From: isbell@ucscf.UCSC.EDU (Art Isbell) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: InfoWorld article on 88110 NeXT Summary: Reprinted article for those with no InfoWorld access Keywords: 88110 Message-ID: <16973@darkstar.ucsc.edu> Date: 12 Jun 91 15:29:16 GMT Sender: usenet@darkstar.ucsc.edu Organization: none really - just me Lines: 75 Reprinted from the front page of InfoWorld, 10 June, without permission and without correction of their spellings of various NeXT products: Next Develops 88110 Workstation, Triples Speed Without Affecting Price Next, Inc. has developed a RISC-based prototype NextStation that triples the performance of the black cube without raising the current price tag. According to sources, the Motorola 88110-based unit will perform at 50 to 60 million instructions per second (MIPS) and can replace the company's current line of 68030- and 68040-based systems. The unit may ship late this year of in early 1992, they added. The 88110 has integrated graphics, Paged Memory Management Unit (PMMU) and floating-point coprocessing tasks. It can also handle some digital signal processing (DSP) directly. Those integrated features will allow Next to save on the cost of additional chips, sources said. With 12 megabytes of RAM, a 100-megabyte hard disk drive, and a 16-inch color monitor, the RISC NextStation could sell for approximately what the current 68040 design does, sources said. The 88110 being evaluated by Next runs at 40 MHz and turns in 50 to 60 MIPS, sources said. The 88110 also features a superscalar design, which allows more than one instruction per clock cycle. When combined with Motorola's 96002 compression chip -- which Motorola is reportedly offering to Next at a reduced price -- the motherboard of the RISC unit can now support all the functions now assigned to the Next Dimension board. If the product is brought to market, Next would drop the Next Dimension board entirely, along with Intel Corp.'s i860 and C-Cube Microsystem's compression chip, sources said. The move to RISC for Next could be a precarious one, however. In its brief history, the company has already had difficulty wooing developers to its platform. The move to RISC would require that software be completely recompiled, developers and sources said. When the 68040-based NextStation was announced last year, Next founder Steve Jobs said he wanted to stay with a CISC design to minimize software issues. According to sources familiar with the 88110 prototype however, the price/performance of RISC might be too good to pass up. "Besides, this is the best time to make this transition. Right now there aren't that many Next users. It's going to be harder to do later," one source noted. Apple Computer, Inc. is also considering the processor for its RISC platform. (See "Apple Plans RISC-Based System for 1992 Release," May 27, Page1.) Motorola is expected to officially announce the 88110 later this year. The Race to RISC Sun Microsystems SUN Sparcstation II / NOW SHIPPING Chip: Sparc Processor 40 MHz Speed: 28.5 MIPS Price: $14,995 IBM RS/6000 Model 320H / NOW SHIPPING Chip: IBM Powerchip 25 MHz Speed: 27.5 MIPS Price: $17,970 Next, Inc. / DUE 1992 Chip: Motorola 88110 with Motorola 96002 DSP Speed: 50-60 MIPS Price: Expected under $10,000 ACE Consortium: Compaq, DEC, and others / DUE 1992 Chip: MIPS R4000 Speed: 50 MIPS Price: Expected $10,000 -- _____ ____ Art Isbell |\ | HELP! | | | \ 315 Moon Meadow Lane NeXT Registered Developer | \ | ___ |____| | | Felton, CA 95018-9442 isbell@ucscf.UCSC.EDU | \ | |___| | \ | | (408)335-1154 => I NEED TO FIND NeXT ==> | \| |___ | \ |___/ ==> DEVELOPMENT WORK <=