NT Graphics Workstations Roundup

Durango, AlphaStation 500, Personal Workstation 200i,APRI-31M/P200, Vectra XA 6/200, TDZ-410, Millennia Pro2 360 Plus

NT Graphics Workstations Roundup
As more people undertake home-grown 3D animation projects and engineersembrace Windows NT as a new standard for 3D CAD, more vendors are penetratingthe graphics workstation market. Silicon Graphics MIPS once ruled the 3D virtualroost, then Digital Alphas and Intergraph Pentium Pros began to make inroadsinto the market. Now every manufacturer with a high-end Pentium Pro (or even aPentium) system with a 3D accelerator card claims substantial offerings in thisfield. TheWindows NT Magazine Lab picked seven representative machines well-suited for CAD, 3D render-farms, video editing, 2D compositing, or othercompute-intensive graphics work, and reviewed their features and performance.The Lab chose some beefy systems--both Intel Pentium Pro and Digital 21164 Alphaplatforms--with 64MB to 128MB of RAM, graphics accelerators, and fast SCSIdisks. (For a summary of the systems the Lab tested, see "What We Tested." Because not all the systems had NT 4.0 drivers at the beginning of the Lab'stests, we tested everything under NT 3.51. All systems now offer NT 4.0drivers.

One remarkable feature about all these powerful systems stands out:reasonable price. Barely six months ago, machines with this kind of power costin the $8000 to $40,000 range. Now, you can get 500MHz Alpha systems ordual-processor 200MHz Pentium Pros for less than $5000; a single Pentium Pro or466MHz Alpha costs less than $3000. With the price of memory and disks droppingsignificantly every month, you can build the ultimate desktop computer withouttaking a second mortgage on your house.

Alpha or Pentium Pro?
Because the Lab tested both Intel and Alpha-based systems, you might wonderwhich kind to buy. The decision used to be easy: If money was no object and youabsolutely had to have the best possible performance, you bought an Alpha-basedworkstation; if performance was important but compatibility and affordabilitywere paramount, then you went for a Pentium Pro. Not so anymore. Digital's FX!32solved the Alpha's compatibility problem by providing a high-performanceemulator/translator for Intel Win32 programs. (Some applications run faster intranslation on the Alpha than they run native on the Pentium Pro--and the listof programs verified as functional under FX!32 is almost endless.) In the nextsix months, Alpha systems will continue to drop in price, and you'll see fasterversions of existing chips, dual-processor workstations, and new chip designssuch as the 21264 and 21164PC. You can look forward to 600MHz systems in the$5000 to $10,000 range, based on a new motherboard design from DigitalSemiconductor.

In short, for 2D graphics work that requires a wide variety of software(such as Photoshop, Fractal Design Painter, or Adobe Premiere), you're betteroff with a well-equipped Pentium Pro system. For 3D animation or CAD work, anAlpha is your best bet because its native software blows the doors off theequivalent Intel versions. If you do a lot of simulation work (OpenGL forvirtual reality or animation previews), then either Pentium Pro or Alpha with anOpenGL accelerated display card is fine.

Review Me
Each system possesses unique features, high points, and low points. Thereviews that follow describe these items and provide general information aboutarchitecture, upgrade capability, and performance (plus some personalobservations about these boxes). In "Over the Long Haul," page 65, wesummarize the usability and reliability of other systems we've used in the Labfor six or more months. Although no longer considered top-of-the-line models,these machines and their long-term performance may surprise you.

—Joel Sloss

Aspen Systems Durango
(All prices are without monitor)

The market offers a new breed of Alpha-based computers at price/performancepoints far below last year's models. For example, the high-end 300MHz Alphaworkstation from Aspen Systems, the Summit, priced out at more than $17,000 lastyear (see "Experience Alpha!," March 1996). The Durango, a newhigh-end 433MHz 21164A system from Aspen Systems, costs less than $6000 with128MB of RAM, a Dynamic Pictures OpenGL accelerator card, and an Ultra-SCSI harddisk.

Aspen Systems (an OEM for Digital Equipment) designs and builds reliable,high-performance system boards. The Durango, based on Digital's Alpha PC 164motherboard, is Aspen Systems's latest-generation uniprocessor system. (TwinPeaks, Aspen's own dual-processor 500MHz system--with upgrade potential to700MHz when the chips become available--will be out by the time you read thisreview.)

