Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!rutgers!apple!portal!portal!cup.portal.com!cliffhanger
From: cliffhanger@cup.portal.com (Cliff C Heyer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.dec
Subject: Digital Review SBC article
Message-ID: <26668@cup.portal.com>
Date: 7 Feb 90 00:16:27 GMT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 47

Re:  Digital Review 1/29/90  P. 1 
"DEC Set For Move into Board Level Market"

I can't believe my eyes. I don't see how DEC can 
hope to compete in this market! With 8+ MIPS 68030 
boards going for $2500. And the new Heurikon 68040 
25MHz board at 13.5 MIPS going for $3400.

Lets note DEC's KA650 MicroVAX 3000 board goes for 
$10,000 USED - for a paltry 4 MIPS. I guess the new 
price is about $12000... This uses the 78034 uP.

Oh - but wait! DEC's new SBC "board level product" 
is not the KA650, it's the "RTVAX 300" offshoot of 
the KA620 priced in the $2,000 range. At 3.5 MVUPS 
(4.8 MIPS) Note that this is  $416/MIPS compared to 
$253/MIPS with the 68040. 

Also note the new SBC uses the MicroVAX II 78032 
chip (not the MV 3000 78034) which on the MicroVAX 
II only had 1 MIPS at 20MHz(Digital Review 9/85 p. 
60), now suddenly it has 4.8 MIPS at 20MHz in the 
new SBC product. What goes? If the chips are the 
same I must conclude VMS does not give a single job 
full uP MIPS, which is what I always suspected.

A $10,000 price difference for 2 DEC boards: The 
MicroVAX 3000 and the "Real Time VAX" board that 
seem to have the same MIPS (?) Why should the VMS 
board cost any more than the SBC if the hardware is 
the same? 

(Please, only respond to my assertions if you know 
FACTS such as having a board in front of you to 
look at. I don't need a lecture on the features of 
VMS, etc, that "take a lot of special chips" or 
other such useless generalities.)

How would MicroVAX owners feel if it were true that 
their CPU board sold for $10,000 less in the SBC 
market so DEC could compete with Intel and Motorola 
SBCs? This is the real issue. DEC alleges that VAX 
MIPS cost more than RISC MIPS. If this is true, why 
would the SBC cost less? 

Does anyone on the net have a DEC SBC as well as a 
MicroVAX 3000 or II handy to compare the boards?