From: Franz Fischer (Franz.Fischer@franz-fischer.de)
Date: Fri Apr 01 2005 - 14:57:06 EST
Hi all,
sorry for the late summary of responses to my 2-in-1 question:
1. RADEON 7500 PCI working in DPW500au?
Serveral respondents stated it will / it should work, provided that I
upgrade to at least Tru64 5.1B. (I knew that restriction and did not
explicitly mention that I am willing to upgrade.)
2. Are SRM version numbers comparable between different platforms?
The concensus is that version numbers are NOT comparable between
different Alpha platform types / families:
``However, SRM version numbers are unique to a specific model of Alpha.
The version numbers used for one model are unrelated to the version
numbers used for the SRM on a different model of Alpha. V6 on a DS10 is
more recent than v7 on DWPS systems.'' (quoted from Selden).
Thanks to Benjamin, Tom L., Selden, Graham, Denise, Urs and Jon for your
information; if I can get a RADEON 7k5 cheap, I'll give it a try.
Some excerpts from the respones and the original question are included
below.
Sincerely
\franz
-------------
it should work even though its not supported on that particular system. We
have one in stock if you would like to try it...
3X-PBXGG-AA RADEON 7500 for Alpha $ 350 New retail with full warranty.
-------------
The upgrade CD knows the latest version supported by the underlying
hw. The PWS 500 and 600 are the same just changes the dip switches
on the Motherboard.
-------------
We have no experience with Radeon 7xxx cards on Alphas
(but in general we have found them and their 3D drivers to be both
poor in performance and extremely buggy in Windows and Linux systems.
I really don't understand why HP chose them.)
However, SRM version numbers are unique to a specific model of Alpha.
The version numbers used for one model are unrelated to the version
numbers used for the SRM on a different model of Alpha. V6 on a DS10
is more recent than v7 on DWPS systems.
-------------
I think that the SRM versions are different between systems. The
current SRM for the DS10 is 6.9, but is newer than the PWS SRM 7.2-1.
I have not tried the Radeon 7500 in a personal workstation, but I can
tell you of my experience with other 24 bit cards in them.
The ELSA Gloria Synergy works well in a PWS, and is supported. The
3dlabs Oxygen VX1 is not supported in a PWS, and although it works, I
remember it being extremely slow. I wonder if the device driver was
built specifically for the EV6 CPU, making it very inefficient on EV5?
Not having tried the Radeon in a PWS, I don't know whether it would
work, but I would be concerned that it might have the same problem as
the VX1.
The ELSA is probably the "safe" choice (no DVI output, however), but it
is hard to find and expensive. Island Computers might have some
(www.hpaq.net). David Turner at Island may also have tried the Radeon
with a PWS and know the answer to your question...
-------------
You didn't say what version of the OS you're using. That card is
only supported in 5.1B and above.
-------------
SRM Versionsnummern zwischen verschiedenen Systemen sind unabhaengig
voneinander und koennen nicht miteinander verglichen werden. Jede hat ihre
eigenen Geschichte.
Ich habe auch eine DPW500au herumstehen. Andere Grafikkarten als PowerStorm
4D40T/51T/60T habe ich nie probiert, nur haben die keinen DVI-I output :-(
-------------
The radeon 7500 works fine on the PWS 500, both series. It is not supported
by Tru64 until version 5.2
The Radeon is a good cheap card. I have used the 3dlabs Oxygen VX1, which is
supported by 5.1 and 5.1a, maybe earlier with patch kits. It has a better
picture quality than the radeon, even though it is only 32 meg instead of 64.
SRM versions vary from box to box.
---------- Original Message -----------
> Hi Managers,
>
> does anybody have any experience win an ATI (HP) RADEON 7500 PCI
> graphics card (3X-PBXGG-AA) in a Digital Personal Workstation 500au?
>
> I would like to upgrade this box to have 24 bit true color (Tru24
> color :-) and connect a Sony SDM-81 via DVI-I. 3D support is not of
> primary concern for me.
>
> The DPW500au is not listed as an HP supported system for this card,
> but this might be as the DPW has been retired before the RADEON 7500
> came into Tru64 UNIX life.
>
> On the other hand the DS10 options page
> http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/options/asds10/asds10_3x-pbxgg-
> aa.html lists SRM version 6.4 as a prereq and my DPW has SRM 7.2-1.
>
> Btw: Are SRM version numbers comparable between different Alpha based
> systems or has each system (family) its own SRM version numbering?
>
> Thanks in advance of any hints, including other Tru64 supported cards
> with Tru24 color and DVI-I output.
-- Franz G. Fischer -------- Franz dot Fischer at franz-fischer dot de
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