Cube inside....
Speed Without The Pentium II
Begun, Daniel A.
01/01/98
Computer Shopper
Page 448
(COPYRIGHT 1998 Ziff Davis Publishing Company) Copyright 1998 Information Access Company. All rights reserved.
Sys Performance 233M2
Sys Technology
6481 Global Dr.
Cypress, CA 90630
800-613-9963; 714-821-3900
Fax: 714-821-9592 www.systechnology.com
Support: Live toll-free phone support, 24 hours daily; parts warranty varies from one to six years depending on component; five-year labor warranty; various extended parts-warranty options up to three additional years for $249; 30-day money-back guarantee, 15 percent restocking fee after seven days
Direct Price: $2,399
The Performance 233M2 boasts the latest speedy and impressive IBM 6.86MX-PR233 processor.
How do you get Pentium II performance from a system without paying the price of a Pentium II system? Logically, by not buying a Pentium II system. Sys Technology hopes to make this easier for you with its $2,399 Pentium II killer, the Sys Performance 233M2.
Instead of employing a Pentium II CPU under its hood, the 233M2 uses the less expensive IBM 6x86MX-PR233 processor. IBM's 6x86MX processor is identical to the Cyrix 6x86MX processor in design; the only difference between them is that they are independently packaged and tested.
Don't be fooled by the "233" in the chip's name--the processor really runs at 187.5MHz. The "PR233" refers to the processor's processor rating (PR). The actual meaning of a processor's PR rating has become muddled in techno-marketing jargon, but it implies performance comparable with that of an Intel 233MHz Pentium II processor. IBM's own literature claims that the 6x86MX processor outperforms the Pentium II, and our benchmark results find that claim not far from the truth.
The 233M2 achieved the same level of speedy performance as our benchmark system, a 266MHz Pentium II-based Dell Dimension XPS D266, on the Business Winstone 98 benchmark, a test of the system's overall Windows application performance. On the Graphics WinMark 97 test, the 233M2's graphics subsystem managed to overpower the Dell's by a full 33 percent at 16-bit color and a whopping 36 percent at 32-bit color. The 233M2's hard drive performance tied with that of the Dell's. The only area in which the 233M2 proved disappointed was with its CPU performance, which was 27 percent below the Dell's. According to Sys, the limitations of the 6x86MX processor will be noticed only with higher-end applications that rely heavily on floating-point calculations.
The 6x86MX processor is plugged into a socket-7 zero-insertion-force (ZIF) socket on the Asus TX97-X motherboard, which utilizes an Intel 430TX chip set and integrates 512K of pipeline-burst cache. With three DIMM slots, the system can accept up to 384MB. Labeled ports on the back of the system include an EPP/ECP parallel, two serial, two USB, and two PS/2 connections.
Getting inside the 233M2 is as easy as removing two screws and sliding the side panel off the 17x7.5x18-inch (HWD) midtower case. The ATX-compliant motherboard and case put everything within easy reach. Sys uses "clutter-free" cables--I/O cables sheathed in a round housing and bent out of the way to provide easier access to the drives or motherboard.
Of the three accessible 5.25-inch drive bays, two are available; of the three internal 3.5-inch drive bays, two are unoccupied. Of the three PCI slots, one is used by the graphics card, and of the three ISA slots, two are populated by the sound card and modem, respectively; the shared PCI/ISA slot remains empty. Although all the ISA slots can accept full-length cards, the PCI slots are limited to cards no longer than 9 or 10 inches. One DIMM slot is populated with a 32MB SDRAM module, leaving two slots open. With a total of four fans inside the case, the 233M2 shouldn't suffer from heat problems. But the fans do make the system sound like the idling engine of an sports car.
The system has excellent graphics performance, but the image quality of its Sys SPM-17-MS monitor leaves much to be desired. The 17-inch monitor displayed a soft focus at all resolutions. We asked Sys to send us a replacement monitor, which they did. The second monitor was not as bad as the first, but it too suffered from soft focus. By reducing the monitor's contrast, we found we could minimize the focus problem, but in doing so we created a dull, washed-out image. The monitor has a 0.26mm dot pitch, a flat-square tube, and an Invar shadow mask, and its viewable area measures 15.8 inches diagonally. An onscreen display controls settings for contrast, brightness, horizontal and vertical position, horizontal and vertical size, pincushioning, trapezoid distortion, rotation, color, and degauss.
Driving the Sys monitor is the Number Nine Revolution 3D graphics card with 8MB WRAM. The 233M2 supports up to
32-bit color at a resolution of 1,280x1,024 and a refresh rate of 85Hz. The monitor's documentation claims that it supports up to 1,600x1,200, but when we attempted to set the monitor to that resolution, it would lose synchronization and display an "out of range" error. Sys was unable to help us diagnose the problem.
We were impressed by the excellent sound quality of the MidiLand MLi 818 speakers; the only less-than-stellar aspect of the speakers was their bass response. For true-sounding bass, a subwoofer is necessary. For an additional $159 to $270, the 233M2 is available with a subwoofer-equipped speaker system. This system's Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE64 PNP audio card can take partial credit for the great-sounding audio; the AWE64 supports both wavetable and FM synthesis sound.
The 233M2 includes a Cardinal Connecta 56K Model 3440 modem, which is a 56Kbps data and fax modem that utilizes x2 technology. If you want a modem that includes voice features, another $90 will get you a 56Kbps 3Com/U.S. Robotics voice modem. The 233M2 comes standard with a Teac CD-524E 24x ATAPI CD-ROM drive; for an additional $280, it is equipped with Diamond Multimedia's DVD kit.
Other than having a handful of communications applications, the 233M2 doesn't come with much software. Sys offers toll-free technical support that is available around the clock; when we called the support line after business hours, we reached a recording that asked us to leave a message and informed us that we would receive a call back when a technician became available. There is also a helpful website available.
The 233M2's rather confusing warranty covers the CPU and memory for six years, but the balance of the parts are covered from one to five years, depending on the component; labor is covered for five years. Extended warranties covering all parts are available: An additional year costs $139, an extra two years cost $199, and an additional three years cost $249. Although Sys offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, a 15 percent restocking fee is charged if the system is returned between the eighth and 30th days.
Sys is by no means the only vendor that is selling alternatives to Intel. CyberMax, for instance, offers a similarly configured Cyrix 6x86MX PR233+-based system, the ValueMax C1. In fact, the ValueMax actually costs $200 less than the 233M2 and comes with 64MB of RAM, a 56Kbps voice modem, and a more robust software bundle.
The 233M2 proves itself to be stiff competition for Pentium II-based systems, at a more competitive price. We recommend considering a different monitor, however, and shopping around, as the 233M2 is not the only Intel alternative out there. |
