[Suns-at-Home] E450 480mhz procs

[Ahmed Ewing]

On 3/25/07, David Barnes <davebarnes@adelphia.net> wrote:
> Yes true... my E450 has 4 400mhz procs and it sucks some power... as
> far as I know the only speeds ever supported for the E450 were (300
> or 333?) , 400, and the rare 480 procs...

A 250MHz/2mb US-II was also supported, but you typically tend to see
those only in early examples like the Ultra 450 "workstation".

> I was wondering if maybe they had some problems with the 480mhz
> processor cards and thats why they are not around much?
>
> dunno..

I've come across maybe two or three that I can think of, among
hundreds of presumed-bad US-II modules I've personally handled over
the years in a support role. However, I've never been informed of any
particular issue specific to that speed module. My best guess is the
promise of US-III-based boxes kept them from selling in any large
quantities, and they were perhaps intended as ROI insurance for the
largest dedicated Sun shops featuring huge E450 installed bases.
Nothing like a continued upgrade path to keep the masses content. I'd
have to check when the exact announce/GA dates were to confirm that
theory, though--this is all pure conjecture that's likely to be
disproven :)

As a "gotcha" for anyone seeking out these modules, make sure the part
number of your board is 501-5673, or you won't be able to use the
480MHz procs. That's the only version that supports the highest speed.
That's why I remember coming across them--the testbed available to me
couldn't make use of them and it became a big deal at the time to
source an upgraded board before a deadline.

Hope that helps,

-A