The Basic System
In order to be able to evaluate the various components that can be upgraded, we need a starting point, i.e. a basic system. We selected a PC that is fine for text processing and spreadsheet applications but which is no longer adequate for compute-intensive applications.
| Our Basic System | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Pentium II, 266 MHz |
| Motherboard | Asus P2L97 (440LX) |
| RAM | 64 MByte SDRAM, 10 ns (SEC, PC66) |
| Hard disk | Quantum Fireball ST 3.2A (UDMA/33) |
| Graphics board | Matrox Millennium II AGP 8 MB for 2D Apps
3Dfx Voodoo² 12 MB for 3D Apps |
Our 'oldies' graphics boards were a Matrox Millennium II AGP with 8 MByte WRAM and a Voodoo² board from Hercules. These boards are now two years old. The Matrox board was very popular due to its excellent 2D performance and the signal quality it offered. The Voodoo² chipset found wide support due to its exceptionally good 3D performance (at the time). Two years ago, this solution, with a main 2D board and an additional 3D board was commonly regarded as the top solution. Today, for pricing reasons, graphic chips are used that incorporate both 2D and 3D functionality.
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