The CAD/CAM market is one of the healthiest segments in the computer industry. Revenues for the market in general were up 8.4 percent last year. After running the 90-MHz Pentiums through our AutoCAD for Windows release 12 and PhotoShop for Windows 2.5 application benchmarks, we discovered that the scores did not vary much. The majority of the ranked systems use the 64-bit PCI Diamond Stealth video card. There were, however, a few exceptions: The Dyna Micro Dyna System 590 and Mitsuba's VIP System-90MHZ; both use a variant of Tseng Lab's ET4000/w32 video chip set and had some of the worst Windows performance scores. But the Dyna System 590 performed the second fastest in the X Window System tests.
Among the runners-up, the AT&T Globalyst 600 costs $542 more than our Best Overall winner for this category, but it had the highest sc
ores in the PhotoShop, AutoCAD, and Excel tests. The AT&T system also excelled in the X tests (the Unix graphics tests). If you require powerful graphics, you could easily justify paying a high price to get the performance this system offers.
Performance rankings for CAD and Graphics are based on Windows scores, with an emphasis on AutoCAD for Windows 12 tests, X graphics tests, and the Intermark low-level tests.
Illustration: Graph: Rankings for This Category
PERFORMANCE 60%
FEATURES 30%
EASE OF USE 10%
Great performance and an excellent design
BEST OVERALL
Digital Equipment DECpc XL590
Several factors make the DECpc XL590 a strong CAD/graphics workstation. It posted above-average scores in Windows and X Window system testing, as well as the third-highest DOS performance results. It comes with three ISA slots, two stand-alone and one shared PCI slot, and five drive
bays, and it holds up to 192 MB of RAM. Digital incorporates the Diamond Stealth 64 PCI graphics card, a double-speed Toshiba CD-ROM drive, and a SCSI hard drive into the XL590's mini-tower design. A SCSI port is standard on this system. The processor is easily upgradable, and the ventilation is carefully designed so that air blows on the CPU through a plastic pipe connected to the panel in front of the system.
PRICE CASE
(AS TESTED) TYPE
BEST Digital DECpc XL590 $5672 ##
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ $3990 #
RUNNER-UP Austin Power System 90 $4777 #
RUNNER-UP AT&T Globalyst 600 $6214 ###
RUNNER-UP Data Storage DataStor P590 $5845 #
PERFORMANCE
WINDOWS DOS X WINDOW
BEST Digital DECpc XL590 9.47 9.92 9.82
RUNNER-UP
Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ 7.69 8.48 9.55
RUNNER-UP Austin Power System 90 10.00 9.87 9.60
RUNNER-UP AT&T Globalyst 600 9.70 9.71 9.12
RUNNER-UP Data Storage DataStor P590 9.71 9.88 9.42
RAM
FEATURES (STD./MAX.)
BEST Digital DECpc XL590 **** 0/192
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ **** 8/128
RUNNER-UP Austin Power System 90 *** 16/128
RUNNER-UP AT&T Globalyst 600 **** 8/128
RUNNER-UP Data Storage DataStor P590 *** 16/128
VIDEO DISPLAY
ADAPTER RAM
BEST Digital DECpc XL590 Diamond Stealth 64 2 MB DRAM
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ Mitsuba P6-PCI 2 MB VRAM
RUNNER-UP Austin Power System 90 Diamond Stealth 64
2 MB VRAM
RUNNER-UP AT&T Globalyst 600 ATI mach64 GX 2 MB VRAM
RUNNER-UP Data Storage DataStor P590 Diamond Stealth 64 2 MB VRAM
KEY
Excellent **** Tower #
Good *** Mini-tower ##
Fair ** Desktop ###
Poor *
Need to upgrade your graphics workstation?
MOST EXPANDABLE
Austin Direct Austin Power System 90
The Austin Power System 90 offers outstanding expandability features. Housed in a tower configuration, this ISA system has three 16-bit expansion slots, three PCI slots, and eight drive bays for adding components. On top of that, the System 90 was the best Windows performer of all Pentiums we tested this month.
