INTC investors ... and Scumbria, ;-)
PC Magazine's review of the first Pentium III 550 MHz machines:
zdnet.com
Notice the de-emphasis on speed (i.e. MHz) and the emphasis on the Internet. Skeptics might call this marketing fluff, and AMD advocates might call this fear that the K7 might take the performance crown. I call it a sure sign that Intel is only beginning in its shift in focus towards the Internet.
By the way, check out the components on these systems. Riva TNT2 AGP card (one powerful sucker), SB Live! sound card, DVD drive on two of the machines, 19" monitor, 128 MB SDRAM, and an extra mass storage device (Iomega Zip or Sony CD-RW drive). All this for about $2,800 each.
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The Pentium III at 550
By Carol Venezia, PC Magazine
May 17, 1999 8:57 AM PT
URL: zdnet.com
The 550-MHz Pentium III processor may go down in history as the only Intel CPU introduced without a direct focus on speed. Sure, it's fast -- our ZD Business Winstone 99 test program pegs the part at about 6 percent faster on the average than the 500-MHz Pentium III on common applications. But throughout our testing for this story, we heard more about the services and features surrounding the processor than about how fast the PIII/550 churns bits and bytes. For system vendors, the focus has shifted from the speeds and feeds of the past to the "beyond the box" experience -- particularly on the Internet -- which is our future.
You might think that Intel would be upset about this: After all, the chip giant expends an incredible amount of resources on building fast CPUs. But you'll find that even Intel has changed its tune slightly from past messaging for the Pentium III generation. The major thrust behind the PIII is enabling a better Internet experience -- with a fast processor but also with enhanced software and plug-ins designed to take advantage of the part's Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE).
Getting the Most Out of the PIII
SSE provides an instruction set and microarchitectural extensions that boost performance of applications that use them, specifically those that are floating-point-intensive. And our tests show that SSE does indeed work. Under Photoshop 5, we found that performance was 12 to 33
percent faster with SSE- enabled filters. Note that we tested Photoshop 5.0.2 with an SSE plug-in; you can download this plug-in from Adobe's Web site (www.adobe.com).
And there's more where that came from. Since its introduction, more than 250 SSE-enhanced applications have been released, including games and speech recognition applications, among many others. But the big focus of design efforts thus far seems to be in the area of online technologies. If you like to view streaming content on Web sites -- and of course, if you own a Pentium III -- you should download RealNetworks' RealPlayer G2, Version 6.0.3 (www.real.com) or Microsoft Windows Media Player 4.0 (still in beta but downloadable from
www.microsoft.com).
You'll also find that many other Internet-related favorites for both viewing and creating audio and video content have gotten a shot of SSE, including Macromedia's Flash and Shockwave (www.macromedia.com), the IPIX Viewer, Version 5.4 (www.ipix.com), and Headspace's Beatnik Player (www.headspace.com). If you have a Pentium III PC, the best place to go for news, tools, and information is Intel's WebOutfitter Service site (www.intelweboutfitter.com).
Round 'Em Up
For this roundup, we looked at Pentium III/550 machines from Compaq Computer Corp. (the Prosignia Desktop 330), Dell Computer Corp. (the Dimension XPS T550), and Micron Electronics (the Millennia MAX 550). Each came with 128MB of RAM, a 19-inch monitor, removable storage options, and a great sound system. Both the Compaq and Micron machines
are outfitted with the small-business customer in mind, while the Dell system was built for the power home user.
We also received a machine from Gateway (configured with a PIII/500). The vendor withdrew from the roundup, however, because it was unable to provide us with a 550-MHz CPU in time for testing. By the time you read this, Gateway should have PIII/550 machines available.
The three PCs in our roundup have many common features: All use Diamond Viper V770 graphics cards based on nVidia's new RIVA TNT-2 chip set, 56K V.90 PCI modems, Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! audio cards, and 7,200-rpm hard disks. That's why benchmark test scores were so close; Winstone, 3D WinMark, and CPUmark scores were virtually identical. The only real difference we saw was on our 3D WinMark test run at a 32-bit color depth. There the Compaq and Dell machines pulled ahead of the Micron unit by an average of about 12 percent
(they had 32MB of memory, compared with the Millennia's 16MB).
But when it comes to services and support, our three contenders have gone a long way to add value to their machines. And we're talking more than just three-year warranties here: You'll find that each vendor has added software, services, and programs designed specifically to enhance the value of the system for the customer who's going to purchase it.
Of the three, we found that the Micron Millennia MAX 550 did the best job of meeting the needs of its target audience, so the unit receives our Editors' Choice award. But no matter which machine you choose, remember that it's not just about fast processors anymore. Look for the vendor that provides the services and support that you need, whether you're flying solo or running a small business.
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Tenchusatsu |
