[Info-vax] XP1000 Blowout

[Marc Schlensog]

On Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:27:17 +0100
Jan-Erik Soderholm <jan-erik.soderholm at telia.com> wrote:

> David B Turner Islandco.com wrote:
> 
> > We have a bunch of XP1000 using up space...
> 
> I currently use a :
> 
>  > $ sh cpu
>  >
>  > System: xxxx, AlphaStation XP900 466 MHz
> 
> as my hobbyist system.
> Apart from the obviouse difference between "466" and
> "500" MHz, is there any major difference that would
> make a change valuable ? They are both EV6, as far
> as I can see. Do they both use the same box ? Different
> speed of the memory subsystem (or I/O buses) ?

As has been mentioned somewhere down the thread, the XP1000 has a very
similar case to the Personal Workstation (identical from the outside,
very similar from the inside, 3x 5,25" external bays, 2x 3.5" internal).
IIRC, the XP1000 has 3 PCI64 slots and two PCI32 slots, while the
DS10/XP900 has 3/1 respectively. I know that the DS10 has only one PCI
bus. Don't know for sure about the XP1000.
Another major difference is the memory. While the DS10/XP900
accommodates the so-called "industry standard" 200pin modules also used
in DS20, ES40 and GS80/160/320 (up to two pairs of up to 512MB
modules), the XP1000 uses more standard 168pin SD-RAM (100MHz ECC-R).
Two banks of four modules, maximum supported module size is 256MB.
So both systems are limited to 2GB.
Also, the system speed is a bit slower on the DS10/XP900 (72.5 vs 83MHz
on the XP1k).
The XP1k is lacking the RMC and last time I checked, VMS was
complaining about the (most current) firmware not being recent enough
(should run nevertheless).

Personally I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense to "upgrade" a
466MHz DS10 to a 500MHz XP1000, if speed is what you want (and I think
the 800 bucks are quite steep for a hobbyist system). An XP1000 with an
EV67/667 might make a lot more sense.

Marc