intellistation

IBM IntelliStation POWER 285
System Type: 9111

285

Released in 2005 this system used POWER 5+ and was built around the System p5 520 tower with CAD friendly options enabled; along with extensive foam to reduce vibrations and noise as these would reside in an office or cubicle with someone working nearby. IBM exclaims that these were even quieter than the previous generation which is tolerable but less than 'ideal'. It sounds a bit like a System x3300 M4 with a mechanical drone from vibrations due to the way the fans are mounted in the hot-swap mechanism(!). I'm under the impression the noise was enough for IBM to sell the cheaper (and quieter) 185 models to corporate and government users. System p5 520 racks and towers both use the same motherboard: this is a practice IBM continues today, but it's nothing unique: the early PC 300 desktops and towers used the same motherboard despite being in different form factors.

The IntelliStation POWER 285 could be fan-modded much like the x3300 M4 by the use of 'fan emulators' that connect to 12v, ground and the tachometer line. However, the thermal dissipation requirements between the two systems are vastly different, and it would be advisable to only do it on a single-CPU model.

Out of the IntelliStation POWER systems remaining, this one probably remains the most publicly common due to the fact they're used as servers instead of CAD workstations. The size, age and austerity of the platform may help also drive these to lower costs and quicker distribution; few resellers want to hold onto such large products (these rival even some AS/400e towers). It's also the one with the most support from IBM, being the last to receive a firmware update and the last that will have extended support (2018).


Downloads

Manuals

Firmware, Drivers, & Software

Due to IBM's licensing agreements I am not entitled to distribute the firmware update as it's licensed code. Therefore the above link redirects to IBM's Support, as long as you're authorised.

Note: it seems that the 3DxWare driver should support the SpaceBall and SpaceMouse, along with offering new support for the SpacePilot and SpaceExplorer on AIX. However if that's not the case the older Xdriver can be used.

Note #2: you must purchase a license from 4Front Technologies to activate OSS/AIX (while it's released as open source the old UNIX versions are not). OSS/AIX is very buggy and probably has issues on newer versions though, the original developer stopped maintaining it as AIX and software continued to mature.


OS Support


Server or CAD?

Because the conversion of the p5 520 resulted in the IntelliStation POWER 285 having a modified bezel and excessive foam, this means it's technically superior to a regular p5 520... since one was expected to sit in the same room with one of these computers. So it's probably more logical to seek out the IntelliStation variant as it goes to greater expense to contain the sound. And it has that impeccable David Hill design. Although since they really are more like servers, they have a lot of power draw even on standby.

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