Bearke - AMD just lost a Big Order to Intel for supplying Silicon Graphics CPUs for their new Workstations.
I just knew you and your faithful following fiefs would want to know the details, so here they are:
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newsalert.com
January 13, 1999 14:29
-SILICON GRAPHICS: Silicon Graphics introduces new line of visual
workstations
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M2 PRESSWIRE-13 January 1999-SILICON GRAPHICS: Silicon Graphics introduces new line of visual workstations featuring breakthrough graphics and media capabilities at incredibly affordable prices
(C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
* Innovative new visual workstations deliver industry-leading price/performance, scalable processing and multi-stream video capabilities
Silicon Graphics UK today introduced the Silicon Graphics 320 and the Silicon Graphics 540, the first products in its new family of visual workstations based on Intel processors and the Windows NT
operating system. The announcement marks Silicon Graphics' entry into the Windows NT workstation market and brings, for the first time ever, the combination of high-end visual computing capabilities and
professional graphics and media functionality to the desktop. Starting at 2,340 UK list, the fully-featured Silicon Graphics, 320 visual workstation will ship in February 1999. The Silicon Graphics 540 visual workstation will ship in the second quarter of calendar 1999 at an entry price of 4,130.
"Silicon Graphics continues to solve the world's most complex visual computing problems," said Rick Belluzzo, chairman and CEO, Silicon Graphic$. "With the introduction of these powerful new visual
workstations, professional high-end graphics and media are now accessible to a much broader customer base at incredibly affordable prices. With access to this level of power and functionality on the desktop, the creations that engineers, scientists and creative professionals will develop will have a huge impact on
the world in the years ahead."
The new Silicon Graphics visual workstations are designed for creative and technical visual computing professionals across many industries. Those industries include: manufacturing for 2D and 3D CAD/CAM,
space and analysis; entertainment/media for desktop publishing, 2D and 3D animation, and video editing; energy for exploration and production; government for geographic information systems, simulation-based acquisition Ad scientific analysis; sciences for analysing molecular information and scientific databases,
and medical imaging; education for learning on demand and research; communications for complex and graphics-intensive Internet Web site development.
Designed for Visual Computing
These highly innovative systems leverage the industry's most advanced processor technology from Intel, and the broad-based application availability of the Microsoft Windows NT operating system. These
industry-standard technologies are combined with Silicon Graphics' state-of-the- art visualisation
capabilities, along with an innovative architecture that maintains full compatibility with industry standards
while breaking through traditional PC bottlenecks. This innovation delivers breakthrough levels of
price/performance and value to the industry.
The Silicon Graphics 320 workstation can be configured with up to two Intel Pentium II 450 MHZ
processors and up to 1GB of ECC SDRAM memory. It comes standard with three available PCI
expansion slots, two available storage bays, integrated floppy drive, 32X max CD-ROM and a choice of
hard drives up to 14.4GB Ultra ATA/33. Support for 9GB Ultra2 SCSI is also available. Silicon Graphics
320 also features analog video I/O, 10/100 Ethernet and support for up to 1920x1200 (HDTV and better)
graphics resolution.
Silicon Graphics 540, the industry's first quad-capable graphics workstation, can be configured with up to
four Intel Pentium II Xeon 450 MHZ processors with 512KB, 1MB or 2MB of L2 cache and up to 2GB of
ECC SDRAM memory. The system comes standard with six available PCI expansion slots, three
available storage bays, integrated floppy drive, 32X max CD-ROM and a 9GB 7,200 RPM Ultra2 SCSI disk
drive, upgradeable to 10,000 RPM in either 9GB or 18GB capacities. Silicon Graphics 540 also supports
up to 1920x1200 (HDTV and better) graphics resolution, analog video 1/0, 10/100 Ethernet, plus optional
4-channel serial digital video I/O.
