Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 alpha 4/15/85; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!ucbvax!info-vax From: info-vax@ucbvax.ARPA Newsgroups: fa.info-vax Subject: microVAX-II annoumcement Message-ID: <7051@ucbvax.ARPA> Date: Tue, 14-May-85 21:22:18 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.7051 Posted: Tue May 14 21:22:18 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 16-May-85 02:06:09 EDT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.ARPA Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 83 From: Richard Garland Today DEC officially announced the microVAX-II, together with its derivative, the VAXstation-II, and a number of microVAX peripherals. I was at the session in New York city and I will summarize as best I can. microVAX-II - o 75% of a 780 for a "general" job; 100% for some jobs. o 200 nsec cycle time, pipelined archetecture, Z-mos technology. o 1 board containing CPU, 1Meg memory, Floating Point Accellerator, and console port. o CPU is 1 chip, Floating point is 1 chip. o Memory has private 32-bit bus. 9 Meg limit at this time. 1 Gbyte archetectural limit (for physical memory). The 9 Meg consists of the 1 Meg on the CPU board, and 2 4 Meg boards. uses 256k rams. separate bus achieves higher speed, no Q-bus contention, and larger adress space. o Same instructions as microVAX-I except floating point has more (G type) o Memory has scatter/gather mapping. Horray. packaging - o small floor pedestal (like uVAX-I) - 9 Q bus slots. o large pedestal (BA123) (looks a bit like a 725) - 12 slots, can hold 4 5 1/4 inch "things" (floppies, winchesters, etc. see below) o RA81 cabinet version "coming". The SI-disk controller not yet announced. Peripherals: RD53 disk - o 71 Meg 5 1/4 inch winchester. o uses new RQDX2 controller, a faster "fixed" RQDX1. o faster. 38 msec av. access time. 5 Mbit transfer rate. o RQDX can handle 4 disks. TK50 streaming tape cartridge. o 95 Meg. 1/2 inch tape. o 5 1/4 inch form factor for unit. o back up an RD53 in 30 - 35 min. o 45 kbyte/sec transfer rate. o appears as an MSPC tape. No new software driver. CDROM - compact laser disk reader o 600 Meg capacity. Read-only. o 1 sec. average access time. o "industry standard" recording format (Sony, Phillips) o 150 Kbyte/sec transfer rate. o appears as an MSPC disk. No new software driver. microVAX-I --> microVAX-II upgrade o "swap out the inside of your machine" o get new CPU board, new RQDX2 controller. Lose old stuff. o old memory no good with uVAX-II Software - o microVMS o Ultrix-32m o VAXEln Pricing - o starts at $18,840. o upgrade $9700 o microVMS pricing now depends on number of users. software inforces user limit. The accuracy of any of this information should be confirmed. These facts are the notes I wrote down. I apologize for any mistakes I may have made. Looks like its finally here. (Woops - I forgot to ask when. I think I heard late summer. First customer ship probably now or soon). Rg [I do not work for DEC. I am responsible for any errors in reporting.] -------