🚀 go-pugleaf

> (a) 32 bits is a bit less than five Eagles worth of byte-addressed data.  I
>     can easily concoct a microprocessor application where direct addressing
>     of that data space is desirable, if not necessary.

A *microprocessor* application????   Come on now, let's get serious.
I _might_ grant that for an AI application you would need that kind
of high-speed random-access memory, but no sane person would *ever*
choose a 68xxx/32xxx type processor for AI.  You need a *lot* more
MIPS than that.

Let's see, using 256K DRAMs at $15 each, the cost of the RAM chips
alone for each megabyte is $540.  This presumes that you have parity
on each byte (you do understand that in a system with more than 16
Mb of DRAM that you simply *must* have parity checking to detect
soft errors from alpha particles, and that error-correcting would
be highly desirable?).  So your first 16 Mb is gonna cost you $8640
in DRAM chips alone, and you're concerned that you want significantly
more than that.

So you're gonna spend maybe 20 G's or more on a memory system, and
to "cut costs" you're gonna use an off-the-shelf microprocessor like
a 68020 or 32032?  Gimme a break!

If _you_ really want to do that, fine.  But don't feel hurt if Nat'l,
Motorola, et al don't rush right out and spend tens of millions of
bucks designing a microprocessor chip just for you!
-- 
Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug