An Origin 3900 server with InfinitePerformance graphics delivers up to 141 million triangles per second and 3.8 billion pixels per second of sustained performance to a single display. This performance enables you to interactively manipulate and analyze complex problems. The InfinitePerformance graphics capabilities combined with the high-level compute and I/O capabilities of the Origin 3900 server enables you to complete complex tasks in engineering analysis and scientific visualization in seconds instead of minutes and in hours instead of days.
 | Note: Your Origin 3900 server can have InfiniteReality graphics capabilities or InfinitePerformance graphics capabilities, but not both. |
The InfinitePerformance graphics capabilities are provided by the following components:
V12 VPro graphics board that provides one graphics pipe.
V-brick that is a 4U I/O expansion brick with four half-height XIO slots. The V-brick can house one or two VPro V12 graphics boards.
Compositor that enables multiple V12 VPro graphics pipes to work simultaneously on a single visual application.
This chapter describes the function and physical aspects of these InfinitePerformance graphics components in the following sections:
A VPro V12 graphics board, which is shown in Figure 12-1, provides one InfinitePerformance graphics pipe. You can add 1 to 8 InfinitePerformance graphics pipes to your Origin 3900 server. Each graphics pipe requires two processors and connection to one IP53 node board.
Table 12-1 describes the connectors of the V12 graphics board.
Table 12-1. VPro V12 Connector Descriptions
Connector | Connector Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
DVI-I (2) | DVI-1 | Graphics output; outputs either TMDS digital or RGB analog video signals, both DVI ports output the same signal. |
Genlock | BNC | Interface to house sync or other pipes (or video mixer); synchronizes multiple V12 boards; required for compositor. |
Stereo View | 4-pin mini-DIN | Interface to Stereo View device; connects to an emitter to provide stereo effect for LCD shutter glasses. |
Swap Ready | BNC | Synchronizes front and rear framebuffer swapping between multiple pipes; synchronizes the swap buffers in order to synchronize two or more V12 boards, up to eight V-bricks and 16 V12 boards. |
Analog output | 13w3 | Not used. |
The V-brick is a 4U I/O expansion brick that provides four half-height XIO slots. The V-brick can support one or two V12 VPro graphics boards. Each board requires two XIO slots. When the V-brick is configured with one V12 graphics board, the board resides in slots 1 and 2 (the top two slots) and the bottom two slots are covered with blanking plates. When the V-brick contains two V12 VPro graphics boards, the V-brick must be dual ported (each XIO port of the V-brick must connect to an IP53 node board).
The V-brick contains the following front-panel components (see Figure 12-2):
L1 display. The L1 display is a 55.7 mm X 32 mm backlit liquid crystal display (LCD) that displays system messages. It displays two lines with a maximum of 12 characters on each line.
On/Off switch with LED. Press this button to turn on the V-brick internal components. You can also turn on the V-brick internal components at a system console or at the L2 controller touch display.
-
On/Off switch LED. This LED illuminates green when the V-brick internal components are on.
Service required LED. This LED illuminates orange to indicate that an item is broken or not operating properly (for example, a fan is off), but the V-brick is still operating.
Failure LED. This LED illuminates red to indicate that a system failure has occurred and the V-brick is down.
Fans. Three hot-pluggable fans provide N+1 redundant cooling.
The V-brick has the following rear-panel components (see Figure 12-3):
PWR (power) connector. This connector connects the V-brick to a power bay, which provides 12-VDC and 48-VDC power to the V-brick.
Power switch. Move the power switch to the 1 position to power on the L1 controller within the V-brick, and to the 0 position to power off the L1 controller.
48-VDC and 12-VDC LEDs. The power switch must be in the ON (1) position for these LEDs to be on. The 12-VDC LED illuminates green when the L1 controller is powered on. The 48-VDC LED illuminates green when the rest of the V-brick internal components are powered on.
XIO slots. The four XIO slots can seat one or two V12 VPro graphics board. Slots 1 and 2 seat one graphics board and slots 3 and 4 can seat the other graphics board. If the V-brick contains only one graphics board, the board resides in slots 1 and 2. Slots 3 and 4 are covered with blanking plates.
Warning: To avoid personal injury or damage to your system, only qualified SGI system support engineers (SSEs) can install and replace V12 VPro graphics boards. XIO 10 and XIO 11 connectors. Each connector can connect the V-brick to one IP53 node board. When the V-brick contains two V12 VPro graphics boards, the both XIO connectors must connect to IP53 node boards.
XIO connector LEDs. Each connector has two LEDs, as follows:
Table 12-2 lists the technical specifications of the V-brick.
Table 12-2. V-brick Technical Specifications
Characteristic | Specification |
|---|---|
Height | 6.64 in. (168.65 mm) |
Width | 17.5 in. (444.5 mm) |
Depth | 27.74 in. (698.50 mm) |
Weight | 69 lb (31.29 kg) |
Input power | 48 VDC (~300 W) |
The VPro V12 graphics board can connect to the 2U compositor (also referred to as CBOB) that is shown in Figure 12-4. The compositor provides static spatial composition (2D tiling) of two or four digital (DVI) signals from the V12 graphics board and outputs a single signal in either digital or analog format. Spatial composition enables multiple graphics pipes to contribute to a single graphics output. The area of the screen sent by each graphics pipe can be changed every frame.
The compositor can be configured with one or two V-bricks.
Table 12-3 describes the ports of the compositor.
Feature | Notes |
|---|---|
4 single-link, digital video inputs (DVI) | Up to 165-MHz pixel clock per input |
1 single-link digital video output | Up to 165-MHz output |
1 analog video output | Up to 400-MHz pixel clock video output; |
1 Swap Ready port | Controls the compositor update with the graphics pipe updates |
Genlock input and loopthrough ports | Genlocks the compositor video output to an external source |
DB9 stereo port | Controls CrystalEyes style stereo glasses |
Table 12-4 lists the specifications of the compositor.
Table 12-4. Compositor Specifications
Characteristic | Description |
|---|---|
Height | 3.36 in. (85.34 mm) |
Width | 17.5 in. (444.5 mm) |
Depth | 20.5 in. (520.7 mm) |
Weight | 25 lb (11.34 kg) |
Acoustic noise | 50 dBA approximate |
Cooling Requirements | 256 Btu / hour |
Power Consumption | 90 watts maximum |
AC input to power supply | 100-120/200-240 Vac at 50-60 Hz (autoranging) |
Inrush current | 5 A maximum |