Crowdfunding for TALOS Workstation
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12199 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > Odd, only one PCI-E X16 and X8 slot? If it has three, and they are split between
    > the processors, which one controls the third X16 slot?

    The Talos II block diagram published yesterday reveals which slots/controllers are connected to which CPU (used PCIe lane quantity in brackets):

    CPU0 (36 lanes used): PCIe (x16+x8), SAS/SATA (x8), Ethernet (x2), USB (x1), BMC (x1)
    CPU1 (44 lanes used): PCIe (x16+x16+x8), OCuLink μPCIe (x4)

    While the used Sforza module provides 48 PCIe lanes per chip, which in terms of figures would have allowed for CPU1's x8 slot to be connected to CPU0 instead, it can only connect to up to 6 PCIe endpoints. The connections to SAS/SATA, Ethernet, USB and BMC necessary for CPU0 add up to 4 endpoints, leaving endpoints for no more than 2 PCIe slots.
    And as can be seen, OCuLink μPCIe won't be available in single-CPU configuration.

    [ Edited by Andreas_Wolf 09.03.2018 - 23:55 ]
  • »30.01.18 - 11:02
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  • Caterpillar
    Caterpillar
    xilinder
    Posts: 39 from 2018/2/1
    From: USA
    Greetings,

    New here.

    I have been looking at the Talos II and made the decision to get one early last week. I should have enough cash in my toy box to do so in two/three weeks.

    I wound up here after too many hours of research on the Talos II and the POWER9 SO chip where I ran across the POWER4 (G5) and a link to MorphOS running on the G5 Mac.

    I have had Amiga's since the A500 and up to the X1000. When it was decided not to port MorphOS to X1000 it was a big letdown for me as I really wanted to give it go. Perhaps for the best anyway as I'm really fed up with the PC architecture, no matter the CPU.

    If there is interest in the Talos II here I would be happy to join in, however I think it might be a good idea to start a new thread.

    I hope to have a good relationship and share thoughts with many.
  • »01.02.18 - 20:15
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  • Jim
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Jim
    Posts: 4977 from 2009/1/28
    From: Delaware, USA
    Quote:

    xilinder wrote:
    Greetings,

    New here.

    I have been looking at the Talos II and made the decision to get one early last week. I should have enough cash in my toy box to do so in two/three weeks.

    I wound up here after too many hours of research on the Talos II and the POWER9 SO chip where I ran across the POWER4 (G5) and a link to MorphOS running on the G5 Mac.

    I have had Amiga's since the A500 and up to the X1000. When it was decided not to port MorphOS to X1000 it was a big letdown for me as I really wanted to give it go. Perhaps for the best anyway as I'm really fed up with the PC architecture, no matter the CPU.

    If there is interest in the Talos II here I would be happy to join in, however I think it might be a good idea to start a new thread.

    I hope to have a good relationship and share thoughts with many.


    Cool, can you keep us informed about your purchase?
    "Never attribute to malice what can more readily explained by incompetence"
  • »01.02.18 - 21:53
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  • Caterpillar
    Caterpillar
    xilinder
    Posts: 39 from 2018/2/1
    From: USA
    Can do.

    At this time I'm looking at;

    Dual Sforza CPU
    LSI 8i SAS card
    4 8GB RAM modules

    I was thinking about the Microsemi SAS controller but after some email exchanges with Raptor it turns out that chip uses proprietary firmware/microcode and the LSI board has open drivers.

    As for all the RAM. The system works best with each CPU having its own RAM. It could be 1 8GB module for each but according to Raptor the performance gain with 2 modules per CPU is amazing.

    Since I won't be running any kind of server or tracking asteroids in other galaxies the 4 core CPUs should be more than enough for any desktop type usage.
  • »01.02.18 - 22:17
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  • Jim
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Jim
    Posts: 4977 from 2009/1/28
    From: Delaware, USA
    Quote:

    xilinder wrote:
    Can do.

    At this time I'm looking at;

    Dual Sforza CPU
    LSI 8i SAS card
    4 8GB RAM modules

    I was thinking about the Microsemi SAS controller but after some email exchanges with Raptor it turns out that chip uses proprietary firmware/microcode and the LSI board has open drivers.

    As for all the RAM. The system works best with each CPU having its own RAM. It could be 1 8GB module for each but according to Raptor the performance gain with 2 modules per CPU is amazing.

