blinn@furilo.DEC.COM.UUCP (03/25/87)
Paul Clayton wrote: > Subject: Answer To The 8530 Question And Other Mysteries.. > Posted: 24 Mar 87 01:37:00 GMT > > Information From TSO Financial - The Saga Continues... > Chapter 2 - March 23, 1987 > > In reference to the question of what is a 8530, its a new product anouncement > that came to light in the recent past. Its suppose to provide a 30%+- > enhancement over the original 8500. > > The snafu is that upgrade kits are not available from DEC. They are only > selling complete boxes, and my sales lady says that upgrades such as the 8530 > and 8550 are on hold until demand levels or something. In the meantime, anyone > that has an existing order in that is not currently in the build cycle, can > have the cpu upgraded, according to sales. > > Just when you thought the cpu anouncements were slowing down and you could > read up on them and do some comparisons, DEC keeps pulling them from the hat. > > Paul D. Clayton - Systems Manager > TSO Financial - Horsham, Pa. USA > Address - CLAYTON%XRT@CIS.UPENN.EDU Later, Bob Paver replied > Subject: Re: Answer To The 8530 Question And Other Mysteries.. > Posted: 24 Mar 87 15:54:05 GMT > > My understanding is that the upgrade from and 8500 to an 8530 involves > MICROCODE ONLY (probably removing intentional delays) and that it will > be free. We've got reason to believe ours will be done in late April. > -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- > Bob Paver (512) 338-3316 > Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corp. (MCC) > 3500 West Balcones Center Drive > Austin, TX 78759 > > ARPA: paver@mcc.com > UUCP: {ihnp4,seismo,harvard,gatech}!ut-sally!im4u!milano!paver > ------- To minimize confusion, let me provide the view from inside: The upgrade from the 8500 to the 8530 involves new microcode and a new logo strip for the outside of the CPU cabinet. The performance goes up by about 30%, give or take a bit, depending on application, your mileage may vary. (Not all instructions are sped up by exactly the same amount, which would require using exactly the same microcode but speeding up the clock.) Existing VAX 8500 customers who are on DEC maintenance will get the upgrade as an FCO (Field Change Order) installed by Field Service at no charge. I don't know whether there are any third-party or self maintenance customers at this time, but if there are, they probably will have to pay some fee to get the upgrade. So it goes. At the same time the VAX 8530 was announced, two other new systems were announced: the VAX 8250 and the VAX 8350. These systems have a speeded up clock on the CPU board, but otherwise are very similar to the systems they replace, the VAX 8200 and VAX 8300. The newer systems offer about 20% better performance (e.g., VAX 8250 is 20% faster than VAX 8200) at a lower price. In fact, the VAX 8350 is only slightly more expensive in a typical configuration than the older VAX 8200. Customers who had orders in the pipeline at the time of announcement can get the newer systems at the new, lower price. Upgrade from the VAX 8200 to the VAX 8250 or from the VAX 8300 to the VAX 8350 has not been announced. Contact your DEC sales representative for details. Also, the prices for disk subsystems and add-on memory were reduced at the same time. Again, see your DEC sales representative for details if you need the new prices. They will be available in the next edition of the U. S. Price List, if you want to make comparisons. Tom Dr. Thomas P. Blinn U. S. Volume Operations Digital Equipment Corporation Two Iron Way -- MRO3-3/R18 Marlboro, Mass. 01752-9003 Internet: blinn%furilo@decwrl.dec.com Easynet: FURILO::BLINN Usenet: {decvax,ucbvax,allegra}!decwrl!furilo.dec.com!blinn Voice: (617) 467-5562 Note: Opinions expressed herein are my own, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer or anyone else, living or dead, real or imagined.