Buyer's Guide: High-End Systems - June 2000

High-end Professional 3D
A high-end professional 3D system requires a number of high-end components. CPU performance is critical and we need more RAM here than any other system we've looked at previously. The graphics requirements are also very different in the professional space and a large monitor is critical.

CPU – AMD Athlon 900 - $650
The Athlon performs extremely well under professional applications, especially when teamed with the KX133 chipset.  Right now, the 900 is the fastest widely available Athlon, and it’s very reasonably priced at $650.  Once again, a Thunderbird would be nice, but CPU and motherboard availability prevent us from making such a recommendation at this point in time.

For more information on all Athlon processors, read our Athlon 1GHz Review.

Motherboard – ASUS K7V - $160
If you’re going with an Athlon CPU, the VIA KX133 chipset is clearly the best platform to run it on today.  Last month there was a huge dearth of good KX133 motherboards that were actually available, but times have changed. The ASUS K7V is now available and is our pick as the best overall KX133 motherboard. It's a bit pricey at $160, but well worth the added cost.

You can save a few bucks by going with the AOpen AK72 or ABIT KA7, both of which performed very well in the AnandTech lab.

For more information, read our ASUS K7V Review.

Memory – 512MB Corsair or Mushkin PC133 SDRAM (2x256MB DIMM’s) – $350 x 2
Even though memory is relatively cheap these days, it is a key factor in the performance of most professional apps.  For a high-end system like this, 512MB is not unreasonable and easily fits within the budget.

As for the exact brand of memory, we recommend Corsair or Mushkin modules.  We use them in our test systems and have had absolutely no problems with them. 

Video Card – ELSA GLoria II (NVIDIA Quadro) - $650
NVIDIA’s Quadro is simply the most powerful workstation 3D accelerator we’ve tested to date.  Based on the same T&L GPU of the GeForce, the Quadro runs at a higher core clock speed, 135 MHz, and enables certain features that were left disabled on the GeForce. Among these features is enhanced support for anti-aliased points and lines, which, although it isn’t a commonly used feature with most users, was an extremely poor performance point for the GeForce.

With their previous experience in the professional market, ELSA was able to score exclusive rights to manufacture the Quadro.  The Gloria II is ELSA’s implementation and comes with 64MB SDR SDRAM.  While a DDR version of the Quadro has been announced, and even tested by AnandTech, it’s not actually available anywhere at the moment.  At $650, the SDR version of the Gloria II is a relative steal compared to some of the other professional 3D accelerators out there.  Throw in the fact that it’s fully support under Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Linux and it becomes quite clear that the Quadro is the best choice.

Will we see a professional version of the GeForce 2 GTS? It seems likely after the success of the Quadro in the professional market. Once again, it may be wise to hold off a bit if you can. For more information, see our ELSA Gloria II Review.

Monitor – iiYama VisionMaster PRO 510 - $1000
Using a Mitsubishi Diamondtron NF, the iiYama VisionMaster Pro 510 provides a perfectly flat display surface using the same technology in Sony’s FD Trinitron models, but at a lower cost.  Make sure you can deal with the damper wires that all Trinitron style tubes have.  The VisionMaster PRO 510 is a 22” monitor and has been highly acclaimed here on AnandTech and by owners alike. 

For more information, read our iiYama VisionMaster PRO 450 and VisionMaster PRO 510 Reviews.