1200mhz ultrasparc iii cu in blade 1000?

Hi everyone.

I read somewhere that 1200MHz UltraSPARC III Cu modules "will work" in
Sun Blade 1000s but that their use is unsupported. Can anyone comment
on this? The benefit of lower power draw (and 50% speed boost over my
750's) is attractive.

I've tried other unsupported hardware (eg, my XVR-100) and it works
fine. Are these 1200MHz modules ones to add to that list?

Thanks

gkl

On 2009-05-27, glennklockwood <> wrote:
> Hi everyone.
>
> I read somewhere that 1200MHz UltraSPARC III Cu modules "will work" in
> Sun Blade 1000s but that their use is unsupported. Can anyone comment
> on this? The benefit of lower power draw (and 50% speed boost over my
> 750's) is attractive.

They work fine in at least some system boards which were present
in both the SB-1000 and SB-2000.

Try "prtfru | grep 'Sun_Part_No' and look at the first one
returned. (You can also open the box and look at the barcode label
along the edge near the PCI card brackets.) If it is 5016230 (or later
-- e.g. 501-6560 or 501-6768), then I can assure you that it will work
as those are listed for all three systems in that family, SB-1000,
SB-2000, and SunFire 280R

You might be able to run the 1200 MHz Cu CPUs on the older
boards as well.

The 501-4143 is listed only for the SB-1000.
The 501-5938 is listed for the SB-1000 and the SF280R/N20
All the others are listed for all of the systems in the series
(SB-1000, SB-2000, and SF280R/N20).

What is *not* supported (and which I have never tried) is mixing
Cu and non-Cu CPUs in the same system. However, you *can* mix different
speeds within either the "Cu" or "non-Cu" family with no problems --
just the speed of a process slows and speeds depending on which CPU it
got at that particular moment. (I've seen this with a Cu 900 MHz and a
Cu 1200 MHz in my SB-2000 while running an old Dhrystone benchmark.)
Each run came up with a different value, depending on which percentage
of time it ran on the faster CPU. There may be a way to lock a process
to a specific CPU, but I don't know that for sure.

Hmm ... other notes suggest that you need a newer OBP for the
900 MHz Cu CPUs and faster. 900 MHz says 4.4 Version 6 or greater, so
if you have a lower version I would suggest that you flash upgrade the
OBP before trying the faster CPUs.

> I've tried other unsupported hardware (eg, my XVR-100) and it works
> fine.

I've actually received two SB-2000s (from eBay) with XVR-100
framebuffers installed -- and one 1200 MHz CPU each, so both are now in
one system, and the other now has older CPUs as an experimental system.

> Are these 1200MHz modules ones to add to that list?

Yes -- with the caveat about the OBP version, apparently. I
always flash to the latest when I get a system before I start swapping
modules around, so I don't know for sure whether there is really a
problem, or just a potential problem.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: <> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
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--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

Thanks for the insight--I'll have to check the revision of my FRU.
Now the hard part will be finding 1200MHz modules for cheap.

glenn

On May 27, 4:24*pm, "DoN. Nichols" <dnich...@d-and-d.com> wrote:
> On 2009-05-27, glennklockwood <glennklockw...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi everyone.
>
> > I read somewhere that 1200MHz UltraSPARC III Cu modules "will work" in
> > Sun Blade 1000s but that their use is unsupported. *Can anyone comment
> > on this? *The benefit of lower power draw (and 50% speed boost over my
> > 750's) is attractive.
>
> * * * * They work fine in at least some system boards which were present
> in both the SB-1000 and SB-2000.
>
> * * * * Try "prtfru | grep 'Sun_Part_No' and look at the first one
> returned. *(You can also open the box and look at the barcode label
> along the edge near the PCI card brackets.) *If it is 5016230 (or later
> -- e.g. 501-6560 or 501-6768), then I can assure you that it will work
> as those are listed for all three systems in that family, SB-1000,
> SB-2000, and SunFire 280R
>
> * * * * You might be able to run the 1200 MHz Cu CPUs on the older
> boards as well.
>
> * * * * The 501-4143 is listed only for the SB-1000.
> * * * * The 501-5938 is listed for the SB-1000 and the SF280R/N20
> * * * * All the others are listed for all of the systems in the series
> * * * * (SB-1000, SB-2000, and SF280R/N20).
>
> * * * * What is *not* supported (and which I have never tried) ismixing
> Cu and non-Cu CPUs in the same system. *However, you *can* mix different
> speeds within either the "Cu" or "non-Cu" family with no problems --
> just the speed of a process slows and speeds depending on which CPU it
> got at that particular moment. *(I've seen this with a Cu 900 MHz and a
> Cu 1200 MHz in my SB-2000 while running an old Dhrystone benchmark.)
> Each run came up with a different value, depending on which percentage
> of time it ran on the faster CPU. *There may be a way to lock a process
> to a specific CPU, but I don't know that for sure.
>
> * * * * Hmm ... other notes suggest that you need a newer OBP forthe
> 900 MHz Cu CPUs and faster. *900 MHz says 4.4 Version 6 or greater, so
> if you have a lower version I would suggest that you flash upgrade the
> OBP before trying the faster CPUs.
>
> > I've tried other unsupported hardware (eg, my XVR-100) and it works
> > fine.
>
> * * * * I've actually received two SB-2000s (from eBay) with XVR-100
> framebuffers installed -- and one 1200 MHz CPU each, so both are now in
> one system, and the other now has older CPUs as an experimental system.
>
> > * * * *Are these 1200MHz modules ones to add to that list?
>
> * * * * Yes -- with the caveat about the OBP version, apparently.*I
> always flash to the latest when I get a system before I start swapping
> modules around, so I don't know for sure whether there is really a
> problem, or just a potential problem.
>
> * * * * Enjoy,
> * * * * * * * * DoN.
>
> --
> *Email: * <dnich...@d-and-d.com> * | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
> * * * * (too) near Washington D.C. |http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
> * * * * * *--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

On 2009-05-27, glennklockwood <> wrote:
> Thanks for the insight--I'll have to check the revision of my FRU.
> Now the hard part will be finding 1200MHz modules for cheap.

There is that. I got my two for about $100 each on eBay -- with
a SB-2000 wrapped around each. (But he was describing them as having a
single 900 MHz Cu in each, and it turned out better than described --
which made up for the fact that one of the two SB-2Ks had a crunkled
corner.) At least what I *wanted* from it was good. :-)

Sometimes, the individual CPUs are offered at similar prices,
but you may have to be patient for a while.

Another thing of interest -- in the SF-280R, there is an
upgraded fan tray for the Cu CPUs compared to the non-Cu. The
difference is that the fan in the center position (the one which blows
through the CPU tunnel on the SF-280R) is 7 W on the older fan tray, and
14 W on the newer one.

The SB-1000 and SB-2000 have only two fans, and in the fan tray
from the crunkled corner SB-2000, both fans are 7W. (Another difference
between the SF-280R and the SB-2K is that the former has three wire fans
(so the system, and in particular the RSC card, I believe) can read the
status of the fans.) The SB-2K assumes that everything works as
desired, including the control of fan speed.

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: <> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---