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Difference between revisions of "VPro"
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==Comparisons== | ==Comparisons== | ||
The V6/V8 are a newer generation of graphics boards ("Vpro"). These | The V6/V8 are a newer generation of graphics boards ("Vpro"). These | ||
− | are the same architecture as what ships in the current Fuel | + | are the same architecture as what ships in the current [[SGI Fuel]] |
workstations and what is used on the InfinitePerformance. They were | workstations and what is used on the InfinitePerformance. They were | ||
also the standard on the OCTANE2 (circa Summer 2000) and available as | also the standard on the OCTANE2 (circa Summer 2000) and available as | ||
upgrades on the OCTANE (which is what I assume you are interested in). | upgrades on the OCTANE (which is what I assume you are interested in). | ||
− | The MXE relates from the series that started with the IMPACT on the | + | The MXE relates from the series that started with the [[IMPACT]] on the |
− | Indigo2 (Solid/High/Maximum IMPACT). MXI was the Maximum IMPACT which | + | [[SGI Indigo2]] (Solid/High/Maximum IMPACT). MXI was the Maximum IMPACT which |
appeared in circa 1996. The MXE was the speed bumped MXI -- 40% | appeared in circa 1996. The MXE was the speed bumped MXI -- 40% | ||
average performance improvement. | average performance improvement. | ||
Line 173: | Line 173: | ||
I am not aware of any drawbacks to the Vpro other than comparability | I am not aware of any drawbacks to the Vpro other than comparability | ||
with older software. With each generation of graphics board after the | with older software. With each generation of graphics board after the | ||
− | GR2 (Elan/Extreme, etc), comparability with IrisGL has suffered. I | + | GR2 (Elan/Extreme, etc), comparability with [[IrisGL]] has suffered. I |
understand the new ATI-based cards (used in the UltimateVision) offer | understand the new ATI-based cards (used in the UltimateVision) offer | ||
− | no IrisGL comparability. | + | no [[IrisGL]] comparability. |
On the other hand, vector, polygon, etc (solid model) performance is | On the other hand, vector, polygon, etc (solid model) performance is | ||
− | much better on the Vpro than the IMPACT (2-5X maybe more in some | + | much better on the Vpro than the [[IMPACT]] (2-5X maybe more in some |
cases). I am not aware of anything which is slower on the Vpro than | cases). I am not aware of anything which is slower on the Vpro than | ||
− | the IMPACT. Vpro also offers more memory (32MB on the V6 and 128MB on | + | the [[IMPACT]]. Vpro also offers more memory (32MB on the V6 and 128MB on |
− | the V8 compared to 27MB or something like that on the MXI/MXE). This | + | the [[V8]] compared to 27MB or something like that on the MXI/MXE). This |
memory can be used to hold larger textures and/or allow larger | memory can be used to hold larger textures and/or allow larger | ||
framebuffers. | framebuffers. |
Revision as of 20:21, 27 July 2019
General information
The VPro series (code name "Odyssey") is a a computer graphics architecture for SGI workstations. First released on the SGI Octane2, it was subsequently used on the SGI Fuel and SGI Tezro workstations. VPro provides some very advanced capabilities such as per-pixel lighting, also known as "phong shading", and 48-bit RGBA color.
There are currently four different VPro graphics board revisions, called: V6, V8, V10 and V12. The first series were the V6 and V8, with 32MB and 128MB of RAM respectively. The V10 and V12 had double the geometry performance of the older V6/V8, but were otherwise similar. The V6 and V10 can have up to 8MB RAM allocated to textures, while V8 and V12 can have up to 104MB RAM used for textures.
