With its new Core 2 Duo family of processor, Intel is setting the pace in the workstation sector. From mobile workstations, right up to high end powerhouses, there’s something for everyone.

It’s a great time to be buying a workstation. After a few years of playing second fiddle to AMD in the performance league tables, Intel’s new Core 2 Duo family of processors have arrived and are taking processing power to new levels.

A good gauge of who’s winning the CPU battle, both in terms of speed and price/performance, is to take a look at which machines are submitted to MCAD’s workstation supplement for review each quarter.

We give workstation vendors a free reign when it comes to submitting machines, and instead of featuring workstations at the same price point, we like to encourage a diverse range of technology for every issue, from entry level, right up to the ultra high-end. After all, MCAD has a huge cross section of readers, from designers of widgets right up to aerospace engineers who want to model, analyse and visualise their 3D designs in full.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen AMD’s Opteron processor dominate the review pages, but now with the introduction of Core 2 Duo, all of our desktop workstation manufacturers have taken the Intel route this issue. And who can blame them as in terms of price/performance Intel is certainly setting the pace at this moment in time.

Intel’s new generation processors are based around its Core 2 Duo processor. As with all of Intel’s latest chips this features two processor cores, which effectively means you get two CPUs for the price of one. Previously, if you wanted two processors you had to buy a dual Xeon workstation. Now, with the Core 2 Duo you get this as standard.

So where does this leave the new Xeon? On paper the new Xeon 5100 Series is actually more powerful than the Core 2 Duo, features a faster front aside bus and higher maximum clock speed. In addition, you can set two Xeons alongside each other and you’ve got yourself a quad core workstation. Putting two 3.0GHz Xeons together will give you the fastest workstation on the planet, but because of the way most CAD applications are written, most users will only make use of one of the four processor cores at any one time. This will change over time, but there’s still a lot of catching up to do by Operating System, graphics card and CAD vendors.

By the end of the year there will be quad core processors, giving some workstations eight cores in total. It will probably only be the CAE and design visualisation guys that will covet these in the beginning.

In addition to desktop CPUs, Intel has also delivered the Core 2 Duo on the mobile platform, which delivers virtually the same level of performance as it desktop counterpart. So have a break, make yourself a coffee, and take a closer look at the machines on review in this issue. From mobile workstations, right up to high end powerhouses, there's something for everyone.

HP xw6400

Big performance usually means big computer, but this cannot be said of HP’s new xw6400 which is the smallest dual Xeon-capable workstation we’ve ever seen – smaller in fact than most single processor machines.

Despite having capacity for two Xeon 5100 series processors, our test machine was only kitted out with a single Xeon 5150, which runs at 2.66 GHz, and features a 1,333 MHz FSB and 4MB L2 cache. As all new generation Xeons are dual core processors in their own right you still get two physical CPUs in your machine, which will be more than sufficient for most CAD users. At this stage in CAD software development, dual Xeon processor (quad core) workstations are only really likely to benefit those who perform complex multi-threaded calculations, such as those for rendering or analysis.

Despite its sleek compact chassis, the xw6400 is an incredibly quiet machine and we hardly noticed it crunching its way through our suite of compute intensive CAD applications. The CPU performance is excellent and while the 5150 processor is not the fastest in Intel’s new generation Xeon family, it still provides a huge step up from previous generation processors, and a smaller, but still sizable improvement over AMD’s Opteron 1000 Series.

The Xeon 5150 is coupled 4GB of DDR2 SDRAM which maxes out the available memory under standard 32-bit Windows XP and still gives a little room to grow in the future if moving to 64-bit Operating Systems. The test machine shipped with 4 x 1GB DIMMs, but the 2 x 2GB DIMM option would give room for expansion as the machine only has four memory slots. 4GB DIMMs will also be available very shortly, giving the machine a maximum of 16GB.

Nvidia’s 256MB Quadro FX 1500 graphics card provides excellent 3D performance across a cross section of CAD applications, and the 73GB SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) offers lightening quick response, but at the expense the huge capacity that S-ATA drives now offer.

The xw6400 is a truly excellent dual processor capable machine, which offers all the performance benefits of a high-end workstation, without the size or noise usually associated with such machines. It does lack the expandability that a true high-end workstations offer, such as HP’s new xw8400, which can accommodate up to 32MB of RAM. But with this particular test machine you still have option of adding a second processor, which could become more beneficial in the new year with the arrival of Microsoft Vista.

