[SunRescue] RE: [Sunhelp] Which SPARCstation is better?

[James Lockwood]

On Wed, 9 Feb 2000, Paul Khoury wrote:

> Yes, and that's also what my upgrade path is...

For reference:

System            CPU        ClkMHz  Cache      SPECint SPECfp  Info
Name              (NUMx)Type ext/in  Ext+I/D      92      92    Date
================= ========== ======= ========== ======= ======= =====
Sun SS2           RT601      40      64           21.8    22.8  Oct92
Sun SS5/70        MicroSP2   70      16/8         57.0    47.3  Mar94
Sun SS10/41       SuprSP     40/40.3 1M+20/16     53.2    67.8  Apr93

The SS5 is more efficient per MHz than the S2, and the SS10 is more so
than the SS5.

> >any advantages either way there.  I'm pretty sure that a 150MHz HyperSPARC
> >in an SS20 would beat the 170Mhz TurboSPARC in the SS5, but if not, just get

Yes, easily:

System            CPU        ClkMHz  Cache      SPECint SPECfp  Info
Name              (NUMx)Type ext/in  Ext+I/D      95      95    Date
================= ========== ======= ========== ======= ======= =====
Sun SS5/170       TurboSP    85/170  512+16/16    3.53    3.00  Apr97
Sun SS20/151      HyperSP    50/150  512+8/0      4.02    4.73  Mar96

> Any other advantages of the SS20 vs SS10?

For SS20:

Slightly faster mbus (50MHz vs 40MHz).  Possibility for 24-bit onboard
video (with VSIMM).  Potentially better hard disk cooling.  Can mount an
internal (slow) CDROM drive (1/3rd height 2x Toshiba in most systems).

The faster mbus is mostly useful for decreasing latency unless you have a
pair of fast CPU's or 4 CPU's.  A single CPU doesn't saturate the mbus
effectively in most cases.

For SS10:

Onboard ISDN.  Better CPU module cooling.  Uses "normal"  50-pin SCSI
disks with no expensive brackets.  Can use cheaper memory (SS20 memory
will work in SS10 but SS10 won't always work in SS20).  Base systems are
still significantly cheaper.

Depends on what you want to do.  One thing I would warn you is to avoid
pumping huge amounts of money into either machine as Ultra 1's are
rapidly getting cheaper.  They're not MP, but a good Ultra 1E will walk
all over a Sparc 20 for bus speed and graphics performance.

-James