SGI 320

The SGI 320 uses a Unified Memory Architecture in combination with it's Integrated Visual Computing Architecture (IVC). This concept can also be seen in SGI's O2(+) range of UNIX workstations.

One of the benefits of using a UMA architecture is a shared pool of memory being available to all subsystems. Specifically, the 320's Cobalt™ graphics chipset can be allocated up to 80% of system RAM to use for textures in 3D Animation / Engineering applications. This could be up to 800MB on a maxed out 1GB workstation! This capability, coupled with the 320's high-capacity graphics memory and fast interconnects makes the 320 ideal for users manipulating large 3D models rich in textures.

Similar to other SGI workstations, the 320 uses proprietary, ECC RAM. Two banks (A and B), each comprising of 6 DIMM slots can be populated with 128, 256 or 512MB sets to bring the maximum RAM up to 1GB.

Below is a summary of the configurations possible:

Total Memory	Slot Group A	Slot Group B
128 MB	128 MB single-ended	Empty
256 MB	256 MB double-ended	Empty
	128 MB single-ended	128 MB single-ended
384 MB	256 MB double-ended	128 MB single-ended
512 MB	512 MB double-sided stacked	Empty
	256 MB double-ended	256 MB double-ended
640 MB	512 MB double-sided stacked	128 MB single-ended
768 MB	512 MB double-sided stacked	256 MB double-ended
1024 MB (1 GB)	512 MB double-sided stacked	512 MB double-sided stacked

It is important to note that the first bank needs to be populated before adding RAM to the second bank.

Purchasing RAM today

When the SGI 320/540 Visual Workstation range was launched by SGI, RAM was prohibitively expensive. However, companies such as Kingston and Crucial Technology offered RAM upgrades at siginificantly lower prices. Today, purchasing additional RAM for the 320 has become more affordable, with good deals springing up occasionally on ebay or any other online auction site.

If you are looking for brand new RAM you could purchase a 256MB DIMM module from:

Advanced ComputerTECH
Hitechcafe.com

Faulty RAM

If after a RAM upgrade the system is constantly crashing (BSODs), you can follow the link below to discover the nature of the errors and possible solutions on how to fix them.

RAM-specific BSODs