SGI Fuel
Encyclopedia
The SGI Fuel is a mid-range workstation
developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). It was introduced in January 2002, with a list price of US$11,495. Together with the entire MIPS platform, general availability for the Fuel ended on 29 December 2006. An equivalent product for the same market segment was not provided until 2008, when the Virtu
product line was introduced, based on x86 microprocessors and Nvidia graphics.
The Fuel is sometimes perceived as the successor to the SGI O2
, but it is not (SGI never made a new low-end system after O2). The Fuel was SGI's mid-range response to customers who only wanted a uniprocessor system, though the 4 GB RAM limit led to fewer sales than would otherwise have been the case, e.g. customers using ANSYS would have preferred at least 8 GB maximum RAM. Fuel's larger sibling is the SGI Tezro
, a system that can have up to four 1 GHz R16000 CPUs with 16 MB
L2 each. Both Fuel and Tezro are based on SGI's Origin 3000 architecture.
The 700 MHz R16000 became available on 9 January 2003.
DIMM
s, it can be upgraded to a maximum of 4 GB via four slots in two banks.
graphics options, the V10 and V12. V10 has 32 MB combined memory, V12 has 128 MB combined memory. In both cases, memory that is not being used for display is available for use as texture memory. The V12 supports high quality 48-bit RGBA imaging and both options support hardware-accelerated 2D imaging using the OpenGL
ARB extensions (real-time rotation, zoom, pan, feature adjustments). The mplayer
application uses the 3D graphics hardware to accelerate movie playback, giving good support for DivX
, MPEG4 and other formats.
sound card. The most common solution to add audio capabilities is to install a M-Audio
Revolution 7.1 PCI sound card, although the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
can also be used. Additional audio options using PCI expansion cards are available.
busses, with space for two internal 5.25" devices and three internal hard disks. The Fuel usually shipped with 10,000 rpm SCSI disks, but it can take good advantage of 15,000 rpm models, with sustained bandwidths up to three times faster than is possible with Octane2's internal UW bus. The Fuel was also the first SGI system to support USB devices in IRIX, although audio and HID USB devices were the only ones supported.
operating system. Support begins with IRIX version 6.5.17.
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). It was introduced in January 2002, with a list price of US$11,495. Together with the entire MIPS platform, general availability for the Fuel ended on 29 December 2006. An equivalent product for the same market segment was not provided until 2008, when the Virtu
SGI Virtu
SGI Virtu was a computer product line from Silicon Graphics dedicated to visualization, announced in April 2008. It represented a return of Silicon Graphics to the visualization market after several years of focus on high-performance computing....
product line was introduced, based on x86 microprocessors and Nvidia graphics.
The Fuel is sometimes perceived as the successor to the SGI O2
SGI O2
The O2 is an entry-level Unix workstation introduced in 1996 by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to replace their earlier Indy series. Like the Indy, the O2 used a single MIPS microprocessor and was intended to be used mainly for multimedia. Its larger counterpart was the SGI Octane...
, but it is not (SGI never made a new low-end system after O2). The Fuel was SGI's mid-range response to customers who only wanted a uniprocessor system, though the 4 GB RAM limit led to fewer sales than would otherwise have been the case, e.g. customers using ANSYS would have preferred at least 8 GB maximum RAM. Fuel's larger sibling is the SGI Tezro
SGI Tezro
The SGI Tezro was a series of high-end computer workstations sold by SGI from 2003 until 2006. It was the immediate successor to the SGI Octane line. The systems were available in both rack-mount and tower versions, and the series was released in June 2003 with a list price of $20,500...
, a system that can have up to four 1 GHz R16000 CPUs with 16 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
L2 each. Both Fuel and Tezro are based on SGI's Origin 3000 architecture.
