Back to R4000

Pipeline, January/February 1996 vol.7, no.1
Copyright © 1996 Silicon Graphics

Processor Types for Indigo, Indigo2 and Indy Systems 

This article includes a table that lists the first and current (as of the date
of this issue of Pipeline) version of IRIX for a specific R4x00 CPU type,
speed, and cache size.  The R4x00 CPU is used in Indigo, Indy, CHALLENGE S,
Indigo2 and CHALLENGE M systems.


Use the command hinv(1) to determine the type of processor and cache size on a
system. For example, on a 100Mhz R4000 Indigo, the following output is
produced:


% hinv -c processor


1 100 MHZ IP20 Processor 


FPU: MIPS R4010 Floating Point Chip Revision: 0.0 


CPU: MIPS R4000 Processor Chip Revision: 2.2


% hinv | grep cache 


Data cache size: 8 Kbytes 


Instruction cache size: 8 Kbytes 


Secondary unified instruction/data cache size: 1 Mbyte


Primary cache is high speed access memory that is part of the microprocessor.
The primary cache consists of two parts; data cache and instruction cache. In
the hinv output above, the data cache and instruction cache are 8 Kbytes
each.


Secondary cache is high speed access memory that is external to the
microprocessor, and therefore has somewhat longer latency. Secondary cache
combines data and instruction cache into one unified cache. In the hinv
example above, the system had 1 Mbyte of secondary cache.


Processors with a secondary cache are often labeled SC (secondary cache), and
include the R4000SC, R4600SC, and R4400SC. Processors without a secondary
cache are known as PC (primary cache), and include the R4000PC and R4600PC.


The R4600 is the successor to the R4000.

				Size of	Size of	
			Speed	Primary	Secondary	First Supported		Latest Supported
System		CPU	in MHz	Cache	Cache		Release of IRIX*****	Release of IRIX

Indigo (IP20)	R4000	100	8K/8K	1MB		IRIX 4.0.5E*		IRIX 5.3

		R4400	100**	16K/16K	1MB		IRIX 4.0.5E*

		R4400	150	16K/16K	1MB		IRIX 4.0.5IOP* + 
							4.0.5H and 4.0.5IOP 
							R4400 patch

Indy and
CHALLENGE
S (IP22)***	R4000	100	8K/8K	none		Indy IRIX 5.1		IRIX 5.3 for Indy 
										R4000, R4400, R4600
										100-200MHz 

		R4000	100	8K/8K	1MB		Indy IRIX 5.1

		R4400	100	16K/16K	1MB		Indy IRIX 5.1

		R4400	150	16K/16K	1MB		Indy IRIX 5.1

		R4400	175	16K/16K	1MB		IRIX 5.3 for 175MHz 
							R4400 Indy

		R4400	200	16K/16K	1MB		IRIX 5.3 for Indy R4000, 
							R4400, R4600 100-200MHz

		R4600	100	16K/16K	none		IRIX 5.2 for Indy R4600PC 
							and CHALLENGE S

		R4600	133	16K/16K	512K		IRIX 5.2 for Indy 
							R4600SC/XZ & Presenter

Indigo2 and 
CHALLENGE
 M (IP22)	R4000	100	8K/8K	1MB		IRIX 4.0.5H*		IRIX 5.3 for 175MHz
										and 2MB cache or
										IRIX 5.3 for Indigo2
										Impact****

		R4400	100	16K/16K	1MB		IRIX 4.0.5H* 

		R4400	150	16K/16K	1MB		IRIX 4.0.5H + 
							4.0.5H and 4.0.5IOP 
							R4400 patch *

		R4400	175	16K/16K	1MB		IRIX 5.3 for 175MHz and 
							2MB cache

		R4400	200	16K/16K	1MB		IRIX 5.3

		R4400	200	16K/16K	2MB		IRIX 5.3 for 175MHz and 
							2MB cache or
							IRIX 5.3 for Indigo2 
							Impact

		R4400	250	16K/16K	2MB		IRIX 5.3 for 175MHz and 
							2MB cache or
							IRIX 5.3 for Indigo2 
							Impact 

Table 1. Processor types for the Indigo, Indigo2, and Indy systems

*     Under IRIX 4.0.5 systems, hinv sometimes reports incorrect MHz values, even
      when running the IRIX 4.0.5H and 4.0.5IOP R4400 patch.

**    The R4400 was used in a limited number of systems to replace the 100MHz R4000
      chip.

***   Hinv on Indy systems reports IP22, but the actual board is an IP24, as can be
      seen by examining the silkscreen on the board.

****  Depends on the graphics type.

***** Certain graphics types may require a later version of IRIX.