Aspen Systems offers the Durango in minitower, rack-mount, and server-towercases. The Lab's test Durango came in a full-tower case. It includes a 433MHzCPU, 128MB of RAM, a Seagate 2GB UltraSCSI Hawk hard disk, a Teac 6X CD-ROMdrive (the Durango now ships with an NEC 8X CD-ROM drive), a Cogent (nowAdaptec) Ethernet 10/100Mbps NIC, and a Dynamic Pictures V192-D02 OpenGL 3Dvideo card. Not bad for less than $6000.

You can choose among several CPU speed options--from 366MHz to 500MHz--atdifferent prices, of course (a $1300 disparity separates the 366 and 500). Thesystem board can accommodate up to 512MB of parity RAM, with a user-selectable128- or 256-bit data bus width. Aspen Systems and most other Alpha partners haveswitched this class of workstation from large (2MB or more) asynchronous Level 3cache modules to 1MB synchronous cache (with a 128-bit path)--a move that offersless performance, but slightly reduces price.

System-wise, you get four PCI slots (two 64-bit, two 32-bit), fourfront-accessible 5.25" half-height drive bays (one taken by the CD-ROM),and two internal 3.5" bays. You have several PCI SCSI options, ranging fromstandard Fast to Ultra Fast and Wide. Your 3D OpenGL video card options includethe Dynamic Pictures cards with 1MB to 32MB of texture memory.

The Windows NT Magazine Lab has had good luck with Aspen Systemscomputers. The Durango is a top performer for the price (its overall SYSmark/NTscore--604--was second highest among the systems tested), and the computers makeexcellent 3D animation, CAD, video-editing, or all-around high-performancesystems. The Durango systems can function as low- to midrange applicationservers (if you use Alpha-native software, such as SQL Server or Oracle). Thefull-tower and server-tower cases contain enough drive bays to accommodate asubstantial amount of data, and if you add a RAID controller card, you have areasonably powerful, fault-tolerant database server.

—Joel Sloss

Digital AlphaStation 500
At the high end of its workstation market, Digital Equipment offerscrossover systems for Windows NT and UNIX/VMS. The Windows NT MagazineLab reviewed the AlphaStation 500 with a 333MHz 21164 chip and 128MB of RAM. Thesystem came with a 4GB hard disk, a 4X CD-ROM, and a ZLXp-L2 OpenGL acceleratedgraphics card. Unfortunately, the AlphaStations are still priced like UNIXboxes--higher than other workstations. For the 333MHz, 128MB of RAMconfiguration without a monitor, you can expect to pay $20,965. For the high-endgraphics card (the PowerStorm 4D40), add $4000 to the price. And if you want todual-boot NT and UNIX or OpenVMS, add another $2000. I'm glad I don't do UNIXanymore!

The AlphaStation is a heavy-duty, large, purple, pizza box--and you can puta 21" monitor on top without squashing the system. The AlphaStation doesn'toverflow with expansion capabilities; it has only one 64-bit and three 32-bitPCI slots. But because equipment such as Fast and Wide SCSI and 10Mbps Ethernetcontrollers are built onto the motherboard, you don't have to use slots forbasic peripherals. The AlphaStation comes with two front-accessible drive bays(one 5.25" half-height and one 3.5" half-height) and three internal3.5" third-height bays.

Performance isn't a problem for the AlphaStation. Its integrated Fast andWide SCSI-2 disk controller, 64-bit PCI bus (for total throughput of up to 264MBper second), and a 256-bit data bus can accommodate up to 512MB of RAM and a500MHz CPU (the 500MHz models can hold up to 1GB of RAM, using higher densityDual Inline Memory Modules--DIMMs) with 2MB of asynchronous Level 3 cache. Allmodels have 16-bit CD-ROM-quality audio and headphone and microphone connectorsfor full-duplex operation.

The AlphaStation experienced no performance problems with the testapplications and OpenGL demos. I didn't test any FX!32 functionality on thisparticular system because I needed updated NT 4.0 drivers and an updated BIOS. Ican't complain about the speed I extracted from the test applications--either16-bit emulated or native. The AlphaStation's SYSmark/NT score of 553 was higherthan other 333MHz systems the Lab tested during the past year (and not too faroff the 604 score for Aspen Systems's Durango with a 433MHz CPU). SeveralPentium Pro systems in this roundup scored higher than the AlphaStation, butremember that the score combines runtimes from different types of applications.The Alpha scores much better on 32-bit native floating point applications, andnot so well on 16-bit non-native integer-intensive programs.

