RE: [TCLUG:607] Mixing Alphas and x86s

[Brad DeJong <1796@mn3.lawson.lawson.com>]

Sorry, I was out of town for a few days last week.

21064 is found in machines like the Digital AlphaStation 200 and the   
Alpha PC.  Clock speeds commonly range from 150 MHz to 275 MHz.  These   
machines are available for $600 - $1500 depending on the model and   
accessories.  Several of these machines had the TurboChannel bus rather   
than the ISA/PCI combination that later became popular.  I don't think   
Linux works on the TurboChannel machines, but check the Red Hat (or   
other) site for details on a specific machine.

21066 is most commonly found in the Universal Desktop Box (UDB).  The UDB   
was available with a 166 MHz or 233 MHz chip.  With a DEC software bundle   
that included a bunch of terminal emulators and such, they were called   
"Multia's".  The same case and name were used with a line of Pentium   
machines, so make sure of what you are getting.  These take standard 72   
pin parity memory and came standard with 24 MB, 2 x 8 and 2 x 4 meg   
simms.  This leaves no free SIMM slots, so to upgrade you have to throw   
out the 4 meg simms.  The other pain is that the internal drive bay only   
accepts 2 1/2 inch hard drives (laptop size) which adds to the cost.   
 Sound card, video card, and all the standard accessories are integrated   
onto the motherboard (I think 10baseT as well).  Some of these are sold   
without floppy drive.  Prices for stripped machines (case, motherboard,   
floppy) start at about $150 and go up to $400.  $200 seems to be pretty   
common asking price for the 166 MHz models.  This machine is well   
supported by Linux.

21164 - available in various AlphaStation models as well as from some of   
the clone vendors.  I don't see many of these on the market.  Speeds   
commonly range from 266 MHz to 500 MHz.

21164a - same basic design as above but implemented with different chip   
technology (.25 micron process I think).  These are pretty commonly   
available.  Check Linux Journal for current prices or one of a number of   
web sites.  Prices for decent systems start at around $2800 (monitor not   
included).

21164PC - same basic CPU core as above, but doesn't include the on-chip   
L2 cache.  This saves about $800 in system cost.  You can get the   
motherboard, 533 MHz cpu, and case for less than $1000.  Complete systems   
are available (with Red Hat pre-installed) for less than $2000.

Some sites with fairly good reps include (this is far from   
all-inclusive):

	www.aspsys.com
	www.microway.com
	www.dcginc.com

 ----------
From:  Christopher Reid Palmer
Sent:  Wednesday, July 15, 1998 11:51 AM
To:  tclug-list@listserv.real-time.com; Brad DeJong
Subject:  RE: [TCLUG:607] Mixing Alphas and x86s

   

On Wed, 15 Jul 1998, Brad DeJong wrote:

[ snip interesting tidbits ]

> Probably more than anyone wanted to know, but when you're obsessive
> compulsive like me, silly details matter.

No need to apologize. :) I share your neuroses.

> alpha processor models
> 21064, oldest, fairly slow per mhz
> 21066, step up.. still kinda slow
> 21164, current wide available CPU.. very fast
> 21264, still in beta *AFAIK*  will beat the pants off of a PII :)

Any chance you could give us a quick rough estimate of costs for these
chips and their MBs? I'm ignorant of Alphas in general. TIA.

__________________________________________________________________________  
___
Christopher Reid Palmer : jaymz@acm.cs.umn.edu : innerFire on IRC (EFNet)

Free Software Special Interest Group : acm.cs.umn.edu/~jaymz/sigfs/
Digital Media Center : www.umn.edu/dmc/


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