Hard on the heels of its MIPS Computer Systems Inc R4000 RISC-based Crimson boxes (CI No 1,849), Silicon Graphics Inc, Mountain View, California, has announced new versions of its entry-level Indigo imaging system. The Indigo XS, XS24 and Elan – each rated at 26 SPECmarks performance – are essentially R3000 RISC versions of the same Crimson models and use three-dimensional GTX graphics technology derived from Silicon Graphics’ top-end Power Series machines, incorporating the firm says, 25 new custom chips and 700,000 gates. The eight-colour Indigo XS performs 250,000 three-dimensional vectors per second, comes with 16Mb RAM, a 16 colour screen, costs from UKP11,100 and is available in April. The Indigo XS24, with 24 colours, 16Mb RAM and a colour monitor, performs 250,000 three-dimensional vectors per-second and is priced at from UKP12,800 in April. Indigo Elan, a 24-colour, 1m three-dimensional vectors per second box with 16Mb RAM and a 19 colour screen is available from March, priced at UKP23,000. All models are compatible with existing Indigo, Crimson and PowerVision machines, and will be able to take the R4000 chip when it arrives. A video interface board will be out in May for the existing Indigo box – a version for Indigo Elan will follow in October. Silicon Graphics says it is negotiating a deal with Quorum Software Systems Inc for its interface that will enable Apple Macintosh applications run on RISC computers – in this case the MIPS part, under OSF/Motif.
