The First Brand-Name AMD K6 System

The 233-MHz Digital Equipment Venturis FX represents the first machine from a top-tier system vendor to be powered by the AMD K6 processor. At $2,504, it's a cost-effective system, considering that it comes with a 4-GB Ultra DMA hard drive and 64 MB of SDRAM. Although Digital's Venturis line comes preinstalled with Windows 95, we tested the system using Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, just as we did for the 17 Pentium II PCs in our roundup.

But don't expect performance that beats that of PII machines. We exercised the Venturis by duplicating most of NSTL's benchmark tests, including the floating-point-int ensive Fourier test, C++ language test, IMark graphics test, and BYTEmark CPU test. We compared its performance to that of two of the top-performing 233-MHz systems in our roundup, Micro n's Client Pro XLU and Unicent's Titania II 233 XLA. We also compared its scores to those of our two winners -- both 266-MHz systems -- the DTK APRI-74M/266 and IBM's PC 300XL.

The 233-MHz PII machines had a slight performance advantage over the K6-equipped Venturis. And it's no surprise that the 266-MHz PII systems were significantly more robust than the K6 system ( see the figure ).

Still, this system could be a good choice if you don't want to wait (for the PII with 440LX chip set) to reap the benefits of Ultra DMA and SDRAM. The Venturis FX, which shipped in July, targets the business market. It's equipped with AMD's 233-MHz K6 processor and uses Intel's 430 TX PCI chip set. A 4-GB Ultra DMA hard drive, a 12X CD-ROM drive, and a 4-MB Matrox Millennium II gr aphics card round out this well-balanced system. Its 66-MHz PCI bus supports three DIMM sockets and up to 256 KB of SDRAM. A full 64 KB of L1 cache is included on the chip (32 KB for data, 32 KB for instructions), and 256 KB of pipeline-burst L2 cache is soldered onto the motherboard.

Digital's famous motherboard design, based on the NLX standard, allows you to slide the unit directly out through the top of the system. Unnotch the three nonremovable screws on the cover, and you can access its internal components instantly. The K6 processor offers full MMX-instruction-set compatibility. Like the Pentium and Pentium MMX chips, it uses the low-cost ZIF processor Socket 7.

With the right manufacturer support, BIOS, and voltage-regulation module, it is theoretically possible to swap a Pentium or Pentium MMX chip for an AMD K6. Digital says it might offer an upgrade kit in the future. Along with this MMX compatibility and a larger L1 cache than the Pentium II's, AMD claims its K6 chip's core logic has f ewer mispredictions than the Pentium II. According to AMD, 8000 stored entries overshadow the Pentium II's 200 or so built-in branch predictions used for running execution units. In short, executions are processed efficiently. AMD plans to ship an AGP chip set by this fall, and several graphics-chip vendors plan to support AGP on Socket 7 by the end of the year.

Although it's not a workstation optimized for intensive 3-D gaming or calculating scientific equations, the Venturis will do well for its intended market: the enterprise level. And businesses will appreciate its advanced features set and low price.

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Performance

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DEC Ventures Into K6 Land

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