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SGI Octane
The Octane series of IRIX workstations was developed and sold by SGI in the 1990s and 2000s. Octane and Octane2 are two-way multiprocessing-capable workstations, originally based on the MIPS Technologies R10000 microprocessor. Newer Octanes are based on the R12000 and R14000. The Octane2 has three improvements: a revised power supply, system board, and Xbow ASIC. The Octane2 has VPro graphics and supports all the VPro cards. Later revisions of the Octane include some of the improvements introduced in the Octane2. The codenames for the Octane and Octane2 are "Racer" and "Speedracer" respectively. The Octane is the direct successor to the Indigo2, was succeeded by the Tezro, and its immediate sibling is the O2. SGI withdrew the Octane2 from the price book on May 26, 2004, and ceased Octane2 production on June 25, 2004. Support for the Octane2 ceased in June 2009. Octane III was introduced in early 2010 after SGI's bankruptcy reorganization. It is a series of Intel-based de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silicon Graphics, Inc
Silicon is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic lustre, and is a Tetravalence, tetravalent metalloid (sometimes considered a non-metal) and semiconductor. It is a member of carbon group, group 14 in the periodic table: carbon is above it; and germanium, tin, lead, and flerovium are below it. It is relatively unreactive. Silicon is a significant element that is essential for several physiological and metabolic processes in plants. Silicon is widely regarded as the predominant semiconductor material due to its versatile applications in various electrical devices such as transistors, solar cells, integrated circuits, and others. These may be due to its significant band gap, expansive optical transmission range, extensive absorption spectrum, surface roughening, and effective anti-reflection coating. Because of its high chemical affinity for oxygen, it was not until 1823 that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mini-ITX
Mini-ITX is a motherboard form factor developed by VIA Technologies in 2001. Mini-ITX motherboards have been traditionally used in small-configured computer systems. Originally, Mini-ITX was a niche standard designed for fanless cooling with a low Thermal design power, power consumption architecture, which made them useful for home theater PC systems, where fan noise can detract from the cinema experience. The four mounting holes in a Mini-ITX board line up with four of the holes in ATX-specification motherboards, and the locations of the backplate and expansion slot are the same (though one of the holes used was optional in earlier versions of the ATX spec). Mini-ITX boards can therefore often be used in cases designed for ATX, micro-ATX and other ATX variants if desired. Mini-ITX motherboards have only one expansion slot. Earlier Mini-ITX motherboards had a standard 33 MHz 5V 32-bit Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI slot, whereas newer motherboards use a PCI Express ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geometry Pipeline
Geometric manipulation of modelling primitives, such as that performed by a geometry pipeline, is the first stage in computer graphics systems which perform image generation based on geometric models. While geometry pipelines were originally implemented in software, they have become highly amenable to hardware implementation, particularly since the advent of very-large-scale integration (VLSI) in the early 1980s. A device called the Geometry Engine developed by Jim Clark and Marc Hannah at Stanford University in about 1981 was the watershed for what has since become an increasingly commoditized function in contemporary image-synthetic raster display systems. Geometric transformations are applied to the vertices of polygons, or other geometric objects used as modelling primitives, as part of the first stage in a classical geometry-based graphic image rendering pipeline. Geometric computations may also be applied to transform polygon or repair surface normals, and then to perf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SDRAM
Synchronous dynamic random-access memory (synchronous dynamic RAM or SDRAM) is any DRAM where the operation of its external pin interface is coordinated by an externally supplied clock signal. DRAM integrated circuits (ICs) produced from the early 1970s to the early 1990s used an ''asynchronous'' interface, in which input control signals have a direct effect on internal functions delayed only by the trip across its semiconductor pathways. SDRAM has a ''synchronous'' interface, whereby changes on control inputs are recognised after a rising edge of its clock input. In SDRAM families standardized by JEDEC, the clock signal controls the stepping of an internal finite-state machine that responds to incoming commands. These commands can be pipelined to improve performance, with previously started operations completing while new commands are received. The memory is divided into several equally sized but independent sections called ''banks'', allowing the device to operate on a memor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DIMM
A DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module) is a popular type of memory module used in computers. It is a printed circuit board with one or both sides (front and back) holding DRAM chips and pins. The vast majority of DIMMs are manufactured in compliance with JEDEC memory standards, although there are proprietary DIMMs. DIMMs come in a variety of speeds and capacities, and are generally one of two lengths: PC, which are , and laptop (SO-DIMM), which are about half the length at . History DIMMs (Dual In-line Memory Module) were a 1990s upgrade for SIMMs (Single In-line Memory Modules) as Intel P5-based Pentium processors began to gain market share. The Pentium had a 64-bit bus width, which would require SIMMs installed in matched pairs in order to populate the data bus. The processor would then access the two SIMMs in parallel. DIMMs were introduced to eliminate this disadvantage. The contacts on SIMMs on both sides are redundant, while DIMMs have separate electrical contacts o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
