# SGI O2

8 Hacker News commenters recommended SGI O2 and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Admired SGI workstation with strong design and engineering, fun as a second machine; graphics are slower than contemporaries and it can be noisy.

## Why people recommend it

- Admired design and engineering (2 comments): "probably the best designed and engineered computer I have ever seen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47681392)) "the O2 mouse was smoother than the Sun's" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48204948))
- Fun as a second machine (2 comments): "It works great but I just use it for /opt since I ran out time to move more of the machine into it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944758)) "I can see how an O2 can be a fun second machine at work however" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48184826))

## What people warn about

- Graphics slower than contemporaries (3 comments): "I also played a military SIM a few years later on a SGI O2 but it was really stupid" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50039156)) "The o2 used a unified memory scheme so it's graphics were never as fast" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47498746)) "Quake 2 runs a bit iffy on an O2" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47502262))
- Noisy and reliability concerns (2 comments): "I think the PSU is flaky, and I'm not super interested in IRIX" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46939629)) "The O2 isn't that quiet or that quick even with upgrades!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46942104))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Mac Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mac-pro.md): 49 recommend
- [Tinybox by tinygrad](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tinybox.md): 25 recommend
- [Dell Precision](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dell-precision.md): 23 recommend
- [Sun SPARCstation IPX](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sun-sparcstation-ipx.md): 12 recommend
- [SGI Indy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sgi-indy.md): 9 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=SGI+O2+workstation&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "SGI O2", https://hackerapproved.com/p/sgi-o2/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).