[rescue] ZX and Turbo ZX differences?

[James Lockwood]

On Tue, 21 Jan 2003, Robert Reif wrote:

> I just picked up a turbo ZX frame buffer to replace the ZX in my
> 600MP and was wondering what the differences are.  A web
> search only finds power and heat differences.  There must be a
> reason for the turbo ZX to use more power.

The TZX had a considerably faster XGL pipeline.  I think that 2D is
comparable.  TGS had a nice OpenGL pipeline for it, stock Solaris support
will be XGL only.

Note, though, that the TZX is actually a set of sbus cards (one doublewide
graphics card, two fan cards), and is designed to be used only in the
SS10/SS20 where the fan cards can sit above the main graphics card.  The
fan cards also supposedly feed additional power to the graphics card,
though I don't know if this is vital or just provides extra margin.

Your 4/600 may have enough cooling to handle the main board without the
fan cards, the VME crates moved a lot of air.  If you don't have the fan
cards, I'd recommend sticking an instant-read thermometer on one of the
heatsinked chips and seeing where it stabilizes.  External package
temperatures much over 60C are usually bad news.

-James