[SunRescue] Ultra 1 vs. beefy Sparc 20

[Gregory Leblanc]

James Lockwood wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 20 Jan 2000, Eric Ozrelic wrote:
> 
> > I currently have a Sparc 5 110 w/160 mb ram. IT'S TOO SLOW!
> > I want more speed and I want to know if I should pop for a low
> > end Ultra (like an Ultra 1 200e) or a Sparc 20 with like 2xSM81's
> > both would have over 128mb's ram. I like older sparc equipment
> > but not for a workstation I need to use for learning Solaris.
> > I would love any feedback from any individuals that have used these 2
> > platforms.
> 
> If you feel that it is slow for interactive use, you may be running into
> not only the issue of CPU speed, but of graphics speed.  Most sbus based
> framebuffers (excluding the GX+/TGX+) are relatively slow by PC standards.
> 
> The SS20 will be cheaper, and may have a slight edge over a low end Ultra
> (such as a 1/140) in throughput.  For interactive performance, though, you
> want fast CPU's.  The U1/200 should beat the SS20/812 in every way except
> for a narrow range of applications that fit well into the 1MB e-cache per
> processor.
> 
> Keep in mind that not only do the Ultras have faster CPU's, but much
> faster memory busses.  An mbus based system takes a big hit on cache
> misses (and an xdbus system even more) while UPA systems are much faster.

I keep seeing this UPA thing popping up, what IS it?  Sun proprietary,
or some "standard"?  
	Greg

> 
> The U1E also gives you the ability to use a relatively cheap Creator3D
> card, which will go a long way towards making the machine feel fast.  I'd
> say go with the U1E, or possibly consider a first-generation Ultra 5 if
> graphics isn't nearly as important to you.

How fast is a Creator3D, and how cheap?
	Greg