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- From: lamaster@puma.arc.nasa.gov (Hugh LaMaster -- RCS)
- Subject: Re: dinosaur horsepower
- Message-ID: <1992Jul30.165247.6011@riacs.edu>
- Sender: news@riacs.edu
- Organization: RIACS, NASA Ames Research Center
- References: <Bs3oGt.6vp@helios.physics.utoronto.ca> <1992Jul30.053240.20199@yrloc.ipsa.reuter.COM>
- Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 16:52:47 GMT
- Lines: 47
-
- In article <1992Jul30.053240.20199@yrloc.ipsa.reuter.COM>, rbe@yrloc.ipsa.reuter.COM (Robert Bernecky) writes:
- |> In article <Bs3oGt.6vp@helios.physics.utoronto.ca> mark@cita.toronto.edu writes:
-
- |> >Larry Stewart's proposal regarding the computer history project prompts
- |> >me to offer a suggestion for something I'd like to see:
-
- :
- :
- Another article noted that the "supercomputer" was
- |> an IBM S/370/168. Ahah! False advertising from Big Blew strikes again!
- |>
-
- |> I then went and looked up rough timings on said machine. Hard, because
- |> the closest thing I have on hand is a System S/370 system summary
- |> (GA22-7001-2)which gives the following information:
- :
-
- |> This means that the "supercomputer" which solved the 4-color problem
- |> was about on a par with high-end PC's of today, IF YOU IGNORE THE
- |> I/O BANDWIDTH of the system.
- |>
- |> Given that the 4-color theorem was not I/O intensive, this means that
- |> today's PCs could solve the same problem in a similar timeframe, a
- |> mere 20 years or so later.
-
-
- According to my references, the 370/168-3 was about 2.0-2.5
- Dean-Witter-Reynolds, and/or "ComputerWorld", and/or "Electronics", "MIPS",
- which would make it about 4-5 SPEC92ints. Just about any decent 486-based
- system would be faster, let alone the current crop of RISC workstations,
- which are 40-50 SPEC92ints.
-
-
- However, I don't remember seeing the 370/168 line referred to as a
- "supercomputer", although I'm sure someone did. The CDC 7600, and the
- IBM 360/370/195, would have both been about 4 times faster, and had
- already been out for 2-3 years by then. The Illiac IV, CDC STAR-100, TI-ASC,
- and CDC 8600 (turned into Cray-1), in various stages of development, were
- supposed to be the next generation of "supercomputers". The mid-70's
- IBM 370 systems were the archetypal "second generation mainframes".
-
-
- --
- Hugh LaMaster, M/S 233-9, UUCP: ames!lamaster
- NASA Ames Research Center Internet: lamaster@ames.arc.nasa.gov
- Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 Or: lamaster@george.arc.nasa.gov
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-