    Since I won't be running any kind of server or tracking asteroids in other galaxies the 4 core CPUs should be more than enough for any desktop type usage.




    Dual CPUs, four cores each, four concurrent threads per core...32 threads? Yeah, that should be adequate. 😋
    "Never attribute to malice what can more readily explained by incompetence"
  • »01.02.18 - 22:41
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  • Caterpillar
    Caterpillar
    xilinder
    Posts: 39 from 2018/2/1
    From: USA
    A little info from contact with Raptor.

    The 2x8 pin PWR connectors are in parallel due to the Sforza lower power requirements. So I guess only one 8 wire connection is needed.

    Also, the top two PCIe slots are controlled by CPU0.

    I was also lurking around IBM and it looks like the POWER9 will also run 32bit Big Endian Linux. (?)
  • »16.02.18 - 17:02
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12199 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > the top two PCIe slots are controlled by CPU0.

    Yes, see comment #68 :-)

    > it looks like the POWER9 will also run 32bit Big Endian Linux.

    Yes, that's what I assume as well. Potential target for MorphOS/PPC ;-)
  • »16.02.18 - 18:27
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  • Caterpillar
    Caterpillar
    xilinder
    Posts: 39 from 2018/2/1
    From: USA
    > Yes, that's what I assume as well. Potential target for MorphOS/PPC ;-)

    That would be cool, even under KVM to start with.
  • »16.02.18 - 18:57
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12199 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    Update:

    > OCuLink won't be available in single-CPU configuration.

    Apparently, OCuLink won‘t be available at all:

    "μPCIe connector [...] is incorrectly identified as OCuLink [...] due to errors that were discovered post-production in IBM OpenPOWER reference designs. While the physical connector is the same as OCuLink ports, the wiring is different, notably in the presence detect / clocking pins. As such, while an OCuLink peripheral is unlikely to be damaged by being plugged in to the μPCIe port, it will not function while attached."
    https://wiki.raptorcs.com/w/images/e/e3/T2P9D01_users_guide_version_1_0.pdf (page 69)
  • »09.03.18 - 23:01
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  • Acolyte of the Butterfly
    Acolyte of the Butterfly
    bennymee
    Posts: 133 from 2004/4/14
    From: Netherlands
    Quote:

    Jim wrote:
    Quote:

    xilinder wrote:
    Can do.

    At this time I'm looking at;

    Dual Sforza CPU
    LSI 8i SAS card
    4 8GB RAM modules

    I was thinking about the Microsemi SAS controller but after some email exchanges with Raptor it turns out that chip uses proprietary firmware/microcode and the LSI board has open drivers.

    As for all the RAM. The system works best with each CPU having its own RAM. It could be 1 8GB module for each but according to Raptor the performance gain with 2 modules per CPU is amazing.

    Since I won't be running any kind of server or tracking asteroids in other galaxies the 4 core CPUs should be more than enough for any desktop type usage.




    Dual CPUs, four cores each, four concurrent threads per core...32 threads? Yeah, that should be adequate. 😋



    More then adequate!

    Pricing of those Power9 cpu's is not excessive either imho.
  • »12.03.18 - 12:38
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  • Jim
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Jim
    Posts: 4977 from 2009/1/28
    From: Delaware, USA
    Quote:

    bennymee wrote:

    More then adequate!

    Pricing of those Power9 cpu's is not excessive either imho.





    No, on a price/performance ratio basis a single Power 9 cpu system actually beats an X5000.
    "Never attribute to malice what can more readily explained by incompetence"
  • »12.03.18 - 13:42
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  • Caterpillar
    Caterpillar
    xilinder
    Posts: 39 from 2018/2/1
    From: USA
    Quote:

    Andreas_Wolf wrote:
    Update:

    > OCuLink won't be available in single-CPU configuration.

    Apparently, OCuLink won‘t be available at all:


    I don't believe that will bother me at all. uPCIe has more possibilities for a desktop system IMO. Have to see what's what once they're in the street.
  • »12.03.18 - 15:03
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  • Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    Priest of the Order of the Butterfly
    polluks
    Posts: 807 from 2007/10/23
    From: Gelsenkirchen,...
    https://wiki.raptorcs.com/wiki/Talos_II

    [ Editiert durch polluks 27.03.2018 - 21:13 ]
    Pegasos II G4: MorphOS 3.9, Zalman M220W · iMac G5 12,1 17", MorphOS 3.18
    Power Mac G3: OSX 10.3 · PowerBook 5,8: OSX 10.5, MorphOS 3.18
  • »27.03.18 - 19:10
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  • Caterpillar
    Caterpillar
    xilinder
    Posts: 39 from 2018/2/1
    From: USA
    The Raptor Talos II Current Status has changed from 'Pre-order acceptance' to 'Full Production'.

