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It's difficult to justify spending $7k for a motherboard and CPU that only sometimes matches the performance of an Intel equivalent at $500. Only the most secu

It's difficult to justify spending $7k for a motherboard and CPU that only sometimes matches the performance of an Intel equivalent at $500. Only the most security-sensitive applications could justify that price. They need an investor with deep pockets and no compromising motives.

wolfgke 10y ago
> It's difficult to justify spending $7k for a motherboard and CPU $7,500 is for the complete workstation. The mainboard is $4,100: > https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-secure-workstation https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-s...
- nitrogen 10y ago
  Right, $4100 for motherboard plus ~$3000 for CPU. I should point out that I really want something like this to succeed, but it's in the catch-22 phase of not having enough demand to drive down costs to drive up demand.
- detaro 10y ago
  And you need to add at least $1100-$3000 for the CPU, so it's still >=$5200. Note that your price for the "complete workstation" does not include a CPU either.
StillBored 10y ago
Well ~$5235, but the CPU starting at $1135 isn't even the problem. Its the $4100 motherboard that should really be closer to $500. But it all seems sorta silly since the tyan openpower machine was selling for ~$2750 or so a couple years ago. I guess IBM got tired of throwing cash at it? But really, these guys (and ARM too) need economies of scale, and they aren't going to get it by selling a machine for 4x+ more than the equivalent Intel. Both of them need to look at some of the low cost integrated intel motherboard/cpu combos, match one with slots, graphics, networking, usb, sata, etc on spec's and cost, and start from there. But they don't want to do it, because those machines don't have the fat margins that intel makes on the E5/E7 lines, and they aren't willing to spend a few hundred million buying every hacker/linux developer a desktop machine using their cores. So they will need a ton of runway, and a long term plan to beat intel. Something I see that ARM may have due to their huge advantage selling a few billion devices a quarter. IBM OTHOH, spent the last decade trying to sell overpriced POWER/linux machines and failing, so they don't have another decade left. Plus, they can't even get their strategies straight enough to push one single linux platform (because they are also pushing s390, and their software guys are all busy selling x86/linux software).
- wmf 10y ago
  Supermicro Power8 servers are competitive with Supermicro Intel servers; it's just Talos that's failing.

wolfgke 10y ago

> It's difficult to justify spending $7k for a motherboard and CPU $7,500 is for the complete workstation. The mainboard is $4,100: > https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-secure-workstation https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-s...

nitrogen 10y ago
Right, $4100 for motherboard plus ~$3000 for CPU. I should point out that I really want something like this to succeed, but it's in the catch-22 phase of not having enough demand to drive down costs to drive up demand.
detaro 10y ago
And you need to add at least $1100-$3000 for the CPU, so it's still >=$5200. Note that your price for the "complete workstation" does not include a CPU either.

StillBored 10y ago

Well ~$5235, but the CPU starting at $1135 isn't even the problem. Its the $4100 motherboard that should really be closer to $500. But it all seems sorta silly since the tyan openpower machine was selling for ~$2750 or so a couple years ago. I guess IBM got tired of throwing cash at it? But really, these guys (and ARM too) need economies of scale, and they aren't going to get it by selling a machine for 4x+ more than the equivalent Intel. Both of them need to look at some of the low cost integrated intel motherboard/cpu combos, match one with slots, graphics, networking, usb, sata, etc on spec's and cost, and start from there. But they don't want to do it, because those machines don't have the fat margins that intel makes on the E5/E7 lines, and they aren't willing to spend a few hundred million buying every hacker/linux developer a desktop machine using their cores. So they will need a ton of runway, and a long term plan to beat intel. Something I see that ARM may have due to their huge advantage selling a few billion devices a quarter. IBM OTHOH, spent the last decade trying to sell overpriced POWER/linux machines and failing, so they don't have another decade left. Plus, they can't even get their strategies straight enough to push one single linux platform (because they are also pushing s390, and their software guys are all busy selling x86/linux software).

wmf 10y ago
Supermicro Power8 servers are competitive with Supermicro Intel servers; it's just Talos that's failing.