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| ===Switch to Itanium=== | | ===Switch to Itanium=== |
− | In 1998, SGI announced that future generations of their machines would be based not on their own MIPS processors, but the new "super-chip" from Intel, the [[Itanium]]. Funding for their own high-end processors was constrained, and it was planned that the R10000 would be the last MIPS mainstream processor. MIPS would focus entirely on the embedded market, where they were having some success, and SGI would no longer have to fund development of a CPU that, since the failure of ARC, found use only in their own machines. | + | In 1998, SGI announced that future generations of their machines would be based not on their own [[MIPS]] processors, but the new "super-chip" from Intel, the [[Itanium]]. Funding for their own high-end processors was constrained, and it was planned that the R10000 would be the last [[MIPS]] mainstream processor. [[MIPS]] would focus entirely on the embedded market, where they were having some success, and SGI would no longer have to fund development of a CPU that, since the failure of ARC, found use only in their own machines. |
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− | This plan quickly went awry. As early as 1999 it was clear the Itanium was going to be delivered very late, and then that it would have nowhere near the performance originally expected. As the production delays increased, MIPS' existing R10000-based machines grew increasingly uncompetitive. Eventually they were forced to introduce faster MIPS processors, the R12000, R14000 and R16000, which were used in a series of models from 2002 onwards, and continue to be sold to this day. | + | This plan quickly went awry. As early as 1999 it was clear the Itanium was going to be delivered very late, and then that it would have nowhere near the performance originally expected. As the production delays increased, MIPS' existing R10000-based machines grew increasingly uncompetitive. Eventually they were forced to introduce faster MIPS processors, the [[R12000]], R14000 and R16000, which were used in a series of models from 2002 onwards, and continue to be sold to this day. |
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− | SGI's first Itanium-based system was the short-lived SGI 750 workstation, launched in 2001. SGI's MIPS-based system were not to be superseded until the launch of the Itanium 2-based [[SGI Altix|Altix]] servers and [[SGI Prism|Prism]] workstations some time later. Unlike the MIPS-based systems, these models use GNU/Linux (SuSE Linux Enterprise Server with SGI enhancements) as their operating system instead of [[IRIX]]. SGI use Transitive's QuickTransit software to allow their old MIPS/IRIX applications run (in emulation) on the new Itanium/Linux platform. | + | SGI's first Itanium-based system was the short-lived [[SGI 750]] workstation, launched in 2001. SGI's MIPS-based system were not to be superseded until the launch of the Itanium 2-based [[SGI Altix|Altix]] servers and [[SGI Prism|Prism]] workstations some time later. Unlike the MIPS-based systems, these models use GNU/Linux (SuSE Linux Enterprise Server with SGI enhancements) as their operating system instead of [[IRIX]]. SGI use Transitive's QuickTransit software to allow their old MIPS/IRIX applications run (in emulation) on the new Itanium/Linux platform. |
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| In the server space the [[Itanium 2]]-based lineup, the Altix, appears to have almost replaced the MIPS-based product line, the latter being de-emphasized on the SGI web site. In the workstation space, the switch to Itanium appears to have been a complete failure. | | In the server space the [[Itanium 2]]-based lineup, the Altix, appears to have almost replaced the MIPS-based product line, the latter being de-emphasized on the SGI web site. In the workstation space, the switch to Itanium appears to have been a complete failure. |