Intergraph 3D PCs Look Very Good (01apr97)

April 1, 1997

Intergraph will begin selling very affordable 3D-oriented PCs directly to the public via an 800 "Express" number as well as the Internet beginning May 5th. Units can be pre-configured or custom tailored (typical). The distribution, prices and features of these "TD" systems are noticeably more aggressive than Intergraph’s first foray into the PC realm in December 1996.

Prices are targeted to match low-price competitors such as Dell even though all of the Intergraph machines are configured with some degree of 3D hardware acceleration. In addition, all of them also include a copy of Microsoft Office 97, 2 USB ports, and special software to better manage the PCs.

Complete pre-configured systems using a non-MMX Pentium, including monitors but not network cards, begin at $1,899. The May 5th introduction deliberately coincides with Intel’s debut of the Pentium Pro MMX, which will now be called Pentium II. Pentium Pro powered Intergraph PCs will all use that new chip. A Intergraph PC configured similar to the Tri-Star we just reviewed is expected to cost $3,099. That includes a bigger but slower hard drive than the Tri-Star.

All of the Express pre-configured systems use Intergraph’s $135 Intense 3D 100 graphics card with 4 MB of EDO DRAM and a RISC processor. That card has received rave reviews for its 3D performance in Direct 3D (a Microsoft API used widely for games) although it does not accelerate the more robust and common OpenGL API used in many design packages. Other strengths include perceptively correct textures, Gouraud shading and environment mapping. Performance in the general 2D realm is unusually stunning. The best compromise setting provides 1,024 by 768 resolution at 65k colors and an 85 Hz guaranteed vertical refresh rate.

There are at least eight other graphics options beyond Intense 3D 100, and the top four are variations on Intergraph’s Intense 3D Pro 1000. The 1000, at $1,999, supports both OpenGL and Heidi APIs for accurate 3D. Additional features include 24- or 32-bit Z buffering, trilinear texture mapping, 32-bit textures, fog, and alpha blending.

The special software for managing PCs provided by Intergraph is called Intersite. This software is desktop management interface (DMI) compliant. For very small companies and individual users, Intersite may be of marginal value. Companies with large networks and PC management staff will probably appreciate the hardware monitor software which is good for part theft deterrence as well as physical breakdown warnings. Others tools include a software driver version manager and the WatchDog rapid administrator notification system. Rounding out Intergraph’s offering are five service programs.

Tri-Star Exemplifies Wintel Bargains (01apr07)

April 1, 1997

We’ve been using an evaluation system from Tri-Star Computer for several months as we’ve evaluated AutoCAD R14 (see review in this issue), Imagineer Technical 2.0, and Visio Technical 4.5. Most people using these applications do not require exotic and expensive computers, so we requested a complete, ready-to-run system in the $3,000 range from Tri-Star. The $3,206 Windows NT 4.0 system we received handily outperformed anything else in a comparable price range available from the national retail computer chains.

The Tri-Star StarStation included a 200-MHz Pentium Pro processor, 64 MB RAM, a 4MB graphics card, a 17-inch monitor, 2.1 GB hard drive, and a 12x CD-ROM. None of this is particularly uncommon although there are several significant variations in those devices that can dramatically affect performance. In addition, it’s also important to properly choose devices that when put together, make sense as a computer system. All of this is the responsibility of the computer manufacturer and most of them do a good job for basic business application users but not as well for CAD users.

Focus On Technical Users

Tri-Star focuses on technical users in the AEC, 3D animation, graphics design, and mechanical design areas. The company’s sales brochures are divided into those areas with several pre-configured systems that are intelligently set up and reasonably priced. However, Tri-Star’s best strength is how well their toll-free 800 number sales staff can alter systems to best fit the needs and demands of customers.

We called the 800 line several times in various guises to see how well the staff could guide us and the manner in which they did so. Like a few other PC companies that custom configure systems, Tri-Star did very well, especially so for their technical markets. We asked general questions about what kinds of hardware would suit us in our price range for a given set of applications, file sizes, network type plus cabling, and peripherals we wished to attach. Answers and reasons they could not provide immediately, they found in less than two minutes without ever sounding impatient, condescending, or pushy.

Easy Start-Up

Our test unit had Windows NT 4.0 preloaded, and it started up fine as soon as we plugged it in. Performance appeared to be enhanced by having an Ultra Wide SCSI hard drive instead of the more common EIDE type used in most PCs of this price range. The system was set up by Tri-Star with the common FAT file system although we’d strongly encourage anyone to consider the one-way conversion to NTFS (it’s not obvious) for reliability, performance and security (if one cares).

The system had plenty of expansion capability, both in hardware ports and the needed software IRQs to make them actually work properly.

Our only glitch while evaluating CAD applications came from the 12x CD-ROM which could not read any of our CDs without loading each one at least five times for every initial access. We did not encounter this problem with another Tri-Star we were testing at the same time, and the warranty appeared sufficient to correct the problem if we had chosen to do so.

Tri-Star does not automatically include any of the multimedia extras or mountains of software that the broad-base PC manufacturers do; nevertheless, what they do provide are PCs that truly deliver very strong performance at low prices. For technical users, this is the way to go.

EVALUATED SYSTEM

CPU: One 200MHz Pentium Pro with 256 KB cache
Memory: 64 MB EDO ECC RAM (using DIMMs)
Storage: 2.1 GB Ultra Wide SSI (40 MB/sec)
Graphics: ELSA Winner 2000 Pro/X with 4MB RAM
Monitor: 17-inch ViewSonic OptiQuest, .26 dot pitch, 77Hz max.
CD: 12x IDE Mitsumi FX1200

Contact: Tri-Star Computer, 800-755-5800, 602-731-4926, http://www.tristar.com