Computer Graphics World

November 2008 30 n n n n Hardware additionally, ATI delivers DirectX 10.1 sup- port (Nvidia is at DirectX 10.0). e Nvid- ia FX3700 is capable of supporting 1gb of video memory, and both HP's EliteBook 8730w and Lenovo's inkPad W700 use that GPU; thus, the workstations can be equipped with 1gb of video memory. Even though Nvidia currently has the "standard" position in these mobile work- stations, that situation could change. Giv- en recent evidence both from SIGGRAPH and from vendor comments, we can expect to see a surge on the part of AMD mobile workstation graphics in the coming year. e company has clearly renewed its ef- forts with respect to workstation graphics, and vendors have taken note. Other issues to consider are the user in- terface and input devices. e mouse and trackball still reign supreme (see "Invaluable Input," October 2008), but there is also a large segment in the DCC world who work with a tablet, using a pen for input. With that in mind, one supplier, Lenovo, has cleverly built in a Wacom tablet just below the keyboard of the inkPad. Processors and Memory Workstations, mobile or fixed, are ex- pected to have the most powerful CPUs and the fastest and most RAM. However, in a mobile workstation, or any mobile device for that matter, power and ther- mal management is cru- cial—super-fast CPUs and GPUs get super hot, and there's scant space to put in fans. Also, the limited space restricts the amount of memory that can be packed in, and it has to be cooled as well. HP is equipping its EliteBook 8730w mo- bile workstation with a Montevina-class In- tel Core 2 Duo (up to 3.06ghz) and up to 8gb of 800mhz DDR2 memory. Lenovo con- figures its W700 with an Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core CPU and up to 8gb of high-speed DDR3 mem- ory. Lenovo also offers optional dual hard drives with RAID configurations, and an optional Blu-ray DVD burner/player, while HP can provide up to 640gb when a second drive is added (displacing an opti- cal drive). They for Real? So, are these new monster machines real battery-powered workstations? e answer is a slightly qualified "yes." Qualified be- cause they don't offer ECM, and they don't have the most powerful GPUs. But, those are the trade-offs for size, power consump- tion, and cooling, and they are only slight compromises at that. When you think back to just a few years ago, the idea of having a portable workstation—a real worksta- tion-class machine, not just some high-end branded PC—was on the verge of absurdity. It would be like putting a Ferrari inside a Smart car—not only physically impossible, but ridiculous in concept. And look at us today. We have it, with gigantic screens and super-high resolution, super-fast multicore processors, powerful GPUs with a gigabyte of fast memory, and special features like Blu- ray disk drives. Having been a workstation builder and now a workstation user over the past few decades, I find it amazing to think about, let alone imagine it possible a decade ago. And, that's not all. Dell unveiled a new line of Precision mobile workstations, and got the ball rolling with the 17-inch M6400, which supports up to 16gb of RAM, a 1gb graphics card, an Intel Core 2 Duo Quad-Core QX9300 Extreme Edi- tion processor, four memory slots, and RAID capability. So there are even more choices for professional users on the go. n Jon Peddie is president of Jon Peddie Research, a Tiburon, CA-based consultancy specializing in graphics and multimedia that also publishes JPR's "TechWatch." He can be reached at jon@jonpeddie.com. Create 3D Faces Today! Take any photo and turn it into a 3D head. Use it as a morph with any application that reads OBJ, like Maya, 3DS Max, Poser, Lightwave, DAZ Studio, etc. Available in WIN/MAC $89.99 1. FaceShop 2. FaceShot 3D Camera system 3D Mesh on a budget. FaceShot comes with 2 Canon EOS XT cameras, mounts, hardware and FaceShot 1.0 software. Creates full 360° 3D heads with 30,000 polygons in minutes. Starts at $1,799 (Compare to similar systems costing 10x, 20x as much) www.abalonellc.com CGW_1 FOURTH:CGW_1 FOURTH 10/23/08 5:18 PM Page 1 HP has added a DreamColor option to its 8730w mobile workstation, which is already nicely equipped with a Montevina-class Intel Core 2 Duo processor and more.

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