🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <688@UALTAVM.BITNET> ECULHAM@UALTAVM.BITNET writes:
>In article <832@dms.UUCP>, albaugh@dms.UUCP (Mike Albaugh) writes:
> <<maybe hardware decimal support would go 10% faster than software>>

>I've clearly exaggerated the performance gain of the decimal hardware.
>Yet even with that, all that extra hardware cannot even double the
>performance of the system.
> 
>Clearly, decimal arithmetic is one of those high cost, low payback
>extensions. We should direct our efforts elsewhere.

How much would that extra hardware cost?  Would it double the cost of
a microprocessor?  Add 10 % to the cost of a mainframe's CPU?

Computers that run Cobol are often heavily loaded with expensive I/O (and
memory and ...).  The processor would have to go up in price a _lot_ to 
make as much difference as a 10 % improvement in decimal speed.

Peter Dibble