Million instructions per second (MIPS) is a measure of a computer's processor speed. Many reported MIPS values have represented "peak" execution rates on artificial instruction sequences with few branches, whereas realistic workloads consist of a mix of instructions and even applications, some of which take longer to execute than others. The performance of the memory hierarchy also greatly affects processor performance, an issue barely considered in MIPS calculations. Because of these problems, researchers created standardized tests such as SPECint to (maybe) measure the real effective performance in commonly used applications, and raw MIPS has fallen into disuse. Critics of the term refer to it as "Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed" or "Meaningless Information on Performance for Salespeople." In Linux and UNIX circles MIPS are often referred to as bogoMIPS. MIPS are certainly not comparable between CPU architectures. A computer is a device or machine for processing information according to a program — a compiled list of instructions. ... The hierarchical arrangement of storage in current computer architectures is called the memory hierarchy. ... SPECint is a benchmark specification for CPUs integer processing power. ... This article is about Linux-based operating systems, GNU/Linux, and related topics. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Unix-like. ... To a large extent, the design of a CPU, or central processing unit, is the design of its control unit. ...

The floating-point arithmetic equivalent of MIPS is FLOPS, to which the same cautions apply. In computing, FLOPS is an abbreviation of FLoating point Operations Per Second. ...

In the 1970s, minicomputer performance was compared using VAX MIPS, where computers were measured on a task and their performance rated against the VAX 11/780 that was marketed as a "1 MIPS" machine. (The measure was also known as the "VAX Unit of Performance" or VUP.) VAX is a 32-bit computing architecture that supports an orthogonal instruction set (machine language) and virtual addressing (i. ...

Most 8-bit and early 16-bit microprocessors have a performance measured in KIPS (thousand instructions per second), which equals 0.001 MIPS. The first general purpose microprocessor, the Intel i8080, ran at 640 KIPS. The Intel i8086 microprocessor, the first 16-bit microprocessor in the line of processers made by Intel and used in IBM PCs, ran at 800 KIPS. Early 32-bit PCs (386) ran at about 3 MIPS. 8-bit refers to the number of bits used in the data bus of a computer. ... In computer science, 16-bit is an adjective used to describe integers that are at most two bytes wide, or to describe CPU architectures based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. ... Microprocessors, including an Intel 80486DX2 and an Intel 80386 A microprocessor (abbreviated as µP or uP) is an electronic computer central processing unit (CPU) made from miniaturized transistors and other circuit elements on a single semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) (aka microchip or just chip). ... KIPS is an abbreviation of thousands (not 1024s) of instructions per second, by analogy with MIPS. It is rarely used, as most current microprocessors can execute several million instructions per second. ... For the techno single by Moby, see Thousand (single). ... Microprocessors, including an Intel 80486DX2 and an Intel 80386 A microprocessor (abbreviated as µP or uP) is a computer electronic component made from miniaturized transistors and other circuit elements on a single semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) (aka microchip or just chip). ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) (founded 1968) is a U.S.-based multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... IBM PC (IBM 5150) with keyboard and green screen monochrome monitor (IBM 5151), running MS-DOS 5. ... 32-bit is a term applied to processors, and computer architectures which manipulate the address and data in 32-bit chunks. ...

zMIPS refers to the MIPS measure used internally by IBM to rate its mainframe servers (zSeries and System z9). Analyst firm Isham Research has lately coined the term kMIPS (kilo-million instructions per second) to measure the processor speeds in IBM's largest servers. International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) NYSE: IBM (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, NY, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, and services. ... Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron) are large and expensive computers used mainly by government institutions and large companies for legacy applications, typically bulk data processing (such as censuses, industry/consumer statistics, ERP, and bank transaction processing). ... Since December, 2001, IBM designates all its mainframes with the name eServer zSeries, with the e depicted in IBMs well-known red trademarked symbol. ... Since December, 2001, IBM designates all its mainframes with the name eServer zSeries, with the e depicted in IBMs well-known red trademarked symbol. ...

MIPS Progress Timeline

Intel C8080A processor. ... The Motorola 68000 is a CISC microprocessor, the first member of a successful family of microprocessors from Motorola, which were all mostly software compatible. ... PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for workstations, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ... The Acorn Network Computer was a network computer designed and manufactured by Acorn Computers Ltd. ... An Intel i486 Microprocessor The Intel i486 (also called 486 or 80486) is a range of Intel CISC microprocessors which is part of the Intel x86 family of processors. ... The ZiLOG eZ80 is essentially an updated version of the companys earlier Z80 8-bit microprocessor. ... The ARM architecture (originally the Acorn RISC Machine) is a 32-bit RISC processor architecture that is widely used in a number of applications. ... PowerPC G3 is a designation used by Apple Computer to a third generation of PowerPC microprocessors. ... It has been suggested that Athlon 64 X2 be merged into this article or section. ... Pentium 4 (with hyper-threading) brand logo The Pentium 4 is a seventh-generation x86 architecture microprocessor produced by Intel and is their first all-new CPU design since the Pentium Pro of 1995. ...

See also

• benchmark (computing)
• million service units (MSU)