Intel’s ‘Ivy Bridge’ processor didn’t exactly have CAD users rushing to put in a purchase order. But Intel’s third gen Core processor did offer a small boost in performance and better power efficiency over its predecessor, Sandy Bridge. Compared to the Intel Core i7 2600K, the darling of Intel’s second gen Core family, the new Ivy Bridge Core i7 3770K saves a cool 18W, down from 95W to 77W at peak. Its base clock speed also moves up a notch from 3.4GHz to 3.5GHz
The Scan 3XS GW-MT15
Not one to be content with off the shelf performance, Bolton-based Scan has done its trademark job of overclocking, taking the quad core i7 3770K up to 4.4GHz. The problem is, this is 0.1Ghz less than it achieved more than a year ago with the ‘Sandy Bridge’ Core i7 2600K in its Scan 3XS P67 X3D workstation. And despite the small architectural improvements Intel has made to Ivy Bridge our benchmarks show performance has literally stood still.
There have been some tweaks in other parts of Scan’s new 3XS workstation, most noticeably in terms of storage. The new 120GB PNY Professional SSD boasts excellent performance. Its 550MB/s read and 520MB/s write makes the 285MB/s and 275MB/sec of last year’s 120GB OCZ Vertex 2E look somewhat pedestrian. Indeed, the score of 181 in our SolidWorks CAD STEP import test, which uses a combination of CPU and hard drive, is one of the best ever recorded.
Scan has also upped the capacity of its companion ‘data’ drive and the 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7,200 SATA will give plenty of space for complex CAD datasets. Scan has been equally generous in its memory, delivering 16GB of Corsair PC3-12800 (1600) RAM in 2 x 8GB modules leaving two slots free for future upgrades.
Despite approaching its two year anniversary, the PNY Nvidia Quadro 2000 graphics card still manages to put in a solid score in our 3D graphics test. It doesn’t reach the heady heights of a Quadro 4000 or FirePro V7900, but remains a good option for mid range CAD. Compared to AMD’s new FirePro W Series it does look slightly off the pace in PTC Creo 2.0 though.
Overall, it’s hard to fault the Scan 3XS GW-MT15. It’s a good solid mid-range CAD workstation. Unfortunately, there’s no compelling reason to upgrade from last year’s model. I guess those that have invested in an overclocked Sandy Bridge workstation will have to wait for some Ivy Bridge upgrades, hopefully later this year.
Greg Corke
To view comparative scores from other workstations please click here
For details of all our specific CAD/CAM/CAE benchmarks click here
Specifications
» Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2 3.3 GHz (Quad Core) (Ivy Bridge) CPU
» 8GB (2 x 4GB) PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3 memory
» Nvidia Quadro 600 (1GB DDR3) graphics
» 1TB 7,200RPM 6Gb/s SATA drive
» Lenovo motherboard (Intel C216 chipset)
» Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
» 3 year on-site warranty
CPU benchmarks
(secs – smaller is better)
CAD (SolidWorks 2010) – 181
CAM (Delcam PowerMill 2010) – 1) 137 2) 212 3) 298
CAE (SolidWorks 2010 Simulation) – 77
Rendering (3ds Max Design 2011) – 204
Graphics benchmarks
(bigger is better)
CAD (SolidWorks 2010) – 37
CAD (Creo 2.0 – SPECapc graphics test) – 2.01
Intel Core i7 3770K (3.5GHz overclocked to 4.4Ghz) (Quad Core) (Ivy Bridge) CPU
16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair PC3-12800 (1600) memory
Nvidia Quadro 2000 (1GB GDDR5) graphics
Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H motherboard
120GB PNY Professional SSD + 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7,200 HDD
3 year warranty – 1st year on site, 2nd & 3rd year return to base (mechanical hard drives only covered for 1st year)
Scan
181
137
212
298
77
204
37
