferably not NeXT Mail) (512/471-7711) Home: chari@nueces.cactus.org (NeXT Mail) (512/499-0475)