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SPEC/GPC Application Group Releases
Pro/ENGINEER™, SolidWorks 98Plus™ Benchmarks
MANASSAS, Va., May 19, 1999 -- SPEC’s Graphics Performance
Characterization (GPC) Group has released free downloadable source
code and initial performance results for graphics application
benchmarks based on Pro/ENGINEER™ Rev. 20 and SolidWorks
98Plus™ CAD/CAM software. The new benchmarks and performance
results are available on this web site.
The Pro/ENGINEER benchmark is the first to concentrate on the graphics-intensive
aspects of the popular solids modeling software. Developed by SPEC/GPC’s
Application Performance Characterization (APC) project group and Parametric
Technology Corp., maker of Pro/ENGINEER, the benchmark is designed to
reflect user experiences in dealing with large models and a typical
range of graphics operations within the application.
Large-Model Metrics
According to Gary Jones, IT manager of the Mechanical Systems Center
for NASA/GSFC, the new benchmark fills a void for Pro/ENGINEER users.
"Our solid models of spacecraft and complex experiments are typically
very large and we have performance issues," says Jones. "We
need to make the right decisions as to the workstations to purchase
and configure for these tasks. The SPEC/GPC benchmark is the best metric
that I have seen for judging Pro/E performance with large models."
SPEC/GPC’s Pro/ENGINEER benchmark uses a complete and realistic model
of a photocopy machine. The model contains approximately 370,000 polygons.
The benchmark runs 17 tests to measure performance for different rendering
modes, features and CPU operations. Scores are recorded for each of
the 17 tests, composite numbers are calculated for four areas of graphics
performance, and there is a final composite score for overall graphics/CPU
performance. Start-up and initiation time is also recorded, but not
included as part of the composite number. Users of the benchmark must
have a fully licensed, released version of Pro/ENGINEER Rev.20.
The SPEC/GPC Web site provides initial Pro/ENGINEER results from seven
vendors for 15 different systems. Benchmark testing is performed by
the vendors themselves, according to rules established by the APC project
group. Vendors are responsible for the accuracy of the results they
report. All results are reviewed and approved by APC project group members
before publication on the Web site.
"We are pleased with the initial vendor acceptance of this benchmark
and expect a high level of reporting and user interest," says Paul
Martin of Hewlett-Packard, chair of the APC project group. "We
bring some added value to the Pro/E benchmarking table, with a large,
graphically intense model, free downloading, and the proven SPEC/GPC
methodology, which helps ensure standardized measurement criteria."
Update to SolidWorks 98
SPEC/GPC’s SolidWorks 98Plus benchmark reflects updates in the latest
version of this popular solids modeling package. The benchmark was developed
by SolidWorks and enhanced by the APC project group. It is written in
Visual Basic and C, and runs on Windows NT and Windows 95 platforms.
The SolidWorks 98Plus benchmark uses different-sized CAD/CAM solid models,
the largest of which is a line assembly model with 276,000 polygons.
Five tests are included within the benchmark. I/O-intensive operations,
CPU-intensive operations, and three different types of graphics operations
are timed based on common user interaction with the models. A single
number is derived from a weighted geometric mean of the normalized score
for all five tests. Scores are also reported for each of the five individual
tests and for the geometric mean of the three graphics tests. Results
are normalized to a reference machine (300-MHz Pentium II processor;
PERMEDIA 2 graphics processor) chosen by the APC group’s membership.
Results for SPEC/GPC’s SolidWorks 98Plus benchmark should not be compared
to those from its predecessor, SPEC/GPC’s SolidWorks 98, since the benchmarks
are based on two different versions of the application. The SPEC/GPC
Web site currently provides SolidWorks 98Plus results from eight vendors
for 13 different system configurations.
Members of the APC project group include 3Dlabs, Compaq, Dell,
HAL Computers, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Intergraph, Real 3D,
S3, SGI, Sun Microsystems, Universidad Nacional de Mexico, and
University of Central Florida. The APC project group is part of
the GPC Group, which in turn is part of the non-profit Standard
Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC). Additional information about
SPEC/GPC's Pro/ENGINEER and SolidWorks 98Plus benchmarks can be
found on this web site. Questions can be sent to the group’s alias:
gpcapc@spec.org.
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