Cadalyst - November/December 2008 - (Page 20) cadalystlabsreview By Ron LaFon C adalyst presents its second workstation roundup of 2008, focusing on budgetconscious workstations for CAD. Little did we realize when we planned this comparative review earlier in the year just how relevant the topic would be at the time of publication. If tough times are falling on your workplace, we hope they are temporary. In the meantime, we offer the following options if a new workstation is a must but your budget is tight. This month’s workstation roundup represents some firsts for Cadalyst Labs and marks the beginning of some changes in how we will evaluate systems. This summer Cadalyst sent invitations to workstation vendors, announcing plans to evaluate economical 64-bit workstations and, for the first time, test them under 64-bit versions of Microsoft Vista. Cadalyst received six workstations from five vendors and put them through their paces. Cadalyst Labs also is modifying its approach to reviewing workstations configured with overclocked processors. Details of this change are explained in the sidebar, “A Word — and an Update — about Overclocking.” In the report card and the online feature table that accompany this article (www.cadalyst.com/1108workstation-table), we Budget-Conscious Workstations Report Card Product @Xi Computer Xi MTower PCIe, p. 22 Lenovo ThinkStation S10, p. 23 Polywell Computers PolyStation P4500A, p. 24 SYS Technology SYS DesignPro QN6200, p. 26 SYS Technology SYS Performance Pi720, p. 26 Velocity Micro ProMagix W160 High Performance Workstation PC, p. 28 Performance (7x) A+* A– A– A– B– A+* Price (4x) A– ($2,499) A ($1,896) A– ($2,499) A– ($2,279) A+ ($1,429) A– ($2,399) Warranty Expandability (2x) (2x) A– A– A+ A– A– A– A+ A+ A+ A+ B– B– Return Policy (1x) A+ A– A– A– A– A– Overall Grade A A– A A– B A * This system is overclocked, which enhances the Performance grade. 20 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst November/December 2008 http://www.cadalyst.com/1108workstation-table http://www.cadalyst.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - November 2008 Cadalyst - November 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 Cadalyst All-Star Awards 2008 SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software View Point: A Design with Teeth CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 MCAD Modeling: Ask for What You Want AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry: Hot Tips for Cold Days Cadalyst - November 2008 Cadalyst - November 2008 - Cadalyst - November 2008 (Page Cover1) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Cadalyst - November 2008 (Page Cover2) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Contents (Page 3) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Contents (Page 4) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Contents (Page 5) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Editor's Window (Page 6) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Editor's Window (Page 7) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Editor's Window (Page 8) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Editor's Window (Page 9) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Central (Page 10) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Central (Page 11) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Central (Page 12) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Central (Page 13) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Central (Page 14) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Central (Page 15) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image (Page 16) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image (Page 17) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image (Page 18) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image (Page 19) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 20) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 21) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 22) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 23) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 24) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 25) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 26) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 27) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 28) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 29) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 30) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 (Page 31) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Cadalyst All-Star Awards 2008 (Page 32) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Cadalyst All-Star Awards 2008 (Page 33) Cadalyst - November 2008 - SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software (Page 34) Cadalyst - November 2008 - SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software (Page 35) Cadalyst - November 2008 - SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software (Page 36) Cadalyst - November 2008 - SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software (Page 37) Cadalyst - November 2008 - SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software (Page 38) Cadalyst - November 2008 - SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software (Page 39) Cadalyst - November 2008 - IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software (Page 40) Cadalyst - November 2008 - IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software (Page 41) Cadalyst - November 2008 - IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software (Page 42) Cadalyst - November 2008 - IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software (Page 43) Cadalyst - November 2008 - View Point: A Design with Teeth (Page 44) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 (Page 45) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 (Page 46) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 (Page 47) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 (Page 48) Cadalyst - November 2008 - CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 (Page 49) Cadalyst - November 2008 - MCAD Modeling: Ask for What You Want (Page 50) Cadalyst - November 2008 - MCAD Modeling: Ask for What You Want (Page 51) Cadalyst - November 2008 - AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock (Page 52) Cadalyst - November 2008 - AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock (Page 53) Cadalyst - November 2008 - AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock (Page 54) Cadalyst - November 2008 - AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock (Page 55) Cadalyst - November 2008 - AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock (Page 56) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Issue Indexes (Page 57) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Hot Tip Harry: Hot Tips for Cold Days (Page 58) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Hot Tip Harry: Hot Tips for Cold Days (Page Cover3) Cadalyst - November 2008 - Hot Tip Harry: Hot Tips for Cold Days (Page Cover4)
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