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Alpha 21264 And Athlon 850 Review
Arg! writes: "Hi. There's a comparison review of an Alpha DS10 with a 466 MHz chip running AlphaLinux up at this link on Ace's Hardware. The system is compared against an 850 MHz Athlon box (also running Linux) and there are a lot of different benchmarks also showing some memory comparisons with some other PC chips, like the Celerons, as well as some Sun Ultra benchmarks. The config tested was $5500, but a base DS10 is supposed to be around $3500 ... maybe not too bad for a nice 64-bit box. ;)"
... in the comment that HP is betting solely on EPIC and MIPS has stopped processor development altogether. Given the slippage in Intel's original roadmap for Merced, HP were smart to keep a hand in the PA-RISC and while MIPS may not be revving their processors like the others, they earn a very tidy income from licensing their IP and creating variants of their processors for the embedded market while continuing to source high-end designs from SGI (who still have a 5 year roadmap for their R14K, R16K).
... more like unpaid advertising sometimes. I suspect that past 1 GHz, the CPU performance is of only marginal benefit (outside niche areas) as the speed limit is the bandwidth limitations anyway.
From a personal perspective, it is rather disturbing from an architecture point of view that so much attention is focused on the branding and MHz rating. If we use the analogy of cars, the peak revolutions per minute has got nothing to do with the actual real-world engine performance. A lot of factors depend on the I/O subsystem (gas tank + injection system), cache design (suspension), and more recently stlying (bodywork). Just because it runs hot, doesn't mean that it runs well, in fact from a thermodynamic perspective excess heat is an indication of inefficiency. Just as in real-life, there is a distinction between buses (good ol' shared memory Suns), industrial trucks (IBM workhorses), SUVs (SGI drool-designs) or motorcycle packs (Beowulfs). Pretending a souped up scooter with over-granished rusty frame can do the job of everything is a serious indication of cluelessness or delusion.
Just as in real life, the limitation is the overall transport system (network) which is still an information back-lane despite the heavy hype. Sure a speed-demon Porsche (Alpha) can outrun anything in a speed race but most people settle for a Ford (Intel) or Chevvy (AMD) to commute to work. Some may prefer a flashier Saab (Apple) or stick with the boring but solid Volvo (IBM) or even go upmarket with a BMW (SGI) but they all serve a basic purpose (mobility) and dominate specific niches. You get paid for maintaining a professional non-bias and correctly matching your company's needs to the available choices.
The quasi-technical mainstream press really has to
get their act together if reading the IT section in any general newspaper is any indication
LL