Yokemate of Keyboards
Posts: 12145 from 2003/5/22
From: Germany
>> the Blackbird would be no worse choice than the X5000/40 for running OS4.
> And how many people are running the X5000/40?
Probably single-digit as long as it is still not released. Point is that the X5000/40 is an announced platform for OS4, so what would be worse in a 4-core Blackbird with OS4, except for the pending porting work?
> Tabor is supposed to be 400€ and apart from the different SoC I don't see that
> much essential stuff on the X5000 that would make it 4-5 times expensive.
In my opinion, the biggest driver of difference in PCB development/production cost between Cyrus and Tabor boards is the layer count. The QorIQ P5 likely requires an 8-layer board while the QorIQ P1 might do with 4 layers. PCB development/production costs increase overproportionally with increasing layer count. That's why I think that not populating Cyrus' xCORE/Xena and accompanying PCIe/Xorro slot footprints and omitting the "AmigaOne" license wouldn't suffice to take it into Tabor (plus purchase price difference between P5 and P1) price range, not even remotely.
And let's wait for the final Tabor sales price (as opposed to announced early adopter price). Cyrus price might turn out more like 3 times the Tabor price, rather than 4-5 times.