[TriLUG] new notebook with linux

[James Manning]

>   Test: GCC (specifically, g77) compilation and runs of the 
>     MITgcm (http://mitgcm.org/testing.html) verification suite.  
> 
>   Result: Laptop A beat Laptop B by an average of 19% (+/-2% over 
>     multiple runs).  Yes, the 2yo PIII soundly beat the brand new 
>     G4.  If you don't believe me, you're free to repeat it -- all 
>     the software is publicly available.

I could definitely believe it - PPC models have always been more FPU
focused - after all, their markets tend to be more heavy on floating
point operations (video, audio, publishing, cinema) than the less
media-centric "normal" office/desktop user.  Compilers and the like
are all integer work - that beefy FPU gets to twiddle its thumbs.

Another reason the pragmatic "right tool for the job" is a good mantra
to go by.  If you don't pick your hardware and OS based on the
workload and software you need/want to use, you can certainly end up
with much less bang for the buck.

And it's a double-edged sword, too - there's more than a couple
floating-point operations/engines that get done as integer ops because
of the x86 balance of int/fpu power.  

*shrug*
-- 
James Manning <http://www.sublogic.com/james/>
GPG Key fingerprint = B913 2FBD 14A9 CE18 B2B7  9C8E A0BF B026 EEBB F6E4