MIPS PC - anyone?

MIPS PC - anyone?

[Jun Sun]

Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).

It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
much cheaper. 

Jun 

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[H . J . Lu]

On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 10:23:02AM -0700, Jun Sun wrote:
> 
> Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
> I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
> SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).
> 
> It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> much cheaper. 

I doubt that. Can you tell me how much 1GHz MIPS CPU might be cost?
My guess is it will be more expensive than x86. On the other hand,
100MHz MIPS may be much cheaper than similar x86, if it is still
made.


H.J.

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Jun Sun]

On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 10:36:54AM -0700, H . J . Lu wrote:
> On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 10:23:02AM -0700, Jun Sun wrote:
> > 
> > Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
> > I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
> > SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).
> > 
> > It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> > the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> > much cheaper. 
> 
> I doubt that. 

By basic premises of RISC CPU over CISC CPU...

> Can you tell me how much 1GHz MIPS CPU might be cost?
> My guess is it will be more expensive than x86. On the other hand,
> 100MHz MIPS may be much cheaper than similar x86, if it is still
> made.
> 

Don't know about 1Ghz MIPS CPUs.  I know some 200-300 MHz ones are selling 
less than $20.  Imagine how much it would be if you are sell them in the volumn
of i386 PCs.

Jun

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Thiemo Seufer]

H . J . Lu wrote:
> On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 10:23:02AM -0700, Jun Sun wrote:
> > 
> > Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
> > I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
> > SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).

I don't know, but I doubt it exists. Main problem would be developing
an appropriate chipset (different processor bus, maybe big endian,
maybe 64bit).

> > It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> > the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> > much cheaper. 

Nearly every CPU other than x86 would be cheaper in mass production.
Unfortunately, mass production seems not to happen.

> I doubt that. Can you tell me how much 1GHz MIPS CPU might be cost?
> My guess is it will be more expensive than x86.

You might ask e.g. Sibyte about it. :-)


Thiemo

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Ralf Baechle]

On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 08:01:16PM +0200, Thiemo Seufer wrote:

> > > It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> > > the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> > > much cheaper. 
> 
> Nearly every CPU other than x86 would be cheaper in mass production.
> Unfortunately, mass production seems not to happen.
> 
> > I doubt that. Can you tell me how much 1GHz MIPS CPU might be cost?
> > My guess is it will be more expensive than x86.
> 
> You might ask e.g. Sibyte about it. :-)

Well, Sibyte doesn't give you one but two CPUs on the die of thei SOC.
Details see the various online resources.  Btw, not yet shipping but
Linux supported :-)

  Ralf

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Ralf Baechle]

On Sat, Oct 06, 2001 at 10:23:02AM -0700, Jun Sun wrote:

> Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
> I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
> SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).

SNI RM200C.  Just a bit older ...

> It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> much cheaper. 

The CPU may be cheaper but at least in the past when we last looked at
such issues the chipset more than compensated for the CPU price.  This
may have changed, dunno.

  Ralf

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Carsten Langgaard]

What about a Malta board, it got a PC like structure with ATX form factor, a
Intel PIIX4E South Bridge (containing interrupt controller, RTC and USB), a
Super IO devices (with support for keyboard, 2 UARTs, floppy disk, parallel
port and mouse), AMD ethernet controller, Audio controller, Primary and
Secondary IDE, 4 PCI slots.
I probably forgot something, but the board is more or less designed to be a
"MIPS PC".

/Carsten

Jun Sun wrote:

> Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
> I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
> SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).
>
> It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> much cheaper.
>
> Jun

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Harald Koerfgen]

On Sunday 07 October 2001 18:23, Carsten Langgaard wrote:
> What about a Malta board, it got a PC like structure with ATX form factor,
[...]
> I probably forgot something, but the board is more or less designed to be a
> "MIPS PC".

Fine, but how much?

Greetings,
Harald

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Carsten Langgaard]

Harald Koerfgen wrote:

> On Sunday 07 October 2001 18:23, Carsten Langgaard wrote:
> > What about a Malta board, it got a PC like structure with ATX form factor,
> [...]
> > I probably forgot something, but the board is more or less designed to be a
> > "MIPS PC".
>
> Fine, but how much?

I'm afraid we are not in the business of selling PCs, so the price is about
$3000.

>
> Greetings,
> Harald

--
_    _ ____  ___   Carsten Langgaard   Mailto:carstenl@mips.com
|\  /|||___)(___   MIPS Denmark        Direct: +45 4486 5527
| \/ |||    ____)  Lautrupvang 4B      Switch: +45 4486 5555
  TECHNOLOGIES     2750 Ballerup       Fax...: +45 4486 5556
                   Denmark             http://www.mips.com

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Volker Jahns]

Jun Sun wrote:
> 
> Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
> I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
> SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).
> 
> It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> much cheaper.
> 
> Jun
Why don't you use the SONY playstation 2 w/ its LINUX kit? The costs are
less and the graphics performance is greater than any Intel based PC I
am aware of.

-- 
Volker Jahns, Volker.Jahns@thalreit.de, http://thalreit.de

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[James Simmons]

> Why don't you use the SONY playstation 2 w/ its LINUX kit? The costs are
> less and the graphics performance is greater than any Intel based PC I
> am aware of.

The SONY stuff is 2.2.X based. Their is work going on for 2.4.X support
but it is not stable at the moment.

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Kevin D. Kissell]

> > Why don't you use the SONY playstation 2 w/ its LINUX kit? The costs are
> > less and the graphics performance is greater than any Intel based PC I
> > am aware of.
> 
> The SONY stuff is 2.2.X based. Their is work going on for 2.4.X support
> but it is not stable at the moment.

2.2 or 2.4, is the necessary configuration in fact generally
available?  Last I heard, which was some months ago,
it required a PS2 configuration that was only available
in Japan.

            Kevin K.

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[James Simmons]

> 2.2 or 2.4, is the necessary configuration in fact generally
> available?  Last I heard, which was some months ago,
> it required a PS2 configuration that was only available
> in Japan.

This is true. Well this month they made available another PS2 
configuration in germany. Luckly the company I work for has people going
back and forth to Japan.

RE: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Yoshi-K]

Hello.
My Internet server is PS2. --> http://galaxies.jp/

-------------------------
Yoshikatsu Kida
E-Mail: yoshi@galaxies.jp
http://galaxies.jp/

RE: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Yoshi-K]

Hello.
My Internet server is PS2. --> http://galaxies.jp/

-------------------------
Yoshikatsu Kida
E-Mail: yoshi@galaxies.jp
http://galaxies.jp/

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Kevin D. Kissell]

> > 2.2 or 2.4, is the necessary configuration in fact generally
> > available?  Last I heard, which was some months ago,
> > it required a PS2 configuration that was only available
> > in Japan.
> 
> This is true. Well this month they made available another PS2 
> configuration in germany. Luckly the company I work for has people going
> back and forth to Japan.

I'm based in France, but should be in Germany this week
for a conference.  If there's a PS2 available there that is
capable of running the Linux port (and capable of booting
up in something other than German and Japanese!),
could someone please let me know the specific PS2
model to look for, and how I could get my hands on the
Linux release???

            Kevin K.

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Kevin D. Kissell]

> > 2.2 or 2.4, is the necessary configuration in fact generally
> > available?  Last I heard, which was some months ago,
> > it required a PS2 configuration that was only available
> > in Japan.
> 
> This is true. Well this month they made available another PS2 
> configuration in germany. Luckly the company I work for has people going
> back and forth to Japan.

I'm based in France, but should be in Germany this week
for a conference.  If there's a PS2 available there that is
capable of running the Linux port (and capable of booting
up in something other than German and Japanese!),
could someone please let me know the specific PS2
model to look for, and how I could get my hands on the
Linux release???

            Kevin K.

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Caleb Shay]

I actually have the Japanese model that works with the Linux release for 
   the PS2.  Unfortunately, I won't be in Japan again for another year 
and they won't ship overseas.  If anyone knows of a way to get the PS2 
Linux release in the US, please let me know.

Caleb Shay
caleb@webninja.com

Kevin D. Kissell wrote:

>>>2.2 or 2.4, is the necessary configuration in fact generally
>>>available?  Last I heard, which was some months ago,
>>>it required a PS2 configuration that was only available
>>>in Japan.
>>>
>>This is true. Well this month they made available another PS2 
>>configuration in germany. Luckly the company I work for has people going
>>back and forth to Japan.
>>
> 

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[volker]

> I actually have the Japanese model that works with the Linux release
> for 
>    the PS2.  Unfortunately, I won't be in Japan again for another year 
> and they won't ship overseas.  If anyone knows of a way to get the PS2 
> Linux release in the US, please let me know.
It seems SONY will release the LINUX kit in Germany soon (they claim it is
going to happen this autumn). They say it will be available at SONY's online
shop only. Source of information is http://www.golem.de .

> 
> Caleb Shay
> caleb@webninja.com
> 
> Kevin D. Kissell wrote:
> 
>>>>2.2 or 2.4, is the necessary configuration in fact generally
>>>>available?  Last I heard, which was some months ago,
>>>>it required a PS2 configuration that was only available
>>>>in Japan.
>>>>
>>>This is true. Well this month they made available another PS2 
>>>configuration in germany. Luckly the company I work for has people
>>>going back and forth to Japan.
>>>
>> 

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Kevin D. Kissell]

> > Why don't you use the SONY playstation 2 w/ its LINUX kit? The costs are
> > less and the graphics performance is greater than any Intel based PC I
> > am aware of.
> 
> The SONY stuff is 2.2.X based. Their is work going on for 2.4.X support
> but it is not stable at the moment.

2.2 or 2.4, is the necessary configuration in fact generally
available?  Last I heard, which was some months ago,
it required a PS2 configuration that was only available
in Japan.

            Kevin K.

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[GOTO Masanori]

At Sun, 7 Oct 2001 10:13:46 -0700 (PDT),
James Simmons <jsimmons@transvirtual.com> wrote:
> > Why don't you use the SONY playstation 2 w/ its LINUX kit? The costs are
> > less and the graphics performance is greater than any Intel based PC I
> > am aware of.
> 
> The SONY stuff is 2.2.X based. Their is work going on for 2.4.X support
> but it is not stable at the moment.

FYI, but if you want to run kernel 2.4 on PS2, please check at 
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ps2hacking/ . 
Current 2.4 support is very early phase and unstable, but working. 
 
-- gotom 

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[James Simmons]

> Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
> I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
> SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).
> 
> It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> much cheaper. 

I have IT 8172G board. It basically is a MIPS PC.

Re: MIPS PC - anyone?

[Joe George]

I have been working on the design of such a machine for a few months now
as a background project.   The mainboard features are:	PMC RM7000A
400MHz CPU, 2MB tertiary cache, GT64120A system controller, 512K byte
boot prom, DS1501 RTC, 512MB SDRAM, two serial ports (ST16C2552),
OPTI 82C862 USB controller, 4 32-bit 33MHz PCI slots, 2 32-bit 66MHz
PCI slots, ATX form factor.

Prices for the processor and system controller are significantly higher than
the equivilent i386 components in low volume.  High enough volume to get
it to parity with i386 prices is probably not realistic.  From what I've 
heard
some people still don't use Linux. :)

Price for the system will probably be in the US$1200 range.  Send me an
email off the list if you are interested or have suggestions.  The more 
I hear
from the faster it will probably get done.

Joe

Jun Sun wrote:
> Does anybody know if there is such a "MIPS PC" machine?  Essentially
> I am looking for a machine with MIPS CPU and PC peripherals (such as
> SIMM RAM, PCI bus, EIDE HD, VGA graphics, PS/2 mouse/kbd, etc).
> 
> It would be really nice to have such a box.  If it is massively produced,
> the price should be cheaper than i386 PCs because MIPS CPU price is
> much cheaper. 
> 
> Jun 
>