4D/35 vs. 4D/3xx

[Steven Fisher]

In article <113 at tcela.COM> tak at tcela.COM (Michael Takayama) writes:
>The REAL question is:
>
>Is there any reason to purchase a 4D/310S vs. a 4D/35S from a compute 
>performance standpoint? 
>
>Please leave out arguments of graphics, expandibility, upgrades, etc.
> 
One good reason for getting a 310 over a 35 is the price of memory.
You can get 3rd party memory for the 310 at $850.00/8MB (from
Impediment (617) 837-8877), while the 35 memory is only available
from SGI at $3K/8MB.  If you need alot of memory, this can make a huge
difference.  Because of the way SGI did the memory on the 4D-35,
there may never be 3rd party memory for it (so they won't be as
pressured to lower the memory cost).  If you want 64MB, the
difference in cost is $15K ($10K for us government types).

The 4D-35 has the advantage of a built in parallel port and is
easier to add 3rd party disks and stuff since it has a built in
SCSI port on the back (if it is like the 20 and 25).  The 4D-35
should be quieter than the 310.  The 310 requires 20amp 120 volt
power (or a 20amp to 15amp cord converter like we did).


Most of all, the 310 is bigger => more impressive => more serious!


-steve