Content area
Full text
CADALYST Labs Tests AutoCAD Workstations
Third time's a charm. Not that the first two incarnations of the Pentium II processor were slouches. It's just that the topof-the-line NT workstations we review here, all based on Intel's third-generation Pentium II technology, are absolutely stunning.
Compared to our last review of 2D workstations for AutoCAD (CADALYST, September 1997, p. 74), this year's group of systems is on average 55% faster and 12% cheaper. At this rate, they'll be giving away supercomputers in boxes of cereal within ten years-that's only a slight exaggeration.
Besides the boost in raw processor speed (to 400- and 450MHz), these workstations boast a CPU-tomemory bus speed of 100MHz. That's 50% faster than the 66MHz standard introduced with the first Pentium in 1993. As with previous Pentium IIs, a 512K12 cache operates at half the CPU speed.
Review specifications
We designed the minimum system specifications for our review to exceed the requirements of all but the most demanding AutoCAD users working in 2D. Despite all the hoopla surrounding 3D modeling, our reader surveys indicate that almost half of you do virtually all your work in 2D. As an added bonus, half the review systems include a graphics card based on 3Dlabs' PERMEDIA 2 acceleratora good choice for entry-level 3D.
We asked vendors to make sure they equipped their systems with the following:
400MHz Pentium II
Support for two processors, but only one CPU installed
128MB system memory
9GB hard drive
Graphics card with 4MB memory
32x CD-ROM drive
Sound card and speakers
Fax/modem or network card
Preloaded with Windows NT 4.0
We sent out review initiation forms to a total of two dozen companies. Of those, ten agreed to send workstations. Seven of the companies have competed in previous workstation roundups: Compaq, Core Microsystems, HewlettPackard, IBM, Intergraph, Polywell, and Xi Computer. Three are new: Dell Computer, Gateway 2000, and SAG. Electronics.
How we tested
We evaluated system performance using CADALYST Labs C96-2D benchmark test vl.9b under Windows NT 4.0 at a resolution of 1024x768 with 256 colors. We ran the benchmark on AutoCAD Release 14 using its standard driver and also on Release 13 using the Soft Engine driver. See the chart on p. 48 for results. You can download the C96 benchmark,...