Is the AlphaStation 500 right for you? If you need the UNIX capability tocontinue your day-to-day work and you expect to migrate to NT, this system couldbe the way to go. (And you might not suffer much sticker-shock if you'reaccustomed to paying UNIX workstation prices.) Make no mistake--Digital'sAlphaStations are UNIX systems that happen to work with NT; as a result, you paya premium for them. If you're new to both NT and UNIX and want an Alpha-basedsystem, you're probably better off with one of Digital's Personal Workstationsor with a system from a Digital OEM partner.

—Joel Sloss

Digital Personal Workstation 200i
Digital Equipment doesn't make just Alpha chips and systems--it also makesfast-moving, Intel-based servers and workstations. The Windows NT MagazineLab reviewed the new Digital Personal Workstation 200i, which offers a newarchitecture, a new case design, new features, and better prices than Digital'solder Celebris XL computers. Our test system came with 64MB of RAM, a single200MHz Pentium Pro CPU, a 4GB Ultra Wide SCSI disk, and a 4MB Matrox Millenniumvideo card.

Digital markets the Personal Workstation line--the 180I, 200i, and 200i2--toa different audience from its commercial desktop line, although both lines sharesome features (such as board components and cases). The Digital PersonalWorkstations are designed for high-end graphics applications, where performanceand upgrade capability are key.

One important feature of the new workstations is the extent to which you canupgrade processors. Not only can you upgrade the speed of your Intel chip or gomultiprocessor, but you can swap out your Pentium Pro for an Alpha simply byswitching the processor board--without replacing the whole system or even themain system components (e.g., audio, network).

Digital improved the Celebris feature set for the Personal Workstations.Digital dropped the Pentium option and offers only Pentium Pro (180MHz or200MHz) with dual-processor capability and the new Natoma chipset. Otherenhancements include either Enhanced Data Output (EDO) or FastPageError-Correcting Code (ECC) RAM (up to 512MB in the 200i2), UltraWide SCSI(a.k.a. SCSI 3) with a standard 2GB drive, EIDE, and an 8X CD-ROM, five standardPCI slots (two dedicated, three shared with the ISA bus), integrated 10MbpsEthernet (100-TX available), integrated 16-bit audio, two Universal Serial Bus(USB) ports, and even a MIDI port.

A new, easy-to-use minitower case houses the Personal Workstations. A riserboard separates the main processor board from the rest of the system, so you canslide out the main processor board without detaching peripheral cards and a webof cables. The riser board holds the integrated peripherals (e.g., audio,Ethernet) and expansion slots, and connects to the rest of the system (e.g.,SCSI, EIDE, graphics); all components are discrete and easy to remove whenfailures or upgrades occur. Rounding out the new design are three 5.25"front-accessible half-height drive bays, two internal 3.5" third-heightbays, and a front-facing floppy bay.

Don't forget that Personal Workstations are graphics workstations. A MatroxMillennium graphics adapter is standard, but you can choose the PowerStorm orAccelPRO 2000 from AccelGraphics for OpenGL acceleration. A whole family ofPowerStorm cards replace Digital's older ZLX 3D accelerators with various modelsdesigned for different functions, such as OpenGL 3D texture mapping, 2D orwireframe modeling, animation, and so forth.

Digital says that it sells solutions, not just systems. So, when you buy oneof these workstations, you're buying hardware, technical support, a three-yearwarranty, verified NT hardware and software, and a real NT out-of-the-boxexperience--not Windows 95 with NT bolted on top. Plus, you can buy thesesystems through ordinary PC channels.

The 200i is a reliable, high-performance graphics system suitable foreverything from word processing to 3D animation. After I loaded the appropriatedrivers, I experienced no problems with the prototype system from Digital.Adding and removing cards was easy, and people in the Lab liked the easy accessto the processor board. Although the Digital Personal Workstation isn't thelowest-priced system the Lab tested or the fastest (with a SYSmark/NT score of589), I recommend these units to anyone looking for a high-end box that offersexcellent upgrade options, performance, and Digital's well-known NT technicalsupport.

—Joel Sloss

DTK APRI-31M/P200
DTK Computer is a lesser known--but large--computer company that hasproduced computer systems since 1981. DTK sells most of its products to ValueAdded Resellers (VARs) who sometimes put their label on the system. That systemin your office labeled with a local vendor name might be a DTK system.

