Cadalyst - November/December 2008 - (Page 26)

cadalystlabsreview The last test for the PolyStation P4500A was the full 64-bit version of the SPECviewperf 10 benchmark, which produced the following scores: 37.61 for 3dsmax-04, 46.94 for catia-02, 41.15 for ensight-03, 150.88 for maya-02, 46.12 for proe-04, 93.23 for sw-01, 25.31 for tcvis-01, and 27.53 for ugnx-01. The Polywell PolyStation P4500A as configured for this review was priced at $2,499, which included a five-year warranty on parts, a three-year limited warranty on labor. On-site service is optional. The PolyStation P4500A is a fast, well-designed 64-bit workstation. Highly Recommended. The SYS DesignPro QN6200 earned an A+ grade for expandability. combined C2008 total index score for these sessions was 453 with a completion time of 28 minutes. Next came MAXBench 4 running under the 64-bit version of Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 — first with the native OpenGL drivers, which produced an averaged high/low score of 53.32 and then with the native Direct3D drivers, which generated a score of 71.96. At the time of testing, I was unable to obtain NVIDIA accelerated drivers for the x64 versions of Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009, so there are no test results in that category. Last, I ran the full 64-bit version of the SPECviewperf 10 benchmark, which produced the following scores: 21.97 for 3dsmax-04, 39.06 for catia-02, 26.36 for ensight-03, 105.30 for maya-02, 38.06 proe-04, 61.66 for sw-01, 17.37 for tcvis-01, and 18.60 for ugnx-01. The SYS Technology DesignPro QN6200, as configured for this review, was priced at $2,279, which includes a oneyear warranty for parts, labor, and on-site service. SYS DesignPro QN6200 The SYS DesignPro QN6200 is the first of two 64-bit workstations that SYS Technologies submitted for this roundup. The QN6200 is based on the Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 processor running at 3.16 GHz — a popular dual-core choice for the CAD workstations in this roundup. The processor is mounted in a GIGABYTE GA-X48-DS4 motherboard that uses the Intel X48/ICH9R chipset and features a front-side bus speed of 1,333 MHz. The DesignPro QN6200 includes 4 GB of 1,066-MHz DDR2 RAM out of 8 GB possible. Drives included a 300-GB VelociRaptor 10,000-rpm SATA2 hard disk and two optical drives: an LG DVD R/W drive and a Sony CD-RW/DVD combination drive. A Mitsumi FA404 series internal USB 2.0 flash media and floppy drive completed the drive configuration for the DesignPro QN6200. A Logitech MX400 Performance Laser Mouse was included. The mid-size case for the DesignPro QN6200 measures 21.3” x 8.1” x 19.9” (H x W x D) with a thin, lockable drivebay door that swung open for access to the externally accessible drives. Roughly halfway down the right front of the case are two USB 2.x connectors, a FireWire connector, and the power and reset buttons. A substantial 750-W Thermaltake power supply provides enough power for future expansion. The system was relatively quiet, with the predominate noise emitting when the optical drives are actively reading a disc. The SYS DesignPro QN6200 had 11 drive bays, 10 USB 2.x ports (2 in front), and 3 FireWire IEEE 1394a ports (one in front). Along with the 750-W power supply, this earned the system an A+ grade for expandability. The system arrived installed with Microsoft Vista Business x64 with Service Pack 1 and the NVIDIA graphic drivers v7.15.11.6919 (dated November 30, 2007) for the installed NVIDIA Quadro FX 1700 graphics card. The FX 1700 had 512 MB of integrated DDR2 memory and offered good mid-range performance at a moderate price. I ran the full benchmark suite on the DesignPro QN6200, starting with v5.1 of the Cadalyst C2008 benchmark running under the 64-bit version of AutoCAD 2009. With AutoCAD’s native Direct3D drivers, the system produced a C2008 total index score of 202. Running the NVIDIA accelerated driver for AutoCAD 2009, the C2008 total index score was 309. Finally, I ran two concurrent sessions of AutoCAD 2009, with each running a separate copy of the C2008 benchmark. The SYS Technology 888.797.7248 www.sys.com Price: $2,279 26 SYS Performance Pi720 SYS Technology 888.797.7248 www.sys.com Price: $1,429 The second workstation from SYS Technology is the SYS Performance Pi720, a compact, no-frills system also based on an Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 dual-core microprocessor running at 3.16 GHz. The Performance Pi720 Cadalyst received had the processor mounted in a GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P motherboard that used the Intel P35 & ICH9R chipset and supported a frontside bus speed of 1,333 MHz. What is immediately striking about the SYS Performance Pi720 is its price, a remarkably low $1,429. This system is easily the least expensive workstation in this roundup, earning an A+ grade in the Pricing category. The SYS Performance Pi720 came with 4 GB of 1,066MHz DDR2 RAM installed, although it can accommodate a maximum of 8 GB. The drive inventory for the system included a Western Digital 500-GB Caviar 7,200-rpm SATA2 hard disk, an LG DVD R/W drive, a Sony CD RW/DVD combination drive, and a Mitsumi FA404 series internal USB 2.0 flash media and floppy drive combination. The Performance Pi720 case is remarkably compact, measuring 16.7” x 8.1” x 18.2” (H x W x D) and offering a moderate amount of room for expansion. This configuration included a 550-W Antec power supply and a total of eight drive bays: six USB 2.0 ports (two in front) and two FireWire IEEE 1394 connectors (one in front). The case is finished in high-gloss black with a matte silver front panel and trim. At the bottom right of the front panel, just below the power switch and reset button, are two USB 2.x ports, a FireWire port, and microphone and www.cadalyst.com cadalyst November/December 2008 http://www.sys.com http://www.sys.com 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

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