SGI Tezro
The SGI Tezro was a series of high-end computer workstations sold by SGI from 2003 until 2006. It was the immediate successor to the SGI Octane line. The systems were available in both rack-mount and tower versions, and the series was released in June 2003 with a list price of $20,500. The Tezro was released alongside the SGI Onyx4 (and because of component sharing, the Onyx4 and rack-mountable Tezro shared many components, including skins.)
Tezro marked the return of the original 'cube' logo to SGI machines, which was welcomed by the loyal user base.
It was replaced in 2008 by the SGI Virtu product line.
Architecture
Similar to other SGI systems, the Tezro used a non-blocking crossbar interconnect to connect all subsystems together. Tezro was based on SGI's Origin 3000 architecture.
ARCS was provided as the boot firmware, as with other SGI computer systems of that era.
Processors
Tezro systems used one to four 64-bit MIPS R16000 microprocessors. Available configurations included: two or four 1.0 GHz R16000s with 16 MB of L2 cache; or one, two, or four 700 or 800 MHz R16000s with 4 MB of L2 cache.
Memory
The Tezro shipped with 512MB of DDR SDRAM. It can be expanded using proprietary DIMMs, the tower version can hold up to 8GB of main memory, and rack-mountable version up to 16GB of main memory.
Styling
While visual appeal is probably one of the least considerations when purchasing a high-end workstation, SGI had historically been known for making brightly colored machines with a dramatic appearance. The Tezro continued that trend with an appearance that was highly unusual, while in contrast the entry level Fuel was surprisingly conventional.
Graphics
Tezro supported the VPro V10 and V12 graphics options, though most customers chose the V12 version. Dual-head and dual-channel options were also available, allowing a fully equipped rackmount Tezro to drive four high-resolution monitors at once.
Audio
Tower systems shipped with analog audio output as standard, while PCI cards provided audio capabilities (including 2-channel 24-bit AES and 8-channel ADAT connectors) on rack-mountable versions.
Expansion
The number of available 64-bit PCI slots included in a Tezro system depended upon the number of CPUs installed in the system:
- 7 133/100MHz slots in two- or four-CPU tower systems
- 3 133/100MHz slots in single-CPU tower systems
- 6 100MHz slots and two 66MHz slots in 4U rackmountable systems
- 2 100MHz slots and one 66MHz slot in 2U rackmountable systems.
All PCI slots in each Tezro model are 3.3V card slots.
A single U160 SCSI connector was available for attaching external peripherals, as was an optional FireWire card.
Operating system
Tezro ran SGI's IRIX operating system.