[Info-vax] RealWorldTech on Poulson

[Johnny Billquist]

On 2011-07-03 13:48, Neil Rieck wrote:
>
>>
>> Admitting that EPIC did not pan out is one thing.  But transforming an
>> EPIC architecture into an OOE one is another.
>>
> As I understand the current debacle, EPIC relied on advances in
> complier technology which never occurred. Any speed improvements we
> saw in Itanium where the result of other technological improvements
> like DDR3 and geometry shrink which would have eventually made their
> way onto Alpha platforms had the HPQ suits not interfered with
> engineering. IMHO, if Intel began nudging Itanium away from EPIC (but
> in the direction of super scaler RISC), the changes could be
> implemented in the GEM back-end code generators (it would mean
> generating Poulson-specific code but we have seen DEC compliers do
> this already in Alpha and Itanium). For example, here are some tuning
> alternatives for the DEC-C compiler:
>
> http://h71000.www7.hp.com/commercial/c/docs/5492profile_005.html#index_x_146
>
> $cc/optimize=tune=xxx
>
> where xxx can be one of:
> GENERIC
> EV4 - Selects instruction tuning for the 21064, 21064A, 21066, and
> 21068
> EV5 - Selects instruction tuning for the 21164 implementation of the
> Alpha architecture.
> EV56 - Selects instruction tuning for the 21164 chip
> PCA56 - Selects instruction tuning for the 21164PC
> EV6 - Selects instruction tuning for the first-generation 21264
> implementation of the Alpha architecture.
> EV67 - Selects instruction tuning for the second-generation 21264
> implementation of the Alpha architecture.
> ITANIUM2
>
> ###
>
> Personal comment: I think Intel and HP are currently at a critical
> point where the next few decisions will allow the Itanium program to
> "take flight and dominate the enterprise  market" or crash.

Take flight and dominate the enterprise market? That train have already 
left the station. It's more a question of how to avoid having Itanium 
being too embarrassing.

For Intel, it's about face saving, and for HP it's about life and death.

	Johnny


-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol