SGI Visual Workstation 540
.jpg) | |
| Silicon Graphics 540 with the sliding front panel lowered | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Silicon Graphics, Inc. |
| Type | Workstation |
| Released | 1999[1] |
| Intro price | £4,320 excluding VAT (two 500 MHz Pentium III Xeon, December 1999)[1] |
| CPU | One to four Intel Pentium III Xeon (Slot 2), 100 MHz front-side bus[2][3] |
| Memory | 128 MB to 2 GB ECC SDRAM in SGI-specific DIMMs, fitted in slot groups of six[4] |
| Storage | Up to three internal Ultra2 SCSI drives (SCA); IDE CD-ROM or DVD-ROM; 3.5-inch floppy drive[5] |
| Display | — |
| Sound | — |
| Graphics | SGI Cobalt graphics chipset with unified memory[6] |
| Expansion | Six 64-bit 33 MHz PCI slots on two buses[2] |
| Power | 838 W from the wall; 100 to 120 V or 200 to 240 V, 9 A maximum[2] |
| Dimensions | 9 in W × 24 in H × 18 in D[2] |
| Weight | 51 to 65 lb[2] |
| OS / Firmware | Windows NT 4.0 (preinstalled)[7] |
The SGI Visual Workstation 540, sold as the Silicon Graphics 540 visual workstation, is a Windows NT workstation that Silicon Graphics introduced in 1999 together with the SGI Visual Workstation 320.[1] It takes one to four Intel Pentium III Xeon processors and up to 2 GB of memory, and it is built around SGI's Cobalt chipset, in which graphics, video and the processors all work from one pool of main memory.[2][6]
The 540 and the 320 share the chipset, the firmware, the software installation guide and most of the rear panel.[6][8] The 540 is the larger machine: Slot 2 Xeon processors on plug-in voltage regulator cards in place of the 320's two Slot 1 processors, four memory slot groups in place of two, six PCI slots in place of three, and three Ultra2 SCSI drive bays where the 320's standard system disk is IDE.[2][9] The firmware settings, the boot configuration and the reinstallation of Windows NT are documented once for both machines; the processors, memory, power supply and drives have their own procedures in each machine's owner's guide.[10][11]
History
[edit | edit source]SGI announced the 320 and 540 in 1999 as its first x86 workstations, both running Windows NT 4.0. Personal Computer World reviewed a 540 in December 1999 at £5,076 including VAT (£4,320 excluding VAT) with two 500 MHz Pentium III Xeon processors with 1 MB of cache, and gave the price of the matching 1600SW flat panel as £1,790 excluding VAT. The same review reported that in September 1999 SGI had announced it would drop Windows NT 4.0 development, concentrate on IRIX and Linux, and look for a partner to take over the Visual Workstation range.[1]
SGI's later 230, 330 and 550 visual workstations dropped the Cobalt chipset and used standard PC chipsets.[12] The SGI Visual Workstation 550 keeps the Pentium III Xeon processor but is a different design, built on an M29A system board with the Intel i840 chipset and Rambus memory; SGI's guide credits Acer for its system board chapters.[13]
Architecture
[edit | edit source]SGI describes the Cobalt graphics chipset as three special-function ASICs that provide graphics acceleration, display, digital media input and output, analogue and digital video and IEEE 1394.[6] Graphics, video and the processors share a unified memory system on a 256-bit bus running at up to 3.2 GB per second, with ECC that corrects single-bit errors and detects double-bit errors.[6] The memory given to graphics is set by a profile in the Display control panel; Windows NT always keeps 64 MB for itself.[14] The machine Personal Computer World reviewed had 1 GB fitted, of which 112 MB was allocated to graphics.[1]
The Linux kernel's Visual Workstation support, which covers both the 320 and the 540, shows how the rest of the chipset is laid out: the Cobalt ASIC contains the main interrupt controller (the "Cobalt APIC"), the two PCI buses hang off two SGI "Lithium" host bridges, and the legacy PC devices sit behind an Intel PIIX4. The kernel's help text describes the machine as an IA32 workstation "based on SGI systems chips with some legacy PC hardware attached".[8] SGI's white paper also names the PIIX4 as the source of the USB ports, the Ultra DMA/33 IDE channel and the floppy, parallel and serial ports.[6]
The 540's firmware is a graphical PROM program that starts Windows NT through SGI's own loader and hardware abstraction layer (arcldr.exe and hal.dll), which must sit on a small FAT system partition on the boot disk. Pressing Esc within a few seconds of the first start-up messages opens the firmware's main screen, which has startup settings, system settings, software installation, system utilities and a hardware inventory.[10] The same firmware runs on the 320, and SGI documents both machines in one firmware guide.[11]
