After all the attention heaped on TFP, the R8000 addition to its processor line, Silicon Graphics Inc has weighed in with two entry-level Challenge boxes based upon its existing processor technology. The Challenge S comes in two configurations. With a 100MHz R4600 RISC, 32Mb of memory, 500Mb disk, two Ethernet and three Small Computer Systems Interface channels, and two GIO bus slots, Silicon Graphics’s proprietary bus, prices start at $12,250. With a 150MHz R4400, 32Mb memory, 1Gb disk and the same peripheral support it costs from $16,600. The Challenge DM comes with up to four 100MHz R4400 RISCs and costs from $45,000 with 64Mb RAM and 2Gb disk. It uses the same 1.2Gbps bus as the existing Challenge L and XL symmetric Multiprocessing boxes, which can connect to 320Mbps PowerChannel adaptors which support High Performance Parallel Interface and Fibre Distributed Data Interface, and up to 24 SCSI and 19 Ethernet ports. Both run Silicon Graphics’s System V.4 Irix and are out now.
