Indy R5000- Upgrading from 8bit to 24bit graphics

RJ Dresden

New member
Mar 30, 2020
1
0
1
Hello all, I’m new to SGI, bought an Indy and interested in upgrading to 24 bit from 8bit. I see there is a 24bit for the Indy from SGI. Are there any other options? If not, is it as simple as purchasing the Indy 24bit? Thank you for your time.
 

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callahan

Member
Jul 20, 2019
37
29
8
If you have the Newport/XL 8 bit card, it is as simple as plugging in a 24 bit card and enabling 24 bit color in Irix (https://wiki.preterhuman.net/IRIX_True_Color).

There aren't many other major options for the Indy. There are very hard to come by 100 Mbit Ethernet cards as well as some video editing options. There are also rare and proprietary non-SGI cards for specific applications (e.g. print servers, storage applications).
 

CiaoTime

Public Enemy Number One
Jan 15, 2020
45
27
18
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Mhm. There is also the XZ graphics option, which is similar to the Indigo 1's Elan graphics subset - but the general consensus is that pairing it with an R5000 system is a bad idea, and may net you lower performance in 3D applications than the cheaper and simpler 24-bit Newport card.

Installing the 24-bit video card itself is quite trivial once the Indy is open. All you need is the card.
 

callahan

Member
Jul 20, 2019
37
29
8
Yeah, the R5k can do via software the same stuff the XZ did in hardware, but faster. So it really makes no sense, other than for an interesting build.

XL cards are also much easier to come by.
 

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