Dell Precision 390

Along with all the other major workstation vendors, Dell refreshed its entire workstation line up this summer. This event coincided with introduction of Intel’s new generation processors, the Core 2 Duo (Conroe), and Xeon 5100 (Woodcrest).

While the Xeon continues to be Intel’s dedicated workstation chip, the Core 2 Duo offers a great foundation for the more price sensitive workstation user, and while you used to have to buy Xeon to get a dual processor solution, the widespread shift to dual core chips means that multi processor solutions are now available across the board.

Dell’s Core 2 Duo-based workstation is the Precision 390. It’s a compact entry level machine, with limited room for expansion, but with the kind of performance it delivers, most users probably won’t have the need.

Our test machine was powered by the Core 2 Duo E6600, a mid-range processor, which runs at 2.4GHz and features 4MB L2 cache and a 1,066MHz FSB (which is slower than the 1,333MHz FSB in most Xeons). The memory is standard 667MHz DDR2 ECC SDRAM, courtesy of 2 x 1GB DIMMs, leaving two slots free for expansion.

Even with Intel’s mid range processor at the heart of the machine, the Precision 390 made light work of most of our benchmarks, and with both cores working flat out, also put in some efficient rendering times under 3ds Max.

In terms of 3D graphics, ATI’s 256MB FireGL V7200 is a good all round card for mid-range CAD users and excelled under 3ds Max, performed well under SolidWorks, but was a little off the pace set by Nvidia’s Quadro FX cards when it came to Inventor.

Extremely quiet under operation, once inside the machine, it’s clear why. Dell has paid a lot of attention to cooling, and a large low duty fan pushes air effortlessly across the CPU’s sizable heat sink.

The remainder of the machine is fairly standard throughout. With cradles facing the user, hard drives can be easily replaced simply by clipping in out. The 250GB 7,200RPM Western Digital SATA 3.0Gb/s hard drive in our test machine offers plenty of storage but two additional drives can be added if required and configured in various Raid arrays.

All in all the Dell Precision 390 looks to be an excellent proposition for entry level 3D CAD users. But I use the phrase ‘entry level’ with a pinch of salt. With dual core CPUs standard on all desktop workstations today, the level of performance you can achieve under both single and multi-threaded applications on machines like this is simply astounding, though the price does seem a little high, particularly when compared with Scan’s similarly specified workstation, as seen on page WS6.

Scan 3XS workstation

Nearly ten years ago we reviewed a workstation that had a mini refrigerator bolted onto the bottom and was used to pump coolant direct to the CPU in order to take the heat out. This was the nineties and overclocking was all the rage – cranking up a CPU by 50MHz or so was the closest thing to heaven for some PC enthusiasts.

While the extra GHz did make a significant difference to performance, the process of taking out the additional heat produced by overclocking this machine came at the expense of peace and serenity. Fridge pumps are noisy and this one was no exception.

Fastforward to 2006 and while overclocking is still prevalent in gaming circles, it is the reduction of PC noise that is now receiving widespread attention. All the major workstation vendors are addressing this problem with custom-built ductwork and large low duty fans, all designed with high-tech Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) computer analysis - and the results are very impressive.

Bolton-based Scan has taken a very different approach to cooling for its latest 3XS workstation. In search of the near silent workstation, the company has turned its back on fans and looked to cutting edge water cooling technology from a company called Alphacool. The system works by pumping water around your workstation through a network of plastic tubes. The water gets right to the heat sources; with individual cooling units bolted straight on to the CPU and graphics card, (which has had its standard heatsink and fan removed). The hard drives are also housed in individual cooling caddies. The water is then routed to a radiator, which is mounted on the case exterior and takes all the heat out of the system.

It’s all very impressive to watch and more importantly unbelievably quiet, but what exactly is the Alphacool system keeping cool? In terms of components, Scan’s latest 3XS workstation is built around Intel’s Core 2 Duo E6600 2.40Ghz processor, with an Nvidia Quadro FX 1500 delivering the 3D graphics, and two Samsung Spinpoint hard drives providing over 600GB of storage. An ASUS P5B Deluxe motherboard sporting 2 x 1GB DDR2 memory DIMMs ties the system together. Collectively, these components deliver truly excellent performance across a range of 3D CAD applications, and when you consider the price of the machine this is even more impressive.