R14000
The R10000, code-named "T5", is a RISC microprocessor implementation of the MIPS IV instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by MIPS Technologies, Inc. (MTI), then a division of Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). The chief designers are Chris Rowen and Kenneth C. Yeager. The R10000 microarchitecture is known as ANDES, an abbreviation for Architecture with Non-sequential Dynamic Execution Scheduling. The R10000 largely replaces the R8000 in the high-end and the R4400 elsewhere. MTI was a fabless semiconductor company; the R10000 was fabricated by NEC and Toshiba. Previous fabricators of MIPS microprocessors such as Integrated Device Technology (IDT) and three others did not fabricate the R10000 as it was more expensive to do so than the R4000 and R4400. History The R10000 was introduced in January 1996 at clock frequencies of 175 MHz and 195 MHz. A 150 MHz version was introduced in the O2 product line in 1997, but discontinued shortly after due to customer prefer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firmware
In computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ..., firmware is software that provides low-level control of computing device Computer hardware, hardware. For a relatively simple device, firmware may perform all control, monitoring and data manipulation functionality. For a more complex device, firmware may provide relatively low-level control as well as hardware abstraction Service (systems architecture), services to higher-level software such as an operating system. Firmware is found in a wide range of computing devices including personal computers, smartphones, home appliances, vehicles, computer peripherals and in many of the integrated circuits inside each of these larger systems. Firmware is stored in non-volatile memory either read-only memory (ROM) or progra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ARCS (computing)
ARCS is a firmware bootloader (also known as a PROM console) used in most computers produced by SGI since the beginning of the 1990s. The ARCS system is loosely compliant with the Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) standard, promulgated by the Advanced Computing Environment consortium in the early 1990s. In another sense, the ARC standard is based on SGI's ARCS, which was used as a basis for generating the ARC standard itself, although ARC calls for a little-endian system while ARCS system is big-endian on all MIPS-based systems. Despite various inconsistencies between the two, both SGI's ARCS implementations and the ARC standard share many commonalities (such as device naming, calling conventions, ''etc.''). Most of the computers which use the ARCS firmware are based on the MIPS line of microprocessors. The SGI Visual Workstation series, which is based on the Intel Pentium III, also uses ARCS. The Visual Workstation series is the only commercially produced x86-compatible sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SGI Origin 200
The SGI Origin 200, code named ''Speedo'', was an entry-level Server (computing), server computer developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics, SGI, introduced in October 1996 to accompany their mid-range and high-end SGI Origin 2000, Origin 2000. It is based on the same architecture as the SGI Origin 2000, Origin 2000 but has an unrelated hardware implementation. At the time of introduction, these systems ran the IRIX 6.4, and later, the IRIX 6.5 operating systems. The Origin 200 was discontinued on 30 June 2002. Hardware The Origin 200 consists of one or two modules. In configurations with two modules, the NUMAlink, NUMAlink 2 (originally CrayLink) interconnection fabric is used to connect the two modules together. Using two modules, the Origin 200's capabilities (the number of processors, the amount of memory, etc.) is doubled. The Origin 200 and the Origin 200 GIGAchannel enclosures can be configured as a tower with "skins" that covered the bare metal for cosmetic purpose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HyperTransport
HyperTransport (HT), formerly known as Lightning Data Transport, is a technology for interconnection of computer Processor (computing), processors. It is a bidirectional Serial communication, serial/Parallel communication, parallel high-Bandwidth (computing), bandwidth, low-Memory latency, latency point-to-point link that was introduced on April 2, 2001. The HyperTransport Consortium is in charge of promoting and developing HyperTransport technology. HyperTransport is best known as the system bus architecture of AMD central processing units (CPUs) from Athlon 64 through AMD FX and the associated motherboard chipsets. HyperTransport has also been used by IBM and Apple Inc., Apple for the Power Mac G5 machines, as well as a number of modern MIPS architecture, MIPS systems. The current specification HTX 3.1 remained competitive for 2014 high-speed (2666 and 3200 megatransfer, MT/s or about 10.4 GB/s and 12.8 GB/s) DDR4 RAM and slower (around 1 GB/similar to h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PCI-X
PCI-X, short for Peripheral Component Interconnect eXtended, is a computer bus and expansion card standard that enhances the 32-bit Conventional PCI, PCI local bus for higher Bandwidth (computing), bandwidth demanded mostly by Server (computing), servers and workstations. It uses a modified protocol to support higher Clock rate, clock speeds (up to 133 MHz), but is otherwise similar in electrical implementation. PCI-X 2.0 added speeds up to 533 MHz, with a reduction in electrical signal levels. The slot is physically a 3.3 V PCI slot, with the same size, location and pin assignments. The electrical specifications are compatible, but stricter. However, while most conventional PCI slots are the 85 mm long 32-bit version, most PCI-X devices use the 130 mm long 64-bit slot, to the point that 64-bit PCI connectors and PCI-X support are seen as synonymous. PCI-X is specified for both 32-bit computing, 32- and 64-bit computing, 64-bit PCI connectors, and PCI-X ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
