Issue: Volume: 25 Issue: 6 (June 2002)

News - 6/02



Pixar Sues Exluna Over Patent
Pixar Animation Studios has filed a patent infringement lawsuit concerning Exluna's Entropy rendering package, which, according to Pixar, represents an unauthorized use of Pixar's RenderMan computer animation technology. A statement on the Exluna Web site states there is no merit to the claim. Pixar has declined comment.

benchmark

Top 10 ProCDRS Price/Performers
Dell workstations paired with Nvidia Quadro 4 boards recently achieved the best price/performance scores for the Pro/Designer ProCDRS-03 subset of the SPECviewperf 6.1.2 benchmark. The ProCDRS benchmark is based on PTC's CDRS industrial design software and consists of 10 tests, each of which represents a different mode of operation within CDRS.

The mean scores represent the combined, weighted results of the 10 tests, measured in the number of frames per second the machines were able to execute. The larger the numbers, the better the performance. The $ per composite figure represents the system price divided by the mean score.

To see how the same workstations fared in other benchmark tests, or to review results from additional systems, visit www.spec.org/gpc.

ProCDRS-03 Price/Performance Summary
Workstation Graphics Card Price Mean $ per Composite
Dell 340 2.2GHz Nvidia Quadro 4 700XGL $2447 92.53 $26
Dell 340 2.2GHz Nvidia Quadro 4 900XGL $2896 103.33 $28
HP x2100 Nvidia Quadro 4 900XGL $3242 103.3 $31
Compaq Evo W6000 2.2GHz Nvidia Quadro 4 750XGL $3143 93.20 $34
Compaq Evo W6000 Nvidia Quadro 4 900XGL $3792 103.38 $37
HP x2100 ATI FireGL 8800 $2882 78.20 $37
IBM M Pro 2.2GHz ATI FireGL 8800 $3048 78.23 $39
HP x2100 3Dlabs Wildcat III 6110 $4142 86.95 $48
IBM M Pro 2.2GHz 3Dlabs Wildcat III 6110 $4399 86.52 $51
Compaq Evo W6000 2.2GHz 3Dlabs Wildcat III 6110 $4792 86.83 $55
Companies listed are voluntary participants.
Source SPEC/GPC benchmark results May 2002. Copyright Standard Performance Evaluation Corp.


For additional CG industry news updated daily, see: www.cgw.com

News is written and compiled by Jenny Donelan