<PAGE>

       As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 27, 2000.
                                                   Registration No. ____________
================================================================================

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549

                                    FORM S-8
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      Under
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                             SILICON GRAPHICS, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                Delaware                                 94-2789662
     (State or Other Jurisdiction of                  (I.R.S. Employer
     Incorporation or Organization)                Identification Number)

         1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043-1351
             (Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

                        1998 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

                     AMENDED AND RESTATED 1996 SUPPLEMENTAL
                       NON-EXECUTIVE EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

                            (Full title of the plans)

                                  SANDRA ESCHER
                       Vice President and General Counsel
                             SILICON GRAPHICS, INC.
                            1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
                      Mountain View, California 94043-1351
                                 (650) 960-1980
            (Name, address and telephone number of agent for service)

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                          Calculation of Registration Fee
===================================================================================================================
Title of Securities to     Amount to be      Proposed maximum offering       Proposed maximum         Amount of
     be registered        registered (1)        price per unit (2)       aggregate offering price  registration fee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                      <C>                 <C>                         <C>                       <C>
Common Stock,
$0.001 par value         10,811,885 shares           $4.124                     $44,588,214             $11,771
===================================================================================================================
</TABLE>

(1)  Excludes shares reserved under the Registrant's 1998 Employee Stock
     Purchase Plan and the Amended and Restated 1996 Supplemental Non-Executive
     Equity Incentive Plan which were registered previously on Form S-8
     Registration Statements (Nos. 333-01211, 333-76445 and 333-90263).

(2)  Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(h) solely for the purpose of
     calculating the registration fee based upon the average of the high and low
     prices of the Common Stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange as of
     October 26, 2000.

<PAGE>

                                     PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT


Item 3.  INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

         The following documents and information heretofore filed by Silicon
Graphics, Inc. (the "Company") with the Securities and Exchange Commission are
hereby incorporated by reference:

         (a)      The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
                  ended June 30, 2000, filed pursuant to Section 13(a) of the
                  Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
                  Act").

         (b)      The description of the Company's Common Stock to be offered
                  hereby which is contained in its Registration Statement on
                  Form 8-B filed March 16, 1990 pursuant to Section 12 of the
                  Exchange Act.

         (c)      The description of the Company's Preferred Shares Purchase
                  Rights contained in the Company's Registration Statement on
                  Form 8-A, as amended on Form 8-A/A, filed November 1, 1995,
                  pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act.

         All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been
sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed
to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement and to be part
hereof from the date of filing such documents.

Item 4.  DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

         Not Applicable.

Item 5.  INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

         Not Applicable.

Item 6.  INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

         Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law authorizes a court
to award, or a corporation's Board of Directors to grant, indemnity to directors
and officers in terms sufficiently broad to permit such indemnification under
certain circumstances for liabilities (including reimbursement for expenses
incurred) arising under the Securities Act of 1993, as amended (the "Securities
Act"). Further, in accordance with the Delaware General Corporation Law, the
Company's Certificate of Incorporation eliminates the liability of a director of
the Company to the Company and its stockholders for monetary damages for
breaches of such director's fiduciary duty of care in certain instances. Article
VI of the Bylaws of the Company provides for indemnification of certain agents
to the maximum extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law. Persons
covered by this indemnification provision include current and former directors,
officers, employees and other agents of the Company, as well as persons who
serve at the request of the Company as directors, officers, employees or agents
of another enterprise.

                                       II-1

<PAGE>

         In addition, the Company has entered into contractual agreements with
each director and certain officers designated by the Board to indemnify such
individuals to the full extent permitted by law. These agreements also resolve
certain procedural and substantive matters that are not covered, or are covered
in less detail, in the Bylaws or by the Delaware General Corporation Law.

Item 7.  EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

         Not Applicable.

Item 8.  EXHIBITS.

         The following Exhibits are filed as part of, or incorporated by
reference into, this Registration Statement:

         4.1*     1998 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

         4.2**    Amended and Restated 1996 Supplemental Non-Executive Equity
                  Incentive Plan.

         5.1      Opinion of counsel as to legality of securities being
                  registered.

         23.1     Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors (see page
                  II-6).

