Another interesting bunch of stuff

[BostonU SysMgr]

I've been getting some info from SUN on their SUN/3 series (MC68020/MC68881)
I haven't seen anyone posting anything about this so I thought I would
summarize as I assume this list is interested.

I have no interest in SUN except as a customer.

For example: (yeah, I know, standard benchmark flame, we are all aware of that)
Note that the SUN/FPA is a $4900 (list) add-on which increases f.p. throughput.

Stanford CPU benchmark (composite int and float)

	SUN3/FPA	SUN3	VAX780	uVAXII
int	2.0		2.0	1.09	.94		('mips')
float	2.91		1.0	 .63	.55

LINPACK

	VAX8600		SUN3/FPA
single	610		510				('kflops')
double	490		360

	Note:	I believe we are comparing a $35,000 machine (SUN)
		to a $600,000 machine (VAX8600) here!

4 1000-line C program compiles simultaneously:

Sun3/SCSI	1.0
VAX780		0.51
uVAXII		0.47

Disk I/O: comparable to a 780, about twice a uVAXII

Sun3: 4MB, 71MB disk
VAX780: 4MB, RA81 disk
uVAXII: 2MB, 31MB disk
8600: ??I assume whetstones on an 8600 were from somewhere else
----
I am sure someone will find a complaint in the comparisons, but the fact
remains, we are about to see a family of *personal* workstations rivaling
the largest, newest super-mini time-sharing systems on many tasks they
claim to excel in, with the whole bitmap, network environment thrown in.

I mean...70% of a VAX8600 all to myself as opposed to 100% competing
with 64 users seems interesting, no?

Now for the kicker, my source from SUN claims that out of fear of
extensive criticism, these figures are conservative, your mileage may be
better.

	-Barry Shein, Boston University