SPECapc Group Releases New Benchmarks for Pro/ENGINEERÔ 2000i, SolidWorksÔ 99

Free downloads and performance results posted on web site

MANASSAS, Va., December 23, 1999 – SPEC/GPC’s Application Performance Characterization (SPECapc) project group has posted the first performance results for graphics application benchmarks based on Pro/ENGINEERÔ 2000i and SolidWorks 99Ô CAD/CAM software.

SPECapc for Pro/ENGINEER 2000i concentrates on the graphics-intensive aspects of the popular solids modeling software. Developed by the SPECapc project group and Parametric Technology Corp., maker of Pro/ENGINEER, the benchmark is designed to reflect user experiences in dealing with large models and a typical range of graphics operations within the application.

SPECapc for Pro/ENGINEER 2000i uses a complete and realistic model of a photocopy machine. The model contains approximately 370,000 polygons. The benchmark runs 17 tests to measure performance for different rendering modes, features and CPU operations. Scores are recorded for each of the 17 tests, composite numbers are calculated for four areas of graphics performance, and there is a final composite score for overall graphics/CPU performance. Start-up and initiation time is also recorded, but not included as part of the composite number. Users of the benchmark must have a fully licensed, released version of Pro/ENGINEER 2000i.

SPECapc for SolidWorks 99 reflects updates in the latest version of this popular solids modeling package. The benchmark was developed by SolidWorks and enhanced by the SPECapc project group. It is written in Visual Basic and C, and runs on Windows NT and Windows 95/98 platforms. SPECapc for SolidWorks 99 uses CAD/CAM solid models of different sizes, the largest of which is a line assembly model with 276,000 polygons.

Updates to previous SPECapc for SolidWorks benchmarks include new user interface features, increasing the display resolution requirement to 1280x1024 and the color depth to 24 bits per pixel, and upgrading the reference machine from a 3Dlabs Permedia 2 to a 3Dlabs Oxygen VX1.

"We will continue to update the Pro/ENGINEER and SolidWorks benchmarks as new versions become available," says Susan Hunts of Fujitsu, chair of the SPECapc project group. "We also have benchmarks planned in 2000 for other major CAD/CAM and digital content creation applications."

Results from SPECapc for Pro/ENGINEER 2000i and SPECapc for SolidWorks 99 should not be compared to previous SPECapc benchmarks for these two applications. Results from previous versions of the benchmarks will remain on the SPEC/GPC web site until it is decided to phase out the older benchmarks.

Members of the APC project group include 3Dlabs, Compaq, Dell, Evans & Sutherland, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Intergraph, Real 3D, SGI, Sun Microsystems, and University of Central Florida. The SPECapc project group is part of the SPEC/GPC Group which operates under the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp. (SPEC). Questions about SPECapc can be sent to the group’s alias: gpcapc-info@spec.org.