    Talos II
  • »28.03.18 - 12:09
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  • Butterfly
    Butterfly
    Posts: 80 from 2017/9/10
    here the Talos benchmark. .. happy reading

    https://openbenchmarking.org/result/1803284-AR-TALOS2RAP51
  • »30.03.18 - 15:07
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  • Jim
  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Jim
    Posts: 4977 from 2009/1/28
    From: Delaware, USA
    Quote:

    tlosmx wrote:
    here the Talos benchmark. .. happy reading

    https://openbenchmarking.org/result/1803284-AR-TALOS2RAP51


    I can't open that right now (I'm on my phone) because that wasn't posted as an active link.

    Good to know that the TalosII is in full production.
    It proves that the PPC is NOT entirely dead.

    Were there a cheaper single cpu design based on a standard ATX form factor I'd be pushing for continued development of MorphOS PPC.
    After all, X86 used to represent the enemy, and Amiga has always marched to a different tune.


    And with low endian byte order and a competitive cpu design, Power9 would bring us up go parity with the PC market without having to resort to the compromise of adopting their architecture.

    And yes, I understand the economic arguements, but I'm willing to pay a little more for something unique. That's been my argument in favor of the X5000, and the TalosII has none of the compromises of the X5000 (and is only a little more expensive than the X5000, plus that cost could be reduced with a simplified design).

    Guys, I LIKE PPCs, and I'm going go miss the distinction of running on alternative hardware when we move to X64.

    Plus, it would be far easier to port to Power9 than it will be to move to X64.

    So, to all those that want to drop PPC development after the X6r fork, I'll say this one more time. I'll follow you, but I'm retaining some PPC hardware because it shows what WE can do, outside of the PC industry.
    And so liked the distinction of being different.

    We were always outsiders, even if we originated everything that the mainstreamers adopted.
    "Never attribute to malice what can more readily explained by incompetence"
  • »30.03.18 - 15:26
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12199 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > https://openbenchmarking.org/result/1803284-AR-TALOS2RAP51

    Compilation has been done with GCC 7.3.0. POWER9 (Power ISA 3.0) support was introduced with GCC 6 and enhanced with GCC 7. For whatever reason, "--with-cpu=power8" was used as GCC switch, needlessly decreasing performance.

    Accompanying article:
    https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Raptor-TALOS2-Initial-Tests
  • »30.03.18 - 19:17
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12199 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > with low endian byte order [...], Power9 would bring us up go parity with the PC
    > market [...]. [...] it would be far easier to port to Power9 than it will be to move to X64.

    Yes, especially with POWER9 used in big-endian mode :-)
  • »30.03.18 - 19:32
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  • Caterpillar
    Caterpillar
    xilinder
    Posts: 39 from 2018/2/1
    From: USA
    Quote:

    Andreas_Wolf wrote:
    > with low endian byte order [...], Power9 would bring us up go parity with the PC
    > market [...]. [...] it would be far easier to port to Power9 than it will be to move to X64.

    Yes, especially with POWER9 used in big-endian mode :-)


    :-) :-)

    All I can say about the test is that it worked. A definite lack of information and like many benchmark tests they may not be 'tuned' to the POWER9 or the Talos2. That will take time.

    Have to see real world performance anyway.

    Long Live POWER.
  • »30.03.18 - 20:26
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  • Caterpillar
    Caterpillar
    xilinder
    Posts: 39 from 2018/2/1
    From: USA
    About the 4th comment down at
    https://twitter.com/RaptorCompSys/status/975910664924311553
  • »03.04.18 - 18:25
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  • Yokemate of Keyboards
    Yokemate of Keyboards
    Andreas_Wolf
    Posts: 12199 from 2003/5/22
    From: Germany
    > From what I gathered on IRC #talos-workstation, the quad-core has a TDP
    > of 90W, the octa-core 190W TDP. Both of them can clock up to about 4 GHz

    Now official:

    4-core POWER9: 3.2 GHz base, 3.8 GHz turbo, 90W TDP
    8-core POWER9: 3.45 GHz base, 3.8 GHz turbo, 160W TDP
  • »03.04.18 - 21:18
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