So what’s the verdict? If you showed me this system a year or so ago, I would have been bowled over as it is without doubt the quietest machine I have ever used. However, fan technology has also moved on leaps and bounds and there are now a number of extremely quiet workstations out there which use more traditional cooling technology.

My Mum always told me that water and electricity don’t mix, and while the system feels extremely solid, I can't help but think how resilient the system would be to leakage from knocks. My other concern is that Nvidia’s three year warranty will be invalidated by removing the fan and heatsink from its Quadro FX graphics card, though Scan admirably says it will honour this, despite only offering a standard one year guarantee on the rest of the machine.

Those with similar concerns will be pleased to hear that the same workstation is also available with standard fan technology, which from testing previous Scan workstations will still make your machine extremely quiet. However, if you’re looking turn heads with what could rightfully claim to be the quietest workstation in the world, then look no further.

XWorks X20i-64 S-ATA

Workstations don’t come much faster than XWorks’ new X20i-64 S-ATA. Featuring two top end Xeon processors, the machine is targeted at high-end CAD/CAM/CAE users, but with a 256MB ATI FireGL V7200 graphics card those who take design visualisation seriously will also take notice.

This is the first time we’ve managed to get our hands on Intel’s new 3.0GHz Xeon 5160 (Woodcrest) processor and from looking at the benchmark scores on page WS3 it doesn’t disappoint. For those who are not familiar with Intel’s new generation chip, don’t let the GHz fool you. A 3.0GHz 5160 Xeon is significantly more powerful than the Xeon 5000 Series (Dempsey), which runs at a maximum of 3.73GHz, and faster still than older generation ‘Netburst’ Xeons, which ran at speeds up to 3.8GHz. Simply speaking, the Xeon 5100 Series is much more efficient at processing per clock cycle than these other processors.

For the CAD/CAM/CAE user this means raw computational performance is taken to new levels - and when two Xeons are put alongside each other and all four cores put to work on multithreaded tasks like rendering in 3ds Max, the results are simply astounding!

In terms of graphics performance, the ATI FireGL V7200 gave a good account of itself under SolidWorks and Inventor, and took top honours in our 3ds Max test in DirectX mode. If you’re really serious about design visualisation however, XWorks also offers ATI’s FireGL V7350, which will give you a whopping 1GB memory of on-board memory. This will be of particularly interest to those running the latest versions of Max or Maya on Windows XP x64, where, system memory permitting, extremely large models can be manipulated with ease.

Our test machine shipped with 4 x 1GB DIMMS, leaving four slots free for expansion. And when 4GB DIMMs come down in price, XWorks will be able to offers you 32GB from the outset, filling all eight slots on the Intel S5000XVNSATA mainboard.

With some extremely quiet machines currently being produced some may be a little disappointed with XWorks’ dual Xeon. Though it’s far from loud, the machine produces a constant fan noise, which peaks during high loads.

In conclusion, XWorks has produced a workstation with the fastest computational performance we have ever seen. But costing £3,200, it’s certainly a specialist piece of kit which will appeal most to those who need to run multi-threaded or concurrent calculations on its four processor cores. Of course, XWorks also offers the same system with a single Xeon 5160, which will bring the price down considerably.

Rock’s Xtreme SL Quadro 2500M

From the photo accompanying this review Rock’s Xtreme SL Quadro 2500M may look like an ordinary notebook, but you once you see it in the flesh you’d probably think twice about carrying it around for the day. The machine features a whopping 19-inch screen, and weighs in just short of 6.3kg. It’s not the type of notebook you’d want to take on a plane, even if it didn’t take up all of your hand luggage allowance in one go. And with such a huge display, top end Nvidia Quadro FX 2500M graphics card and 7,200RPM hard drive, your battery life won’t last anywhere near as long as standard notebooks.

As a result, ‘desktop replacement’ is the title best suited to the Xtreme SL – it’s the kind of machine you pick up, put on the back seat of your car, drive to a meeting, plug in and away you go. The 19-inch TFT screen features an X-Glass coating, which gives images great depth and vibrancy, but there’s also a fair amount of reflection. The resolution has a native resolution of 1,680 x 1,050, which for such a big screen may seem a little small in comparison to other widescreen laptops, but this gives the level of pixel density most users will be familiar with from their desktop displays.

