Tench,
"Merely competitive? I'm guessing that with two full FMAC units (able to do four double-precision ops or eight
single-precision ops in one clock), 128 FP registers, and a superior EPIC architecture (especially since FP code
should be easier to optimize than integer code), Itanium-based workstations will exceed the floating-point
performance of Alpha Wildfire-based workstations."
--
Merely competitive would be a fair assessment. If you
go to the "64 bit contestents" page here:
realworldtech.com
You can see a 110 estimate for EV68 at 1100 MHz. That
1100 MHz is a very conservative number, crank that by
about 400 MHz and you see a quick part in 6 months or so.
Maybe being a bit generous there , but a 30-40% improvement
over and above those numbers wouldn't be much of a stretch
with copper-SOI IBM parts. Cheaper too!
By the way, where you getting this "superior EPIC
architecture" stuff? Sounds like marketing hyperbole.
Certainly won't deliver better numbers than EV68 (21264),
never mind the bandwidth and other "far superior"
features of EV7 (point to point CPU interconnect, etc.).
So if it won't deliver better numbers, maybe it is
superior in some other regards? I can think of a few
that it will be much HIGHER at:
1) Power consumption
2) Cost
3) Number of fans per system
4) Hyperbole
Oh, lest we miss a point:
"Itanium-based workstations will exceed the floating-point
performance of Alpha Wildfire-based workstations."
Sure... especially if when an Itanium system that ships
that you can spend money and buy for yourself... if you
compare it to an Alpha that has been shipping for a year,
that is a true statement. However, if when you can actually
order an Itanium system you compare it to an Alpha system
you can order (EV68)... that isn't a true statement.
We shall see.
BTW, there isn't such a thing as an Alpha Wildfire based
workstation. Wildfire is a high-end server.
Rob |