         23.2     Consent of Counsel (contained in Exhibit 5.1).

         24.1     Power of Attorney (see page II-5).

         --------------------

         *        Incorporated by reference to exhibits to the Company's
                  Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31,
                  1999.

         **       Incorporated by reference to exhibits to the Company's Annual
                  Report on Form 10-K for the period ended June 30, 2000.

Item 9.  UNDERTAKINGS

         A.       The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

                  (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement to include
any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously
disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such
information in the registration statement.

                  (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under
the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

                                       II-2

<PAGE>

                  (3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

         B. The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement
shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities
offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be
deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

         C. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Company pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Company's
Certificate of Incorporation, the foregoing Bylaw provisions or the Company's
indemnification agreements, the Company has been informed that in the opinion of
the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable. In the
event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the
payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
controlling person of the Company in a successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered hereunder, the Company will,
unless in the opinion of its counsel the question has already been settled by
controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the
question of whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as
expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication
of such issue.

                                       II-3

<PAGE>

                                   SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
the Registrant, Silicon Graphics, Inc., a corporation organized and existing
under the laws of the State of Delaware, certifies that it has reasonable
grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8
and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Mountain View, State
of California, on October 27, 2000.

                                             SILICON GRAPHICS, INC.



                                             By: /s/ Robert R. Bishop
                                                 ----------------------------
                                                 Robert R. Bishop
                                                 Chairman and Chief Executive
                                                 Officer



                                       II-4

<PAGE>

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY


         KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Robert R. Bishop, Harold L. Covert and
Sandra M. Escher, jointly and severally, his or her attorneys-in-fact, each with
the power of substitution, for him or her in any and all capacities, to sign any
amendments to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with exhibits
thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each of said
attorneys-in-fact, or his substitute or substitutes, may do or cause to be done
by virtue hereof.

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                 Signature                                       Title                                Date
---------------------------------------------     -------------------------------------  -------------------------------
<S>                                               <C>                                    <C>
    /s/  Robert R. Bishop                         Chairman of the Board and              October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------          Chief Executive Officer
         Robert R. Bishop                         (Principal Executive Officer)

    /s/  Harold L. Covert                         Executive Vice President, Chief        October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------          Financial Officer and Chief
         Harold L. Covert                         Administrative Officer
                                                  (Principal Financial Officer)

    /s/  Jeffrey Zellmer                          Vice President, Corporate Controller   October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------          (Principal Accounting Officer)
         Jeffrey Zellmer

    /s/  C. Richard Kramlich                      Director                               October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------
         C. Richard Kramlich

    /s/  Robert A. Lutz                           Director                               October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------
         Robert A. Lutz

    /s/  James A. McDivitt                        Director                               October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------
         James A. McDivitt

</TABLE>

                                       II-5

<PAGE>

               Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors


We consent to the incorporation by reference in the Registration Statement
(Form S-8) pertaining to the 1998 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and the
Amended and Restated 1996 Supplemental Non-Executive Equity Incentive Plan of
Silicon Graphics, Inc., of our reports dated July 21, 2000, with respect to
the consolidated financial statements of Silicon Graphics, Inc. included in
its Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the year ended June 30, 2000 filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

                                                              ERNST & YOUNG LLP


Palo Alto, California
October 27, 2000



                                       II-6

<PAGE>

                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS


EXHIBIT NO.           DESCRIPTION
-----------           -----------
4.1*                  1998 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

4.2**                 Amended and Restated 1996 Supplemental Non-Executive
                      Equity Incentive Plan

5.1                   Opinion of counsel as to legality of securities being
                      registered.

23.1                  Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors (see
                      page II-6)

23.2                  Consent of Counsel (contained in Exhibit 5.1)

24.1                  Power of Attorney (see page (II-5)

         *        Incorporated by reference to exhibits to the Company's
                  Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31,
                  1999.

         **       Incorporated by reference to exhibits to the Company's Annual
                  Report on Form 10-K for the period ended June 30, 2000.