Unlike virtually all mobile workstations on the market, the machine doesn’t feature an Intel chip, instead one of AMD’s dedicated mobile Turion processors. The Turion ML-44 is not a dual core chip like AMD’s new X2 dual core processors. However, it runs at 2.4GHz, a full 400MHz faster than the current top end X2.

The memory matched to this older generation architecture of AMD's is DDR and as a result the machine has a maximum of 2GB memory through 2 x 1GB DIMMs. This may be restrictive for some ‘large model’ users, and certainly doesn’t offer a viable platform for Windows XP x64.

On test, we were very concerned that we could not get Inventor to run at all, hence the lack of benchmark figures, and SolidWorks was unstable. Under applications where we did obtain consistent results, the performance was good, but not electrifying.

In summary, with such a huge screen Rock’s Xtreme SL Quadro 2500M looks perfectly suited to be a demo or presentation workstation for those on the road, though we had natural concerns over the stability of our test unit.

CAD 2 Imagine Go-Duo2

In the last issue of Workstation we looked at Woodcrest, Intel’s latest desktop Xeon CPU, which is a derivative of its new mainstream processor, the Core 2 Duo. In this issue we see the Core 2 Duo go mobile courtesy of technical workstation specialist, CAD 2, who has just launched its first Core 2 Duo mobile workstation, the Imagine Go-Duo2.

Codenamed Merom, Intel’s new mobile EMT64 dual core processor is remarkably similar to its desktop counterpart - the main difference being the speed of the Front Side Bus (FSB) and the maximum clock speed, which peak at 667MHz and 2.33GHz respectively with the T7600 model featured in our test machine.

While the slower FSB is due to compatibility with Intel’s previous generation Mobile 945 Express, the reduction in clock speed is designed to limit power consumption to around 30W. This same regard for battery life was not given by Nvidia, however, when it designed the 512MB Quadro FX 2500M graphics card, which sits at the heart of CAD 2’s Imagine Go-Duo2, and draws up to 100W of power. While this limits the amount of time you can work away from a power outlet, it does mean you have an extremely powerful 3D graphics card at your disposal.

In terms of memory, the test machine was kitted out with 2GB of DDR-2, but can take a maximum of 4GB. As the Core 2 Duo is a 64-bit processor, those running Windows XP x64 Edition and compatible applications will now be able to work with models over 2GB in size when they’re on the move. CAD 2 will be able to support this Operating System once Nvidia ships its mobile 64-bit graphics drivers.

The 17 inch TFT has a native resolution of 1,920 x 1,200, which is great for maximising the amount of CAD data you can fit on the screen but can make it hard to read small text and icons, though third party software can improve this. The screen also has an X-Black finish, which makes black more black, colours brighter and image quality arguably sharper. Some love it and others hate it. In this instance I’m one of the others as I find it far too reflective under certain lighting conditions, but a matt finished display is also available as an option if you so choose.

The test machine shipped with a 100GB high performance 7,200RPM S-ATA drive. This can be supplemented with another S-ATA drive at the expense of the DVD drive and configured in a Raid 0 array for speed or Raid 1 for fault tolerance. This will, however, put further load on your battery. A much more effective move would be to replace the DVD drive with a second battery, in effect doubling battery life.

The mobile workstation is kitted out with all the standard features including integrated high speed wireless LAN, Bluetooth, 4x USB 2.0, Firewire, Gigabit LAN, 56K modem, serial, IrDA & PCMIA. Less standard features include a 4 in 1 digital memory/smart card reader a 1.3 Mega Pixel digital camera and a DVI output to connect to external TFTs or digital projectors. For true mobile connectivity, there’s also a 3G Internet Option, which is fitted in the internal mini-pci socket.

The keyboard is excellent, firm and responsive and features an extremely useful numerical keypad. I was less impressed with the touchpad which often missed my double clicks, though serious CAD users would most probably use an external mouse.

At 3.76kg CAD 2’s Imagine Go-Duo2 is not the lightest notebook you can get your hands on, it's not the most stylish machine, and battery life for 3D CAD isn’t great unless using two batteries, but it certainly doesn’t disappoint when it comes to raw processing power. It’s up there with most desktop workstations and for the first time gives mobile users access to the full extended memory benefits of 64-bit environments, and with growing model complexity high-end CAD users who spend time away from the office are sure to take notice.