ron@ron.rutgers.edu (Ron Natalie) (03/24/89)
C'mon John. You surely must remember what it cost to buy a Z80, 68000, or even an 80286 the month they were announced. All these chips had quantity one, multihundred dollar price tags on release. If you're all that concerned about price, or finding initial defects, remember the old sage's advice: "Don't buy the first run of anything." -Ron Love thy neighbor as thyself, all the rest is commentary.
ralf@b.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Ralf Brown) (03/24/89)
In article <18208@glacier.STANFORD.EDU> jbn@glacier.UUCP (John B. Nagle) writes: } 40MHz, 64 bits wide, about $750 each. Impressive power, but }are we making progress on price/performance? A Z80 sells for about }$0.75. An 8086 can be obtained for under $10. The trend is disturbing. But consider how many years the 8086 and Z80 have had to slide down the price curve. Z80's were $20 apiece and 8086's were over $50 not so many years ago.... I believe the 68020 originally sold for $500. -- {harvard,uunet,ucbvax}!b.gp.cs.cmu.edu!ralf -=-=- AT&T: (412)268-3053 (school) ARPA: RALF@B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU |"Tolerance means excusing the mistakes others make. FIDO: Ralf Brown at 129/31 | Tact means not noticing them." --Arthur Schnitzler BITnet: RALF%B.GP.CS.CMU.EDU@CMUCCVMA -=-=- DISCLAIMER? I claimed something? --
toma@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Tom Almy) (03/24/89)
In article <18208@glacier.STANFORD.EDU> jbn@glacier.UUCP (John B. Nagle) writes: > 40MHz, 64 bits wide, about $750 each. Impressive power, but >are we making progress on price/performance? A Z80 sells for about >$0.75. An 8086 can be obtained for under $10. The trend is disturbing. Well lets see: Item Z-80 860 Ratio Clock Speed 4 40 10 Max instructions per clock .25 3 12 Data Size 8 64 8 Raw performance -- 960 to 1 Price Ratio -- 1000 to 1 On this measurement (which, admittedly has little meaning) it appears to be a wash, although I would much prefer a single 860 over 1000 Z-80s even if they offer equivalent performance! The 860 can be made to look better -- consider 80Mflops vs about .001Mflops, or about a 80,000 to 1 floating point performance ratio. On the other hand, the Z-80 can be a real bargain if all you want to do is test bits and branch (as in the microwave oven). Tom Almy toma@tekgvs.labs.tek.com Standard Disclaimers Apply