SGI: Hardware

Hello. Newbie here.
I was wondering if getting a Prizm would be good for HD video work.
Do you prefer Mips or Intel?
If I buy a machine, is there any software and hardware I could get to test a machine out?
Thanks.

Welcome to Nekochan, Trekiej

Prizms cannot run IRIX as they run on the Itanium architecture. They run Linux, and they're kinda picky about what kernel version and variant you use. Adrenaline, a user here, has a Prizm I know.

I prefer MIPS myself, but I don't really do much video editing myself. A lot of the other guys on here have done it before and would be happy to chime in. Paging all video editors. uunix has a Tezro and does video editing - I don't know if its HD or not.

Thanks, I see that there are some Onyx machines for sale online. I think I might pick up a machine for the fun of it if the price is right.

Onyx machines are nice, if you have the space. Onyx and Onyx2 desksides aren't too big, about the size of a mini-fridge and 100 - 150 kilos, but the racks can weigh in three times that. At least some, if not all of, the models require 240V hookup.

Is Irix hard to get?
I guess Linux Itanium should be relatively easy to get.

My Octane2 is fsck-ing awesome, but it's not a Tezro.

I've started video editing and I'm planning on a you tube for 'really' beginners (like I am) when I buy final bits, but I can do 1080p & 720p currently. I think though gocram is the more knowledgeable one than I.

I've learnt from the ground up with the DMEDIA etc & SMOKE and could possibly save you the 3 months it took me to get this far (time was a factor though), just based on what I have learnt from experience.

Is Irix hard to get? No, but we don't sell/buy/pirate disks here because the site admin doesn't want to get sued. Check eBay, and I believe Mr. Mapleson: http://sgidepot.co.uk has some as well.

Uunix, oh, sorry I thought you had a Tezro >///<

Cool, thanks, the Octane was looking better.
Being one who meddles like I do, I would like to network some machines to work on the same problem.
How is blender?

Blender works pretty nicely on IRIX. I just sold an Octane,they're nice systems. If I can get this Fuel working, then I may sell it, that would be perfect for your uses likely

cool.
What would a Fuel cost?
How does one deal with the Sync On Green connection when you have a svga moitor?

oh word, I can use some help! uunix PM sent!

edit: BTW I would get an octane or above (Tezro, Fuel, Onyx, etc) for any serious work, the older hardware (o2, Indigo2) will probably aggravate you (unless you can land a 400mhz R12k o2, but even then I don't really know how great they are for anything past NTSC/PAL, maybe someone with expierence can chime in)

edit2: I must of really gotten used to my octane, earlier today I was playing around with some 3D work on my 300mhz R5k o2 and I wanted to pull my hair out!

Trekiej wrote: cool.
What would a Fuel cost?
How does one deal with the Sync On Green connection when you have a svga moitor?

What exactly are you looking to spend? The high end SGI stuff still goes for some pretty decent change. For HD work you're going to have to invest in some fast storage depending on what hardware you get.

Trekiej wrote: cool.
What would a Fuel cost?
How does one deal with the Sync On Green connection when you have a svga moitor?

Well, in the $300 - $1000 range is what I've seen them priced at. Depends on specs, condition etc. The newer Chimera systems use DVI, the Chimeras are the Fuel, the Tezro, the Onyx3x0, and the Onyx3&4. With DVI, sync on green isn't an issue. The older ones use 13w3 which does use sync on green, which you can get an adapter for. Most monitors I've seen support the protocol anyways so its never been an issue.

If you're serious about getting a Fuel, try messaging Kira. She has several of them last I checked.

In November I bagged a quad 700MHz Tezro for $1000, I probably could have gotten it for less but I wanted to make sure I won the auction since it was here in town for a local pickup thus saving myself a hundred or more in shipping while eliminating the risk of it being damaged en route. This was after many years of trying to find a quad 1GHz Tezro, I finally gave in to the inevitable, the quad 1 gigs are still too useful to their original owners, for them to sell them, or if they are for sale they're going for 10 to 12 thousand on Ebay as smoke/flint/flame machines...

I am indeed very jealous of your good fortune Vishnu. How's that thing on noise? Also, with the 1GHz Tezro you can't have DCD. I'd rather have a quad 800MHz Tezro if I found one.

TeamBlackFox wrote: am indeed very jealous of your good fortune Vishnu. How's that thing on noise? Also, with the 1GHz Tezro you can't have DCD. I'd rather have a quad 800MHz Tezro if I found one.

Noise? It's like a B-17 taking off at full-throttle...

I did not know that about the 1 gigs not being able to fit DCDs, good to know! My new Tezro must have been a Discreet machine because it has the full suite of DMedia stuff. I think there are still a lot of Tezros out there in active service and that in due time they'll all be making their way onto Ebay, at which point we'll realize for the umpteenth time that it never rains but it pours.

I wouldn't be so sure - I have a cousin in the film industry, and he sent me a pic of a massive Onyx 2 cluster at one film studio ( he didn't tell me which ) and when he asked how long they'd been there, they answered they'd been in continuous use since 1997, and they still have people who can man them. They said retirement only comes when they start to break.

TeamBlackFox wrote: I am indeed very jealous of your good fortune Vishnu. How's that thing on noise? Also, with the 1GHz Tezro you can't have DCD. I'd rather have a quad 800MHz Tezro if I found one.

You can't have DCD in the 1GHz Tezro? Do you happen to know why is that?

The heatsinks are different, and they interfere with the placement of the DCD.

Oh man, I want a maxed out Onyx2 so bad...

And a crapton of O350s!