Innovative, Balanced System Design for Advanced Graphics and Media Capabilities These
industry-leading workstations stand out from the competition due to a truly innovative design known as the
Integrated Visual Computing (IVC) architecture. Developed by Silicon Graphics. the design goal of the IVC
architecture was to achieve industry-leading performance at mainstream prices. The IVC architecture has
taken features that typically require add-in cards and integrated them into the core logic of the Cobalt
Graphics chipset. These integrated features are linked by a highspeed, low-latency 3.2GB/sec
graphics-to-memory interconnect and a 1.6GB/sec I/O interconnect, and the result is a shattering
increase in bandwidth of more than six times standard AGP 2X* and more than 12 times the traditional
PCI bus**.
The IVC architecture provides sufficient bandwidth to simultaneously support complex graphics models
and multiple streams of uncompressed NTSC or PAL video, giving visual computing professionals the
freedom of working in real time with uncompressed data. The shared memory architecture makes it
possible to include video as a graphics component, map video or capture and play back multiple streams
of video. This leads to dazzling, special effects that can be used to enhance realism in design
applications a capability flat cannot be achieved by traditional PCs regardless of add-on cards.
Breakthrough System Performance
Silicon Graphics 320 provides the industry's best price/performance for 3D graphics with a score of 200
from the Viewperf suite (CDRS-04 benchmark). This achievement equates to a /CDRS score of 11.70, the
best price/performance in the industry. And while most graphics workstations focus only on 3D
performance, Silicon Graphics 320 also provides excellent 2D performance. This is demonstrated by an
industry-leading Ziff-Davis High-End Winstone 99 score of 29.
"BY integrating all the key features into our chipset, Silicon Graphics has not only been able to achieve
breakthrough performance on the desktop, but we have also eliminated the expense and hassle
associated with the installation and maintenance of add-in cards," said Tom Furlong, senior vice president
and general manager, Workstation Division, Silicon Graphics. "Now customers from large corporations to
small graphics shops can benefit from entirely new levels of price/performance and ease of use."
"Silicon Graphics' new Intel processor-based workstations provide customers with a truly differentiated
technical platform in an otherwise -commodity market and send a very strong message to the entire
market - Silicon Graphics is plying to win," said Jay Moore, senior analyst, Aberdeen Group. "In a
high-tech world of boring and beige, and commodity product introductions that are often shackled by
industry standard technology, these visual workstations offer consumers both incredible value and
breakthrough technology. With this announcement, Silicon Graphics has significantly improved its
price/performance strategy and given technical customers a whole new level of functionality on the
desktop. Truly, innovation lives on at Silicon Graphics."
Complete Visual Workstation Solution
Both the Silicon Graphics 320 and the Silicon Graphics 540 visual workstations are fully compatible with
the company's recently introduced high-resolution digital flat panel monitor, the Silicon Graphics 1600SW.
This innovative product is complemented by the newly introduced ColorLock, the industry's first colour
calibration solution specifically designed for the Silicon Graphics 1600SW monitor. ColorLock, bundled
free with every Silicon Graphics visual workstation and Silicon Graphics 1600SW monitor, adheres to
industry standards by enabling the user to generate an ICC profile that is compatible with leading colour
management solutions. This gives visual computing professionals unprecedented control over colour and
brightness throughout the entire production process. The Silicon Graphics 1600SW flat panel monitor
features a 17.3-inch, 1600x1024 pixel supercede screen and offers unequalled image quality. When
purchased with a Silicon Graphics workstation, the award-winning Silicon Graphics 1600SW monitor is
priced at just GBP 1,720.
"With the announcement of Silicon Graphics' new visual workstations, dynamic media customers now
have the best of both worlds. With the click of a mouse, huge files can be manipulated in real time, and
rendering can now take place in mere seconds, not minutes. Adobe software solutions, when combined
with Silicon Graphics hardware, take creativity and productivity to an entirely new level. What you see is
now, truly, for the first time. what you get," said John E. Warnock, chairman and chief executive officer,
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Broad Industry Support
"Today's launch highlights the amazing innovation happening on the Windows NT platform," said Steve
Ballmer, president of Microsoft. "Silicon Graphics has done a great job in developing this solution from the
ground up for Windows NT Workstation. Silicon Graphics' visual workstations demonstrate how the PC
model offers customers tremendous power and performance at remarkable prices."
