re SGI (was RE: [SunRescue] 5 major manufacturers?)

[Dave McGuire]

On September 28, Bjorn Ramqvist wrote:
> >   An R5K/180 is very zippy...If memory serves, the R4600 was developed
> > as a lower-cost version of the R4400...an R4400/200 is also a nice
> > zippy processor.
> > 
> >   To go upward from there, you'd need to move to an Indigo2 (*NOTHING*
> > like the crappy original Indigos) which can go all the way to an
> > R10000/180 and possibly higher.
> 
> On a side-note here; the Indigo2 R10k/180 isn't half the speed of an
> Octane R10k/175. Why is that?
> Crappy bus, crappy bandwidth. The Indigo2 just isn't made for those kind

  I wouldn't call it crappy by any stretch...It's a damn fast bus with
plenty of bandwidth.  But yes, faster buses with more bandwidth do
exist.

  My point?  I can get an R10K Indigo2 for less than $1000.  I can't
touch an Octane for less than FIVE TIMES that cost.

  To me, the real appeal of the Octane is its multiprocessor
capability.  At this piont, my R10K Indigo2 is fast enough that most
compiles don't even give me long enough for a bathroom break.  That's
plenty fast for me (an acknowledged speed demon).

> Octanes (SI and SSI models or ever MXI?) should drop to a more
> reasonable pricelevel, now when both second (SE, SSE and MXE) and third
> (Vpro V6 & V8) generation graphics are out. Also, R10k 175MHz should be
> cheaper now since R12k (300MHz and up) has made its debut...

  I sure hope so...


          -Dave McGuire