Symbolics color system speed

[Henry Mendenhall <hmendenhall%atl.ge.com@RELAY.CS.NET>]

  We are in the midst of making machine (Symbolics) purchase decisions
for the new year, and we're having a tough time with the issue of color
graphics.  We like the Symbolics color software, especially the ability
to have color dynamic-windows, but we just can't live with the speed.
The software systems we work with need to update several hundred
ellipses, filled areas, and icons each second, and our current
cad-buffer doesn't make it.  What we need is a configuration that
gives us Symbolics color software driving something as fast as a
Silicon Graphics machine.  So anyway, we could sure use some advice
about what direction to take in our new purchases.  Among the possible
strategies are:

 1. get 3650's with cad-buffer-II and hope Symbolics somehow upgrades
    the buffer to get more drawing speed.
 2. get XL400's and hope Symbolics will support its color software on
    some 3rd party VMEbus color hardware.
 3. get Ivory board embedded in some fast color Sun.
 4. get Ivory board embedded in Silicon Graphics?
 5. keep a Silicon Graphics next to the Symbolics and use X-Windows.


thanks for any guidance,

Henry Mendenhall
GE Advanced Technology Labs
609-866-6648
HMENDENHALL@ATL.GE.COM