"Silicon Graphics is delivering some of the most exciting performance and graphics capabilities yet to the
workstation market, leveraging the best Intel technology available," said Craig R. Barrett, president and
chief executive officer, Intel Corporation. Its new products. based on Pentium II and Pentium II Xeon
processors, will accelerate the already strong growth of Intel-based workstations in the industry."
"Silicon Graphics" new workstations continue its tradition as the most innovative company in visual
computing," said Tom Copeland, director of workstation research, International Data Corporation. "The
Integrated Visual Computing architecture delivers exceptional graphics performance at very competitive
prices. Users looking for state-of-the-art graphics workstations should definitely consider Silicon Graphics'
new visual workstations."
"For high-demand applications, technological innovation is crucial to delivering performance and
differentiating products. 3D graphics power users look to companies with core competencies in graphics
and system architecture to add significant value to the industry-standard technologies from Intel and
Microsoft," said Peter ffoulkes, director/principal analyst, Dataquest.
Full Interoperability between UNIX, Windows NT and Mac Platforms In support of Silicon Graphics'
strategic initiative to become the industry's leading dual-platform provider, the company is offering a full
array of interoperability solutions. These interoperability tools are designed to ensure that the new Silicon
Graphics visual workstations work seamlessly between UNIX, Windows NT and Macintosh platforms.
Silicon Graphics Interoperability Toolkit, free with every system, includes Hummingbird NFS Maestro
Solo, Hummingbird Telnet Daemon, Mortice Kern Systems MKS Toolkit UNIX File Manipulation
Commands, and Media4 Productions MacDrive98. Also free with every system is Equilibrium DeBabelizer
Pro 4.5 LE for automated graphics processing, and Intel LANDesk Client Manager for remote desktop
management.
World-Class Sales and Support
In the UK Silicon Graphics will deliver its products through an indirect sales model, working with
wholesalers, Access Graphics and Northamber. All products will be built to order by Space Contractors,
Inc. (SCI). Each product will be built precisely to customer specifications and shipped directly from the
manufacturing site. By the end of the first quarter, all orders are expected to be fulfilled within ten working
days.
Silicon Graphics' new products are backed by a comprehensive three-year warranty that includes
next-business-day, on-site service for the first year, and return-to-depot repair for the second and third
years. Silicon Graphics offers a full range of enhanced and extended warranty options designed to provide
the flexible levels of support that customers need.
Certain matters discussed in this news release regarding the Silicon Graphics 320 and/or 540 visual
workstations may constitute forward-looking statements, such as discussions of product release dates,
product availability, market acceptance and customer demand. Such forward-looking statements involve
certain risks and uncertainties, including the timely release of products by manufacturing suppliers, the
availability of components and technologies from partners, suppliers and licensors, the acceptance of
applicable technologies, the impact of competitive markets, products and pricing, and other risks detailed
from time to time in the company's SEC reports, including the reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending
September 30, 1998 and Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1998. Actual results may vary
materially.
* Bandwidth based on graphics-to-memory ** I/O bandwidth compared to 32-bit PCI
Silicon Graphics background
Silicon Graphics is a leading supplier of high-performance interactive computing systems. Silicon
Graphics and its subsidiaries have offices throughout the world and headquarters in Mountain View,
California.
Silicon Graphics and the Silicon Graphics logo are registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Silicon
Graphics product names are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their
respective companies.
CONTACT: Will Golby/Jane Harris, Citigate Technology Tel: +44 (0)171 638 9571 e-mail:
williamgolby@ctech-lon.co.uk WWW: sgi.co.uk
*M2 COMMUNICATIONS DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY FOR INFORMATION PROVIDED WITHIN M2
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