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SCMP Reporter

US computer giant Digital Equipment has unveiled what it claims is the world's fastest personal computer - based on the superfast AXP microprocessor it introduced last year.

   Called the DECpc AXP 150, the machine works at more than twice the speed of PCs currently on the market, according to Mr Graeme Bowkers, Alpha AXP program manager for Digital Asia.

  Its operating speed will be 150 megahertz, compared with 66 megahertz for the fastest PC now available.

  Since the system will be based on the Alpha AXP 64-bit microprocessor, which can handle data faster than the 32-bit processers now in use, the system will be even faster than those designed around the Pentium microchip, the latest offering from Intel Corp.

   The release of the computer was timed to coincide with the unveiling of the Windows NT operating system by Microsoft last week, Mr Bowkers said.

   Analysts expect the computer will be used mainly by a small number of professional power users - the same individuals who are expected to invest in Windows NT - and larger personal computer network users.

  Mr Bowkers confirmed this segment as Digital's target market.

  ''Because of its price and high performance, the Alpha AXP 150 will be aimed at the high end of the PC market place,'' he said. ''It will most likely be used as a PC server to a large extent, although we see it also being used by some individuals who do computer-intensive work.''   The new computer is priced at US$5,000.

  Although Digital has a number of the systems at its offices in Hongkong, they are primarily being used as demonstration and evaluation models.

  ''Systems are out for evaluation right now, but the new operating system is an issue,'' Mr Bowkers said. He pointed out that Windows NT - although ''unveiled'' last week - was still in the beta testing stage and would not be officially launched until the middle of this month.

  Computer industry analysts have pointed to this as a possible problem that could be faced by computer vendors supporting Windows NT.

  The general belief is that customers will not be too keen to invest in a system that is largely untested on a commercial scale.

  While agreeing with this, Mr Bowkers stressed that Digital was ready to sell the Alpha AXP 150 ''right now'' if customers asked for it.

  The machine comes with 16 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM) expandable to a huge 128 MB in standard 36-bit single in-line memory modules (SIMMs).

  On the storage side, too, the Alpha AXP 150 is gargantuan, able to hold up to 29.4 gigabytes (GB) of data on its hard disks. And besides space for a 3.5-inch floppy drive (in either 1.44 MB or 2.88 MB capacities), it has three accessible bays for 5.25-inch removable media such as floppy, tape of optical drives.

  Digital stresses that since the new machine will come together with the Windows NT operating system, it will be able to take advantage of thousands of off-the-shelf applications available for the platform, as well as to offer superior networking and database capabilities for work group computing.

  Many high-end application providers - such as the makers of computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) programs - who had supported only the UNIX operating system under a reduced-instruction-set computing (RISC) computing model, would soon create versions of their software that could run on Windows NT, Mr Bowkers said.

  ''The Alpha PC is the best PC currently available to run NT and, as such, it gives application vendors who support it a much larger marketing audience than before,'' he said.

  ''We are also reminding people that although it is the most powerful personal computer currently available, the machine is, essentially, a PC and, as such, is fully compatible with all PC peripherals, software and add-on boards.

     and cards on the market.'' 



World's fastest PC hits market