Intergraph announces New TDZ 3D Graphics Workstations with up to four 200- and 150-MHz Pentium Pro Processors.SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 1, 1995--Intergraph Computer Systems (ICS (1) (Internet Connection Sharing) A Windows feature that enables two or more computers to share one Internet connection. First introduced in Windows 98 Second Edition, sharing is accomplished with network address translation (NAT), which is the common method. ) today announced the first 200-MHz and 150-MHz Pentium Pro The sixth generation of the Intel x86 family of CPU chips. The term may refer to the chip or to a PC that uses it. Introduced in 1995 as the successor to the Pentium, models from 150 MHz to 200 MHz were released. processor-based workstations, the TDZ TDZ The Dead Zone (movie) TDZ Touchdown Zone TDZ Temperature Danger Zone (food safety) TDZ Tvornica Duhana Zagreb (Croatian tobacco factory) TDZ thiazolidinediones family of interactive 3D Graphics Workstations. Engineered specifically for the 200-MHz and 150-MHz Intel Pentium Pro processors, the TDZ-300, TDZ-400, and TDZ-600 include single, dual, or quad Pentium Pro processors, respectively; Intergraph's advanced GLZ GLZ Galey Zahal (Israel Defence Forces radio literally meaning: waves) GLZ Generalized Linear Model OpenGL-based 3D graphics accelerators; and the workstation-class Microsoft Windows See Windows. (operating system) Microsoft Windows - Microsoft's proprietary window system and user interface software released in 1985 to run on top of MS-DOS. Widely criticised for being too slow (hence "Windoze", "Microsloth Windows") on the machines available then. NT operating system operating system (OS) Software that controls the operation of a computer, directs the input and output of data, keeps track of files, and controls the processing of computer programs. . TDZ workstations revolutionize the price/performance standard for 3D graphics applications, making high-performance 3D graphics affordable for the expanding audience of creative and technical professionals in markets such as visual computing The use of computers for 3D modeling and animation. See visualization. (3D animation, simulation, and multimedia creation); computer-aided design computer-aided design (CAD) or computer-aided design and drafting (CADD), form of automation that helps designers prepare drawings, specifications, parts lists, and other design-related elements using special graphics- and calculations-intensive (mechanical/CAD); and architecture, engineering and construction (AEC AEC US Atomic Energy Commission Noun 1. AEC - a former executive agency (from 1946 to 1974) that was responsible for research into atomic energy and its peacetime uses in the United States Atomic Energy Commission ). "Intergraph's early adoption of 200-MHz Pentium Pro processor technology indicates that our latest processor will quickly secure a position in the high-end 3D graphics workstation world," said Carl Everett Carl Edward Everett III (born June 3, 1971 in Tampa, Florida) is a former all-star Major League Baseball outfielder. A switch hitter, he played with the Chicago White Sox on their 2005 World Series winning team. , senior vice president of the Desktop Products group, Intel Corporation (company) Intel Corporation - A US microelectronics manufacturer. They produced the Intel 4004, Intel 8080, Intel 8086, Intel 80186, Intel 80286, Intel 80386, Intel 486 and Pentium microprocessor families as well as many other integrated circuits and personal computer networking . "Coupling Intergraph's advanced GLZ graphics accelerators that achieve 500,000 triangles per second graphics speed with the Pentium Pro processor's 366 SPECint92 and 283 SPECfp92 rate per processor, the TDZ attains performance heights previously unknown to the Intel platform." At today's Intel launch of its latest processor, Intergraph's new TDZ-400 3D graphics workstation, featuring dual 200 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. Pentium Pro processor and Softimage 3D : Softimage|3D was a high-end 3D graphics application developed by Softimage, Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc. animation workstation, was used to demonstrate the workstation-class graphics performance of the Pentium Pro/Windows NT environment. At a separate event today to launch Intergraph's TDZ 3D graphics workstation with 200 MHz Pentium Pro processors, more than a dozen software vendors, including Softimage (Microsoft), Sense8, Computer Associates, Gemini, and Parametric Technology Corporation |Parametric Technology Corporation]] Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC)(NASDAQ: PMTC) provides Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) engineering CAD/CAM software and content management and dynamic publishing solutions to more than 40,000 companies worldwide. (PTC (PTC, Needham, MA, www.ptc.com) Long a world leader in mechanical computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering software, PTC, through acquisitions and reorganization, has transformed itself into a leading provider of Internet-based B2B solutions for discrete manufacturers. ), demonstrated their OpenGL and Windows NT-based applications on TDZ workstations. "More and more software vendors are moving to the Intel-based Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. and OpenGL development platform, making 3D an affordable reality for all professional graphics users," said Jim Meadlock, Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Intergraph Corporation. "Now users and developers of 3D applications can experience a truly open graphics desktop workstation that is even more powerful than traditional RISC/UNIX workstations at almost half the price. Additionally, users