[SunRescue] Q: Regarding Sun Educator promo Ultra 5 system

[James Lockwood]

On Wed, 19 Apr 2000, Kurt Mosiejczuk wrote:

> On Wed, 19 Apr 2000, James Lockwood wrote:
> 
> > The 360MHz version is fairly fast but is hampered a bit by a small L2
> > cache (256KB).  It will definately feel much faster than the other
> > machines you have listed.
> 
> I thought that the 360 Mhz had the 2 MB cache....  I thought it was 333Mhz
> and below that were only 256KB (actually, I thought it was 512KB)

Quick field guide to UltraSparc IIi modules:

CPU speed|Bus speed|Cache|Multiplier|Chip series|Comments
---------+---------+-----+----------+-----------+-------------------------
  270MHz     90MHz  256KB     3x       Sabre     Original Ultra 5 CPU
  300MHz    100MHz  512KB     3x       Sabre     Original Ultra 10 CPU
  333MHz    111MHz    2MB     3x       Sabre     Sold in U5 and U10
  360MHz    120MHz    2MB     3x       Sabre     Sold in U10
  333MHz     83MHz    2MB     4x      Sapphire   Current midrange U5 config
  360MHz     90MHz  256KB     4x      Sapphire   Current low end U5 config
  400MHz    100MHz    2MB     4x      Sapphire   Current high end U5 CPU
  440MHz    110MHz    2MB     4x      Sapphire   Current high end U10 CPU
  480MHz    120MHz    2MB     4x      Sapphire   Just released

The 360 that a new U5 will come with is the Sapphire Red 360/256KB module. 
The 333 is the former high end config (and now midrange now that the
U5/400 is available).  All Sabre modules are effectively out of
production, though the 360/2MB version is extremely nice (I'm using one
right now).  _Usually_ Sabre modules have a pin-grid heatsink and Sapphire
ones use a finned heatsink, though .speed or prtconf are always better
tests. 

Much of this (including part numbers) can be gleaned from
http://www.sun.com/microelectronics/.  Might make a good addition to the
FAQ with all these machines floating about.

All of these modules will interchange subject to boot PROM and OS
revisions, just like MBus modules.  Flashable boot PROMs help a lot,
though.

Also: Sun is finally catching up with texture mapping!  Check out:

http://www.sun.com/desktop/products/Graphics/expert3d/index.html

-James