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Eye
Candy:::…
ATI
had released some technology demos for the X800 a while
back and I was curious if these would run on the X300.
The demos are called Double cross featuring Ruby and SubSurface.
Basically I figured that the X300 was a scaled down version
of the X800, running at lower clock speeds and different
memory configurations so I tried the demos and found out
they won't run standard because the X300 has a lot more
disabled then I first assumed.
There was a wrapper that was later released to run the demos
called rubywrap, a kind of shell around the demo to make
it believe it runs on a Shadermodel 2 video card.
Here is the result; it looks pretty good if I may say so.
Conclusion
The
3DVelocity 'Dual Conclusions Concept' Explained: After discussing
this concept with users as well as companies and vendors
we work with, 3DVelocity have decided that where necessary
we shall aim to introduce our 'Dual Conclusions Concept'
to sum up our thoughts and impressions on the hardware we
review. As the needs of the more experienced users and enthusiasts
have increased, it has become more difficult to factor in
all the aspects that such a user would find important, while
also being fair to products that may lack these high end
"bonus" capabilities but which still represent
a very good buy for the more traditional and more prevalent
mainstream user. The two catergories we've used are:
The
Mainstream User ~ The mainstream user is likely to put
price, stock performance, value for money, reliability and/or
warranty terms ahead of the need for hardware that operates
beyond its design specifications. The mainstream user may
be a PC novice or may be an experienced user, however their
needs are clearly very different to those of the enthusiast,
in that they want to buy products that operate efficiently
and reliably within their advertised parameters.
The
Enthusiast ~ The enthusiast cares about all the things
that the mainstream user cares about but is more likely
to accept a weakness in one or more of these things in exchange
for some measure of performance or functionality beyond
its design brief. For example, a high priced motherboard
may be tolerated in exchange for unusually high levels of
overclocking ability or alternatively an unusually large
heat sink with a very poor fixing mechanism may be considered
acceptable if it offers significantly superior cooling in
return
The
Mainstream User ~
The Optiplex family is highly configurable and can meet
the needs of a regular user.
Pricing is determined by how the system is configured and
that means it wouldn't have to be very expensive.
One needs to keep in mind that the Optiplex family is aimed
at the business market and not the normal consumer market
and companies are more likely to choose lower video and
sound card options and better networking and storage options.
Having said that, the system is very basic and sleek, no
fancy looks or extras and very suited for the mainstream
corporate user.
Dell also offers a high degree of support and warranty.
For normal consumers that want a Dell system at home, Dell
offers a complete different family of systems known as the
Dimension series.
The Enthusiast ~
The same goes for this user, the system is highly configurable
and can be adjusted to meet your needs. Enthusiasts wouldn't
really like this system as its performance tops out at too
low a rate. The video card isn't available beyond an X300
and the soundcard doesn't options don't stretch beyond the
SoundBlaster Live.
For the enthusiast corporate user this system gets old pretty
fast, unless they are willing to expand the system with
additional purchases. This however could void the warranty
and/or support in some cases.
Also for this system you know you pay a certain premium
on the price for support and warranty and that reflects
in the pricing.
The enthusiast really needs to look at the other family
of systems that Dell offers for performance use, the Precision
series.
It's
clear that for each user Dell has a complete assortment
of systems, this system being for the normal corporate user,
this configuration being more all-round with a little bit
of oomph for special work. ;-)
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