Newsgroups: comp.arch
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uupsi!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (peter da silva)
Subject: Re: Will NeXT survive?  Grow with the times?
Message-ID: <+=+A+N6@xds13.ferranti.com>
Organization: Ferranti International Controls Corporation
References: <11399@uwm.edu> <JH_ABJF@xds13.ferranti.com> <1991Apr29.144421.19819@oakhill.sps.mot.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 91 20:59:47 GMT

I made the effective claim that the 68000 (and thus the Amiga/NeXT) won't
have any outstanding performance improvements in the next few years.

In article <1991Apr29.144421.19819@oakhill.sps.mot.com>, jtr@oakhill.sps.mot.com (Jim Reinhart) writes:
> Gargage.  What exactly qualifies as "outstanding" and what do you know about
> the price/performance curve of 68xxx machines to make this assertion?  

I have followed the 68000 family closely for the past decade, being a
confirmed 68000 fan in the ongoing Motorola vs. Intel race. My primary
computer is an Amiga 3000 with a Motorola 68030 processor. I also have
an Amiga 1000, and I had an Atari ST, both of which use the earlier 68000.

At the low end of the PC market, the 68000 has had the high-performance
PC business pretty much to itself for most of the past decade, though with
recent chips Intel has managed to catch up and twice briefly pass Motorola
in performance.

Neither the Intel nor Motorola CISC chips show any sign of regaining the
performance edge from RISC, and it's only the existing base of 68000 and
8086 commodity PCs that has kept the system cost of 680x0 and 80x86 below
the RISC chips. Both Intel and Motorola have their own RISC projects, with
Motorola maintaining its traditional lead in general-purpose CPU performance
in this field too.
-- 
Peter da Silva.  `-_-'  peter@ferranti.com
+1 713 274 5180.  'U`  "Have you hugged your wolf today?"
