Although the price-performance of IBM Corp’s so-called super clients come off looking pretty unattractive, the Microprocessor Report reckons that the AIX and PowerPC 604-based RS/6000 43P workstations – which are just more robust versions of the super clients – are pretty competitive compared with other workstations. The high-end 133MHz version goes for almost $8,000. By comparison, a Digital Equipment Corp machine – which is faster – costs well over $20,000. Hewlett-Packard Co’s boxes, with comparable integer performance, are over $40,000. As a result, the newsletter estimates that the severe price compression represented by these hybrid personal computer-workstations will cause other workstation vendors to rethink their product strategies.
