phd_jacquier@gsbacd.uchicago.edu (08/18/90)
Well, I have done some research on workstations and find myself a bit less ignorant than last week about the DEC-Station 3100/5000, thanks to net-answers to my question. About prices: I am amazed by the price difference with the SUN-SS1+, not for the base systems which are comparable, BUT FOR THE ADD-ONS. Namely: Cost of RAM 1200/4MB vs 960/8MB for SS1+ Cost of Hard-Drive 4500$/665MB vs 2800$/665MB SUN and 1900$/665MB Fuji Cost of TAPE-DRIVE 1750$/95MB vs 880$/130MB SUN (These prices are after academic discounts) 1) Can I buy and install third-party SCSI hard drives (FUJI) ? 2) Can I buy and install third-party tape drives ? 3) RAM: Has anybody try to stick third-party or SUN 4MB RAM in a decstation. I was told that if the 3100 is limited to 24MB, it's because NEC only has 1MB chips. What would happen if I put third-party 4MB chips? Thanks a lot for the information. Eric
grr@cbmvax.commodore.com (George Robbins) (08/19/90)
In article <1990Aug17.212412.3305@midway.uchicago.edu> phd_jacquier@gsbacd.uchicago.edu writes: > Well, I have done some research on workstations and find myself a bit > less ignorant than last week about the DEC-Station 3100/5000, thanks to > net-answers to my question. > > About prices: I am amazed by the price difference with the SUN-SS1+, not for > the base systems which are comparable, BUT FOR THE ADD-ONS. > Namely: Cost of RAM 1200/4MB vs 960/8MB for SS1+ > Cost of Hard-Drive 4500$/665MB vs 2800$/665MB SUN > and 1900$/665MB Fuji > Cost of TAPE-DRIVE 1750$/95MB vs 880$/130MB SUN > > (These prices are after academic discounts) Be sure to get DEC to quote with the understanding they won't get the sale unless they are competitve with Sun. You have nothing to lose and they may (or may not) come up with some rather imaginative discounts. > 1) Can I buy and install third-party SCSI hard drives (FUJI) ? Yes. > 2) Can I buy and install third-party tape drives ? 3rd Party 8MM tapes are widely used, but make sure your vendor commits to make it work on the 3100 or your money back... (same with disks for that matter...) > 3) RAM: Has anybody try to stick third-party or SUN 4MB RAM in a decstation. > I was told that if the 3100 is limited to 24MB, it's because NEC only has > 1MB chips. What would happen if I put third-party 4MB chips? The DS3100 uses special non-standard SIMMS (they have some kind of bus buffers on them). They are available from many of the usuall add-on memory supplies. There were rumors that 4M-bit chips would allow memory expansion beyond the 24M-byte limit, but I've never seen any proof of it. I would have expected someone to have at least given it a try, and it`s quite possible that there are architectural or other configuration restrictions that would keep it from being a plug in the chips deal. The 24M-byte is enough for many workstation uses - if you're planning on something heavy-duty, it makes more sense to look at the DS5000 series. > > Thanks a lot for the information. > > Eric -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing: domain: grr@cbmvax.commodore.com Commodore, Engineering Department phone: 215-431-9349 (only by moonlite)
frank@croton.enet.dec.com (Frank Wortner) (08/20/90)
Just as a point of information: Digital does have a program in place to encourage third party vendors to interface hardware to RISC/ULTRIX machines. The program is called the TRI/ADD Program. The phone number is 1-800-678-OPEN. For those interested, TurboChannel hardware specs are available for anonymous FTP from gatekeeper.dec.com. Look in pub/DEC/TriAdd. Frank
jac@zabriskie.berkeley.edu (Gordon Jacobs) (08/24/90)
In article <1990Aug17.212412.3305@midway.uchicago.edu> phd_jacquier@gsbacd.uchicago.edu writes: >Well, I have done some research on workstations and find myself a bit >less ignorant than last week about the DEC-Station 3100/5000, thanks to >net-answers to my question. > >About prices: I am amazed by the price difference with the SUN-SS1+, not for >the base systems which are comparable, BUT FOR THE ADD-ONS. >Namely: Cost of RAM 1200/4MB vs 960/8MB for SS1+ > Cost of Hard-Drive 4500$/665MB vs 2800$/665MB SUN > and 1900$/665MB Fuji > Cost of TAPE-DRIVE 1750$/95MB vs 880$/130MB SUN > >(These prices are after academic discounts) > >.... >Thanks a lot for the information. > >Eric ============================================================================= ============================================================================= ============================================================================= I bought a third party hard disc for my 3100 from a place that basically sells SUN stuff. I just had to get a special cable to go from the standard 50-pin D-connector to the DEC ribbon style connector. The price was $2800 for a WrenVI 658Mb disc. While memory is a little more expensive (doesn't it have to be faster?), the other SCSI peripherals should be identical... CALL SUN SUPPLIERS and ask if they have the necessary cables for 3100s... Gordie Jacobs ============================================================================= ============================================================================= =============================================================================