Accelerate Your Macintosh! XLR8-225mhz 604e card Report

=Summary=
PROS: Excellent performance, runs at 52.8mhz bus speed with Newer 256k cache.
CONS: Can't use IDT 1 meg cache. Speed adjustments require removing card.
MacBench 4.0 scores

Update:
For a graph of XLR8-225 (at 47mhz bus/235mhz cpu speeds) using the
Powerlogix 1 meg Ultra cache - click Here

Intro:
Since we've already fully commented on the documentation, support and other aspects of XLR8 's line of processors in the previous detailed XLR8-180 mhz review I'll be brief and to the point in this review of the new 225mhz card. This report is based on initial test results after several days of operation. Should problems or other issues arise during the next few weeks of exercising the card we will post an update.

We've been behind in publishing reviews due to continued problems with a Multiprocessing card so we decided to publish this review as soon as initial tests were complete. The card has been stable at both 47.0 and 52.8 mhz bus speeds for several days in many applications such as Photoshop, After Effects and even games. We deemed this proof enough that the bus speeds shown here will run reliably. Note that all testing was done with the Newer Technology 256k cache, as the XLR8 cards again failed to run with the IDT 1 meg cache (sold by MacCPU and other vendors) even at the 47mhz bus speed. We did not test bus speeds lower than 47 mhz. It is therefore unknown at this time if the card will run with the 1 meg cache at 45mhz or lower bus speeds. Keep in mind the 1 meg cache adds about 100 points to the CPU scores typically compared to the 256k cache.

As the dual CPU (MP) card also had problems with the 1meg cache in this 8500 we are looking into replacing our mixed Mfr. ram with a matched set of 64meg dimms to see if this improves reliability with both the XLR8 card/large cache and the MP card in general. Other users have reported the Newer MP card ran with the identical 1 meg IDT cache we have - so we know its possible. The MP and XLR8 cards seem much more sensitive to cache/ram than the Newer single cpu cards. New caches are also planned for testing, and we'll keep you posted of the results.

System Notes (changes from prev. tests):
As a result of trouble-shooting to determine the cause of the frequent crashing with the MP card, we had removed the Xclaim VR card and its software extensions. (The VR card was not related to the problems with the MP card, it was removed to simplify the number of variables in the system during MP troubleshooting.) All previously published MacBench tests were run on the built-in video, but the VR card and extensions were still present. Keep that in mind when comparing the video scores. Disk cache was 512k, Speed doubler and LibMoto were active. Quicktime 2.5 and Quickdraw 3d extensions were also enabled (as done in prev. testing). For the benefit of new visitors to the site the test system was a Apple PowerMac 8500 (originally a 120mhz) with 64megs of ram, 4 megs of vram, and running OS 7.6.

Benchmark Notes:
All tests were run using MacBench 4.0 . All graphics tests were run at 1024x768, thousands of colors , not the lower resolutions and color settings used by most of the magazine reviews. We feel our settings are more in tune with actual users. Consider this when evaluating the video scores. For comparison purposes, the scores from the Newer 225mhz card, with the 256k cache running at 56.25mhz bus/225mhz cpu speeds are shown for comparison. Again the VR card was present (but not used) during the Newer test. The Newer card has been returned so it is not possible to rerun that test without the VR card installed. We will soon run the XLR8 card again with the VR card installed to see if it affects the video scores.

Two sets of scores for the XLR8-225 card are shown:

52.8mhz bus speed/211.2mhz cpu speed (X4 ratio) and

47.0mhz bus/235mhz cpu speed (x5 ratio).

XLR8 MACh Speed 225mhz Upgrade MacBench Scores

View previous scores of the Newer 225 card with 512k
and 1 meg cache installed, which boosted scores significantly.

= Where to Buy =
As of 6/13/97, the best price we've seen is $967.95,
from Cyberian Outpost.

Feedback Send us your questions or feedback

About Us About Computer Resources

= Top of Page =

= back to www.xlr8yourmac.com =

Copyright © , 1997.
No part of this sites content is to be reproduced in any form without written permission. All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies.
Users of this web site must read and are bound by the terms and conditions of use.


