Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!rex!ames!sgi!shinobu!odin!elysium!archer
From: archer@elysium.esd.sgi.com (Archer Sully)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sgi
Subject: Re: New IBM Graphics Workstations
Message-ID: <11164@odin.corp.sgi.com>
Date: 31 Jul 90 16:32:07 GMT
References: <1990Jul29.165033.22289@portia.Stanford.EDU> <9007261139.AA05802@aero4.larc.nasa.gov> <11111@odin.corp.sgi.com> <1990Jul30.210557.6255@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Sender: news@odin.corp.sgi.com
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Mountain View, CA
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In <1990Jul30.210557.6255@portia.Stanford.EDU> dhinds@portia.Stanford.EDU (David Hinds) writes:

*In article <11111@odin.corp.sgi.com> ciemo@bananaPC.wpd.sgi.com (Dave Ciemiewicz) writes:
*>In article <1990Jul29.165033.22289@portia.Stanford.EDU>,
*>dhinds@portia.Stanford.EDU (David Hinds) writes:
*>>     The IBM RS6000's have several levels of graphics support.  The 8-bit
*>> color 3D graphics level is quoted as doing 90K 3D vectors/sec, and 10K 3D
*>> polygons/sec.  The 24-bit color 3D graphics system is quoted as doing
*>> 990K 3D vectors/sec and 120K 3D polygons/sec.
*>
*>Has it been released yet or is it still vaporware?  Something else to
*>consider is that IBM's high-end graphics board is an IBM proprietary
*>and does not run the GL.
*
*    Is this right?  I thought that all the 3D graphics options for the IBM's
*were SGI technology.  An IBM rep told me they would support GL.  I don't
*know if it has been shipped yet.

IBM has three levels.  The base model has no graphics accellerator.
The mid-range has the Personal Iris (GR1) graphics squeezed onto 
MicroChannel(TM) cards.  Their high-end system (the one no one that
I know has seen) was developed at IBM, and beyond that I know nothing
about it.

It is quite possible that they've ported the GL to run their high-end
system, but that means that they'll only be tracking what we've sold them
to date.  Which says to me that they won't be offering full compatibility
with the current incarnation of the GL.

As usual I don't speak for SGI or IBM.

--
Archer Sully          |  Ask not what you can do for you country
archer@esd.sgi.com    |  But what your country's been doing to you.
                      |                    -- The Avengers