IBM and Dassault Systemes Announce CATIA Versions 4 and 5 on RS/6000 44P Workstations

Strategic Insights -

IBM and Dassault Systemes have announced the general availability of CATIA Versions 4 and 5 on the new RS/6000 44P Model 170 and Model 270 workstations. This partnership demonstrates the close cooperation between the two companies' development teams. The RS/6000 44P workstations, featuring a state-of-the-art 64-bit copper POWER3-II microprocessor, offer significant performance gains and cost savings for customers.

Key Takeaways:

  • The IBM RS/6000 44P workstations provide a huge gain in performance and cost savings for customers, thanks to the 64-bit copper POWER3-II microprocessor.
  • The new workstations offer exceptional performance gains over current IBM workstation offerings, with up to 3x performance improvement on floating-point intensive operations.
  • The system's graphics performance also scales well with the CPU, with a performance improvement of 1.5x to 2x compared to current IBM workstations.
  • The IBM RS/6000 will remain the best workstation for transitioning from CATIA V4 to V5, allowing users to run both versions.
  • CATIA supports digital product definition and simulation, while ENOVIA manages a comprehensive, collaborative, and distributed model of the digital product, processes, and resources.
  • The combined integration creates the Digital Product life Pipeline, supporting the re-use of corporate knowledge.

Statistics:

  • Up to 3x performance improvement on floating-point intensive operations on the 44P-170/333MHz over the 43P-150.
  • Average 2x improvement on various CPU-oriented scenarios on the 44P-170/333MHz over the 43P-150.
  • Average 2x improvement on CPU-oriented scenarios on the 44P-270/375Mhz over the 43P-260.
  • Performance improvement of 1.5x to 2x on graphics compared to current IBM workstations.

Sources:

  • Business Wire, March 3, 2000: "IBM and Dassault Systemes Announce General Availability of CATIA Version 4 and CATIA Version 5 on New RS/6000 44P Workstations"
  • IBM press release, March 3, 2000: "IBM and Dassault Systemes Announce CATIA V5 on RS/6000 44P Workstations"
  • Dassault Systemes website: "CATIA, ENOVIA and DENEB solutions support industry-specific business processes"