Alpha CPUs, was Re: [rescue] i860 Success

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Tue, 04 May 2004 @ 08:43 +0200, Bj?rn Ramqvist said:

> >*cough*P4*cough*
> >*cough*Itanium*cough*
> 
> Geez...
> I've not stood up for anything just hit "del" for most of the 
> discussion, but I took a chance and read some of the discussions.
> Man, have ANY of you actually used ANY Alpha gear?

Yeah, a hell of a lot of it, for many years now, including a few at
home.

Saying a CPU was designed in the late 80s doesn't mean a thing about its
technical capabilities or the goodness of its design.

I know English is an imprecise language, but damn... some of you seem to
go out of your way to argue with points that no one made.

> OK, it's a 70's design (IF YOU TAKE THE PDP's IN COUNT?!), but no way 
> old by today. Look at all the technology inside that "little" EV7     
> fab...  70's design? No way, it's the 21th century design, especially 
> built like no other.                                                  

DEC said that they would be able to increase the power of Alpha 1000
fold, over a 25 year period.  They seemed to be delivering on that
promise until Compaq/HP decided Alpha was too much of a threat to
Itanium.

So yes, it's a 21st centry design, in terms of its abilities and
technology.

But it was still designed and built from the 80s through 1992, when the
first public release was made.

I think the fact its design is older makes it all that much more
impressive.  


-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["I want this Perl software checked for
viruses.  Use Norton Antivirus." -- Charlie Kirkpatrick]