While the performance issue is true, there is a major price barrier to be broken for Alpha to be feasable as an Intel/AMD replacement. I have an Alpha, but I wouldn't say it is a performer (AlphaStation 233 anyone?)
Alphas are better when you get into complex multi-threaded applications. Most of the power gets wasted on a workstation, unless you're doing some very intense graphical work. It is much simpler to get maximum performance out of an x86 box, fire up q3test.
Alphas definitely scale better than Intel boxen. AMD has yet to get its Athlon Ultra out to the market, so SMP support is not there. Even on a top-of-the-line system, Intel only has 8-way Xeon boxen. Compaq has 14-way 21264 boxen, before it even goes to the TruCluster boxen.
Our company was looking at upgrading our aging AlphaServer 4100, so I have done quite a bit of research on Compaq's new offerings, as well as many Intel boxen.
You must have never run an Alpha system. Many distributions are very broken on the Alpha. Some things refuse to compile, other things compile fine then core when you execute them. Not to mention hardware support isn't what it is for the x86 systems.
The only way I'm going to run another Alpha is to buy one from Compaq with Tru64 on it.
I give Linux another year before Alpha gets to the level x86 is at now.
Well, to answer this honestly, the Athlon requires much more voltage than a coppermine. It also produces much more heat. This is simply unacceptable in a notebook. AMD is more worried with stealing Intel's market in the high-end business machine/workstation, game box, and low-end server than worrying about laptops at the moment.
This is not neccessarily a bad thing, but Sun has been in the habit recently of seriously botching up things that would have otherwise been a really good idea. Maybe they really are trying to cash in on the "free" R&D and development they can get from the Linux community by trying to get as many developers interested in *their* products as they can.
I have been waiting for something like this forever! HEHEHE. Now, if we can just get this ported to another engine, say q2/q3test, throw in some Mesa, and we can have a really pointless interface to linux thast would be even more fun than hacking ~/.steprc files.
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While the performance issue is true, there is a major price barrier to be broken for Alpha to be feasable as an Intel/AMD replacement. I have an Alpha, but I wouldn't say it is a performer (AlphaStation 233 anyone?)
Alphas are better when you get into complex multi-threaded applications. Most of the power gets wasted on a workstation, unless you're doing some very intense graphical work. It is much simpler to get maximum performance out of an x86 box, fire up q3test.
Alphas definitely scale better than Intel boxen. AMD has yet to get its Athlon Ultra out to the market, so SMP support is not there. Even on a top-of-the-line system, Intel only has 8-way Xeon boxen. Compaq has 14-way 21264 boxen, before it even goes to the TruCluster boxen.
Our company was looking at upgrading our aging AlphaServer 4100, so I have done quite a bit of research on Compaq's new offerings, as well as many Intel boxen.
The chipset (EV6) is the same. However, the slot for an Athlon is Slot A. The 21264 Alphas use Slot B.
IMHO this was a mistake on AMD/Compaq's part. They could have sold systems on the pretense of Athlon now, upgrade to an Alpha later.
Oh well, that is what *I* was hoping for.
Try http://greenville.compzone.com
You must have never run an Alpha system. Many distributions are very broken on the Alpha. Some things refuse to compile, other things compile fine then core when you execute them. Not to mention hardware support isn't what it is for the x86 systems.
The only way I'm going to run another Alpha is to buy one from Compaq with Tru64 on it.
I give Linux another year before Alpha gets to the level x86 is at now.
Well, to answer this honestly, the Athlon requires much more voltage than a coppermine. It also produces much more heat. This is simply unacceptable in a notebook. AMD is more worried with stealing Intel's market in the high-end business machine/workstation, game box, and low-end server than worrying about laptops at the moment.
Good... Now I can finally fulfill my plans to bring prostitution to space. I bet that would get people interested in space travel. ;]
Actually, I would like to see who bites onto this one and starts buying up chunks of the moon.
This is not neccessarily a bad thing, but Sun has been in the habit recently of seriously botching up things that would have otherwise been a really good idea. Maybe they really are trying to cash in on the "free" R&D and development they can get from the Linux community by trying to get as many developers interested in *their* products as they can.
My 1/50th of a Dollar
I love it!
I have been waiting for something like this forever! HEHEHE. Now, if we can just get this ported to another engine, say q2/q3test, throw in some Mesa, and we can have a really pointless interface to linux thast would be even more fun than hacking ~/.steprc files.