                                       II-7
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "filename": "a2028657zs-8.txt", "description": "S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 15838}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "SILICON GRAPHICS INC /CA/", "cik": "0000802301", "assigned-sic": "3571", "irs-number": "942789662", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "0630"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-48780", "film-number": "747498"}, "business-address": {"street1": "1600 AMPHITHEATRE PKWY", "city": "MOUNTAIN VIEW", "state": "CA", "zip": "94043-1351", "phone": "6509601980"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "2011 N SHORELINE BLVD", "street2": "P O BOX 7311 MS 6U-710", "city": "MOUNTAIN VIEW", "state": "CA", "zip": "94043-1389"}}
As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 27, 2000.
                                                   Registration No. ____________
================================================================================

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549

                                    FORM S-8
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      Under
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                             SILICON GRAPHICS, INC.
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

                Delaware                                 94-2789662
     (State or Other Jurisdiction of                  (I.R.S. Employer
     Incorporation or Organization)                Identification Number)

         1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043-1351
             (Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

                        1998 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

                     AMENDED AND RESTATED 1996 SUPPLEMENTAL
                       NON-EXECUTIVE EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

                            (Full title of the plans)

                                  SANDRA ESCHER
                       Vice President and General Counsel
                             SILICON GRAPHICS, INC.
                            1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
                      Mountain View, California 94043-1351
                                 (650) 960-1980
            (Name, address and telephone number of agent for service)
Calculation of Registration Fee
===================================================================================================================
Title of Securities to     Amount to be      Proposed maximum offering       Proposed maximum         Amount of
     be registered        registered (1)        price per unit (2)       aggregate offering price  registration fee
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock,
$0.001 par value         10,811,885 shares           $4.124                     $44,588,214             $11,771
===================================================================================================================
(1)  Excludes shares reserved under the Registrant's 1998 Employee Stock
     Purchase Plan and the Amended and Restated 1996 Supplemental Non-Executive
     Equity Incentive Plan which were registered previously on Form S-8
     Registration Statements (Nos. 333-01211, 333-76445 and 333-90263).

(2)  Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(h) solely for the purpose of
     calculating the registration fee based upon the average of the high and low
     prices of the Common Stock as reported on the New York Stock Exchange as of
     October 26, 2000.
PART II

               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.  INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

         The following documents and information heretofore filed by Silicon
Graphics, Inc. (the "Company") with the Securities and Exchange Commission are
hereby incorporated by reference:

         (a)      The Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
                  ended June 30, 2000, filed pursuant to Section 13(a) of the
                  Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
                  Act").

         (b)      The description of the Company's Common Stock to be offered
                  hereby which is contained in its Registration Statement on
                  Form 8-B filed March 16, 1990 pursuant to Section 12 of the
                  Exchange Act.

         (c)      The description of the Company's Preferred Shares Purchase
                  Rights contained in the Company's Registration Statement on
                  Form 8-A, as amended on Form 8-A/A, filed November 1, 1995,
                  pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act.

         All documents subsequently filed by the Company pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been
sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed
to be incorporated by reference in this registration statement and to be part
hereof from the date of filing such documents.

Item 4.  DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.

         Not Applicable.

Item 5.  INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.

         Not Applicable.

Item 6.  INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

         Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law authorizes a court
to award, or a corporation's Board of Directors to grant, indemnity to directors
and officers in terms sufficiently broad to permit such indemnification under
certain circumstances for liabilities (including reimbursement for expenses
incurred) arising under the Securities Act of 1993, as amended (the "Securities
Act"). Further, in accordance with the Delaware General Corporation Law, the
Company's Certificate of Incorporation eliminates the liability of a director of
the Company to the Company and its stockholders for monetary damages for
breaches of such director's fiduciary duty of care in certain instances. Article
VI of the Bylaws of the Company provides for indemnification of certain agents
to the maximum extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law. Persons
covered by this indemnification provision include current and former directors,
officers, employees and other agents of the Company, as well as persons who
serve at the request of the Company as directors, officers, employees or agents
of another enterprise.

                                       II-1
In addition, the Company has entered into contractual agreements with
each director and certain officers designated by the Board to indemnify such
individuals to the full extent permitted by law. These agreements also resolve
certain procedural and substantive matters that are not covered, or are covered
in less detail, in the Bylaws or by the Delaware General Corporation Law.

Item 7.  EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.

         Not Applicable.

Item 8.  EXHIBITS.

