User`s guide

Nodeboard Features
007-5630-001 13
Nodeboard Features
At the heart of each 3U-high Octane III compute/graphics/storage tray lies one multi-processor
based node board. At time of publication, these node boards were based on Intel chipsets. Check
with your SGI sales or service representative for information on AMD based compute products
available from SGI. The following subsections describe some example features of the boards.
Note that the features on the example boards are doubled for systems that include two graphics
“heads” (two separate 3U compute/graphics trays). See Figure 1-5 on page 16 for an example
functional block diagram of an Intel Xeon system node board.
Processors
The Octane III deskside system can support a minimum of 2 and a maximum of up to 4 processors
(up to 24 cores when configured with six-core processors). The exact type of processors provided
with your system depends on the specific configuration you ordered. Check with your sales or
service representative for information on processor availability, upgrades and compatibility. The
following are examples of types available for the Octane III deskside workstation:
• One dual-socket Intel® Xeon® quad-core processor series-based board
• One dual-socket Intel® Xeon® six-core processor series-based board
Each Octane III graphics workstation tray supports two Intel® Xeon six-core processors (a total
of up to four six-core processors per system when the optional second graphics tray is installed).
DIMM Memory
Memory configuration varies depending on the processor board type ordered with your system
tray(s). DIMM population requirements vary from two per motherboard up to 12 per motherboard,
using DIMM speeds from 1066 MHz to 1333 MHz.
The motherboard in each compute/graphics tray can use up to twelve 240-pin DIMM sockets that
can support up to 48 GB of registered ECC DDR3-1333/1066/800 SDRAM (96 GB total for the
system). This capacity can vary based on which compute tray DIMMs your SGI
Octane III is using. In all configurations a minimum of 3GB of DIMM per core installed is
recommended for optimum performance.
See the SGI Octane III Deskside Workstation Component Replacement Guide (P/N
007-5650-00x), for information on installing memory into the system.