will have software compatibility with business applications, an advantage that was once common only to the PC world." Intergraph's TDZ workstations are aimed at the high-end 3D graphics workstation market. "The TDZ family of 3D workstations exceeds SGI's Indy and Indigo2 workstations -- including those with High IMPACT graphics -- in features and performance, yet the TDZ is priced at thousands of dollars less. TDZs incorporate unique workstation features and Intergraph's GLZ graphics cards that drive the processors to achieve their fullest capacity, offering an unparalleled price/performance combination," added Wade Patterson, vice president of Intergraph Computer Systems. Unparalleled Performance for Visual Computing Applications Visual computing companies demonstrated how fast and realistic their applications appeared when running on a TDZ 3D Graphics Workstation. The TDZ is exciting news for users and developers of 3D animation, simulation, and design, as a wider range of creative professionals will now be able to afford 3D graphics capability on their desktop. By integrating Intel's fastest processors, Windows NT, and Intergraph's GLZ OpenGL-based accelerators for rasterization and texture processing, the TDZs allow applications such as Softimage 3D to achieve outstanding performance results. "The combination of PentiumPro, Windows NT and the Intergraph TDZ graphics-workstation provides comparable, if not better performance than traditional 3D animation solutions, but with substantial savings in the cost of the hardware," said Craig Mundie Craig Mundie is chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft. External links
The TDZ's superior hardware texture processing impressed Computer Associates International, Inc. "Computer Associates selected TDZ workstations as its platform for the CA-Unicenter/TNG enterprise management solution because they are the industry's most powerful graphics systems capable of texture mapping under Windows NT," said Yogesh Gupta, Computer Associates' senior vice president to product strategy. "And because Windows NT is interoperable, TDZs also network cohesively with our users' existing UNIX systems." Sense8 demonstrated the importance of high-performance texture mapping and real-time rendering in virtual reality and visual simulation applications. "The demonstration reconstructing France's Lascaux Caves uses virtual reality effects, such as sound, video, animation, and morphing, to transport the viewer through a real-time walkthrough of the paintings and carvings of the cave's chambers," said Sense8 president, Tom Coull. "The Lascaux caves are just one example of how Sense8's WorldToolKit running on a TDZ workstation creates a realistic virtual reality environment. Specialized features like hardware shading and texture mapping are employed. This speed and high-quality 3D graphics texture-mapping capability has, until recently, just not been possible on the PC architecture." Mechanical CAD Users Reap Comparable Benefits To meet the rigorous demands of mechanical CAD users, the TDZ 3D Graphics Workstaton is packed with intense CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. performance and advanced OpenGL 3D graphics capability. Intergraph's GLZ graphics engines integrate multiple custom 3D accelerator chips and to up to 34 megabytes of video RAM to provide feature sets and speeds that are unsurpassed in the industry. In addition, the multithreading Multitasking within a single program. It allows multiple streams of execution to take place concurrently within the same program, each stream processing a different transaction or message. capabilities of Windows NT and numerous mechanical CAD applications exploit the full potential of multiple processors. "The TDZ-400 workstation from Intergraph Computer Systems offers a combination of CPU, 3D graphics, and operating systems performance that should be compelling for Pro/ENGINEER users," said Olimpio DeMarco, manager of strategic relations at Parametric Technology Corporation. "The price/performance of this Pentium Pro processor-based workstation will continue to broaden the market for production-level mechanical design automation solutions." TDZ workstations are designed for demanding mechanical CAD performance challenges such as 3D solid modeling and real time, true-color rotation of Gouraud-shaded 3D models. "The TDZ's powerful Intel CPU, a true worktation operation system in Windows NT, and built-in networking enable I-DEAS power users to enjoy instantaneous, real-time rendering response, even for large 3D solid models," said Wayne McClelland, SDRC (company) SDRC - The company behind VGX. http://sdrc.com/. vice president of I-DEAS product management. "Intergraph Computer Systems is a partner who can provide high-caliber performance on an Intel/Windows NT platform that offers the affordability, compatibility, and familiarity that users of I-DEAS on Windows NT demand." "These new TDZ workstations are ideal for the recently announced Solid Edge, Intergraph's next-generation mechanical CAD software," said Tommy Steele, president of Intergraph Software Solutions. "Users will appreciate the easy-to-use Windows interface, while experiencing optimum performance for Solid Edge. The combination of the TDZ and Solid Edge sets a new price/performance standard for advanced 3D solid modeling." Advanced Real-Time Simulation Graphics TDZ 3D graphics workstation technology is promoting the rapid growth of the real-time simulation market. The TDZ delivers the high-performance graphics required for simulation applications such as defense, training, and research, to name a few. "This simulation realism is critical for the optimal performance of our DoD Hunter Liggett terrain