From "helpinout". Victor
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mpaq Selected Reference PC for Windows Mag. Online
by: hlpinout 43685 of 43688
December 01, 1998, Issue: 912
Section: Reviews
New Reference PC: a Versatile And Manageable Workhorse
Jonathan Blackwood
One of the pleasures of selecting a new reference system-the one on which we
base all our WinScores-is that we get to spend six months with it. Our new
reference PC, the 400MHz Compaq Deskpro EP 6400X/14000/CDS, should be
easy to live with.
For starters, there's the configuration: a 400MHz Pentium II processor, 512KB
of level 2 cache, a 14.4GB IBM Ultra DMA hard disk, 64MB of SDRAM, an
Iomega Zip drive and a 32X CD-ROM drive. For communications, there's a
Compaq 10/100 PCI Ethernet card with an Intel Wake on LAN controller and a
V.90-compatible 56K fax modem. Compaq includes its excellent V75 17-inch
monitor with a fine 0.26mm dot pitch and a flat-square tube. Like others in the
Deskpro EP line, this system's versatile case lets you rotate the drive bays to
turn a desktop configuration into a tower. It's a nice idea, but tight quarters and
short cables make this hard to accomplish. An IT department, however, would
have little trouble with the conversion.
The EP 6400X/14000/CDS sports a raft of manageability features, including
DMI 2.0 compliance, Wake on LAN, remote system installation, unattended
installation from a network server, boot from network, remote Flash ROM
upgrade, remote diagnostics and asset control. All Deskpros are supported by a
prefailure warranty for hard drives: If a failure is predicted, Compaq will replace
the drive at no cost, even if it doesn't fail.
Testing, testing
You can get this PC with Win95, 98 or NT 4.0. We tested the identical
configuration under all three operating systems-as the reference system, the
Deskpro's WinScore 3.0 mark under each OS is 100.
Under Win95, this Deskpro racked up 1132MIPS, 107MB-per-second
cached-disk throughput and 58Mpixel-per-second video throughput. Average
application test times were 8.10 seconds for multimedia, 174.38 seconds for
Word, 189.07 seconds for Excel and 35.73 seconds for AutoCAD.
Win98 scores were 1123MIPS, 83MBps cached-disk throughput and
86Mpixel-per-second video throughput. It took an average of 8.18 seconds to
run our multimedia script, 174.77 seconds for Word, 191.77 seconds for Excel
and 24.51 seconds for AutoCAD.
NT 4.0 results were 1127MIPS, 305MBps cached-disk throughput and
106Mpixel-per-second video throughput. Average application times were 8.07
seconds for multimedia, 173.22 seconds for Word, 164.77 seconds for Excel and
24.10 seconds for AutoCAD.
The EP 6400X comes with a three-year parts, one-year labor and on-site
service warranty. Compaq earned a "Good" rating on our 1998 WINDOWS
Magazine tech support survey.
Another winner
Our final criterion in selecting a reference PC is that it must be a system we'd
recommend. The 400MHz Deskpro EP 6400X certainly qualifies. It compares
very favorably with its kin on our WinList, the Deskpro EN 6400X/6400/CDS,
but the more flexible EP has a standard motherboard. Plus, the EP 6400X also
ranks with the best corporate PCs from IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Gateway.
The Deskpro EP 6400X/14000/CDS is a great choice for the enterprise and a
worthy WinList addition.
--Quick View--
Compaq Deskpro EP 6400X/14000/CDS
Bottom Line: A powerful, flexible and manageable system that's built to last
Price: $2,568; with NT, $2,638
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