[rescue] O2 graphics compared to entry-level Octane graphics?

[Francisco Javier Mesa-Martinez]

On Thu, 25 Apr 2002, Bill Bradford wrote:

> On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 02:08:47AM -0700, Francisco Javier Mesa-Martinez wrote:
> > Again, Extreme only support soft textures. No matter how many messages you
> > write, it is not going to change the fact that extreme does not do texture
> > in HW. You are confussing Extreme with Impact, which is basically the same
> > as SI (actually solidimpact is,high/maximpact do have texture support)
> 
> Okay.  What if you completely take texturing out of the picture?  I hardly
> ever do ANYTHING involving textures on my UNIX boxes; I care about straight
> 2D (desktop) performance.  How do the various machines compare, then?

For just 2D performance, I'd say they all feel about the same, extreme
being a bit slower... but that is usually due to the fact that the
Extreme machines I have used had slower processors.  However I have seen
O2 and Octanes go for almost the same price. Thus I rather get the Octane,
since it has more horsepower. An R5K can get a bit pokey, and r10K O2s are
a bit rare too. The Extremes are cheap, so that is the only argument going
for them. So here is my break down:

I2/Extreme -> Just need a box to play with, and I don't want to spend much
money. For most 2d apps, extreme is more than adecuate. Although it is a
bit limited in bitplanes, so you have to do dual buffering in 12bit color.
So image quality may degrade under certain X settings. Plus most Extreme
I2s I have seen are R44Ks, and 10bT. Also you must take into account that
Extremes emulate OpenGL. They were the last machine to implement their
pipeline as GL. But I doubt this has any consequence if you just mind
about X performance....

Octane -> Can be upgraded to dual R10K relatively cheap, as long as one
does not need textures nor video... This IS the machine, it has great
bandwidth. Although fully loaded can get a bit hot, plus it is a bit
noisy.

O2 -> I do not care about geometry bound gfx nor solids. It is a nice
machine, if you get it for the right price. If you get the AV module, then
it kicks some serious ass  

I think SI might do 1600x1280. O2s can do 1600x1024, and Extremes max out
at 1280x1024. Octanes and I2 can have multiple gfx pipes for dual/triple
head configs. O2 need some special HW for dual head (i.e. hard to get)....