[TriLUG] SGI replacement advice

[Wayne Henley]

Matt,

In the past I have used SGI systems for 3D modeling (using IDEAS 
software). They were replaced with HP J class workstations (two CPU and 
everything), I'm an old HP-UX fan, so the OS wasn't an issue.
The J class (I'm not sure what they're called now} were workhorses when 
it came to the work I was doing *IF* they were equipped with the correct 
graphics card.

Sun also has workstations targeted towards the CAM/CAD audience, but as 
with the HP, be very careful with your graphics card selection. It can 
make or break a system.

As far as Intel/Linux are concerned, I've seen systems targeted at 
gamers, but not really the CAD/CAM audience.

In summary this isn't actually an answer to your question per se just 
advice from someone who has been there. I like my J class. It rocks, 
hard. I'm sure there are others who disagree, but you have my $.02.

Wayne

Matt McGrievy wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I've been tasked with pricing out some replacements for SGI O2s and 
> Octanes, which mostly run crystallography and NMR applications.  I'm 
> trying to determine whether to stick with SGI hardware (with either 
> MIPS/IRIX or Intel/Linux), or find a high-end Linux workstation with a 
> very beefy graphics card.  For reference sake, we're looking in the 
> range of the SGI Tezro or Prism.  So in trying to determine whether we 
> could move to a comparable Linux workstation, I have a couple of 
> questions...
>
> 1) Are SGIs still way out in front of everyone else in terms of 
> graphics performance?  I've read the specs on V10 and V12 frame 
> buffers, but I can't really parse them well enough to compare them 
> with a high-end ATI/NVidia card.  It's especially difficult since the 
> Prism uses an ATI card.  Hard to know what the difference will be (and 
> obviously frame buffers are not my forte).
>
> 2) Is anyone using SGI's version of Linux?  I'm wondering if it's 
> derived from an existing distribution or if they've custom built 
> something.
>
> 3) Are there particular PC vendors who are considered leaders in 
> graphics workstations that would be suitable for a work environment.  
> We could build workstations, but we'd want hardware maintenance and such.
>
> Any advice is appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Matt