         The following Exhibits are filed as part of, or incorporated by
reference into, this Registration Statement:

         4.1*     1998 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

         4.2**    Amended and Restated 1996 Supplemental Non-Executive Equity
                  Incentive Plan.

         5.1      Opinion of counsel as to legality of securities being
                  registered.

         23.1     Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors (see page
                  II-6).

         23.2     Consent of Counsel (contained in Exhibit 5.1).

         24.1     Power of Attorney (see page II-5).

         --------------------

         *        Incorporated by reference to exhibits to the Company's
                  Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31,
                  1999.

         **       Incorporated by reference to exhibits to the Company's Annual
                  Report on Form 10-K for the period ended June 30, 2000.

Item 9.  UNDERTAKINGS

         A.       The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

                  (1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are
being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement to include
any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously
disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such
information in the registration statement.

                  (2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under
the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a
new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

                                       II-2
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

         B. The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement
shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities
offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be
deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

         C. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Company pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Company's
Certificate of Incorporation, the foregoing Bylaw provisions or the Company's
indemnification agreements, the Company has been informed that in the opinion of
the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable. In the
event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the
payment by the Company of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
controlling person of the Company in a successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered hereunder, the Company will,
unless in the opinion of its counsel the question has already been settled by
controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the
question of whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as
expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication
of such issue.

                                       II-3
SIGNATURES

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
the Registrant, Silicon Graphics, Inc., a corporation organized and existing
under the laws of the State of Delaware, certifies that it has reasonable
grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8
and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Mountain View, State
of California, on October 27, 2000.

                                             SILICON GRAPHICS, INC.

                                             By: /s/ Robert R. Bishop
                                                 ----------------------------
                                                 Robert R. Bishop
                                                 Chairman and Chief Executive
                                                 Officer

                                       II-4
POWER OF ATTORNEY

         KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Robert R. Bishop, Harold L. Covert and
Sandra M. Escher, jointly and severally, his or her attorneys-in-fact, each with
the power of substitution, for him or her in any and all capacities, to sign any
amendments to this Registration Statement, and to file the same, with exhibits
thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each of said
attorneys-in-fact, or his substitute or substitutes, may do or cause to be done
by virtue hereof.

         Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature                                       Title                                Date
---------------------------------------------     -------------------------------------  -------------------------------
/s/  Robert R. Bishop                         Chairman of the Board and              October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------          Chief Executive Officer
         Robert R. Bishop                         (Principal Executive Officer)

    /s/  Harold L. Covert                         Executive Vice President, Chief        October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------          Financial Officer and Chief
         Harold L. Covert                         Administrative Officer
                                                  (Principal Financial Officer)

    /s/  Jeffrey Zellmer                          Vice President, Corporate Controller   October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------          (Principal Accounting Officer)
         Jeffrey Zellmer

    /s/  C. Richard Kramlich                      Director                               October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------
         C. Richard Kramlich

    /s/  Robert A. Lutz                           Director                               October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------
         Robert A. Lutz

    /s/  James A. McDivitt                        Director                               October 27, 2000
----------------------------------------
         James A. McDivitt
II-5
Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors

We consent to the incorporation by reference in the Registration Statement
(Form S-8) pertaining to the 1998 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and the
Amended and Restated 1996 Supplemental Non-Executive Equity Incentive Plan of
Silicon Graphics, Inc., of our reports dated July 21, 2000, with respect to
the consolidated financial statements of Silicon Graphics, Inc. included in
its Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the year ended June 30, 2000 filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

                                                              ERNST & YOUNG LLP

Palo Alto, California
October 27, 2000

                                       II-6
INDEX TO EXHIBITS

EXHIBIT NO.           DESCRIPTION
-----------           -----------
4.1*                  1998 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

4.2**                 Amended and Restated 1996 Supplemental Non-Executive
                      Equity Incentive Plan

5.1                   Opinion of counsel as to legality of securities being
                      registered.

23.1                  Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors (see
                      page II-6)

23.2                  Consent of Counsel (contained in Exhibit 5.1)

24.1                  Power of Attorney (see page (II-5)

         *        Incorporated by reference to exhibits to the Company's
                  Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31,
                  1999.

         **       Incorporated by reference to exhibits to the Company's Annual
                  Report on Form 10-K for the period ended June 30, 2000.

                                       II-7