Processors and voltage regulators
[edit | edit source]The 540 has four processor slots for Pentium III Xeon processors. Each slot must hold a processor or a terminator card, processors are fitted in order with no empty slot between them, and all the processors must be identical. The stepping of the second, third and fourth processors must match the primary processor's.[3] Personal Computer World quoted a maximum of four 550 MHz processors in December 1999.[1]
Every processor works with plug-in voltage regulator cards in brackets above and below the processor cage, and one further regulator card for the graphics is always fitted.[3][15] Figure 6-1 of the owner's guide gives the number of cards for each configuration:
| Processors | Terminator cards | Regulator cards, including the graphics regulator |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | 0 | 7 |
A four-processor 540 offered for sale on the IRIXNet forum in 2025 was listed with seven regulator cards, which agrees with SGI's figure.[16]
The processor clock is set by four jumpers (LINT[1], LINT[0], A20M# and IGNNE#) at the top of the system board, to the left of the battery. SGI's table gives settings from 150 MHz to 800 MHz on the 100 MHz bus, and the jumpers must be changed whenever a processor is added or upgraded. Going to three or four processors also needs the software from SGI's upgrade CD.[3] The settings are reproduced on SGI Visual Workstation 540 Troubleshooting Guide.
Memory
[edit | edit source]The system board has 24 DIMM sockets in four slot groups, A to D, of six sockets each. Group A must always be filled, groups are filled in order, and each group holds six DIMMs of the same type and capacity. SGI sold three types: single-sided (128 MB per slot group), double-sided (256 MB per group) and double-sided stacked (512 MB per group). The minimum is 128 MB and the maximum 2 GB.[4] SGI's white paper gives the parts as 50 ns SDRAM with ECC.[6]
Only SGI's own DIMMs can be used.[4] Personal Computer World noted that they were available only from SGI and a few other sources, and listed them among the machine's bad points.[1] Owners on IRIXNet describe the modules as 24 MB, 48 MB and 96 MB parts, the 96 MB ones with stacked chips, and report that the smaller modules carry no SPD EEPROM.[17] The 320 uses the same arrangement of slot groups of six, with two groups and a 1 GB limit.[9]
Storage
[edit | edit source]- Three internal 3.5-inch bays for Ultra2 SCSI hard disks with SCA connectors, which take power and the SCSI bus through one connector. The system disk must be in the top bay, bay 1, at SCSI ID 0; bays 2 and 3 are option bays.[5]
- A 3.5-inch floppy drive in the top front bay, a 3.5-inch option bay for an IDE device, and a 5.25-inch bay for an IDE CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, all on one Ultra DMA/33 IDE channel.[5][2]
SGI's SCSI checks refer to a PCI SCSI card,[18] and the machine Personal Computer World reviewed had a QLogic QLA1080 LVD Ultra2 SCSI host adapter installed.[1]
Expansion and ports
[edit | edit source]The 540 has six PCI slots on two buses, one with four slots and one with two, all 64-bit and 33 MHz. Slots 1 to 4 take 5 V and universal cards and slots 5 and 6 take 3.3 V and universal cards; the slots are keyed so that a card cannot go into the wrong voltage.[2][19] The 320 has three slots: one half-length 32-bit slot and two full-length 64-bit slots.[9] Two option cards plug into their own connectors on the system board.[15] The flat panel adapter, with a 36-pin output, drives SGI's 1600SW digital flat panel. The Silicon Graphics SD1100 card has eight BNC connectors; SGI's white paper lists this digital video option, with CCIR 601 digital video in and out, as a feature of the 540 only.[20][6]
| Port | Connector | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ethernet | RJ45 | 10/100 Mb/s, auto-sensing |
| IEEE 1394 | Two 6-pin | 400 Mb/s; not supported by Windows NT 4.0 |
| USB | Two 4-pin | Keyboard and mouse only under Windows NT 4.0; 5 W at 5 V maximum |
| Serial | DB9 male | RS-232, up to 115 kbaud |
| Parallel | DB25 female | IEEE 1284 |
| Monitor | DB15 female | VGA with DDC2B |
| Microphone | 3.5 mm | 5 V phantom power |
| Speaker or headphone | 3.5 mm | Stereo, variable level |
| Line in and line out | 4 × RCA | Stereo line level, −10 dBV |
| Composite video in and out | RCA | NTSC or PAL |
| S-Video in and out | 4-pin mini-DIN |
Sources: Owner's Guide Appendix B.[20]
Power and cooling
[edit | edit source]SGI rates the 540 at 838 W from the wall, with a maximum current of 9 A, a minimum power factor of 0.98, a peak inrush of 45 A and 2,400 BTU per hour of heat.[2] The supply in the 540 photographed by sgistuff.net is SGI part 060-0048-001, labelled for 587 W continuous output at +3.43 V (44 A), +5.1 V (37 A), +12 V (32 A), −12 V (0.55 A) and +5 V standby (1 A).[21] Three internal fans and the fan in the power supply cool the case, and the air leaves through the power supply.[2][22] Removing the power supply means unplugging its two system board cables and separating the two halves of the power interlock switch cable.[22] The interlock switches the machine off when the side cover is removed.[23] The real-time clock and the firmware settings are kept by a Renata CR2032 lithium cell above the voltage regulators at the top right of the system board.[22]
Documentation
[edit | edit source]SGI's manuals for the 540 are described at SGI Visual Workstation 540 Documentation:
- Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001): File:SGI Visual Workstation 540 Owner's Guide (007-3882-001).pdf
- Silicon Graphics 320 and Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Software Installation Guide (007-3703-002): File:SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540 Software Installation Guide (007-3703-002).pdf
- Silicon Graphics Visual Workstations System Firmware User's Guide (007-4225-001): File:SGI Visual Workstations System Firmware User's Guide (007-4225-001).pdf
- SGI's white paper on the Integrated Visual Computing architecture: File:SGI Visual Workstations Integrated Visual Computing Architecture White Paper (1999).pdf
These are user-level manuals. The owner's guide covers the parts SGI expected owners to replace and gives no circuit or component information.
General maintenance
[edit | edit source]The owner's guide covers cleaning, cover removal and the replacement of the power supply, battery and fans. See SGI Visual Workstation 540 General Maintenance.
Troubleshooting
[edit | edit source]SGI's troubleshooting table, the front LED blink codes for failed DIMMs, the firmware's power-on diagnostics and the processor and regulator rules are collected in SGI Visual Workstation 540 Troubleshooting Guide.
Capacitor replacement
[edit | edit source]SGI published no component values for the 540. What is known about the power supply, the system board and the regulator cards is set out in SGI Visual Workstation 540 Capacitor Replacement Guide.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]- SGI Visual Workstation 540 General Maintenance
- SGI Visual Workstation 540 Troubleshooting Guide
- SGI Visual Workstation 540 Capacitor Replacement Guide
- SGI Visual Workstation 540 Documentation
- SGI Visual Workstation 320, the two-processor Cobalt machine
- SGI Visual Workstation 550, the later Pentium III Xeon model on the Intel i840 chipset
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Roger Gann, "SGI 540 workstation", Personal Computer World, December 1999, p. 78. archive.org. Price, processors, QLogic QLA1080 SCSI adapter, proprietary DIMMs, 112 MB graphics allocation on the review machine, SGI's September 1999 announcement on Windows NT.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), Appendix A, "Technical Specifications", pp. 155–159: Tables A-1 (dimensions and weight), A-3 (environment, heat dissipation), A-4 (power), A-5 (system board: processors, memory, IDE, ports, PCI buses); cooling by three internal fans and a power supply fan, p. 155.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), chapter 6, "Processors and Voltage Regulators", pp. 102–117: installation rules, Figure 6-1 (p. 103), speed jumpers and Table 6-1 (pp. 110–112), Table 6-2 software upgrade (p. 116), stepping value (p. 117).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), chapter 3, "About Memory", pp. 28–31: slot groups A to D, DIMM types, minimum and maximum memory, Table 3-1.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), chapter 4, "About Removable Media Drives", p. 46, and "About Internal Hard Drives", pp. 61–62: bay sizes, IDE and floppy buses, Ultra2 SCSI SCA drives, system drive in bay 1 at SCSI ID 0.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics Visual Workstations for Windows NT: Integrated Visual Computing Architecture (IVC), white paper, 1999: section 2.1 (unified memory, 256-bit bus, 3.2 GB/s, ECC, 50 ns SDRAM, 2 GB on the 540), section 2.7 (PIIX4 super I/O), section 3.0 (Cobalt chipset of three ASICs), Tables 4-1 and 4-2 (flat panel port for the 1600SW; digital video port, 540 only). Hosted as File:SGI Visual Workstations Integrated Visual Computing Architecture White Paper (1999).pdf.
