Cadalyst Feature Table: Budget-Conscious Workstations (November/December 2008)
Product Xi MTower PCIe ThinkStation S10 PolyStation P4500A SYS DesignPro QN6200 SYS Performance Pi720 ProMagix W160 High Performance Workstation PC
Company @Xi Computer Corp. Lenovo Polywell Computers SYS Technology SYS Technology Velocity Micro
Phone 800.432.0486 866.96.THINK 800.999.1278 888.797.7248 888.797.7248 804.897.6166 x211
Web site www.xicomputer.com www.lenovo.com www.polywell.com www.sys.com www.sys.com www.velocitymicro.com
Estimated street price $2,499 $1,896 $2,499 $2,279 $1,429 $2,399
Warranty coverage
   Labor / parts / on-site (months) 36 / 36 / 12; other options available 36 / 36 / limited on-site; optional warranty upgrades available 60 / 36 limited / optional 12 / 12 / 12; optional additional 24 months 12 / 12 / 12; optional additional 24 months 24 / 24 / 24 regular business hours and depot repair service; optional 48 / 48 / 48
   24-hour replacement parts Yes Next-business-day response time Optional UPS Ground standard, overnight service with optional four-hour on-site response available UPS Ground standard, overnight service with optional four-hour on-site response available Yes
   24-hour telephone support Yes Yes Optional 8 / 5 included; 24 / 7 available as upgrade 8 / 5 included; 24 / 7 available as upgrade Offered on upgraded warranty package
CPU type / speed Intel Core 2 E8500 / 3.16 GHz overclocked at 4.00 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 / 3.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 / 3.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 / 3.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 / 3.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 / 3.16 GHz, overclocked to 3.8 GHz
Dual CPU support No No No No No No
Number of CPUs installed One dual core One dual core One dual core One dual core One dual core One dual core
L2 cache size / speed 6 MB 6 MB 6 MB 6 MB 6 MB 6 MB
Overclocked? Yes No No No No Yes
Chipset NVIDIA 790i Intel X38 Express / ICH9R Intel P45 Express Intel X48 and ICH9R Intel P35 and ICH9R NVIDIA 750i
Front-side bus speed 1,600 MHz 1,333 MHz 1,333 MHz 1,333 MHz 1,333 MHz 1,333 MHz
PCI bus size / speed 32-bit 64-bit PCIe 2.0 16x 2x PCI-Express x16 slots; 3x PCI-Express x1 slots; 2x PCI slots 2x PCI-Express x16 slots; 3x PCI-Express x1 slots; 2x PCI slots Two PCI-e x16, two PCI
Motherboard vendor EVGA Lenovo ASUS GIGABYTE GIGABYTE ASUS
   Model nFORCE 790i Custom P5Q GA-X48-DS4 GA-P35-DS3P ASUS P5N-D
Memory type / speed DDR3 / 1,333 MHz PC3-8500 / 1,067-MHz ECC DDR3 DDR2 / 1,066 MHz DDR2 / 1,066 MHz DDR2 / 1,066 MHz 4 GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2-800
Memory as tested / maximum 4 GB / 8 GB 4 GB / 8 GB 4 GB / 16 GB 4 GB / 8 GB 4 GB / 8 GB 4 GB / 8 GB
Memory sockets; total / free 4 / 2 4 / 2 4 / 2 4 / 0 4 / 0 4 / 2
Supports DDR Yes Yes Supports up to DDR2 1,200-MHz memory Yes Yes Yes
System BIOS; date AMI, 01/18/08 2WKT27A, 1/31/08 Award 2008 Award Award Version 0601, 2008/06/20
Power supply vendor Cooler Master Delta Electronics SPI Thermaltake Antec Velocity Micro
   Capacity 700 W 650 W 600 W 750 W 550 W 550 W
Hard drive vendor Western Digital Hitachi Western Digital Western Digital Western Digital Western Digital Raptor, Hitachi
   Drive type VelociRaptor SATA II SATA SATA-II 10K RPM VelociRaptor 10,000-rpm SATA2 Caviar 7,200-rpm SATA2 10,000-rpm (SATA), 7,200-rpm (SATA)
   Drive size 300 GB 250 GB x2 300 GB x2 300 GB 500 GB 150 GB, 250 GB
CD-ROM drive vendor Lite-On Standard (various vendors) Lite-On LG DVD-RW and Sony CD-RW/DVD combo LG DVD-RW and Sony CD-RW/DVD combo Lite-On
