IBM Corp is giving its 32-bit RS/6000 Unix workstation lines an end of life boost before the 64-bit PowerPC 630 G3 architecture is delivered next year. That’s when the two current architectures – the floating-pint intensive Power2SC/Micro Channel Architecture and PowerPC/PCI bus systems – are combined into a single instruction set. To prepare the ground the two workstations run the 64-bit AIX 4.3 operating system already up on those commercially-oriented Raven SMP servers introduced a couple of week back which use the 64-bit PowerPC 625 Apache processor created by IBM’s AS/400 group. The new Model 397, designed for high-end mechanical CAD users incorporates a single 160MHz Power2 Super Chip – older models use 135MHz CPUs – up to 1Gb RAM, 27Gb disk and four MCA slots. The system bus already delivers 2.56Gbps throughput, which compares favorably with the 2.4Gbps Sun Microsystems Inc says its UltraSparc III RISC will deliver at the end of next year. The CPU is performs a leading 25.8 SPECfp95 and 24.8 SPECint95. A base configuration is priced from $29,000. A new PowerGXT800M 3D graphics adapter for use with the workstation costs $12,000. It’s also available as a Thin Node for IBM’s SP parallel system priced from $33,500, and is said to provide 55% more performance than the 120MHz P2SC node currently available. It’s also boosting SP bandwidth by making available a new SP switch router built for its by Ascend Communications Inc to free up CPU resources. A four-card model is available in the US from $53,000 – a 16-card model and worldwide availability will follow. A new rev of the popular Model 43P 140 PowerPC 604e workstation for entry-level and 2D graphics developers uses the latest 332MHz chip – up from 223MHz in previous models – and costs from $10,500 with up to 768Mb RAM, and 18Gb disk. A Power GXT120P graphics accelerator is priced from $340. The new Video Charger video streaming server will be available for $12,000 in December.
