6 ms·

Been wanting one of these machines for years, but they are sooo pricey it is insane. Mainline Linux support will be good, but I tbh I would be running IRIX as i

Been wanting one of these machines for years, but they are sooo pricey it is insane. Mainline Linux support will be good, but I tbh I would be running IRIX as intended.

MisterTea 7y ago
That is an interesting problem. In the 00's they were cheap and plentiful. Buying old SGI hardware to play with was pretty affordable. Now people want thousands. Same with old x86 hardware.
- zozbot234 7y ago
  Older x86 hardware is incredibly cheap and plentiful in my experience. Of course stuff goes up in price as it ages and gets rarer, but that's just expected.
  - leoc 7y ago
    Apparently there are specific highly-prized things which are in short supply, like Sound Blaster audio cards.
- idiot900 7y ago
  Why are these machines so expensive? Is there some legacy software that cannot be ported?
  - laurentdc 7y ago
    Probably just retro collecting craze driving prices up. e.g. 10 years ago people were dumping CRT monitors, now a decent Sony Trinitron starts at 150-200 €
    - uncle_j 7y ago
      That is more true of old x86 hardware and older micro-computers (Amigas, Ataris etc). The SGI machines are difficult to get hold of in the UK to begin with plus they are as other said short supply. There is one Octane in the country and it is the machine only (even though the monitor and keyboard are pictured) and it is going for about £800 on ebay. If it was everything I would have said "that probably the best deal I am going to get" and went for it.
  - asveikau 7y ago
    In the late 90s a lot of these machines were being abandoned. Properetary Unix was dying due to Linux, and non-intel CPUs were also getting crushed. Plus there was the dotcom crash meaning defunct companies got rid of gear. In those days I got an extremely cheap Sun workstation on ebay as an example. Anyway, I guess supply is low but there are still nerdy people who think an old Unix machine is cool. (I'd take one running Irix just to play with for sure.)
  - mokus 7y ago
    I believe they are used in certain models of CT scanner, MRI or some such expensive medical equipment. That probably drives at least some of the demand.
  - mrpippy 7y ago
    I think it's just low supply. They were quite expensive so not that many existed to begin with, and then the last generation of SGI MIPS machines were largely cleared out by companies and academia in the mid-late 2000s. Anything left for sale now is either from hobbyists, surplus sellers hoping to cash in on the few niche markets that still use these, or just really late clearouts. I bought my Octane on eBay in 2008 (it was previously used at Ford), I think it was around $80 and shipping was more than half of that (an Octane weighs ~80 lbs). Here's a crazy one I saw yesterday: the Canadian government auctioning an unused Origin 3400, still in shipping crate. https://www.gcsurplus.ca/mn-eng.cfm?snc=wfsav&sc=enc-bid&scn=360370&lcn=508764&lct=L&srchtype=&so=ASC&sf=ferm-clos&lci=L508764&str=11&ltnf=1 https://www.gcsurplus.ca/mn-eng.cfm?snc=wfsav&sc=enc-bid&scn...
  - erikpukinskis 7y ago
    As a teenager growing up in the 90s, SGI machines were the pinnacle of graphical power. I would love to own an Onyx, even just to look at the case. Just because of what it represented for me as a kid who could barely afford a Voodoo card.
tonylemesmer 7y ago
I had two Octanes in the mid 00s. One of them got damaged by a water leak and the other I sold for £5. The 21 inch Trinitron CRT I had with it sold for £20!
- GordonS 7y ago
  Hehe, I haven't heard "Trinitron" for an age! I remember saving for what seemed like an eternity, then buying a used (and only slightly defective) Trinitron from a friend's dad (who was a draughtsman) round about '97. I don't recall what size it was, but the point was it was big for the day, like 24" - it was so heavy that me and my dad could barely lift it! When we got it home, it bowed my wooden desk in a very threatening way, but managed to sit there for a couple of months before it finally broke through the desk!
  - ianai 7y ago
    Did it survive past that incident? Those old crts are something else.
    - GordonS 7y ago
      Yes, no damage whatsoever! When I finally got rid of it round about 2010, it was still working as it always had. But it was hard to justify keeping that massive, heavy box around forever (IIRC, it was something like 40kg!)
BubRoss 7y ago
Pricey? You could get them for $100 15 years ago.
- uncle_j 7y ago
  It is a different story in the UK. I would probably just get one if I was in the US.
qubex 7y ago
I have one. It’s rather difficult to keep it in working condition.

