IBM Introduces High Performance UNIX And NT Workstations.

SOMERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 5, 1998--IBM today introduced a family of industry-leading RS/6000 and IntelliStation workstations featuring the fastest graphics available anywhere.

The IBM workstation solutions announced today help product designers and engineers reduce development time, minimize manufacturing costs, improve quality and deliver innovative products:

-- RS/6000 43P Model 260 - this UNIX (TM) workstation features IBM's

most powerful microprocessor, the POWER3, which provides more raw

compute power than Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Graphics Inc. or Sun

Microsystems;

-- IntelliStation Z Pro - features the 450 MHz Intel Pentium II Xeon 

processor, with industry-leading Windows NT (TM) 2D and 3D

graphics performance;

-- RS/6000 43P Model 150 - a UNIX workstation featuring more than

twice the graphics performance of its predecessor;

-- GXT3000P Graphics Accelerator - sets a new standard for OpenGL

and graPHIGS performance.

In addition, IBM introduced a new workgroup conferencing product designed to foster innovation, productivity and teamwork by enabling real-time collaboration between UNIX and NT systems over the Internet.

"In the real world, the debate is not UNIX or NT," said John Holz, IBM vice president for Workstation Marketing and Product Management. "Rather, the question is how do the two work together to deliver what our customers need to boost productivity and compete more effectively."

RS/6000 43P Model 260

The need to perform both design and analysis on one workstation is just what IBM had in mind with the Model 260, IBM's first 64-bit symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) workstation. Record-breaking graphics performance results from a design that allows the chip to work together with the GXT3000P graphics adapter. The 260's analysis capabilities are derived from the POWER3's exceptional memory bandwidth and dual independent floating-point units (see separate news release on the POWER3). The 260 is the first IBM product to use the newest generation of the microprocessor that powered Deep Blue, the RS/6000 supercomputer that successfully challenged chess champion Garry Kasparov.

"We have conducted modeling tests on the 260 and this new workstation will surely help speed future product development and save us money," said Dr. Gunter Held, SYRKO CAD/CAM development, Daimler-Benz.

"The new IBM RS/6000 workstations and the GXT3000P graphics adapter provide excellent performance gains," said Severin Lanfranchi, CATIA Technical Director at Dassault Systemes. "We are optimistic about the performance gains our customers will experience with all of our applications and are pleased with the quality of these new AIX workstations."

IntelliStation Z Pro

The IntelliStation is IBM's extreme-performance NT workstation, ideal for compute and graphics intensive applications such as PTC Pro/E, AliasWavefront and Cadence Verilog XL.

"Our technology demands a lot from computer hardware," said Brant Ross, director, Mechanical Dynamics, a leading mechanical system simulation software company. "Animation performance and floating-point calculation performance are both critical for optimum simulation results, and we enjoy excellent performance from the IBM IntelliStation in both respects."

The new IBM IntelliStation Z Pro is also equipped with a full suite of manageability features, including IBM's Universal Management Agent, Smart Reaction, Asset ID, Alert on LAN and IBM Wake on LAN. All these manageability tools are designed to help network administrators run their networks more efficiently and less expensively.

RS/6000 43P Model 150

Joining IBM's most popular RS/6000 Model 140 workstation is the new Model 150, with a 375 MHz processor, the fastest PowerPC ever. This increased power is especially suited to mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD) applications where critical geometry acceleration is directly related to processor speed. This compact yet expandable desktop system also functions as a powerful e-business server.

GXT3000P Graphics Accelerator

IBM's GXT3000P graphics accelerator sets a new standard for graphics performance topping all competitors in three separate industry-standard benchmark tests (CDRS-03, PLBwire, PLBsurf93). The GXT3000P, available for the 150 and 260, produces a CDRS benchmark of 218.17(a) on the 260, more than 60 percent faster than Sun's Ultra 60 (139.27).

IBM Displays

The new RS/6000 and IntelliStation's graphics capabilities are optimized when choosing one of IBM's award-winning Professional Series CRT or TFT flat-panel monitors. IBM's 9516, the industry's first SXGA 16.1" flat panel monitor, supports 1280 x 1024 with a color palette of 16.7 million colors, and now has an estimated reseller price of $1,849(b), 70% less than a year ago.

IBM Workgroup Conferencing for AIX

IBM's new Java-based WorkGroup Conferencing for AIX breaks down barriers and enables cross-platform collaboration with real-time desktop videoconferencing using industry standards. WorkGroup Conferencing enables both point-to-point and multiparty calls and supports large group, server-based, videoconferencing sessions. IBM's Videoconferencing Solution for RS/6000 Systems simplifies deployment of IBM Workgroup Conferencing across an enterprise environment by providing all of the necessary hardware to setup and configure an RS/6000 system for desktop telephony and videoconferencing.

AIX V. 4.3.2

With the release of AIX 4.3.2, IBM enhances its UNIX operating system, increasing workstation and graphics performance, manageability, scalability, and interoperability. Recently voted the best operating system for workstations in a survey of resellers (1), AIX is the first operating system to support OpenGL, Version 1.2.

For more information: IBM Workstations: www.ibm.com/Products/workstation.html

PHOTOS: Photographs suitable for print and electronic publication are available of the RS/6000 43P Models 150 and 260, IntelliStation Z Pro, POWER3 microprocessor, at: www.ibm.com/Press/resources/photo/index_p.html

(1) The independent study was conducted in May 1998 by VF Information Services of Langhorne, Pennsylvania for VARBusiness magazine.

(a) GPC/OPC Results - CDRS-03, DX-03, DRV-04, Light-01, and AWadvs-01

are weighted geometric means of individual viewset metrics. The

viewsets were developed by ISVs (Independent Software Vendors)

with the assistance of the OPC (OPENGL Performance

Characterizations) member companies. Larger values indicate

better performance.

(b) Actual reseller price may vary.

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