[SunRescue] SS10/SS5 comparison questions

[James Lockwood]

On Mon, 15 Jan 2001, Tim Ikeda wrote:

> I've been thinking about getting a Sparcstation for home use (and to
> learn Solaris on my off time) and have narrowed the choices to the
> SS10 (40-50Mhz range) and the SS5 (85-110MHz range). Either system
> would ultimately have about the same memory (64-128 MB) and hard
> disk capacity (2-8 GB).
> 
> I noticed that the SS5 systems seem to carry a 30-50% premium in price
> over the SS10s. I've read the specs on these models but I don't
> see a lot of differences between the two. I've worked a tiny bit
> with the SS5s at work which were hooked to NMRs but never an SS10.
> What does the SS5 have that is significantly 'better'? Video? Sound?
> Younger age? Cheaper DIMMs?

SS5's have:

less expandability (3 SBus slots vs 4, 1 CPU vs 4 max)
more expensive RAM (close to $2/MB many places, SS10 RAM is around $1.40)
A more modern looking case which can hold an internal CDROM drive
Mounting for SCA drives instead of regular 50-pin drives
An AFX slot for adding an S24 24-bit framebuffer.  This sounds nice on the
surface but the cards are expensive and they feel quite slow to me.

SS10 RAM can be moved to many other systems if it meets their speed
requirements (usually 60ns).  SS5 RAM is unique to the SS4 and SS5.

IMHO the SS10 is a far better machine for the same money.  Then again, a
SS20 is better still and usually only slightly more expensive (and can get
reasonably fast 24-bit graphics on the cheap).

Neither system has onboard video.  With a $20 external speakerbox they
both have nearly identical audio capabilities.

-James