PowerStation LXS4
Developers working with 3-D renderings and intricate CAD or computer-aided 
manufacturing (CAM) designs might want to take a look at the PowerStation LXS4 system from Tri-Star Computer. Encased in a Chenbro full-tower shell, this 533MHz 64-bit Alpha system is tuned for engineering graphics performance.
The PowerStation LXS4 uses a Samsung and Digital Semiconductor LX series Alpha motherboard and features 2MB of Level 3 cache. On the LX series motherboard, you'll find two dedicated ISA slots with 1MB of flash ROM, four PCI slots (two 32-bit and two 64-bit), and memory banks capable of holding from 32MB to 1GB of 128-bit memory in 168-pin unbuffered SDRAM DIMMs. This LX series motherboard uses a Digital Semiconductor 21174 core logic chip to interface system memory and the PCI bus, and an Intel 82378ZB PCI-to-ISA bridge chip.
The PowerStation LXS4 system that the Lab tested came with 256MB of SDRAM, a Seagate Cheetah 4.55GB SCSI hard disk, a 32MB Accel Graphics Eclipse 2 video card, a 32X Plextor SCSI CD-ROM drive, an Adaptec 2940UW PCI SCSI controller, a 10/100Mbps network interface card, and an Iomega internal SCSI 1GB Jaz drive with one disk. The PowerStation LXS4 the Lab tested has a 21" ViewSonic display with 0.25 DOT with a resolution of 1600 * 1200 at 76MHz, to give users an optimal view of the graphics this system can produce.
This processor and graphics-rendering power combine to give some impressive test results in 3-D modeling. I ran the CDRS, DX, and Lightscape viewsets in the Viewperf OpenGL benchmark on the PowerStation LXS4, and the values this system achieved are representative of a high-performance 3-D workstation. As I did for the DCG LX Series UltraWide workstation, I took an average score of three test runs of each viewset for the PowerStation LXS4. The PowerStation LXS4 achieved a CDRS value of 29.060, a DX score of 6.712, and a Lightscape score of 0.864.
Of paramount importance in determining a system's 3-D OpenGL performance is the graphics card, and I wasn't surprised to find that the PowerStation LXS4's Accel Graphics Eclipse 2 video card is nothing short of nuclear. The 32MB Eclipse 2 has an onboard fan for the processor, a sizable daughter card, and an exchangeable memory module.
There's even a software side to the Eclipse 2. The PowerStation LXS4's display Control Panel applet has a tab for the AccelPanel. Selecting this tab presents you with a screen that offers two choices.
In the first choice, you can adjust system display settings, such as frame rate and frame buffer. The second choice lets you select from a list of engineering applications, including Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks, SolidDesigner, MicroStation, and AutoCAD. Selecting one of these engineering applications typically reconfigures the system display parameters to optimize performance for that application. You must reboot the system after you choose an application.
Engineering and structural design is what the PowerStation LSX4 is all about. You wouldn't normally use this system for 2-D graphic arts work or desktop publishing. As a general rule, you should use systems with OpenGL 3-D graphics cards for 3-D work; otherwise, the added technology layer of the video card's built-in processor will work against you when you perform 2-D graphics tasks that are common to most desktop users.
In the AIM benchmark tests, which target system performance from a 2-D perspective, it is not uncommon for a 2-D video card to outperform its 3-D cousin by a ratio of 2 to 1. After I installed a 2-D Matrox Millennium II video card in the PowerStation LXS4, the system achieved a WNT Peak Performance value of 388.8 application jobs per minute. The WNT Sustained Performance value for the PowerStation LXS4 was 172.0 application jobs per minute.
My overall impression of the PowerStation LXS4 is positive. Its Viewperf results are the best yet for a 3-D Alpha system I've tested in the Lab, and its AIM metrics are on par with other LX-motherboard Alphas I've tested. As long as there are Alpha machines as stable as the PowerStation, there will be a high-powered alternative to Intel dominance.
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