database produced by MultiGen software. Intergraph's GLZ advanced texture subsystem, with up to 32 megabytes of memory, performs true trilinear tri·lin·e·ar adj. Relating to, having, or bounded by three lines. mipmapped texturing resulting in photorealistic Having the image quality of a photograph. digital terrain models updated in real time," said John Archdeacon, Vice President, Business Development, Gemini Corporation. The true-to-life realism generated by the TDZ was evident during the demonstration of The Analytic Sciences Corporation's (TASC TASC The After School Corporation TASC The American Surrogacy Center TASC Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities TASC The Analytic Sciences Corporation TASC Transportation Administrative Service Center TASC Total Administrative Services Corporation ) Portable War Room (PoWR) software. "PoWR enacts a chain of hypothetical `what-if' scenarios during a wartime crisis situation. The more accurate the images, the better the user can envision realistic scenarios and select the best course of action," said Francis X. Govers, III, member of the technical staff, TASC. "The high performance of the TDZ enables true real-time simulation and lifelike textures that create the `reality' in virtual reality. Combined with a price point that is acceptable for high-quality purchases, the TDZ allows us to enter new markets that at one time were not possible." Unique Combination of Workstation Features While the Pentium Pro catapults TDZs into the upper echelon of workstation performance, the specialized engineering of the TDZ -- from a company with a legacy of developing leading graphics hardware -- pushes the Pentium Pro to score its highest potential. Motherboard-level implementation of networking, SCSI SCSI in full Small Computer System Interface Once common standard for connecting peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, etc.) to small and medium-sized computers. SCSI has given way to faster standards, such as Firewire and USB. disk controller, and sound means TDZs are ready to run out of the box, and PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). and ISA (1) (Instruction Set Architecture) See instruction set. (2) (Interactive Services Association) See Internet Alliance. (3) (Internet Security and Acceleration) See .NET. slots are freed for future expandability. Other specialized TDZ features include up to 512 megabytes of error-checking and correction memory for speedy processing of large data files and hardware RAID to boost I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output. I/O - Input/Output rates by performing read/write operations in parallel across multiple disks. Also, a carefully mapped airflow effectively cools the system and eliminates noisy fans for the Pentium Pro processors. Typically a workstation is not fully multimedia ready; however, not only does the TDZ motherboard integrate high-performance audio, the TDZ's multimedia keyboard includes built-in stereo speakers and a microphone. Sound combined with photorealistic 3D designs and animations -- made possible with Intergraph's GLZ graphics cards -- produce a theater of multimedia effects. Plus, a high-performance PCI bus (for quick data transfer between disk, CPU, and graphics card), an integrated Fast SCSI-2 disk interface (for high-speed data transmission), and a quad-speed CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). (for fast multimedia application playback) ensure a speedy data input/output flow, which means multimedia presentations play in real time with a true-to-life smoothness. Customer Satisfaction "The TDZ is a dream machine! It rips through tasks that my Pentium desktop chokes on," said Charles Foundyller, president of Daratech. Daratech has followed Intergraph's progression for years and has often recognized the company for its leadership in customer service. "Given its unrivaled customer satisfaction rating, and a comprehensive hardware offering that includes killer Pentium Pro processor-based workstations, servers, and networking products, as well as the in-depth expertise to integrate systems into efficient IT infrastructures, Intergraph Computer Systems has earned a reputation of a workstation vendor who is genuinely committed to the success of its users," concluded Foundyller. Pricing and Availability The TDZ-300 (desktop) and TDZ-400 (desktop or deskside), with single and dual 150-MHz Pentium Pro processor, respectively, will begin shipping November 1. The 200-MHz Pentium Pro processor versions of the TDZ-300 and TDZ-400 will ship in December. Quad-processor configurations will be available in the first quarter of 1996. End users can purchase TDZ 3D graphics workstations starting at $10,000. (Price list included in press kit.) Intergraph Background Information Intergraph Computer Systems develops, manufacturers, sells and supports computer systems for the Technical Desktop -- the combination of compatible technical applications and personal productivity tools in a single desktop computer. Hardware products include personal workstations and servers. A member of the Fortune 1000, Intergraph is the world's largest company dedicated to supplying interactive computer graphics systems. Note to Editors: If you wish to provide a telephone number for reader inquiries, please use 800-763-0242 or reach us on the Internet at http://www.intergraph.com/ics. Use of this number allows Intergraph to better serve your readers. Intergraph is a registered trademark of Intergraph Corporation. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. CONTACT: Intergraph Computer Systems, Huntsville Aggie Frizzell, 205/730-6139 Dorseda Wegert, 205/730-1430 |
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