- ↑ Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide, 007-3882-001, 1999, "Where to Find Additional Information", p. xvi: the workstation ships with Windows NT installed. Hosted as File:SGI Visual Workstation 540 Owner's Guide (007-3882-001).pdf.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Linux kernel 2.6.32 source,
arch/x86/kernel/visws_quirks.cand theX86_VISWSentry inarch/x86/Kconfig. Retrieved 2026-10-21. Header comment on the Cobalt APIC and PIIX4;lithium_init()checks for Lithium host bridges A and B; the board detection code recognises the 320 and the 540. - ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics 320 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide, 007-3701-001, 1999, "About PCI Cards", p. 53, and Table A-3, "System Board Specifications", p. 100: two Slot 1 processors, 1 GB in two groups of six DIMMs, IDE system drive, three PCI slots. Hosted as File:SGI Visual Workstation 320 Owner's Guide (007-3701-001).pdf.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics 320 and Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Software Installation Guide, 007-3703-002, 1999, "Partitioning the System Disk", pp. 26–28, and "Configuring System Firmware Options", pp. 35–41. Hosted as File:SGI Visual Workstation 320 and 540 Software Installation Guide (007-3703-002).pdf.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics Visual Workstations System Firmware User's Guide for Windows NT, 007-4225-001, 1999. Hosted as File:SGI Visual Workstations System Firmware User's Guide (007-4225-001).pdf.
- ↑ Wikipedia, "SGI Visual Workstation". Retrieved 2026-10-21. Used only for the chipsets of the later 230, 330 and 550 models.
- ↑ Silicon Graphics, Inc., Silicon Graphics 550 Visual Workstation User's Guide, 007-4279-001, June 2000, contributors page (chapters 3 and 4 provided by Acer Incorporated) and chapter 3, "System Board", pp. 67–69: M29A system board, Intel i840 chipset, RDRAM.
- ↑ Silicon Graphics 320 and Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Software Installation Guide (007-3703-002), "Configuring Graphics Memory", pp. 29–31.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), Figure 2-6, "Interior View of the Silicon Graphics 540 Workstation", p. 23.
- ↑ IRIXNet forums, "Visual Workstation 540 for sale", first post, 4 May 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-21. A 540 with four 500 MHz Pentium III Xeon processors, 24 DIMMs and seven voltage regulator modules.
- ↑ IRIXNet forums, "Intrusive thoughts regarding the memory on Visual Workstation 320/540", 2 January 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-21. Module sizes of 24, 48 and 96 MB, stacked chips on the 96 MB modules, no SPD chip on the 24 and 48 MB modules.
- ↑ Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), Appendix C, "SCSI Information", pp. 173–175: up to three internal Ultra2 SCSI drives; the SCSI checks refer to the PCI SCSI card.
- ↑ Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), chapter 5, "About PCI Cards", p. 72, and "Installing PCI Cards", step 6, p. 73: slots 1–4 for 5 V and universal cards, slots 5–6 for 3.3 V and universal cards, keyed connectors.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), Appendix B, "Port Information", pp. 161–172: Tables B-1 and B-2, IEEE 1394 and USB notes (pp. 163–164), microphone and audio specifications (pp. 168–169).
- ↑ Gerhard Lenerz, photograph "Closeup of the Xeon CPUs", sgistuff.net, Visual Workstation 320/540, taken 13 December 2011. Retrieved 2026-10-21. Power supply label read from the full-size image. Hosted copy: File:SGI Visual Workstation 540 system board and power supply (sgistuff.net).jpg.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), chapter 7, "Power Supply, Battery, and Fans", pp. 120–137: two system board power cables and the power interlock cable (p. 123), Renata CR2032 battery and its location (p. 129), three fans and airflow through the power supply (pp. 131, 135).
- ↑ Silicon Graphics 540 Visual Workstation Owner's Guide (007-3882-001), "Shutting Down the System", p. 14: the safety interlock powers the system off when the side cover is removed.
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