The DTK APRI-31M/P200 comes on strong with a Pentium Pro 200, 64MB ofEnhanced Data Output (EDO) RAM, a Seagate Barracuda 2.1GB SCSI-2 hard disk, aTeac 6X SCSI CD-ROM drive, Adaptec's 2940UW SCSI controller card, a 10/100Base-TLAN card, and Number Nine's Imagine 128 video card. DTK Computer backs all itssystems with lifetime technical support and a two-year warranty, which includesparts and labor.

The tower case is a breeze to take apart--you don't need any tools. Justpull the bottom of the front cover, slide the shell back, pull up, and you'rein. You can even easily remove the motherboard. The roomy case houses four 5.25"drive bays (one is for the CD-ROM drive), one 3.5" floppy drive, and four3.5" internal drive bays (one of which is used by the 2GB hard disk). Threeof the internal 3.5" drive bays and all four 5.25" drive bays aremounted on sliding rails with spring-loaded locking clips, so swapping drives iseasy. The DTK case design is great if you need to get inside your system often.

The APRI Pentium Pro motherboard is built around the Intel 440FX PCI chipsetand includes four PCI and two ISA expansion slots, with one shared PCI/ISA slot.The board has six SIMM sockets that let it hold up to 384MB of RAM. Themotherboard includes two built-in enhanced IDE controllers, a floppy controller,two serial ports, and one printer port. The AMI Flash ROM BIOS Plug and Playsupports power management features such as suspend, standby, normal, and offmodes.

The APRI-31M/P200 was the fastest system the Windows NT Magazine Labreviewed (with a SYSmark/NT score of 636), probably because of all the SCSIhardware, the fast hard disk, the Imagine 128 video card, and the well-designedmotherboard. I liked its easy access for swapping drives. I experienced onlyminor problems--the cover was hard to slide back on, and the power switchsometimes didn't properly engage (I had to pop off the front panel to shut downthe system). Installing new RAM modules is a hassle because the SIMM sockets aredirectly under the cable paths of the drives (sliding out the lower hard diskshelps). Because most software uses sounds, I wish DTK included a sound card withthis system. The Microsoft Natural keyboard supplied with the system was a nicetouch. If you need a high-speed, easily configured, expandable system that's acinch to take apart and reassemble, the DTK APRI-31M/P200 is an excellent value.

—Dean Porter

HP Vectra XA 6/200
Just buy it and plug it in. The HP Vectra XA 6/200 comes with everything youneed: speed, security, and convenience. You don't even need to buy a sound cardbecause--as the commercial states--it's in there.

The HP Vectra XA 6/200 includes an Intel Pentium Pro 200MHz processor, 32MBof EDO RAM, a 2.5GB IDE hard disk, integrated PCI 10Base-T Ethernet controller,a Matrox Millennium video card, and an IDE 8X CD-ROM. And those features arejust the basics: The Vectra includes special features such as keyboard power-on;support for Windows NT soft powerdown; keyboard/mouse lock button; a quiet,variable-speed cooling fan; Desktop Management Interface (DMI) capabilities; aFlash BIOS; software such as HP's TopTOOLS; and good security features, such asa locking case.

You can open the system's desktop-style case without using any tools. Youjust slide in two locking switches, pull forward, and it's open. You can closethe case just as easily and lock it with the built-in key lock on the back ofthe system. The front panel's uncluttered design includes power and resetbuttons, a keyboard/mouse lock button, a volume control, a headphone connector,and hard disk and LAN activity lights. The drive bays (a 3.5" floppy drive,a CD-ROM drive, and a third-height expansion bay for either a 3.5" or 5.25"third-height drive) are located on the right side. Internally, the system hasonly enough room for the 3.5" 2.5GB hard disk.

The motherboard is built around the Intel 440FX PCI chipset and plugs into abus (or riser) board that contains two PCI and one ISA expansion slots, oneshared PCI/ISA slot, and one PCI LAN card. You can install up to 192MB of memoryin the six easily accessible SIMM slots. Integrated on the motherboard arePS/2-style keyboard and mouse connectors, one parallel port, two 9-pin serialports, one floppy connector, and two enhanced IDE connectors. Mounted on theprocessor is a big heatsink--surprisingly, without a fan; the only cooling fanis built into the power supply, which sits on the left side of the system justabove the CPU and lifts out for easy access to the motherboard. This arrangementseems to keep everything cool enough.

