SGI must have realized that they can't beat the competing x86 boxes (which are very competitively priced) with Itanium based boxes, so if you can't beat them, join them.
Some customers want a single vendor HPC solution which includes both a scale up component and a low cost cluster component. Without an x86 offering SGI can't go as low in price on the cluster component and could lose the whole deal to IBM which can bid a POWER5 and e326 combo. That's the only scenario that makes sense for SGI to want an x86 offering. The only benefit x86 brings to the table is very low pricing
It may turn out to be quite a bit more than that. It will be sitting on top of what AMD calls Direct Connect Architecture 2.0, which will likely help commodity x86 boxes scale up... Maybe that is what SGI is really after, and they are just getting their feet wet.
ROFL. SGI has its Numaflex technology which scales to levels AMD can't even dream about for HT.
Maybe you also believe Iran really is enriching uranium just to keep its poor citizens from freezing in the dark.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.