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From: healyzh_at_aracnet.com <(healyzh_at_aracnet.com)>
Date: Wed May 31 17:08:33 2000

I'm actually talking about the fact that for what a nice used Dual Processor
Sparc 20 would cost I can go out and buy a far better NEW Dual Celeron system
(probably a better PIII system, but I've not priced that). The going price
for a Ultra 1 or a Dual Sparc 20 is going to be in the $600-1200 range,
depending on the configuration (and if it includes a monitor).

Sure an Ultra 80 Quad 450MHz would be nice, BUT what's the price performance
to a top of the line Dual Pentium III or Quad Xeon?

Also in both examples I'm talking about using *good* parts, not el'cheapo
trash.

At one point Sun's made sense. However, for home use, and in some/most cases
for business use, they're a horrible value. You can get so much more for so
much less that it isn't funny. Any idea how a 450Mhz Ultra2 CPU compares to
something like a 700Mhz Pentium III? The main reason I can see to go with
UltraSparc is if that's what the apps you need run on, or you need a 64-bit
CPU today.

Trust me, I've argued with myself a *lot* on this :^) The end result is
both Sparc and x86 boxes will run Solaris, so unless you can get a *killer*
deal on a very nice Sparc system you're going to be better off building a
nice Celeron or Pentium III box to run it.

                           Zane


> I don't know, those Ultra 80 Quad 450MHz CPU Boxes look niiiiccceee. You're
> right about the overall cost/performance ratio of the older hardware, but
> you also have to take into consideration how stable the machines are. Take a
> $100 low end SPARCStation and $100 of used pentium hardware. You'd probably
> get a faster Pentium machine (Maybe a P-90) but take a close look at the
> craftsmanship of the machine. Sun's run FOREVER, they just don't fail due to
> shoddy hardware designs. Early Pentium designs were REALLY buggy, even the
> later models had nasty bugs (f00f anyone?) I know several companies that
> kept their 486 servers, even when they were terribly out of date, because
> the 486 design had been battle tested for so many years. Keep in mind that
> the performance in price/performance also includes multitasking and
> stability concerns.
>
> > Well, I didn't just buy it for that, I got it when that's about what they
> > were worth. The only reason I payed as much as I did was because of the
> > SCSI S-Bus card in it.
> >
> > I *really* want a SS20 w/dual SM71's or SM81's, and something like 192MB
> > RAM, but then I look at what I can get in an x86 box for that price and
> just
> > shake my head. I might like Sparcs, but x86 is the only platform Solaris
> > makes sense on!
> >
> > Of course my dream Sparc would be a Dual Ultra 2 :^)
> >
> > Zane
>
Received on Wed May 31 2000 - 17:08:33 BST