The keyboard power-on is a very nice feature: Just press the spacebar andyou're up and running. Shutting down the system is just as easy: Simply tell NTto shut down, and you're finished. The DMI lets you plug the Vectra XA into yournetwork, and with DMI-enabled management software (e.g., HP OpenView, IntelLANDesk, or Microsoft Systems Management Server--SMS), you can see what iscurrently installed in the system, lock out the floppy or CD-ROM drives, or evenpassword-protect the system and BIOS--all with the system shut off. The includedTopTOOLS software package lets you manage the DMI features.

The Windows NT Magazine Lab used the HP Vectra XA to test thedifferences among Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51, and Windows NT 4.0 (see "ComparingWindows 95, Windows NT 3.51, and Windows NT 4.0," December 1996.). I alsoused it to test the differences between EDO and regular SIMM modules. The systemworked well, except for a few problems. One problem was that NT 3.51 and 4.0could see up to only 64MB of memory. HP said this problem was caused by a minorBIOS problem that the company expects to have corrected by the time you readthis review. I initially had trouble running Windows NT 4.0 on the system, butHP sent a BIOS update that fixed the problem. This solution sure beat replacingchips or sending the whole unit back and waiting for HP to fix it!

The Vectra XA 6/200 is not as expandable as some of the other systems theLab reviewed, nor is it the fastest system. (The system finished in the middleof the pack with a SYSmark/NT score of 598.) The Lab found the Vectra XA to be areliable graphics workstation with lots of nice features. HP also offers theVectra XW, designed specifically for the graphics market.

—Dean Porter

Intergraph TDZ-410
Last month I picked Intergraph's TDZ-410 Pentium Pro graphics workstation asone of my favorite products of 1996 (see "NT Stuff We Like," January1997). You can now purchase it for about $12,000 (with dual processors, 64MB ofRAM, Z13 graphics)--a big difference from last year's $40,000 TDZ-400.

The Windows NT Magazine Lab's TDZ-410 came with dual 200MHz PentiumPro CPUs (with 256KB of Level 2 cache), 64MB of RAM, a 4GB UltraFast SCSI disk,an 8X CD-ROM drive, and the new RealiZm Z25 OpenGL graphics card ($23,390 asconfigured--not cheap, but the graphics card options account for $7390). Andwhat a screamer the TDZ-410 was, although you wouldn't know that from itsSYSmark/NT score.

Let me explain the test results. OpenGL accelerators often slow applicationsthat don't use the OpenGL routines because all graphics devices interface (GDI)functions pass through the accelerator. In other words, ordinary displayfunctions (e.g., window redraws, display updates, and even application routinessuch as ray tracing) don't run as quickly. In NT 4.0, this slowdown is still afactor, but it is not as significant as in NT 3.51 because of the restructuredGDI and the updated OpenGL and DirectX libraries. Unfortunately, the Lab had totest all the review systems with NT 3.51 instead of NT 4.0 because at the timeof our test, not all the systems had NT 4.0 drivers.

But back to the good news: Running applications that use the OpenGL routinesopens up the performance floodgates. I tested LightWave 5.0 and a number ofvirtual reality simulation programs, and the experience was like watching amovie--the frame rate, smoothness, color depth, and responsiveness wereremarkable (even when I ran several programs at once). This excellent simulationcapability is probably why the US military likes these machines somuch--Intergraph's large government systems division provides software andhardware for high-end combat simulators and other secret stuff. You can't gowrong with a TDZ-410 workstation for applications such as LightWave 3D,Softimage, and other OpenGL or RenderGL-based programs for 3D animation ormultimedia development.

Under the hood of the TDZ-410, you'll find many of the same components as inIntergraph's competitors, but the way the proprietary design puts thesecomponents together makes all the difference--as does the graphics engine. TheTDZ-410 comes standard with two 200MHz Pentium Pros and 32MB of RAM. Its desktopchassis can hold up to 512MB of RAM on a 288-bit 2-way or 4-way interleavedmemory bus; the deskside tower case comes standard with 64MB of RAM and can takeup to 1GB of RAM.

Intergraph updated the integrated disk controller for the TDZ-410, so it nowhas UltraFast SCSI (20MB-per-second average transfer rate). Intergraph alsoupgraded the Ethernet controller to a combination 10Base-T/100-TX to improveperformance in render-farm and file-sharing applications.

