Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

It Looks Like The Raptor Blackbird Open-Source Motherboard Will Sell For Just Under $900

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #21
    Anyone seeking to purchase this should check Raptor's hardware wiki and check on their graphics card testing. It is not universal and legacy cards don't work as well as more recent ones.

    Also remember these are PCIe v4.0 slots on the POWER9. Bus timing is critical and Raptor has made many notes on how many older PCIe adapters are junk due to the poor or lesser quality components used.

    Buyer beware, this is truly a development board.

    Comment


    • #22
      Originally posted by CochainComplex View Post

      This would be great! ...btw somehow emulating Xbox360 and PS3 Games should be a bit easier on Power9.
      Everything is possible, but not realistically doable. PS3/Wii(U)/Xbox360 do not use a POWER architecture and PowerISA, they use "variants" specifically custom-made powerpc cpu, which is completely different from your regular POWER9 CPU. Sure, there similarities, probably writing an emulator from scratch would be easier than on x86 however ppc is still a very niche product, and this niche will probably never ever include gamers. POWER9 isn't for games right now and probably never will unless IBM decides desktop is a thing, which I highly doubt. You can use power as a great workstation, surely you can do some floss gaming, or installing old osx games ppc games should be possible, but mainline gaming is highly improbable.

      Comment


      • #23
        What's open source in the products?
        The OpenBMC-code port?
        Schematics for PCB's + BOM? Layout? PCB design rules?
        I think calling the hardware Open Source is a stretch.
        Obviously none of the ASICs can be had code for.

        Either way. I'd be interested in another form factor iff all the schematics were free.
        Like a VPX 6U form factor with none of the external PC port crap.

        Comment


        • #24
          Originally posted by Maddo View Post

          Everything is possible, but not realistically doable. PS3/Wii(U)/Xbox360 do not use a POWER architecture and PowerISA, they use "variants" specifically custom-made powerpc cpu, which is completely different from your regular POWER9 CPU. Sure, there similarities, probably writing an emulator from scratch would be easier than on x86 however ppc is still a very niche product, and this niche will probably never ever include gamers.
          not sure about the Xbox360 - this one is most probably really close to PowerPC 970. Xbox360 Devkits and even some demonstrators used Power Mac G5's , see e.g. https://www.journaldulapin.com/2015/...st-a-xbox-360/

          and Cells PPE is PowerISA 2.03 compliant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_...wer_ISA_v.2.03
          Last edited by CochainComplex; 14 November 2018, 01:12 PM.

          Comment


          • #25
            Yeah more than I expected. At that price I'm on the edge whether to get one.

            Comment


            • #26
              Originally posted by rdeiriar View Post
              The price seem OK to me, small scale electronics manufacturing is expensive. Allow me to do a quick calculation for a minimal setup for home/hobbyist use (i'm actually thinking of assembling one)

              Motherboard: US$ 875
              Quad-Core Sforza CPU: US$ 375 ( https://raptorcs.com/content/CP9M01/intro.html )
              3U Cpu cooler: US$ 110 ( https://raptorcs.com/content/TL2HS3/intro.html )

              For the memory, i am assuming that what works on Raptor II works on Blackbird, so DDR4 Registered ECC,
              2x Crucial CT8G4RFS8266 8Gb PC-21300: US$ 102.57 each (B&H)

              ...

              Not bad, methinks. It would be great if some readers could step in and tell me how they would spec such a 'hobbyst' system and/or what to upgrade
              That seems very reasonable. I will definitely be building one of these, probably 8 core, which I think is only ~$200 more than quad.

              Comment


              • #27
                I still wonder if Google is one of the main purchasers of Raptor stuff. They've certainly made a push for Power, and might even end up buying Raptor if they decide to make a bigger switch to Power. OpenJDK runs on Power, so this might end up being a must buy for Java shops if more OpenPower stuff becomes mainstream in the sub-$5k range (comparable to EPYC, and low compared to Power hardware from IBM).

                Comment


                • #28
                  Originally posted by marnux View Post
                  I would be really interested in getting my hands on a system. My biggest issue is that i don't want to deal with the hassles of importing it. Unless there will be a reseller within the EU, my options are non existent.
                  Good point. I'm also interested and I believe that the EU might be an interesting market for them, especially Germany where FOSS penetration is very high. Without a reseller in the EU it's not going to work though, here in the Netherlands I'd be paying 22% VAT on top of the list price plus the import fees.

                  Comment


                  • #29
                    Originally posted by audir8 View Post
                    I still wonder if Google is one of the main purchasers of Raptor stuff. They've certainly made a push for Power, and might even end up buying Raptor if they decide to make a bigger switch to Power. OpenJDK runs on Power, so this might end up being a must buy for Java shops if more OpenPower stuff becomes mainstream in the sub-$5k range (comparable to EPYC, and low compared to Power hardware from IBM).
                    I don't see any connection between Google and Raptor. Google collaborates with Rackspace: https://cloud.google.com/blog/produc...ing-ibm-power9

                    Comment


                    • #30
                      Originally posted by rdeiriar View Post
                      US$ 600 would be fantastic
                      That's what everybody expected. Whoever has the budget for a 900$ motherboard will simply buy the Talos Lite instead.
                      Last edited by darkbasic; 15 November 2018, 12:20 PM.
                      ## VGA ##
                      AMD: X1950XTX, HD3870, HD5870
                      Intel: GMA45, HD3000 (Core i5 2500K)

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X