The Indy, code-named "Guinness", is a low-end multimedia workstation introduced on July 12, 1993 by Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI).

It competed with Intel x86 computers,[2] and with Windows and Macintosh,[1][3] including using their files and running their applications via software emulation.

The sturdy, electric-blue colored "pizza box" chassis is comparable to a contemporary small desktop PC, and is intended to fit underneath a large CRT monitor.

[7][1] The base Indy model was launched in July 1993 at US$5,000 (equivalent to about $10,500 in 2023),[1] without a hard drive, or diskless, and is intended for networked use.

[3] Sales of low-cost high-performance workstations were projected to triple from 1994 to 1999, and competition for that market increased between Sun and SGI.

In February 1995, SGI targeted "high-performance iron" at junior engineers by refreshing the Indy series with two models: the Indy Modeler PC and SC systems starting at $15,800 with a 133 MHz R4600 CPU, 1 GB hard drive, 32 MB of RAM, and 20-inch monitor.

[1][7] The Indy, at the bottom of SGI's price list, was then upgraded with the MIPS R4400 and the low-cost, low-power-consumption Quantum Effect Devices (QED) R4600.

A number of limits, such as the series of microprocessor issues, the relatively low-powered graphics boards, lower maximum RAM amount, and relative lack of internal expansion ability compared to the SGI Indigo, led to the Indy being pejoratively described by industry insiders as "An Indigo without the 'go'.

[further explanation needed] The performance of the 100 MHz R4000 in conjunction with 500 KB of secondary cache, this cache not being provided on the base model, was described as broadly comparable to Intel's 66 MHz Pentium, at least in terms of published benchmark results, although that particular version of the Pentium was "still a few months off" at the time of early reviews of the machine.

Indy was reportedly seen by SGI as a rival to high-end Macs in the graphics rendering market, with claims of "40 times the performance of a machine with a 68030".

If the application is not transform-limited (limited by the speed of coordinate transformation), then the XZ option can provide significant rasterization performance advantages over the XL boards.

However, the Vino hardware is capable of DMAing video fields directly into the framebuffer with minimal CPU overhead.

Set Engineering produced one such fast Ethernet card, based on the Texas Instruments ThunderLAN chipset, under contract with SGI.

[9] Electronic Design reviewed the Indy at launch in July 1993, saying that the IndyCam and video input marked a new standard for workstations.

[9] On August 21, 1993, he said the Indy was "one of the most interesting new products in the personal computer industry" as SGI's first price breakthrough for individuals.

He said Indy's video power and Indigo Magic Desktop GUI make it "much more than a personal computer", with a sophistication that "clone companies will be slow in imitating".

He summarized, "Anyone interested in the booming new field of multimedia and the convergence of personal computers with consumer electronics and telecommunications would be smitten by a serious case of techno-lust by the Indy.

[17] Machine Design magazine called Indy "the only computer to come standard with a color digital video camera, IndyCam".

[1] Byte magazine said in September 1993 that Apple and SGI were trailblazers by setting audio and video as default features of the Macintosh and Indy desktop PCs, which "could change the way businesspeople communicate".

[18] In 1994, Byte called the new Indy "low on price but high on graphics performance", noting its interoperability with Windows and Macintosh.