   Drive speed 18 x 10 x 40 x 12 Varies 20x DVD Write: DVD+/-R: 22x, DVD+RW/-RW: 8x/6x, DVD+R DL/-R DL: 10x, DVD-RAM: 12x, CD-R: 48x, CD-RW: 32x; Read: DVD-ROM: 16x, CD-ROM: 48x, 52 x 24 x 52 CD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM Write: DVD+/-R: 22x, DVD+RW/-RW: 8x/6x, DVD+R DL/-R DL: 10x, DVD-RAM: 12x, CD-R: 48x, CD-RW: 32x; Read: DVD-ROM: 16x, CD-ROM: 48x, 52 x 24 x 52 CD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM 20x DVD+R, 24x CD-RW, 48x CD-R
Other drives Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Mitsumi FA404 series internal USB 2.0 flash media and floppy drive Mitsumi FA404 series internal USB 2.0 flash media and floppy drive 52-in-1 Media reader
Sound card On-Board Digital Sound - 8 Channel High-definition (HD) audio and creative sound BlasterX-Fi sound adapter On-board 7.1 audio Realtek Realtek ALC889A 7.1-channel HD and 2-channel (multistreaming) Realtek ALC889A 7.1-channel HD and 2-channel (multistreaming) Integrated 7.1 Channel HD Audio
Speakers Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable
Pointing device Logitech Optical Mouse Optical Wheel Mouse Logitech USB optical mouse Logitech MX400 Performance Laser Mouse Logitech MX400 Performance Laser Mouse Velocity Micro Laser Mouse: 800 dpi
Graphic bus (AGP, PCI-Express) PCIe-2.0 Gen 2 PCI-Express PCI-E 2.0 16x PCI-Express PCI-Express PCI-Express (x16)
Expansion slots provided (PCI-Express / PCI / PCI-ISA / ISA) 3x PCIe 16x 2x PCI 1x 2x PCI-32 One PCIe x4 (x16 mechanical), two Gen 2 PCIe x16 two PCI 1 x PCI Express 2.0 16x slot; 2 x PCI Express 1x slots; 3 x PCI slots 5 / 2 / 0 / 0 5 / 2 / 0 / 0 Two PCI-e x16, Two PCI, Two PCI-e x1
Expansion slots filled (PCI-Express / PCI / PCI-ISA / ISA) 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 1 x PCIe x16 / 1 x PCI 1 x PCI Express 2.0 16x slot 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 1 / 0 / 0 / 0 One PCI-e x16
Number of accessible drive bays (5.25" / 3.5") 2 / 4 2 x 5.25” / 4 x 3.5” 5 x 5.25" bay and 1 x 3.5" bay 1 / 4 1 / 3 3 / 1
Number of internal drive bays (5.25" / 3.5") 0 / 4 None / 3 x 3.5” 4 x 3.5" bay 0 / 6 0 / 4 0 / 5
Ports
   USB (1.x / 2.x) / FireWire 10x 2.0 / 2x 1394 10 USB 2.0 (2 front, 8 rear) / 1 6-pin FireWire 6 x USB 2.0 / 1.1; 1 x IEEE1394a FireWire 10 / 3 front: 2x USB 2.0 ports; 1x IEEE 1394 port; rear: 8x USB 2.0 ports; 2x IEEE 1394a ports 6 / 2 front: 2x USB 2.0 ports; 1x IEEE 1394 port; rear: 4x USB 2.0 ports; 1x IEEE 1394a port Six USB 2.0 (4 rear, 2 front), One FireWire (front)
   Serial / parallel 0 / 1 Serial 9-pin / None Not applicable 0 / 0 1 / 1 Yes / yes
   MIDI / game No Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable No
   External SCSI No Not applicable No Not applicable Not applicable No
Network card (modem) 2x gigabit connections on motherboard Dual integrated Broadcom BCM 5755 / 5754 PCIe Gb LAN controller featuring AI NET2 2x Realtek 8111C Gigabit Ethernet controllers Realtek 8111B 10 / 100 / 1000 Gigabit Ethernet controller 0 / 100 / 1000 Integrated Gigabit Network controller
Dimensions (H x W x D) 17.2" x 8" x 19.2" 16.8" x 6.9" x 19.0" 18.2" x 8" x 19.3" 21.3" x 8.1" x 19.9" 16.7" x 8.1" x 18.2" 17.75" x 8.27" x 19.25"
Graphics card bus (AGP / PCI) PCI-Express PCIe x16 PCI-E 2.0 16x PCI-Express x 16 PCI-Express x 16 PCI-Express
Graphics card vendor NVIDIA NVIDIA NVIDIA NVIDIA NVIDIA NVIDIA
   Model Quadro FX 3700 Quadro FX 1700 Quadro FX 3700 by PNY Quadro FX 1700 Quadro FX 570 Quadro FX 3700
   Chipset Quadro FX 3700 G84GL Quadro FX 3700 NVIDIA Quadro FX 1700 NVIDIA Quadro FX 570 NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700
   Frame-buffer memory
   installed / maximum		 512 MB DDR3 overall 512 MB / 512 MB 512 MB GDDR3 integrated 512 MB / 512 MB DDR2 512 MB DDR2 / 256 MB DDR2 512 MB GDDR3 / 1 GB (SLI)
   Texture memory
   installed / maximum		 512 MB DDR3 overall Integrated 512 MB GDDR3 integrated Integrated 0 / 0 512 MB GDDR3 / 1 GB (SLI)
