SGI rolls out new Octane workstation

Silicon Graphics of Mountain View, CA, last month debuted a newmid-range desktop workstation designed to take the place of itsIndigo2 Impact product. The new computer line, Octane, can beused for computationally intensive applications like medical simulation,advanced image processing, and surgical planning and treatment.

Octane replaces Indigo2 Impact's conventional shared bus witha crossbar-switch architecture that allows data to move more quicklybetween components on the computer's motherboard. SGI implementeda crossbar-like architecture on its entry-level O2 workstation,which was introduced in October (SCAN 10/23/96).

In addition to the single-processor system, Octane is availablein a dual-processor configuration, which boosts the system's processingpower, according to Eric Lindquist, medical market manager.

Octane will carry the same list price as Indigo2 Impact did, startingat $25,000, while the price of Indigo2 Impact has been cut, Lindquistsaid.