Test System, Benchmarks And Results
We used a Workstation X2100 supplied by Hewlett-Packard as our testing system. With its 2.2 GHz Pentium 4 CPU and 512 MB of Rambus memory, the likelihood of the results being skewed because of a maxed-out CPU or memory being swapped to the page-file, as might happen in "smaller" systems, is quite low. The AGP 4X Pro-50 slot, on the other hand, may not have been the perfect fit, as it held the ATi FireGL X1 back from realizing its full potential.
Diagram 1: Spec Viewperf 6.1.2
Nvidia's Quadro-4 900 XGL takes the lead in texturing intensive applications, but it can't hold a candle to the ATi Fire GL X1 in any other areas.
Diagram 2: Spec Viewperf 7.0
In the Unigraphics Viewset (ugs-01), the Fire GL X1 eats its competitors for lunch, and then goes on for dessert in the rest of the Viewperf Suite 7.0.