Features
- "OpenGL on a chip"™ technology
- Hardware implementation of specular shading with per-pixel normal interpolation (through the SGIX_fragment_lighting extension)
- 48-bit (12-bit per component) RGBA
- 96-bit hardware-accelerated accumulation buffer for depth of field, full-scene anti-aliasing, motion blurs and other effects
- texture memory capacity 8MB (V6, V10) or 104MB (V8, V12), total memory 32MB (V6, V10) or 128MB (V8, V12)
- Perspective-correct textures and colors
- High-performance hardware clipping
Option: | Color: | RAM: | Max. Texture Memory | Geometry Speed |
---|---|---|---|---|
V6 | 48bit RGBA | 32MB | 8MB | Original GE speed |
V8 | 48bit RGBA | 128MB | 104MB | Original GE speed |
V10 | 48bit RGBA | 32MB | 8MB | 2X Faster GE speed |
V12 | 48bit RGBA | 128MB | 104MB | 2X Faster GE speed |
EEPROM Information
See also this and this archived Nekochan forum topics.
VPro | Computer | Part# | EEPROM ID |
---|---|---|---|
V10 | Fuel, old rev. | 030_1725_00x | ASTODYB |
V10 | Fuel, new rev. | 030_1826_00x | ASTODYV10 |
V12 | Fuel | 030_1726_00x | ASTODY |
V12 | Fuel | 030_1996_00x | ASTODY |
V12 | Tezro | 030_1884_00x | ODY128B1_2 |
V12 | Onyx350 InfinitePerformance | 030_1909_00x | ODY128B1_2 |
'AST' is for 'Asterix', the codename for Fuel. 'ODY' is short for Odyssey, the codename for VPro graphics.
Graphics subsystem
The VPro graphics subsystem consists of an SGI proprietary chip set and associated software. The chip set consists of the buzz ASIC, the pixel blaster and jammer (PB&J) ASIC, and associated SDRAM.
The buzz ASIC is a single-chip graphics pipeline. It operates at 251 MHz and contains on-chip SRAM. The buzz ASIC has three interfaces:
- Host (16-bit, 400-MHz peer-to-peer XIO link)
- SDRAM (The SDRAM is 32 MB (V6 or V10) or 128 MB (V8 or V12); the memory bus operates at half the speed of the buzz ASIC.)
- PB&J ASIC
All VPro boards support the OpenGL ARB imaging extensions, allowing for hardware acceleration of numerous imaging operations at real-time rates.
V6/V8 Pixel Clock Issues
The first generation of VPro boards (V6 & V8) have a design flaw that prohibits graphics modes in much of what might otherwise be considered the normal range for SGI desktop systems:
- Modes in the 109-193MHz range cannot be selected at all on V6/V8.
- Modes that are close to the lower end of that range (like 1280x1024_59/60) are only allowed at 8 bytes/pixel framebuffer size and even at that setting some people reported display problems (noise, flickering).
This limits the ability of the V6 and V8 to use a number of common display resolutions, a situation that can be at least partially over come with the use of reduced blanking. As an example, a CVT-generated 1600x900@60Hz modeline without reduced blanking would have a Pixel Clock of 118.25MHz, which falls in the unusable 109-193MHz Pixel Clock range, while a modeline with reduced blanking would have a Pixel Clock of only 97.75MHz, which could be used by V6 or V8 graphics boards.