=Summary= PROS: Excellent performance, runs at 52.8mhz bus speed with Newer 256k cache. CONS: Can't use IDT 1 meg cache. Speed adjustments require removing card. MacBench 4.0 scores
Update: For a graph of XLR8-225 (at 47mhz bus/235mhz cpu speeds) using the Powerlogix 1 meg Ultra cache - click Here
Intro: Since we've already fully commented on the documentation, support and other aspects of XLR8 's line of processors in the previous detailed XLR8-180 mhz review I'll be brief and to the point in this review of the new 225mhz card. This report is based on initial test results after several days of operation. Should problems or other issues arise during the next few weeks of exercising the card we will post an update. We've been behind in publishing reviews due to continued problems with a Multiprocessing card so we decided to publish this review as soon as initial tests were complete. The card has been stable at both 47.0 and 52.8 mhz bus speeds for several days in many applications such as Photoshop, After Effects and even games. We deemed this proof enough that the bus speeds shown here will run reliably. Note that all testing was done with the Newer Technology 256k cache, as the XLR8 cards again failed to run with the IDT 1 meg cache (sold by MacCPU and other vendors) even at the 47mhz bus speed. We did not test bus speeds lower than 47 mhz. It is therefore unknown at this time if the card will run with the 1 meg cache at 45mhz or lower bus speeds. Keep in mind the 1 meg cache adds about 100 points to the CPU scores typically compared to the 256k cache. As the dual CPU (MP) card also had problems with the 1meg cache in this 8500 we are looking into replacing our mixed Mfr. ram with a matched set of 64meg dimms to see if this improves reliability with both the XLR8 card/large cache and the MP card in general. Other users have reported the Newer MP card ran with the identical 1 meg IDT cache we have - so we know its possible. The MP and XLR8 cards seem much more sensitive to cache/ram than the Newer single cpu cards. New caches are also planned for testing, and we'll keep you posted of the results. System Notes (changes from prev. tests): As a result of trouble-shooting to determine the cause of the frequent crashing with the MP card, we had removed the Xclaim VR card and its software extensions. (The VR card was not related to the problems with the MP card, it was removed to simplify the number of variables in the system during MP troubleshooting.) All previously published MacBench tests were run on the built-in video, but the VR card and extensions were still present. Keep that in mind when comparing the video scores. Disk cache was 512k, Speed doubler and LibMoto were active. Quicktime 2.5 and Quickdraw 3d extensions were also enabled (as done in prev. testing). For the benefit of new visitors to the site the test system was a Apple PowerMac 8500 (originally a 120mhz) with 64megs of ram, 4 megs of vram, and running OS 7.6. Benchmark Notes: All tests were run using MacBench 4.0 . All graphics tests were run at 1024x768, thousands of colors , not the lower resolutions and color settings used by most of the magazine reviews. We feel our settings are more in tune with actual users. Consider this when evaluating the video scores. For comparison purposes, the scores from the Newer 225mhz card, with the 256k cache running at 56.25mhz bus/225mhz cpu speeds are shown for comparison. Again the VR card was present (but not used) during the Newer test. The Newer card has been returned so it is not possible to rerun that test without the VR card installed. We will soon run the XLR8 card again with the VR card installed to see if it affects the video scores. Two sets of scores for the XLR8-225 card are shown: 52.8mhz bus speed/211.2mhz cpu speed (X4 ratio) and 47.0mhz bus/235mhz cpu speed (x5 ratio).
XLR8 MACh Speed 225mhz Upgrade MacBench Scores

View previous scores of the Newer 225 card with 512k and 1 meg cache installed, which boosted scores significantly.
= Where to Buy = As of 6/13/97, the best price we've seen is $967.95, from Cyberian Outpost.
Feedback	Send us your questions or feedback
About Us	About Computer Resources

= Top of Page = = back to www.xlr8yourmac.com =

Copyright © , 1997. No part of this sites content is to be reproduced in any form without written permission. All brand or product names mentioned here are properties of their respective companies. Users of this web site must read and are bound by the terms and conditions of use.