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There are several open-source general-purpose CPUs, and the most advanced of them seems to be OpenSPARC T2 (correct me, if I'm wrong).

I want to find out, with what effort I can build a machine, which uses this processor and runs some of the common operating systems (e. g. Ubuntu).

That it, I want to build a motherboard with that CPU, connect it to 4 GB of memory and a hard disk (or SSD) and then try to run Ubuntu on that device.

This device will be created for prototyping purposes only (there will be only 1-2 copies of it).

Question: If I want to do this, are there any alternatives to using this evaluation platform?

Glory to Russia
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  • You will probably need a VGA too, some chips for ethernet, some good power distribution system and a hella layout. The question is: do you really think it will cost you less than 2k$ to make this thing on your own? I'm pretty sure the answer is **no** for *any* individual person. – Vladimir Cravero Aug 28 '14 at 07:41
  • wait the board you link has a xilinx chip on it... – Vladimir Cravero Aug 28 '14 at 07:42
  • You can buy a couple of UltraSPARC T2 servers on eBay for a grand or so. And no, Ubuntu doesn't run on SPARC, barring some ancient versions. – ntoskrnl Aug 28 '14 at 08:21
  • Your question is kind-of two parts. Are there other (similarly priced) FPGA boards that will run a soft-core SPARC? Yes. If you have to even ask how to do it, can you? Most likely not. – Connor Wolf Aug 28 '14 at 08:25
  • This is the kind of project that would take a professional engineer with very wide experience about a year to complete. Just laying out the multilayer board and testing it is highly non trivial. Porting an OS like Ubuntu to it would also be a daunting task, with all its drivers matching your custom hardware. If you can manage it there is a job waiting for you at almost any electronics engineering company you care to name. –  Aug 28 '14 at 08:49
  • @VladimirCravero , Connor Wolf: Are there any other approaches (apart from FPGA-based) to testing the OpenSPARC CPU? – Glory to Russia Aug 28 '14 at 09:07

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Depending on time-scales, you might want to consider RISC-V

They claim it is "better" than OpenSPARC and OpenRISC

They appear to have several efforts to make the design more widely available.

It is derived from the same thread as produced MIPS architectures. They claim to have 'tidied up' several issues with older RISC designs.

However, it does not look viable for a DIY machine build until 2015 at the earliest.

As others have commented. your goal seems very ambitious. You might find it as interesting, and more rewarding to collaborate with the RISC-V efforts. If they are successful at producing a range of Open Source ISA's, you may find even more benefits than making a OpenSPARC T2.

gbulmer
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