Silicon Graphics Onyx CMN A011 RealityEngine2 MIPS R4400SC MCO Multi-Channel

Silicon Graphics Onyx CMN A011 RealityEngine2 MIPS R4400SC MCO Multi-Channel

The Silicon Graphics Onyx CMN A011 is a deskside graphics supercomputer built around the RealityEngine2 (RE2) graphics subsystem and scalable MIPS R4400SC RISC processing. It combines symmetric multiprocessing with SGI's high-end RE2 geometry and rasterization pipeline, and this unit includes the MCO (Multi-Channel Option) external unit with its interface cables for multi-display and video production output configurations.

Specifications & What's Included

• Manufacturer: Silicon Graphics (SGI)
• Model / Part Number: CMN A011
• CPU: MIPS R4400SC 64-bit RISC processor
• Processor count: 2 to 24 (scalable SMP configuration)
• Clock frequency: 100 MHz / 150 MHz
• Primary cache: 16KB I-cache + 16KB D-cache on-chip per CPU
• Secondary cache: 1MB combined L2 cache per CPU
• Graphics subsystem: RealityEngine2 (RE2)
• Polygon throughput: 2 million t-mesh triangles/second; 930K textured t-mesh triangles/second
• Pixel fill rate: 80 / 160 / 320 million textured, anti-aliased pixels/second (configuration-dependent)
• Color depth: 48-bit RGBA, quad-buffered (192 bits total)
• Bits per pixel: 256 to 1024
• Frame buffer: 40 to 160 MB
• Display resolution: VGA up to 1600×1200; HDTV supported
• Stereo: Advanced hardware stereo modes
• Hardware texture mapping and real-time anti-aliasing
• Hardware image processing acceleration
• Video output: NTSC / PAL / S-Video (Composite A/B BNC + S-Video A/B on rear panel)
• Analog video outputs: Analog 1, Analog 2, Analog 3 (triaxial/XLR-style connectors)
• Sync/Genlock: Sync BNC, Genlock BNC, Alpha BNC on rear panel
• Swap Ready and Frame Grab BNC ports
• Monitor output: DB-15 analog monitor connector
• Network: FDDI (ipg0, DIN connector); external Ethernet adapter (RJ-45, LINK/COL/PWR/RX LEDs) present
• Storage interface: External 68-pin high-density SCSI connector
• Serial ports: RS-232 tty_2, tty_3, tty_4 (DB-9); RS-422; System Console tty_1
• Parallel port: DB-25 Parallel plp3 on EBus 03
• I/O interrupts: In (0,1) and Out (0,1,2,3) BNC jacks on EBus 03
• Keyboard: SGI proprietary DIN connector
• Remote System Control: DB-9 port (SSE use only)
• FDDI Switch Power: A Key and B Key fiber SC receptacles
• Front panel: LCD status display, key lock (keys present), 4 control buttons, power LED
• Firmware version: 2.03, dated 21 Jun 1993 (confirmed on front-panel LCD)
• Form factor: Deskside tower
• Operating system: IRIX (SGI proprietary UNIX)
• Included: SGI MCO (Multi-Channel Option) external unit + MCO interface cables

Applications

The SGI Onyx was introduced in the early 1990s as Silicon Graphics' flagship deskside supercomputer, designed for applications where real-time 3D graphics performance was the limiting factor. Its RealityEngine2 subsystem was used extensively in visual simulation, scientific visualization, broadcast and film visual effects, virtual reality research, and military training systems — applications that demanded the highest polygon throughput and image quality available at the time. The Onyx ran IRIX, SGI's UNIX-based operating system, and supported OpenGL natively, making it the reference platform for early OpenGL development. The MCO (Multi-Channel Option) allowed the system to drive multiple synchronized video channels simultaneously, which was critical for large-scale visualization walls, flight simulators, and broadcast production environments. The R4400SC MIPS processor — the same generation used in SGI's Indigo2 and Crimson workstations — provided a 64-bit RISC architecture that was well ahead of contemporary x86 systems in floating-point and memory bandwidth. By the mid-to-late 1990s the Onyx was succeeded by the Onyx2 and InfiniteReality graphics architecture, but original Onyx systems with RE2 graphics remain sought-after by collectors, SGI enthusiasts, and institutions maintaining legacy IRIX-based simulation and visualization pipelines.