SGI has centered its products on the Itanium processor, but it faces competition from makers of high-performance computing systems that build clusters based on lower-cost x86 systems. SGI is attempting to attack that low-cost market with its new Altix XE, which is based on the latest dual-core Intel Xeon 5100 processors, also known as Woodcrest. And the Altix XE is preconfigured for use in a cluster.
Regarding the move into x86-based systems, Jill Matzke, SGI's high-performance computing marketing manager, said, "Obviously, one of the things we need to [do] is expand our market reach." She added that the new products "are very much part of our path back to profitability."
Pricing on the Altix XE starts at US$3,100; the product will start shipping in August. It's built to support Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4, and Novell Inc.'s SUSE Versions 9 and 10. The system also includes SGI's ProPack for Linux software stack.
SGI will continue to rely on Itanium for its high-end, memory-intensive systems. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is also expanding its midrange line with a cheaper alternative, the Altix 450 blade server. According to SGI, the Altix 450 has a performance gain of about 2.5 times that of the existing Altix 350. The new system uses Itanium 2 dual-core processors that can scale to 38 sockets. It will ship in July, and pricing begins at about $14,000.
SGI's big iron system, the Altix 4700, which can scale to more than 1,000 processors on blade servers, has also been upgraded with Intel's latest dual-core Itanium processor. SGI said the change will double the performance of the existing blade. The Altix 4700 is now shipping, and pricing starts at less than $75,000.