Refurb Weekend: Silicon Graphics Indigo² Impact 10000
6 hours ago
- #SGI
- #RetroComputing
- #IRIX
- The author owns three SGI systems, including a 900MHz R16000 SGI Fuel and a personal favorite, the SGI Indy.
- The SGI Indy, introduced in 1993, was the first SGI workstation the author ever used, initially for X-ray crystallography rendering and playing 'sgidoom'.
- The Indigo2, introduced in 1993, came in various configurations, starting with R4000-series CPUs and later upgrading to the R8000 in the POWER Indigo².
- The Indigo2 IMPACT line, introduced in 1995, featured advanced graphics options and was later updated with the R10000 processor, marking a significant architectural shift.
- The R10000 was SGI's first out-of-order core, featuring a seven-stage pipeline and advanced caching, but faced production delays and recalls due to overheating issues.
- SGI's hardware evolution included plans for the R12000 and beyond, but the company shifted focus to Intel-based systems, leading to the eventual discontinuation of MIPS product lines.
- The author refurbished an Indigo2 IMPACT system, replacing faulty components like the timekeeper chip and upgrading to solid-state storage with a ZuluSCSI.
- IRIX, SGI's Unix-based OS, was installed on the refurbished system, showcasing its unique 4Dwm window manager and legacy applications like Netscape Navigator.