Any Alpha freaks out there?

[PCResources]

Hi!

I really like the Alpha CPU's, and i use them for most of my system configurations.

Is there anyone out there running Alpha, or who has some new info on the 21364?

This CPU will certainly change the meaning of "speed".

Thankful for any input.

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

 

[Czar]

I have an old alpha server.

 

[PCResources]

What do you use it for, which CPU, what kind of hardware?

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

 

[BurntKooshie]

well, what do you know about the 21364 to start with? That way we can define what you consider "new"

BTW - i'm not running one, don't have access to one, nor can I afford one. I just like to learn about them.

 

[Czar]

Dont use it for anything, except a good solid back when I lie in bed and watch DVD's. Its a 2100 line server, 190mhz cpu, 128mb ram, bunchof 2gb scsi disks raided. Gigabit ethernet controler.

Thinking about using it as a file server someday.. has a 10 disk rack.

 

[PCResources]

What do i know about the 21364? Well, let's see...

64bit
8 independent memory channels, using rambus, 1,6*8MB/s.
Up to 3,2Ghz

About caches, i do not know, about trace lengths, i do not know, about bus width, i do not know, about expected performance, i can just guess.

Do you have any facts (or qualified speculations) for me, i would be grateful.


Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

 

[PCResources]

Gigabit ethernet, eh? Not bad for a machine that old...

As a file server it would certainly do it's job.

Thanks for the reply

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

 

[BurntKooshie]

well, the 21364 is really just a 21264 with ondie L2 (1.5mb) cache, and a memory controller ondie for the rambus channels. A great page (and overall, great article) can be found at Paul DeMone's Discussion of the 64bit market

I never heard about the 3.2ghz you are talking about, I have heard of it being around 1.5ghz, and scaling a bit higher of course. The 21364 has 12.8 gbytes/sec memory bandwidth! That's more than ANY other architecture. More than the POWER 4 from IBM.

So if you want to learn more about the 21264 (the 21364 is very, very similar), go to the docmuentation library at alpha which isn't that tough to find.

Am I to assume that you have been assigned the task of writing an article about it?

 

[PCResources]

Nope, i will not write any articles about it, but ever since my discussion with Paul DeMone (actually, the reason i write "Am speaking for PC Resources" is because Paul used to write "Not speaking for Compaq" , i have had a lot of interest in this CPU, the memory bandwidth is NICE...

I will be using it for a database server running Oracle with a Java interface. I REALLY need the mem-bandwidth for it.

Thank you for your information, it was very helpful.

Patrick Palm

Am speaking for PC Resources

 

[Soccerman]

"Dont use it for anything, except a good solid back when I lie in bed and watch DVD's. Its a 2100 line server, 190mhz cpu, 128mb ram, bunchof 2gb scsi disks raided. Gigabit ethernet controler.

Thinking about using it as a file server someday.. has a 10 disk rack."

AHH

RC5!! AAHHH.. run RC5!!