Testing environment:

CPU: Pentium Pro at 200 MHz (66 MHz x 3)

OS: Windows NT 4.0

Main memory: 64 MB EDO (4x 16 MB, Micron, 50 ns, 8-chip)

Harddisk: Quantum Fireball ST 3.2, DMA mode 2

Graphics card: Matrox Millennium 4 MB

Benchmark: Business Winstone 97

If you already read the Socket 7 Review you may have noticed that the test configuration is the same. Thanks to this it's possible to compare the business performance with an arbitary socket 7 CPU. It was not necessary to equip the system with more than 64 MB, because business applications won't run much faster. You need memory intensive applications to benefit from a larger main memory size.

Logically, the Highend Winstone would be more suited for the Pentium Pro, but the results differ just by 0.9 points so that I wanted to give up making charts to show differences that are not worth talking about them, nevertheless here they are. The reason is of course that such applications need very much CPU performance; since the L2 cache is a constituent part of the CPU, the board manufacturer has left only a few aspects to optimize system performance. Benchmark Results:

It's very becalming to see that all boards can be recommended in some aspect. Sure, the MSI MS-6107 and the Tyan S1668D can be called winners, but I think the differences at very high performance requirements can be neglected. The Pentium Pro CPU contributes more performance than any other x86 CPU at the same clock speed and buying a Pentium Pro for business applications is not very suggestive. The Pentium II 233 is cheaper and has similar performance for business or multimedia applications - combined with SDRAMs maybe even better.