The desktop case has two 32-bit PCI slots, two ISA slots, and one sharedPCI/ISA slot (compared to six, four, and zero in the deskside full-tower case).You get one internal 3.5" third-height, one combination PC Card/floppydrive, and two front-accessible 5.25" half-height drive bays (compared toone, one, and six in the deskside).

Multimedia features are not lacking in the TDZ-410, either. All TDZs comewith integrated Creative Labs Vibra16C audio and a neat multimedia keyboard withbuilt-in powered 3D surround-sound speakers; a microphone; and connectors for asubwoofer, headphones, and separate microphone.

The new RealiZm graphics cards, which Intergraph introduced in mid-1996,offer the next generation of 3D performance. Whether you map .avi files inrealtime onto a spinning 3D object, or preview your latest Babylon 5 animation,you won't sit around waiting for the computer. The model I tested had 32MB offrame buffer memory and the optional geometry and texture acceleration with 16MBof texture RAM (it can take up to 64MB). This card can support up to 1824*1368pixel resolution in true-color double-buffered mode, with hardware accelerationfor everything from fog to stenciling.

You can see why I chose this as a "best of" machine. But, shouldyou buy one? If most of your work is final scene rendering using ray tracing orother film-quality methods, you probably are better off with a TD-410 withoutthe RealiZm graphics option. If you use Intergraph's G95 video card (based onthe Matrox Millennium chipset), you'll get the advantages of the full renderingpower of the Pentium Pros, without the OpenGL components getting in the way.Symmetric multiprocessing (SMP)-enabled programs such as Adobe Photoshop reallyscream in this environment. If your work entails mostly virtual realitysimulation, preview work, 3D CAD, or data visualization (or other texturegraphics or OpenGL applications), then the TDZ-410 is for you.

—Joel Sloss

Micron Millennia Pro2 360 Plus
You get a killer multimedia system with the Micron Millennia Pro2 360 Plus.The Windows NT Magazine Lab's test system included a 200MHz IntelPentium Pro, 64MB of RAM, an excellent sound system, a Number Nine Imagine 128series II video card, a built-in Iomega Jaz drive, a Quantum Grand Prix 2.15GBSCSI hard disk, a Plextor SCSI 8X CD-ROM drive (a 12X drive is now standard),and a BusLogic SCSI-2 controller--all in a small minitower case. Micron backsthe Millennia Pro2 360 Plus with a three-year warranty on the system and afive-year warranty on the microprocessor and memory. All these features makethis workstation one of the best multimedia systems around.

The sound system is powered by a Sound Blaster AWE32 sound card driving32-bit heart-thumping sound to the Advent Powered Partners speakers andsub-woofer. This sound system is the best I've heard in a multimedia package.

The video card, loaded with 4MB of memory, is noted for 128-bit performance,3D graphics acceleration, Windows acceleration, fast PCI bus performance, andgood configuration software. The Lab considers the Imagine 128 series II videocard one of the best cards available for a multimedia system.

I always like to check how easily you can get into the guts of a system. Youcan open up this case effortlessly without a screwdriver: Remove the top rearthumbscrew, hold in two plastic spring-clips, and slide off the plastic shell.The front of this easy-to-access case is simple with only power indicator andhard disk activity lights, a large power button, and a hard-to-hit reset button.

The minitower houses three front-accessible 5.25" drive bays (two ofwhich are filled with the CD-ROM and Jaz drives) and one 3.5" drive bay forthe floppy drive. Internally, the housing has room for two 3.5" half-heightdrives, but the Quantum Grand Prix takes up too much space to add a second harddisk and keep both properly ventilated. The system has four PCI and two ISA (oneshared) expansion slots. For your demanding applications, this system can holdup to 128MB of RAM.

All the features that make this system a killer multimedia system also makeit a killer workstation. The Lab used the Micron Millennia Pro2 360 Plus to runSQL and Microsoft Exchange tests, to monitor network traffic, to archive datausing the built-in Jaz drive, and to prepare graphs with Microsoft Excel. Thesystem performed all these duties well. The only problem I experienced with thesystem was finding the correct driver disks for the BusLogic SCSI controller andthe Imagine 128 video card when I reinstalled Windows NT.

The Micron Millennia Pro2 360 Plus isn't the fastest kid on the block, butit certainly isn't the slowest either: Its 598 SYSmark/NT score placed it in themiddle of the systems the Lab reviewed. The Micron Millennia Pro2 360 Plus isindeed a worthy system, and all its included goodies put the system at the topof my workstation wish list.

—Dean Porter