In article <35125@cbmvax.commodore.com> mks@cbmvax.commodore.com (Michael Sinz) writes:
>swinokur@cellar.org (Steve Winokur) writes:
>>I've heard that the 4000 comes with an _EC_ 040 chip in it.
>>
>>Someone (in a position to do it) please deny this. Not having an MMU or an
>>_FPU_ in the 4000 would be - bad.
>>
>>The fact that (if this is true) this is being glossed over in all the
>>release information, also does not bode well.
>>
>>So, if you know _for_sure_ (pplz from Commodore?), tell us so...
>
>This is *not* true. The 68040 in the A4000 is the full-blown chip.
>The one that costs $800 if you buy just one of them. The one that runs
>floating point *very* fast. The one with those funky new MMUs.
>
This can be both good and bad. From the hardware architects point of view, and
from many others--the '040 can handle the extensive math stuff fine. Its speed
is very capable of most needs.
Problems do arise on the programmers end for those programs that they have
written that rely EXTENSIVLY on the math processors. The lack of the math
processor with the 040 requires rewrites and/or additional code to the existing
programs in order to make them 040 compatible.
My good friend, and CEO for MegageM (Fractal Pro, Neural Net,...) found that outthe hard way. To say the least, he wasn't to impressed by the removal of the
math module.
--
EARTH: Jon D. Godfrey | The Flight Deck II BBS ///
