Re: PPro vs. Alpha system prices
I just checked out the latest issue of Computer Graphics World and found a company in San Jose called Core Microsystems that sells a 200 MHz PPro with a CD-ROM, 2GB HD, 64M DRAM, graphics accelerator, and 21" monitor for $6000. A 433MHz Alpha system configured the same costs $10,000.
The PPro performance benchmarks are 6.7 for SPECfp95 and 8.1 for SPECint95. The Alpha system reaches SPECfp95 22.1 and SPECint95 14.3.
So, dividing it out, the PPro system costs $741/SPECint and the Alpha costs $699/SPECint. For the same integer performance, Alpha costs 5% less. For floating point operations, the PPro costs $895/SPECfp and the Alpha costs $453/SPECfp. So, Alpha gives you the same floating point performance for 50% less money.
For CAD/CAE and 3D apps that use floating point heavily, the Alpha is clearly a better choice. For a web server that uses integer math, PPro is probably better, although that is a matter of some debate. Netscape uses an Alpha server for their web site and Microsoft uses an Intel box. They never agree on anything! |
