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October 3, 2008
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Until the introduction of the O2, the Indy was SGI’s entry level workstation. It has an impressive range of features and ports, and remains a versatile machine.
| CPU type | Speed (mhz) | Secondary cache size |
| R4000PC | 100 | - |
| R4000SC | 100 | 1MB |
| R4600PC | 100 | - |
| R4600PC | 133 | - |
| R4600SC | 133 | 0.5MB |
| R4400SC | 100 | 1MB |
| R4400SC | 150 | 1MB |
| R4400SC | 175 | 1MB |
| R4400SC | 200 | 1MB |
| R5000PC | 150 | - |
| R5000SC | 150 | 0.5MB |
| R5000SC | 180 | 0.5MB |
PC on a CPU module means Primary Cache (ie. only on-die cache). SC means Secondary Cache (ie. L2 cache on the module).
RAM:
The Indy has 8 slots, taking 72pin parity RAM. 4 SIMMS per bank, 2 banks total, giving a maximum of 265mb.
Memory can be either 4mb, 8mb, 16mb or 32mb, and must be the same size and speed within a bank.
Graphics:
Indy’s come with 3 main graphics options – 8bit XL, 24bit XL, and the XZ. The XL cards have decent 2D performance, but everything else is offloaded to the CPU. The XZ has some 3D acceleration (hardware Z buffer, geometry/lighting acceleration). However, it seems to be slower than the XL cards for 2D work.
Ports:
Lots of connectivity comes with the Indy as standard:
ISDN BRI port
PS/2 keyboard and mouse
10-BaseT or AUI ethernet
External fast SCSI
S-Video in
Digital video in
IndyCAM
Sound (headphones, microphone, line-in, etc.)
Bi-directional printer port
2 Mac-compatible serial ports
Drives:
The Indy has 2 internal 3.5 inch drive bays. These can either take the Floptical drive (SCSI drive that reads/writes normal floppies, and special 21mb ‘floptical’ disks) or normal hard drives.
If you want a CD or DAT drive, these can be connected via the external SCSI port – it is one SCSI channel though (unlike some other machines).
The internal SCSI connecters are 5mb/s SCSI-1. The cables for the hard drives are standard 50pin SCSI connectors. As SCSI as backwards compatible, any non-HVD drive will work. If the drive doesn’t have a 50pin connector, you will need to buy and install a converter.
Several people have reported success using IDE->SCSI converters, and installing IDE drives in their Indys.
More information:
Greg Douglas has an excellent technical overview of the Indy at:
http://www.reputable.com/indytech.htmlIan Mapleson’s 2nd Hand Purchasing advice is a must-read if you’re thinking of getting an Indy. It can be found at:
http://www.futuretech.blinkenlights.nl/indyinfo.html
Owner’s Guide
The Indy Owner’s Guide can be found on Techpubs.
A local copy can be downloaded from here. 
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indy, model summary, silicon graphics
