[Arm-netbook] crowdfunding page is live -- and different CPUs for the future

Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton lkcl at lkcl.net
Mon Jul 18 15:34:16 BST 2016


---
crowd-funded eco-conscious hardware: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68


On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 11:26 AM, Manuel A. Fernandez Montecelo
<manuel.montezelo at gmail.com> wrote:
> 2016-07-18 01:38 Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton:
>>
>>
>>> MIPS it's a more realistic possibility, but I am not sure if IC1T is a
>>> very good option, if it has no foothold in the market yet, has zero
>>> distributions supporting it, and it doesn't offer clear advantages in
>>> other areas (??).  I wouldn't mind at all to get one of those, but I am
>>> not sure if many people will follow... so would be bad in terms of
>>> effectiveness.
>>
>>
>> if it can't have debian... yeah.  as in, because the open64.net
>> compiler "isn't called gcc", it's almost impossible to *do* a debian
>> port.
>
>
> As you probably know, but others perhaps not, it's not just a matter of
> the compiler, but also to port many many software packages and
> submitting patches upstream and take care of this for years.
>
> For ARM, MIPS, SPARC, PowerPC and the rest of non-Intel-but-well-known
> it's maybe not 100% perfect, but there are Debian (or other distros/OSs)
> ports working almost as well as the best ones.  But I suppose that for
> IC1T it's not the case at all, so it would need a lot of effort also in
> the software front, for years.

 yeahyeah.... it's too much.


>> ... but if you *don't do* that licensing, and instead try to replicate
>> them all, you are immediately placing the entire project at risk.
>> bear in mind that TSMC won't talk to you if you make a failed chip
>> (first time) because you're wasting their time.  and it costs $USD 2
>> *MILLION* for the production masks (the lithographic masks like an OHP
>> plastic sheet)
>
>
> I don't really have any idea about the fabrication processes, but
> according to this:
>
>  https://dev.sifive.com/documentation/freedom-u500-platform-guide/
>
>  "The resulting customized U500 SoC is optimized for manufacture in a
>  TSMC 28nm metal-gate process, and delivered as packaged tested parts
>  by SiFive."
>
> and contains most of the technologies that you mention, except video,
> but maybe the custom accelerators can substitute traditional GPUs.

 yeah the "except video" means it can't be used (as a SoC).
connecting a GPU via PCIe.... mmm... you're at what... between 20 to
1000 watts there, depending on the GPU?

 and up to *FOUR* DDR3/4 lanes?  WOW.  128-bit-wide memory access.
yowser.  that's going to be something like 12-20 watts just on memory
access.

 > Yeah, I agree.  I was only saying that if one's going to go out of
> her/his way and consider IC1T for a future option, RISC-V can be a more
> interesting and future-proof alternative *than IC1T* (not better than
> ARM or MIPS at the moment).

 ... we still have to have the OS support.  so we still need to wait
for debian, arch and fedora to catch up.

> Also, that I'd consider to do this only a few years down the line, not
> now -- and focusing only in the A20 at the moment.

 ... and other low-power SoCs.

> Yeah, Loongson would be also good, although I am not sure if they will
> keep it active or if they'll abandon it in favour of others.

 well it's the one that the chinese government is pushing for their
independent supercomputer - intel lost out there thanks to the NSA,
congratulations U.S. Government you just f*****d your own economy well
done!

l.



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