See Also
VPro Display Resolutions
This table was taken from http://www.sgi.com/products/remarketed/octane2/display_resolutions.html
Note: Additional resolutions are possible with custom Video Format Object (VFO) Files
Display Resolutions (V6, V8, V10, V12) |
Additional V8/V10/V12 Display Resolutions | Additional V10/V12 Resolutions (3, 4) |
---|---|---|
1920x1080 at 30Hz interlaced | 1920x1200 at 60Hz | 1920x1200 at 72Hz (for DCD Option) |
1600x1024 at 83Hz (1) | 1280x1024 at 100Hz (quad stereo, 21" monitor only) | 1920x1200 at 60Hz (for DCD Option) |
1280x1024 at 100Hz (quad stereo, 21" monitor only) | 1920x1080 at 30Hz interlaced | 1920x1080 at 72Hz (for DCD Option) |
1280x1024 at 96Hz) (2) | 1600x1200 at 75Hz | 1920x1080 at 60Hz (for DCD Option) |
1280x960 at 30Hz interlaced | 1600x1200 at 72Hz | 1920x1035 at 30Hz interlaced |
1280x720 at 72Hz | 1600x1200 at 75Hz (for DCD Option) | |
1280x720 at 60Hz | 1600x1200at 72Hz (for DCD Option) | |
1024x768 at 75Hz | 1600x1200 at 60Hz | |
1024x768 at 60Hz | 1600x1200 at 60Hz (for DCD Option) | |
800x600 at 60Hz | 1600x1024 at 83Hz (for DCD Option) | |
768x576 at 25Hz interlaced | 1600x1024 at 60Hz (for DCD Option) | |
640x480 at 60Hz | 1280x1024 at 85Hz | |
640x486 at 30Hz interlaced | 1280x1024 at 75Hz | |
1280x1024 at 72Hz | ||
1280x1024 at 66Hz (for DCD Option) | ||
1280x1024 at 60Hz | ||
1600x1024 at 60Hz (for DCD Option) | ||
1280x1024 at 30Hz | ||
1280x960 at 30Hz interlaced (for DCD Option) | ||
1280x492 at 120Hz stereo (3, 5) | ||
1024x768 at 96Hz stereo | ||
800x600 at 60Hz | ||
768x576 at 25Hz interlaced | ||
640x486 at 30Hz interlaced | ||
640x480 at 60Hz |
1: 24" monitor recommended for correct aspect ratio
2: 1280x1024 at 60Hz (available with 8-byte frame buffer depths, supports 4-bit per component RGBA, double-buffered with Z)
3: Support for some resolutions requires installation of IRIX 6.5.10 or higher
4: Resolutions designated for the Dual Channel Display (DCD) Option on V12 only are in skew mode for timing compatibility; while the two displays can have different resolutions, they must run at the same refresh rate
5: 1280x492 at 114Hz available with V6 and V8
Comparisons
The V6/V8 are a newer generation of graphics boards ("Vpro"). These are the same architecture as what ships in the current SGI Fuel workstations and what is used on the InfinitePerformance. They were also the standard on the OCTANE2 (circa Summer 2000) and available as upgrades on the OCTANE (which is what I assume you are interested in).
The MXE relates from the series that started with the IMPACT on the SGI Indigo2 (Solid/High/Maximum IMPACT). MXI was the Maximum IMPACT which appeared in circa 1996. The MXE was the speed bumped MXI -- 40% average performance improvement.
I am not aware of any drawbacks to the Vpro other than comparability with older software. With each generation of graphics board after the GR2 (Elan/Extreme, etc), comparability with IrisGL has suffered. I understand the new ATI-based cards (used in the UltimateVision) offer no IrisGL comparability.
On the other hand, vector, polygon, etc (solid model) performance is much better on the Vpro than the IMPACT (2-5X maybe more in some cases). I am not aware of anything which is slower on the Vpro than the IMPACT. Vpro also offers more memory (32MB on the V6 and 128MB on the V8 compared to 27MB or something like that on the MXI/MXE). This memory can be used to hold larger textures and/or allow larger framebuffers.
Stereoscopic 3D (CrystalEyes) is very popular in molecular modeling among other fields. In that environment, the Vpro-line's (such as the V6) 1280x1024 @ 100Hz quad-buffered stereo resolution is very useful. One can keep the machine in that mode full time and applications can just pop in to stereo whenever they want -- no need to even flicker the screen. The MXI/MXE could switch back and forth between double-buffered 1280x1024 @ 76Hz and quad-buffered 1024x768 @ 96Hz but it wasn't as clean (the Solid/High IMPACT couldn't even do this). Among other things, applications had to know how to switch back and forth. The problem now is that some applications are so used to switching modes that they don't know that it isn't needed on the Vpro.
Vpro also has some other features like deeper visuals including some with 12-bit instead of 8-bit per component precision, new extensions, accumulation buffer (software on V6, hardware on V8), etc. The most useful features for people I work with was speed and stereo. I am sure for other people, the larger texture memory (especially V8), 12-bit precision, or extensions are even more important.