Architecture
The Fuel is based on the same architecture as the high-end Origin 3000 server. It is essentially a single node, single processor Origin 3000, sharing many of the same features and components.Processors
The Fuel features either a R14000 or a R16000 microprocessor. The R14000 is clocked at 500 or 600 MHz, and is accompanied by a 2 or 4 MB L2 cache respectively. The R16000 is clocked at 700, 800 or 900 MHz and is accompanied by a 4 MB L2 cache, except for the 900 MHz variant, which has a 8 MB L2 cache. The speed of the L2 cache is clocked at half the speed of the microprocessor, e.g. 250 MHz with the 500 MHz R14000. The 900 MHz R16000 is extremely rare, perhaps due to SGI's lack of promotion when it was introduced. While the speeds for these processors may seem low for the time, benchmarks show that for certain specialized tasks that involve small data sets, a Fuel with a 700 MHz R16000 can be equivalent to a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 (e.g. C-Ray).The 700 MHz R16000 became available on 9 January 2003.
Memory
The Fuel includes 512 MB of memory as standard. Using proprietary DDR SDRAMDDR SDRAM
Double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory is a class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. DDR SDRAM has been superseded by DDR2 SDRAM and DDR3 SDRAM, neither of which are either forward or backward compatible with DDR SDRAM, meaning that DDR2 or DDR3 memory modules...
DIMM
DIMM
A DIMM or dual in-line memory module, comprises a series of dynamic random-access memory integrated circuits. These modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal computers, workstations and servers...
s, it can be upgraded to a maximum of 4 GB via four slots in two banks.
Graphics
The Fuel ships with two alternative VProSGI VPro
VPro, also known as Odyssey, is a computer graphics architecture for Silicon Graphics workstations. First released on the Octane2, it was subsequently used on the Fuel, Tezro workstations and the Onyx visualization systems, where it was branded InfinitePerformance.VPro provides some very advanced...
graphics options, the V10 and V12. V10 has 32 MB combined memory, V12 has 128 MB combined memory. In both cases, memory that is not being used for display is available for use as texture memory. The V12 supports high quality 48-bit RGBA imaging and both options support hardware-accelerated 2D imaging using the OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
ARB extensions (real-time rotation, zoom, pan, feature adjustments). The mplayer
MPlayer
MPlayer is a free and open source media player. The program is available for all major operating systems, including Linux and other Unix-like systems, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Versions for OS/2, Syllable, AmigaOS and MorphOS are also available. The Windows version works, with some minor...
application uses the 3D graphics hardware to accelerate movie playback, giving good support for DivX
DivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
, MPEG4 and other formats.
Audio
In its standard configuration, the Fuel does not come with any audio hardware, although speakers may be attached via a Universal Serial BusUniversal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
sound card. The most common solution to add audio capabilities is to install a M-Audio
M-Audio
M-Audio is a business unit of Avid Technology that designs and markets digital audio and MIDI interfaces, keyboards and MIDI controllers, synthesizers, loudspeakers, studio monitors, digital DJ systems, microphones, and music software...
Revolution 7.1 PCI sound card, although the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Sound Blaster Audigy
Sound Blaster Audigy is a product line of sound cards from Creative Technology. The flagship model of the Audigy family used the EMU10K2 audio DSP, an improved version of the SB-Live's EMU10K1, while the value/SE editions were built with a less-expensive audio controller...
can also be used. Additional audio options using PCI expansion cards are available.
Expansion
The Fuel has four 64-bit 3.3V PCI slots for expansion, two of which run at 33 MHz and two of which run at 66 MHz. The system also has two internal Ultra160 SCSISCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
busses, with space for two internal 5.25" devices and three internal hard disks. The Fuel usually shipped with 10,000 rpm SCSI disks, but it can take good advantage of 15,000 rpm models, with sustained bandwidths up to three times faster than is possible with Octane2's internal UW bus. The Fuel was also the first SGI system to support USB devices in IRIX, although audio and HID USB devices were the only ones supported.
Operating System
The SGI Fuel is only officially capable of running SGI's IRIXIRIX
IRIX is a computer operating system developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to run natively on their 32- and 64-bit MIPS architecture workstations and servers. It was based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. IRIX was the first operating system to include the XFS file system.The last major version...
operating system. Support begins with IRIX version 6.5.17.