Been wanting one of these machines for years, but they are sooo pricey it is insane. Mainline Linux support will be good, but I tbh I would be running IRIX as intended.

MisterTea 7y ago

That is an interesting problem. In the 00's they were cheap and plentiful. Buying old SGI hardware to play with was pretty affordable. Now people want thousands. Same with old x86 hardware.

zozbot234 7y ago
Older x86 hardware is incredibly cheap and plentiful in my experience. Of course stuff goes up in price as it ages and gets rarer, but that's just expected.
- leoc 7y ago
  Apparently there are specific highly-prized things which are in short supply, like Sound Blaster audio cards.
idiot900 7y ago
Why are these machines so expensive? Is there some legacy software that cannot be ported?
- laurentdc 7y ago
  Probably just retro collecting craze driving prices up. e.g. 10 years ago people were dumping CRT monitors, now a decent Sony Trinitron starts at 150-200 €
  - uncle_j 7y ago
    That is more true of old x86 hardware and older micro-computers (Amigas, Ataris etc). The SGI machines are difficult to get hold of in the UK to begin with plus they are as other said short supply. There is one Octane in the country and it is the machine only (even though the monitor and keyboard are pictured) and it is going for about £800 on ebay. If it was everything I would have said "that probably the best deal I am going to get" and went for it.
- asveikau 7y ago
  In the late 90s a lot of these machines were being abandoned. Properetary Unix was dying due to Linux, and non-intel CPUs were also getting crushed. Plus there was the dotcom crash meaning defunct companies got rid of gear. In those days I got an extremely cheap Sun workstation on ebay as an example. Anyway, I guess supply is low but there are still nerdy people who think an old Unix machine is cool. (I'd take one running Irix just to play with for sure.)
- mokus 7y ago
  I believe they are used in certain models of CT scanner, MRI or some such expensive medical equipment. That probably drives at least some of the demand.
- mrpippy 7y ago
  I think it's just low supply. They were quite expensive so not that many existed to begin with, and then the last generation of SGI MIPS machines were largely cleared out by companies and academia in the mid-late 2000s. Anything left for sale now is either from hobbyists, surplus sellers hoping to cash in on the few niche markets that still use these, or just really late clearouts. I bought my Octane on eBay in 2008 (it was previously used at Ford), I think it was around $80 and shipping was more than half of that (an Octane weighs ~80 lbs). Here's a crazy one I saw yesterday: the Canadian government auctioning an unused Origin 3400, still in shipping crate. https://www.gcsurplus.ca/mn-eng.cfm?snc=wfsav&sc=enc-bid&scn=360370&lcn=508764&lct=L&srchtype=&so=ASC&sf=ferm-clos&lci=L508764&str=11&ltnf=1 https://www.gcsurplus.ca/mn-eng.cfm?snc=wfsav&sc=enc-bid&scn...
- erikpukinskis 7y ago
  As a teenager growing up in the 90s, SGI machines were the pinnacle of graphical power. I would love to own an Onyx, even just to look at the case. Just because of what it represented for me as a kid who could barely afford a Voodoo card.

tonylemesmer 7y ago

I had two Octanes in the mid 00s. One of them got damaged by a water leak and the other I sold for £5. The 21 inch Trinitron CRT I had with it sold for £20!

GordonS 7y ago
Hehe, I haven't heard "Trinitron" for an age! I remember saving for what seemed like an eternity, then buying a used (and only slightly defective) Trinitron from a friend's dad (who was a draughtsman) round about '97. I don't recall what size it was, but the point was it was big for the day, like 24" - it was so heavy that me and my dad could barely lift it! When we got it home, it bowed my wooden desk in a very threatening way, but managed to sit there for a couple of months before it finally broke through the desk!
- ianai 7y ago
  Did it survive past that incident? Those old crts are something else.
  - GordonS 7y ago
    Yes, no damage whatsoever! When I finally got rid of it round about 2010, it was still working as it always had. But it was hard to justify keeping that massive, heavy box around forever (IIRC, it was something like 40kg!)

BubRoss 7y ago

Pricey? You could get them for $100 15 years ago.

uncle_j 7y ago
It is a different story in the UK. I would probably just get one if I was in the US.

qubex 7y ago

I have one. It’s rather difficult to keep it in working condition.