Linux Kernel Support For The Loongson-3

[JanC]

As for openness i think the only architecture that is open is SPARC.

There is also OpenRISC, which is probably even more open than OpenSPARC...

[JanC]

SGI already had full-blown hardware graphics acceleration in the '80s (the company was formed to make graphics hardware) so if OpenGL was designed for any specific hardware it's probably more correct to say that OpenGL was designed for the SGI graphics accelerators of the time than for MIPS CPUs.

It's similar to how these laptops have a MIPS CPU and an AMD GPU, of course. But maybe I should have said that it was designed "for MIPS workstations" instead of "for MIPS". Also, I think that at least part of (Open)GL ran on the CPU, so some design decisions might actually be influenced by MIPS?

[chithanh]

MIPS competes with ARM in tablets and ultraportables for example. A somewhat popular SoC is the Ingenic JZ4770 which is used in many low-end 7" Android tablets (The first Android 4.0 tablet, the Novo7 Basic, used that SoC).

How the Ingenic MIPS SoC compares to various ARM based ones in benchmarks is easily found with a Google search.

Regarding the openness of the MIPS architecture: The designs are of course copyright protected. The instruction set contains some instructions for unaligned memory access which are patent encumbered. Early Loongsoon CPUs (2E and before) contained workarounds for the patented instructions, but now STMicro has purchased a license from MIPS Technologies so the workarounds could be dropped.

[89c51]

Does MIPS compete against ARM, or are they competing against x86 or who?

How does MIPS compare against other architectures?
Is MIPS more open than any other architectures?

Why would I want a Loongson CPU instead of any other CPU?
Does it offer anything that others don't? Does it have any advantage?

I think it has been used in products ranging from portable devices to high performance stuff. As for openness i think the only architecture that is open is SPARC.

For performance advantages disadvantages etc more knowledgeable people will answer you.

[uid313]

Does MIPS compete against ARM, or are they competing against x86 or who?

How does MIPS compare against other architectures?
Is MIPS more open than any other architectures?

Why would I want a Loongson CPU instead of any other CPU?
Does it offer anything that others don't? Does it have any advantage?

[bridgman]

SGI already had full-blown hardware graphics acceleration in the '80s (the company was formed to make graphics hardware) so if OpenGL was designed for any specific hardware it's probably more correct to say that OpenGL was designed for the SGI graphics accelerators of the time than for MIPS CPUs.

[schmidtbag]

Obviously, you don't know the history of MIPS & OpenGL...

OpenGL started life as GL, the graphics library used by SGI (Silicon Graphics).

SGI was also the first major user of MIPS processors (starting late 1980s), the first to use MIPS64, and at some point they even bought the company behind the MIPS technology.

So basically, you can say OpenGL was literally designed for MIPS, and most 3D/CGI work for Hollywood during the 1990s was probably done on MIPS-based computer systems (both OpenGL workstations and render servers).

I wasn't trying to be condescending or anything, I was legitimately wondering. So thanks for the history, I actually find that pretty interesting. I actually didn't even know opengl was that old.

[JanC]

840.00 ? "price excl. VAT, excl. delivery"

So that's 1000 ? VAT included + delivery...

[necro-lover]

I dont think there is a way to buy the longson 3 thing in europe, I did only find a shop that sells the older 2er one for 200 bucks or so... but if it would really cost 1000 bucks and its the normal classic 2,5 year guarantied death by design thing... I would not buy it... btw, I have problem that I like this thinkpoint thing... but who knows... maybe in 2-3 years the next or next-next book is something for me...

but maybe I switch finaly to intel... if they get this gpu-accellerated video shit in low-cost chips then...

you are just wrong buy it here in Europe: http://www.tekmote.nl/Loongson-3A-Notebook

Loongson 3A Notebook "can be shipped within 3 days" 840.00 ? "price excl. VAT, excl. delivery"

[JanC]

I dont think there is a way to buy the longson 3 thing in europe, I did only find a shop that sells the older 2er one for 200 bucks or so... but if it would really cost 1000 bucks and its the normal classic 2,5 year guarantied death by design thing... I would not buy it...

Currently estimated price without VAT in Europe (Belgium) seems to be "about ? 650", but unfortunately, no systems are available yet, because the Chinese manufacturer has a "material stock problem"...

More info: http://lemote.kd85.com/