#Who owns DEC Alpha's?
13 messages in this thread
Can we have a poll of:
1. Who already owns DEC Alpha's.
2. How many do you own.
3. Who would purchase one if MAX would take advantage of it's power?
4. How many would you purchase?
I have been considering the option for a few months, and was hoping to
be able to make a decision after SIGGRAPH, and before the end of August.
But if MAX won't work with it, my purchase must wait.
I will volunteer to compile the list if people send responses (either
public or private). Everyone sending me Email would remain
nameless. The list would be
1. Already own DEC Alpha systems = xxx.
2. Would like to purchase DEC Alpha systems, but waiting on MAX = xxx.
Thanks,
Dennis
Dennis,
I would like to use Dec Alpha, but of course must wait and see if Max will be
able to run on it.
Regards
Brendan
Check out my msg 185717. Beyond that, there's not much I can say.
– G
Dennis:
1. My company owns a few DEC Alpha machines.
2. 15
3. Absolutely
4. I may try to get the Raptor as a workhorse renderer.
FWIW, not all DEC Alpha boxes will run NT.
– Bob Ritger
Dennis,
From what I heard at Siggraph, the DEC alpha is somewhere between 4 and 6
times faster than a P5-90 and costs about $16K. So, if this is true and
assuming that Max will take advantage of it, it will become our standard
workstation. (ie, one vote for DEC Alpha)
On the other hand, I don't know what other platforms are available to NT.
There may be some faster the the Alpha. Bottom line is: whatever hardware
adesk decides to support, we will purchase the fastest per dollar.
Now we just need to wait for the list. Our company is expanding rapidly and
we purchase a new seat every 2-3 months so it is _extremely_ important we know
asap.
– Steve Ormonde
For the poll on DEC Alpha's so far this date 8/18/95 in the AM.
1. Already own DEC Alpha systems = 15.
2. Would like to purchase DEC Alpha systems, but waiting on MAX = 3.
It appears from a post from Gary Yost that the DEC Alpha is currently
being used to compile and test "MAX" code. See message #185717.
If people continue to post owning or wanting DEC Alpha's to run MAX, I will
continue to update the list.
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
Sorry to ask this of you, but message 185717 has already been deleted from my
message archives in ozcis. Can you post the relevent portion of the message
for me.
Thanks! 🙂
Tom
Tom;
>> Sorry to ask this of you, but message 185717 has already been deleted
>> from my message archives in ozcis. Can you post the relevent portion of
>> the message for me.
This is the complete message.
>> As Jonas said, Intel is the only _announced_ platform at this time. But
>> suffice to say that we're constantly compiling our code on an Alpha (that
>> just happens to be sitting in the office) to make sure that everything we
>> do runs fine on that platform as well.
>> – G
Dennis
Thanks Dennis!
Tom
I have a DEC xl590 that I would upgrade to an alpha station (daughter card
swap) if and when Max/Alpha is announced.
Dennis,
>> 3. Who would purchase one if MAX would take advantage of it's power? <<
Don't have any now, but will consider them versus Intel's P6 (multi-proc).
>> 4. How many would you purchase? <<
I'm interested in a multi-processor, alpha server, for a render server.
Probably a 4 cpu 300mhz jobby, with 1gb RAM.
Martin
I am interested in buying a mulit-processor Alpha system too, for the same use
(render server for Max). But the DEC 4 banger seems a little un-economic. At
that point, why not just get the Onyx running Softimage? Plus- 1 gb RAM? Why
not 48 (or 64) X 4? (Or was this a bit of ha-ha?)
Phil Aro
Terre Papier
Philip,
>> But the DEC 4 banger seems a little un-economic. At that point, why not
just get the Onyx running Softimage? <<
I disagree. The DEC alphaserver will actually be much more economical (and
faster) than SGI's for a fraction of the price. I figured an alphaserver 4 x
300mhz would be faster than our Challenge XL (8 x r4400 200mhz) for a quarter
of the price. Make sense?
Also, I think MAX will be better than Softimage (which I've used) also at a
fraction of the price, especially considering all the development that will
occur for MAX – the sky's the limit.
Martin