PRICE CASE
(AS TESTED) TYPE
BEST Austin Power System 90 $4777 #
RUNNER-UP XiP90 MTower SP $3999 ##
RUNNER-UP Zeos Pantera 90 $3995
#
RUNNER-UP Insight PCI P90 CD $4299 #
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ $3990 #
PERFORMANCE
WINDOWS DOS X WINDOW
BEST Austin Power System 90 10.00 9.87 9.60
RUNNER-UP XiP90 MTower SP 9.45 9.78 9.46
RUNNER-UP Zeos Pantera 90 9.72 9.93 9.35
RUNNER-UP Insight PCI P90 CD 8.55 9.74 9.45
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ 7.69 8.48 9.55
RAM
FEATURES (STD./MAX.)
BEST Austin Power System 90 *** 16/128
RUNNER-UP XiP90 MTower SP *** 8/128
RUNNER-UP Zeos Pantera 90 *** 1/384
RUNNER-UP Insight PCI P90 CD *** 16/128
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ **** 8/128
TOTAL BAYS VIDEO
(3 1/2''/5 1/4'') ADAPTER
BEST Austin Power System 90 4/4 Diamond Stealth 64
RUNNER-UP XiP90 MTower SP 6/4 Diamond Stealth 64
RUNNER-UP Zeos Pantera 90 4/6 Diamond Stealth 64
RUNNER-UP Insight PCI P90 CD 9/4 Diamond Stealth 64
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ 5/2 Mitsuba P6-PCI
KEY
Excellent **** Tower #
Good *** Mini-tower ##
Fair ** Desktop ###
Poor *
A Pentium system priced to sell
LOW COST
Hertz Computer Hertz P90
This desktop unit is the only system in our review under $3000. It took second-place honors in our SPECfp scores, which indicates its suitability for handling the CPU-intensive applications required for CAD/graphics. One reason for its excellent rating might be that it is packed with 512 KB
of secondary cache memory. For this review, it was also loaded with a SCSI hard drive from Micropolis with a PCI-based SCSI Adaptec controller. It sports a triple-speed NEC CD-ROM drive and a Diamond Stealth 64 video card.
PRICE CASE
(AS TESTED) TYPE
BEST Hertz P90 $2830 ###
RUNNER-UP Gateway P5-90 XL $3699 #
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ $3990 #
RUNNER-UP Insight PCI P90 CD $4299 #
RUNNER-UP Zeos Pantera 90 $3995 #
PERFORMANCE
WINDOWS DOS X WINDOW
BEST Hertz P90 8.01 8.54 10.00
RUNNER-UP Gateway P5-90 XL 9.38 9.72 9.31
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ 7.69 8.48 9.55
RUNNER-UP Insight PCI P90 CD 8.55 9.74 9.45
RUNNER-UP Zeos Pantera 90
9.72 9.93 9.35
RAM
FEATURES (STD./MAX.)
BEST Hertz P90 *** 8/128
RUNNER-UP Gateway P5-90 XL *** 16/128
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ **** 8/128
RUNNER-UP Insight PCI P90 CD *** 16/128
RUNNER-UP Zeos Pantera 90 *** 1/384
VIDEO DISPLAY
ADAPTER RAM
BEST Hertz P90 Diamond Stealth 64 2 MB VRAM
RUNNER-UP Gateway P5-90 XL ATI mach64 GX 1 MB DRAM
RUNNER-UP Mitsuba VIP System-90MHZ Mitsuba P6-PCI 2 MB VRAM
RUNNER-UP Insight PCI P90 CD Diamond Stealth 64 1 MB DRAM
RUNNER-UP Zeos Pantera 90 Diamond Stealth 64 2 MB VRAM
KEY
Excellent **** Tower #
Good ***
Mini-tower ##
Fair ** Desktop ###
Poor *
CAD And Graphics
