It Looks Like The Raptor Blackbird Open-Source Motherboard Will Sell For Just Under $900

[phoronix]

Phoronix: It Looks Like The Raptor Blackbird Open-Source Motherboard Will Sell For Just Under $900

Many have been curious to learn more about the Blackbird from Raptor Computing Systems as a lower-cost POWER9, open-source hardware alternative to their higher-end Talos II hardware that we've been recently benchmarking. The possible price has been revealed...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Raptor-Blackbird-Possible-Price

[ptyerman]

It's definitely more palatable than the price of its bigger cousins, but still a lot for something that only has a fraction the software of a x86 counterpart.
It would depend what you wanted to run I suppose, it's a nice workstation but no general computing desktop.
I would really like to see it develop into one though!

[darkbasic]

I love your products but I think you completely missed the target price for this one. If I have to spend 900$ on a mobo which allows me to use no more than 8 cores then I would just go with the Talos Lite which allows me up to have up to 22 cores (but the sweet spot would probably be 18 cores). Even if I plan to use no more than 8 cores I would still buy the Lite because it will retain its value better on the used market.

[marnux]

I would be really interested in getting my hands on a system. My biggest issue is that i don't want to deal with the hassles of importing it. Unless there will be a reseller within the EU, my options are non existent.

[SXX⁣]

I understand that it's probably been asked before, but is there was any post from RaptorCS guys on financial side of things or history of the company? Is there actually companies who interested in secure hardware who make their projects profitable? Or is there someone like Shuttleworth funding it?

Like I absolutely love what they doing and would buy their hardware if I had extra money available just for the sake of supporting effort, but I wonder who is behind all of that.

[Redfoxmoon]

The amount of PCIe expansion lanes is a bit lacking, would rather have an ATX board at this price

[Michael_S]

Did I read the description right? So the Talos II Lite motherboard can hold a single socket 4, 8, 18, or 22 core Sforza CPU but the Blackrock can only do a single socket 4 or 8 core?

I don't know that I ever would upgrade the machine past the 8 core level. But that would be a nice option to have.

[George99]

Just as a minor correction, we should in fact be able to support the full 8 core device at listed clock speeds. When you go higher the board becomes power limited so, for instance, the 22 core device won't be able to go to full WoF frequencies. https://t.co/Nrwb6UtNd7

— Raptor Computing Sys (@RaptorCompSys) October 9, 2018

Let's see what will be the final retail price. I believe the distance to the Talos II lite has to be greater to justify both lite and Blackrock.

[OMTDesign]

It's very cool to see how many developments are happening in the scene of open-source hardware, from system76's desktop line to Raptors new "affordable" blackboard motherboard.

the Blackrock can only do a single socket 4 or 8 core?

https://www.servethehome.com/raptor-...8-core-power9/

• CPUs with more than eight cores are not supported due to power delivery limitations.
• CPUs with eight cores will have a slightly lower all-core-turbo frequency. Nominal frequency is unaffected.
• CPUs with four cores function normally.

[Michael_S]

https://www.servethehome.com/raptor-computing-systems-blackbird-supports-up-to-8-core-power9/

Thank you!