Driver version; date 7.15.11.6996; 5/26/2008 7.15.11.6996; 5/26/2008 7.15.11.6996; 5/26/2008 7.15.11.6919; 11/30/2007 7.15.11.6255; 8/04/2007 Not available
Maximum 3D resolution; double buffer / 16-bit z-buffer (70-Hz minimum) Dual 2,560 x 1,600 at 60 Hz Dual 2,560 x 1,600 at 60 Hz Dual 2,560 x 1,600 at 60 Hz Dual-link DVI, 2,560 x 1,600 at 60 Hz; analog, 2,048 x 1,536 at 85 Hz Digital - 2,560 x 1,600 at 60 Hz; Analog - 2,048 x 1,536 at 85 Hz 2,560 x 1,600
   Colors / refresh 24-bit / 60 Hz 24-bit / 60 Hz 24-bit / 60 Hz 24-bit / 60 Hz (85 Hz) 24-bit / 60 Hz (85 Hz) 24-bit / 60 Hz
AutoCAD (driver version) PowerDraft PowerDraft PowerDraft PowerDraft PowerDraft PowerDraft
Return policy / restocking fee 30-day money back guarantee / no restocking fee Lenovo will accept the return or exchange of a product in its original, sealed package for a full refund in cases of Lenovo error; returns allowed for any other reason will be subject to a restocking fee equal to 15% of the purchase amount; all returns must be initiated within 21 days of the invoice date; Lenovo does not provide refunds or credits for portions of a packaged offering provided at a single price or for preloaded programs installed by Lenovo System must be returned within 15 days after receipt for refund minus shipping and 15% restocking fee 30 days / 15% restocking fee (click for details) 30 days / 15% restocking fee (click for details) 30 days / 15% restocking fee
Total weighted index
C2008 v5.1 (1,280 x 1,024; true-color) D3D / accelerated / combined concurrent*
   C2008 total index 342 / 500 / 765 232 / 340 / 471 285 / 422 / 653 202 / 309 / 453 206 / 287 / 392 296 / 413 / 619
   C2008 3D graphics index 415 / 1045 / 1562 182 / 614 / 727 352 / 907 / 1343 181 / 611 / 812 157 / 475 / 501 351 / 812 / 1181
   C2008 2D graphics index 391 / 394 / 560 317 / 319 / 449 320 / 321 / 479 273 / 271 / 397 306 / 308 / 443 378 / 380 / 527
   C2008 disk index 294 / 294 / 434 216 / 217 / 293 255 / 253 / 381 176 / 175 / 249 163 / 167 / 225 203 / 206 / 264
   C2008 CPU index 270 / 269 / 503 212 / 209 / 415 212 / 209 / 409 179 / 178 / 354 199 / 201 / 395 253 / 256 / 507
MAXBench4
   OpenGL† / D3D / accelerated
   driver		 74.46 / 120.32 / 183.18 53.09 / 74.66 / 113.92 62.52 / 99.95 / 150.27 53.32 / 71.96 / None† 50.07 / 65.13 / None† 70.66 / 103.48 / 162.49
SPECviewperf 10 (1,280 x 1,024; true-color)
   3dsmax-04 39.15 36.26 37.61 21.97 16.86 42.39
   catia-02 50.08 42.70 46.94 39.06 38.31 63.69
   ensight-03 42.15 27.36 41.15 26.36 21.86 47.29
   maya-02 165.47 104.98 150.88 105.30 62.87 185.45
   proe-04 47.62 40.11 46.12 38.06 30.31 57.65
   sw-01 99.60 64.55 93.23 61.66 45.08 97.10
   tcvis-01 25.69 17.37 25.31 17.37 8.91 25.23
   ugnx-01 27.53 18.60 27.53 18.60 8.72 27.50
* At the time of testing, the reviewer was unable to obtain a separate 64-bit version of the 3ds Max Performance Driver (MAXtreme) on the NVIDIA Web site, so the results are listed as None.
† OpenGL tests are not an option on 64-bit Vista systems, so each set of three scores listed under the Cadalyst C2008 benchmark scores are as follows: The first number is the score with the native AutoCAD Direct3D driver, the second is the score with any accelerated AutoCAD driver available, and the final number is the sum of two concurrent sessions of AutoCAD 2009, with each running a separate copy of the C2008 benchmark. Cadalyst Labs uses this procedure to test multicore or multiprocessor systems given that AutoCAD is not optimized for multicore processors. Because this procedure accomplishes approximately twice the amount of work in essentially the same amount of time required to run a single benchmark iteration, this workaround has been an effective means of evaluating multicore performance.

© 2008 Cadalyst Magazine, www.cadalyst.com