smithw@hamblin.math.byu.edu (Dr. William V. Smith) (03/07/91)
So according to this, NeXT is not considering the 88000 chips
for a new generation of machines. The rumors were pretty thick
about this last year. The MIPS chip is a worthy one, but
I would think it will be rather expensive. Anyone know what
the R6000 set goes for now? The MIPS workstation version of this
costs around $150,000 I think. The HP chip, I don't really know
much about. Maybe someone out there could comment on that.
Anybody heard what is going to happen at NeXT this fall?
They still don't have NeXTdimension working. Maybe they'll
roll it out *again*.
-Bill
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Phone: +1 801 378 2061 FAX: +1 801 378 2800nigelm@ohm.york.ac.uk (Nigel Metheringham) (03/08/91)
In <SMITHW.91Mar6211826@hamblin.hamblin.math.byu.edu> smithw@hamblin.math.byu.edu (Dr. William V. Smith) writes: >So according to this, NeXT is not considering the 88000 chips >for a new generation of machines. The rumors were pretty thick >about this last year. The MIPS chip is a worthy one, but >I would think it will be rather expensive. Anyone know what >the R6000 set goes for now? You wouldn't want to use an R6000 - it may be fast but its ECL logic, so its not a workstation type of chip - its a large box with airconditioning system. >The MIPS workstation version of this >costs around $150,000 I think. MIPs workstations based on the R3000 (which go like the wind), start around 10,000 pounds (sterling) list, educational about 7,000. This is an off-the-top-of-my-head figure based on a couple of quotes I've recently got. Nigel.
shawn@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Shawn Broderick) (03/09/91)
I've heard serious rumours that NeXT is going to make some major announcements this fall. We all just sorta shook our heads and wondered what big things they could possibly be working on that none of us know anything about. Shawn Broderick
osborn@cs.utexas.edu (John Howard Osborn) (03/10/91)
In article <SHAWN.91Mar8182847@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu> shawn@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Shawn Broderick) writes: >I've heard serious rumours that NeXT is going to make some major >announcements this fall. We all just sorta shook our heads and >wondered what big things they could possibly be working on that none >of us know anything about. I'll make some guesses: (Speculation is SO much fun!) NeXT will come out with a card that contains 4 68040s with associated support chips and RAM to allow transparent multiprocessing. A lower cost version of the NeXTdimension board will be available. It won't contain the video capture or image compression hardware and it will basically be a low-cost color option for the Cube. (Some other company, like SuperMac or Radius may beat NeXT to the punch with their own lower-cost color solution. Who will undersell whom? We'll see.) NeXT will eventually ship a CD-ROM containing the latest system software and a full set of on-line documentation. Somebody, probably not NeXT, will ship a card that allows the current gray-scale monitor to display 8 to 16 bit deep gray-scale. This card will drive cheaper displays as well, allowing for a multiheaded gray-scale cube. Release 2.1 might include support for non-NeXT, non-postscript printers, such as the HP DeskJet, HP LaserJet, and Canon BubbleJet. The software will work like Eric Scott's iwf or Sun's NewsPrint (which already allows this). The software will include hooks to easily plug in support for new printers. If it isn't in Release 2.1 it will wait until 3.0. 3.0 will include still more ready-to-use objects for interface builder, including the database kit demoed at the 68040 introduction. And, most importantly, NeXT will begin shipping spiffy black coffee cups and mousepads displaying the NeXT logo. (Do YOU have your full NeXT collection of napkins, pencils, Tshirts, sweatshirts, and mug?) Disclaimer: Despite my best efforts, I don't work for NeXT or anybody having to do with NeXT. I have *NO* access to inside information, but I do read trade magazines and netnews very carefully. Don't email me asking for details about this vaporware, because I havn't got any and I'll ignore you. :) - -John H. Osborn -osborn@cs.utexas.edu
simmons@rigel.neep.wisc.edu (Kim Simmons) (03/10/91)
You can get a Decstation 5000 (which uses the R3000 MIPS chip) for between
$10,000 and $15,000 educational. We get a Decstation 5000 with 24 Mbytes of
memory, one Gigabyte hard disk, 19 inch color monitor, and i think a
graphics card (with a i860 chip i think, though i'm not sure exactly which
card we got) for a little under $20,000. This should give you some idea of
pricing.
The chip that NeXT is interested in, if they are indeed interested in a MIPS
Risc chip would be the MIPS R4000. Initial release will be about 50 MIPS,
with a quick ramp up to 100 MIPS, superpipelining (something like 2
instructions for each clock cycle), and it's a 64 bit chip which has the
ability to run 32 bit applications side by side with the 64 bit applications.
If there is any interest i can post a summary of what i dig up on this chip.
Of course this might all be i bit premature (and probably is).
--
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Othernet: simmons@hoofers.lake.mendota
--- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---
According to the HitchHikers guide to the galaxy, the one thing we
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===============================================================================scott@texnext.gac.edu (Scott Hess) (03/10/91)
In article <18424@cs.utexas.edu> osborn@cs.utexas.edu (John Howard Osborn) writes:
And, most importantly, NeXT will begin shipping spiffy black coffee cups
and mousepads displaying the NeXT logo. (Do YOU have your full NeXT
collection of napkins, pencils, Tshirts, sweatshirts, and mug?)
Actually, I think the clear mugs with the NeXT logo etched into the
side are pretty neat the way they are.
I would like the mousepad, though. I wonder how well those little
emblems stick (we've got some black pads around . . .)
Later,
--
scott hess scott@gac.edu
Independent NeXT Developer GAC Undergrad
<I still speak for nobody>
"Tried anarchy, once. Found it had too many constraints . . ."
"I smoke the nose Lucifer . . . Banana, banana."edwardj@microsoft.UUCP (Edward JUNG) (03/12/91)
In article <SMITHW.91Mar6211826@hamblin.hamblin.math.byu.edu> smithw@hamblin.math.byu.edu (Dr. William V. Smith) writes: [...] >about this last year. The MIPS chip is a worthy one, but >I would think it will be rather expensive. Anyone know what >the R6000 set goes for now? The MIPS workstation version of this >costs around $150,000 I think. The R6000 is an ECL chip set for very high-end machines that compete with mainframes and high-end minicomputers. The more suitable chip would be the R4000, but that is not available at the moment. The current MIPS chip is the R3000, which appears in several relatively low-cost workstations (around $10k). >Anybody heard what is going to happen at NeXT this fall? Probably either an multiprocessing or RISC or both machine. >They still don't have NeXTdimension working. Maybe they'll >roll it out *again*. At the last Puget Sound NeXT Users Group meeting the NeXT representative confirmed that the culprit was the C-cubed JPEG compression chipset. He said that the NeXTDimension board might ship without this chip; that this was the "current plan". Personally I think that severely reduces the attractiveness of the board since without the hardware compression, real-time video capture to disk is not possible. Hopefully they will leave a socket for future upgrades if and when the 550 starts working correctly, but it was unclear what the real plan will end up as. At the very least I would think the board will be less expensive! -- Edward Jung Microsoft Corp. My opinions do not reflect any policy of my employer.