Archives
  Columns
  Features
  Print Archives
1994-1998
  Special
  BYTE Digest
  Michael Abrash's Graphics Programming Black Book
  101 Perl Articles
  About Us
  How to Access BYTE.com
  Write to BYTE.com
  Advertise with BYTE.com

Newsletter
Free E-mail Newsletter from BYTE.com
 
    
  HOME   ABOUT US   ARCHIVES   CONTACT US   ADVERTISE   REGISTER
Visit the home page Browse the four-year online archive Download platform-neutral CPU/FPU benchmarks Find information for advertisers, authors, vendors, subscribers Request free information on products written about or advertised in BYTE Submit a press release, or scan recent announcements Talk with BYTE's staff and readers about products and technologies

ArticlesWorkstation Ratings

November 1996 / BYTE Hardware Lab Report / Workstation Ratings

Best Overall: Dell's OptiPlex GXpro 200, Digital's Personal Workstation 200i, and Polywell's Poly P6-200ND2 

In a very tight race, the Dell, Digital, and Polywell workstations
tied for first in Overall score. They are also the top three in our
performance benchmarks. Dell's OptiPlex GXpro received the most
impressive Features score thanks to important workstation ingredients
like integrated networking and an eight-speed CD-ROM drive. A great
performer, the roomy Poly P6-200ND2 also has one of the smallest
price tags. Keep in mind that IBM and Xi (the Pro400 Ntower DP) were
not far behind.



Weightings


Features      16%
Usability     16%
Price          8%
Performance   60%





Ratings


                 Price   Tech-  Imple-  Perfor-  Usa-   Fea-    
OVERALL

                        nology  menta-   mance  bility  tures   
RATING

                                 tion


Dell OptiPlex    $6685   ****   ****     ****    ****   ****     ****
  GXpro 200 
Polywell         $5270   ****   ****     ****    ***    ****     ****
 P6-200ND2
Digital Personal $5834   ****   ****     ****    ***    ****     ****
 Workstation 200i 
IBM PC 365       $7081   ****   ****     ****    ****   ****     ****
Xi Pro400        $4788   ****   ****     ****    ****   ***      ****
 Ntower DP
SAG STF 3000     $5650   ****   ****     ****    ***    ****     ****
HP Vectra        $9206   ****   ****     ****    *****  ***      ****
 XU 6/200
Xi Pro400        $4688   ****   ***      ***     **     ***      ***
 Mtower DP


Key

***** Outstanding
 **** Very Good
  *** Good
   ** Fair
    * Poor

High Performance: Dell's OptiPlex GXpro, Digital's Personal Workstation 200i, and Polywell's Poly P6-200ND2 

As the top speedsters, these three systems performed within several
hundredths of a point of each other. However, each excelled in a
different test. The Dell OptiPlex took advantage of its large 512-KB
L2 processor caches to get the high score in the dual-processor
Visual C++ compiling benchmark. Digital's Personal Workstation 200i
got the top score in the InterMark low-level test. Polywell's
workstation finished far ahead in the Excel/Word application testing.
Again, the other systems were not far behind. The IBM PC 365 had the
highest combined score in the two dual-processor workstation tests,
but it faired poorly in the less important Excel/Word tests.



Weightings


Performance   100%



Ratings


                 Price   Tech-  Imple-  Perfor-  Usa-   Fea-    
OVERALL

                        nology  menta-   mance  bility  tures   
RATING

                                 tion

Dell OptiPlex    $6685   ****   ****     ****    ****   ****     ****
 GXpro 200 
Polywell         $5270   ****   ****     ****    ***    ****     ****
 P6-200ND2
Digital          $5834   ****   ****     ****    ***    ****     ****
 Personal 
 Workstation 
 200i
IBM PC 365       $7081   ****   ****     ****    ****   ****     ****
SAG STF 3000     $5650   ****   ****     ****    ***    ****     ****
Xi Pro400        $4788   ****   ****     ****    ****   ***      ****
 Ntower DP
HP Vectra        $9206   ****   ****     ****    *****  ***      ****
 XU 6/200
Xi Pro400        $4688   ****   ***      ***     **     ***      ***
 Mtower DP


Key

***** Outstanding 
 **** Very Good
  *** Good
   ** Fair
    * Poor

Best Overall: 3-Way Tie

photo_link (21 Kbytes)

High Performance

photo_link (17 Kbytes)

Up to the BYTE Hardware Lab Report section contentsGo to previous article: Go to next article: DetailsSearchSend a comment on this articleSubscribe to BYTE or BYTE on CD-ROM  
Flexible C++
Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

more...

BYTE Digest

BYTE Digest editors every month analyze and evaluate the best articles from Information Week, EE Times, Dr. Dobb's Journal, Network Computing, Sys Admin, and dozens of other CMP publications—bringing you critical news and information about wireless communication, computer security, software development, embedded systems, and more!

Find out more
BYTE.com Store

BYTE CD-ROM
NOW, on one CD-ROM, you can instantly access more than 8 years of BYTE.
 
The Best of BYTE Volume 1: Programming Languages
The Best of BYTE
Volume 1: Programming Languages
In this issue of Best of BYTE, we bring together some of the leading programming language designers and implementors...

Copyright © 2005 CMP Media LLC, Privacy Policy, Your California Privacy rights, Terms of Service
Site comments: webmaster@byte.com
SDMG Web Sites: BYTE.com, C/C++ Users Journal, Dr. Dobb's Journal, MSDN Magazine, New Architect, SD Expo, SD Magazine, Sys Admin, The Perl Journal, UnixReview.com, Windows Developer Network