SPARCengine 1E performance (Was: Sparcengine 1E serial pinout needed)
David L. Markowitz
dav at genisco.gtc.com
Sun Dec 30 12:04:00 AEST 1990
fitz at frc2.frc.ri.cmu.edu (Kerien Fitzpatrick) writes:
>As a general note, the performance of the SPARC 1E was disappointing at
>best. Comparing the same code between a diskless 1+ with 12Mb memory and
>the diskfull (yes, I was using a second ethernet board) SPARC 1E with 8Mb
>- the code rmore than three times as fast on the 1+.
This is hardly a fair comparison! The 1+ is 15.8 MIPS vs. the 1E's 12.5
MIPS, and 4.0.3 is known to be a dog with only 8 MB, especially if you run
a window system. Also the ECC RAM is slower, but is ECC (important in
many applications). Try comparing a 1E with a combo board with 8 MB
additional in SIMMs on it to yield 12 MB total vs. a SPARCstation 1 also
running 4.0.3.
>A nice alternative
>if you need VME is to use one of the SBus <-> VMEbus adaptors. When we
>swapped out the SPARC 1E with a 1+ motherboard and Solflower's SBus <->
>VMEbus adaptor (and kept the local disk) we picked up performance from the
>diskless 1+ (as would be expected). Given University discount, the 1+
>motherboard + Solflower costs less than the SPARC 1E + 4Mb ECC memory
>board.
This is true. Only use a 1E where you need a 1E, such as in ruggedized
MIL VME boxes (like we build). Only use ECC RAM when you need it. An
alternative is (now) available.
>The SPARC 1E is a good idea, the implementation leaves a lot to be
>desired. We are going with the motherboards + Solflower because of easy
>(and cheap) memory upgrade, three SBus slots, price, performance, and
>retaining standard SunOS (I've heard 4.1e will be ready first quarter 91).
>Beyond that you still have the nice audio I/O port (great on a mobile
>robot....you can record audio for playback....have the errorhandler trap -
>AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! another bug!).
The combo board also provides two Sbus slots. The rest of your comments
are very accurate. Update them now, and compare the 1E vs. a SS2!
David L. Markowitz
Genisco Technology Corporation
dav at gtc.com
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