Yeah, it seems that we'll have to use true parity memory - personal
responses I've gotten indicate that just using logic parity RAM does not
work either.

It's still a decent deal though, compared to buying a Pentium II-350 +
motherboard + SDRAM. Here's the numbers I worked out:

AlphaPC164 + CPU = $200
128 MB ECC FPM 72-pin SIMMS (8*32MB) ~= $650
Total = $850

Pentium II 400 MHz ~= $275
Slot 1 Motherboard ~= $150
128 MB PC100 SDRAM ~= $200
Total = $625

Okay, so the P2 is $225 cheaper, give or take $50. I picked the P2-400
because it seems to have somewhat similar SpecInt95 numbers, according to
what information I could find on websites. I'm also told by other DECies
that the Alpha compilers got better since the SpecInt95 results were
published. (NOTE: This is all seat-of-the-pants speculation, researched by
visiting a web site or two for published prices and benchmarks. Don't flame
me for having wrong numbers. Just correct me)

And of course, Alpha SpecFP95 blew the P2 away. And I intend to figure out
how to get Quake II working. :-) just kidding. In any case, it's not too bad
a deal, excluding the business with the ATX power supply. I just wish a
cheaper source of ECC RAM was around.

-Edwin

-----
Edwin Foo - Compaq Cambridge Research Laboratory
<efoo@crl.dec.com> [O] (617) 551-7612 [F] (617) 551-7650


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tracy J. Di Marco White [mailto:gendalia@iastate.edu]
> Sent: Friday, April 16, 1999 1:26 PM
> To: Calvin Vette
> Cc: Edwin Foo; 'tls@rek.tjls.com'; current-users@netbsd.org;
> port-alpha@netbsd.org
> Subject: Re: 2nd Announcement: cheap fast Alpha PC164 boards 
> available 
> 
> 
> 
> }It's not just 36-bit, it's FPM memory. I don't know what the 
> difference is, but
> }I know it's not compatible. (I believe the SparcLX also uses 
> FPM memory, and
> }I've tried 32-bit SIMMS in it with no luck.)
> 
> 36 bit is parity, 32 bit is not.  Alphas do ECC as far as I 
> know, so require
> parity memory.  (With the number of SIMMs required, instead 
> of just parity,
> the alphas (and other motherboards) can do ECC.)
> 
> Tracy J. Di Marco White
> Project Vincent Systems Manager
> gendalia@iastate.edu
>