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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.EDU.AU!munnari.OZ.AU!news.Hawaii.Edu!news.uoregon.edu!tezcat!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!EU.net!uknet!usenet1.news.uk.psi.net!uknet!psinntp!psinntp!jusdnews.fir.fbc.com!fitt-85.fir.fbc.com!mfischbe From: mfischbe@fir.fbc.com (Mike Fischbein) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.networking,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.sys.sun.misc Subject: Re: Sparc vs. x86 speed (was Re: Linux vs BSD) Followup-To: comp.os.linux.networking,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.sys.sun.misc Date: 28 Jan 1997 14:38:01 GMT Organization: CS First Boston Corporation Lines: 47 Distribution: world Message-ID: <5cl309$4ff@jusdnews.fir.fbc.com> References: <32DFFEAB.7704@usa.net> <5c58n9$hcb@innocence.interface-business.de> <32E66DE1.7E36AB48@samart.co.th> <5c8b0o$313$1@capsicum.wsrcc.com> <mumfordE4H6FI.Cr1@netcom.com> <32E75738.64D34A1F@tiac.net> <5cj8hj$1cm$1@capsicum.wsrcc.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: fitt-85.fir.fbc.com X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.networking:66474 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:5774 comp.unix.bsd.misc:2088 comp.sys.sun.misc:28125 Wolfgang Rupprecht (wolfgang@dailyplanet.wsrcc.com) wrote: : patrick mcandrew <pmcandre@tiac.net> writes: : When sun sells me an upgrade card for my ss5 case that has one of : these chips on it AT A COMPARABLE PRICE and SPEED to the ppro board I : just bought, I'll buy it too. Mind you, the new ppro computer cost me : <$2000 w/o disk or monitor. : Saying that sun has some $20,000 computer that can almost run as fast : as $2,000 comodity hardware isn't saying much. Of course, that's not what was being said. What was said was closer to "Sun had a $6,000 complete box four years ago that is almost as fast as a $2,000 upgrade board that's just come available." While Sun may or may not come up with an Ultra upgrade for the SS5, I would be surprised if no other vendor did. Looking at the current upgrades available (Cycle 5 for SS2's, for example), that $2,000 price point will probably be reached. None of this is to say that one should or shouldn't buy either SPARC or iAPX. In fact, I'd say that right now the Pentium Pro boxes are a better buy than SPARCs. Of course, if you get quality hardware you'll find that the price difference is very minor. : Yea, I wouldn't be shocked to find that the PPRO box : might have lower reliabiltity. At that price I can : buy 10 of 'em and keep them as hot spares. Well, if you buy high end hardware Pentium Pros you won't find that much cost savings; if you get cheap cases/power supplies/boards you will need those spares. Despite your casual "hot spare" comment, trying to keep your data current on multiple machines *will* cause extra downtime. Note that's not a iAPX vs SPARC issue, it's a cheap box versus quality box issue. Nearly all of the SPARC vendors put out a quality box; many of the iAPX vendors do as well. mike -- Mike Fischbein mfischbe@fir.fbc.com CS First Boston Any opinions expressed are mine only, and not necessarily those of any other entity. They may not even be mine.