VAX 6000 series
VAX 6000 Systems
The first members of the VAX 6000 Model 200 series were announced in April 1988. The single processor system was the VAX 6210. Up to four processors could be installed to produce a VAX 6240. The processors, memory and I/O cards communicated via the XMI bus. The systems are described in the Digital Technical Journal #7 of August 1988.
The follow on VAX 6000 Model 300 series was announced in January 1989. These replaced the VAX 6200 processor (KA62A) with a faster variant, the KA62B. In-cabinet upgrades were available. The VAX 6300 series, and all later members of the family, supported up to six processors in a system.
In July the VAX 6000 Model 400 series followed, the processor now being based on the Rigel chipset.
The next generation of in-cabinet upgrades was the VAX 6000 Model 500 series, based on the Mariah chipset. The VAX 6500 (and the VAX 6600) required additional signals and power. New systems shipped with upgraded cabinets; cabinet upgrade kits were available to retrofit older cabinets when upgrades were purchased.
The final member of the VAX 6000 series was the NVAX-based VAX 6000 Model 600 series. The with six processors installed this could reach 150 VUPs, and so could compete with the VAX 9440 for performance but at much lower cost.
Performance Comparison
| Series | Performance | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 CPU | 2 CPUs | 3 CPUs | 4 CPUs | 5 CPUs | 6 CPUs | |
| VAX 6200 | 2.8 | 5.5 | 8.3 | 11.0 | — | — |
| VAX 6300 | 3.8 | 7.5 | 11.3 | 15.0 | 18.6 | 22.0 |
| VAX 6400 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 25 | 31 | 36 |
| VAX 6500 | 13.0 | 25.0 | 37.0 | 49.0 | 61.0 | 72.0 |
| VAX 6600 | 32.0 | 58.0 | 84.0 | 106.0 | 128.0 | 150 |
