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From: tomh@metrics.com (Tom Haapanen)
Subject: Re: Hercules Graphite?
Organization: Software Metrics Inc.
Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1993 22:17:19 GMT
Message-ID: <1993Apr17.221719.17258@metrics.com>
References: <1993Apr06.185638.12139@metrics.com> <C5JBKF.9B8@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu>
Lines: 56

> tomh@metrics.com (Tom Haapanen) writes:
>> Has anyone used a Hercules Graphite adapter?  It looks good on paper, and
>> Steve Gibson gave it a very good review in Infoworld.  I'd love to get a
>> real-world impression, though -- how is the speed?  Drivers?  Support?

ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib) writes:
> The PC World reviewers found out that the Herc people had hard-coded
> Winbench text into the driver. Clever, no? In any case, the Winbench
> results are pretty much inflated.

Two things that annoyed me about the PC Magazine review:

1.  Their benchmarking technique is seriously flawed, as was clearly shown
    by the Graphite and #9GXE's "cheating".  Can't they just admit that
    their benchmark is to easy to optimize for and/or cheat on?  WinTach
    is much harder to beat...

2.  The big "cheat" that Hercules/IIT used was overlappipping BitBlit and
    PolyLine optimization, and Hercules sent them a new driver which didn't
    do this -- but produced almost identical scores.  Yet, the only thing
    PC Magazine says is that scores are not "legitimate" -- couldn't they
    at least make some comment about its real-world performance?

I'm not so much going by WinBench for performance, but, rather, by Steve
Gibson's results, which are more real-world based (like using Micrografx
Draw to benchmark).  If you believe Gibson, that is ... :)  He writes:

    "Despite these documented cheats, I have to say that in real-world
     applications the Hercules Graphite adapter actually draws faster than
     any other display adapter in the industry.   [...]  Even though it's
     just a modest ISA bus card, it outperformed every local bus adapter I
     have, including the Stealth 24 VLB, the Fahrenheit 1280VA/VLB, the
     ATI VLB Mach32 and even the Weitek P9000-based Diamond Viper VLB."

This kind of praise is enough for me to be interested in it, bogus WinBench
or not!  :)

> When and if you get one send me mail.. I might buy that ATI GU+ off
> you.. 9-)

I already returned the ATI GU+.  My dealer had sold eight of them, and 
seven were returned to him.  I'm now (temporarily) back to running an
original ATI GU, until I get my Graphite.  And, yes, the GU is faster in
my 16 MB system than the GU+, especially in bitmap handling (that's where
you use BitBlits).

Hercules has a promotion available for VARs and software developers: you
can buy one Graphite or Graphite VLB for 50% off list to try it out.  At
just $199 for Graphite or $249 for the VLB version I decided it was worth
trying (I'm supposed to get the VLB board within two weeks).  I'll post
my impressions when I get it...

-- 
[ /tom haapanen -- tomh@metrics.com -- software metrics inc -- waterloo, ont ]
[       "stick your index fingers into both corners of your mouth.  now pull ]
[          up.  that's how the corrado makes you feel."  -- car, january '93 ]
