28 Oct
2001
28 Oct
'01
10:34 a.m.
64-bit PCI
cards will work in a 32-bit PCI slot. I've got a four-port 64-bit
Ethernet card in a 32-bit PCI slot in one of my systems.
I really don't see how they could work, since the connector is not likely to
fit. I recently had a peek at the standard for PCI, and I didn't seen any way
in which this could work. Since there apparently aren't any serious SCSI
boards being made for 32-bit PCI
any longer, and since most fibrechanel and firewire boards are 64-bit, I'd think
it desirable to have most PCI mothers support the 64-bit PCI, which, according
to what I've read so far, does support the 32-bit cards. If you want the 250+
MBPs transfer rates, no short PCI slot is going to handle that. The 10Gb
ethernet will demand that the system process sustained, meaning for years and
years, not just for bursts of a few hundred picoseconds, transfer rates of
10Gb/sec, and who knows what will come along after that. What's more, it's got
to work faster than all that at the system level, since the traffic has to go
somewhere and the responses have to come from somewhere as well.
I've seen 32-bit FC and firewire cards. I've seen FC cards that come in both
32- and 64-bit configurations, although the 32-bit cards I've seen look like
they are the 64-bit version with only a 32-bit edge connector.
I've never seen a 64-bit firewire card.
ALPHA boards aren't relevant any longer, are they?
I think so. The Alpha will be around for a while, with EV7 on the way, despite
what some people think. Compaq announced the Alpha would be winding down, not
stopping dead in its tracks.
--
Eric Dittman
dittman(a)dittman.net
Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/