Interview - HyperSonic PC

HyperSonic PC Systems Interview
Tuesday, August 15, 2000 - Tim Allen

There is certainly a wide variety of computer companies fighting for your hard earned dollars these days. With everything from budget pre-built systems like E-machines, to companies like Dell and Compaq that allow you to configure your own system and add everything but the kitchen sink.

All of these are fine companies and offer good products, but there is a segment of the population that demands more from their computers. These are the people that are not satisfied with having whatever motherboard just happens to come with their system, or whatever memory the builder just happened to get a better deal on that week. These are the people that don't want last year's video cards, or integrated sound. They want to hand-pick their components, and tinker with their rigs. They are more concerned with frame rates, benchmarks, and fragging, rather than having shiny-happy customer service agents to answer questions about how to install the latest version of the Encyclopedia CD-ROM.

Who are "these" people?.........They are PC GAMER'S, and they are the most demanding, most devoted, and most hard-core computer users on the planet. For them, the average computer offered by huge cookie cutter companies is just not good enough. Thus, a new category of PC seller was created, and Gaming PC builders are now a legitimate force in the industry.

You probably have heard of such well known companies as Alienware, and Falcon-Northwest. Well today I am proud to introduce you to a company that has been taking the industry by storm over the last couple years. They not only deserve to be on the same list with those two "Heavy-Weights", but quite possibly on top.

The company is Hypersonic-PC, and the president Mr. Fred Kohan has been kind enough to sit down with me, and tell our readers what makes them tick.

The interview:
Guru3D: Hello Fred, on behalf of everyone here, let me say Welcome to the Guru of 3D website! Why don't we kick things off by having you tell our readers a little about your company. Who is Hypersonic-PC, and what are you guys all about?

Fred Kohan: "From the beginning Hypersonic PC's primary focus has been multiplayer gaming. To be honest, the idea for Hypersonic PC was originally inspired by Classic Quake/Quake Team fortress. Hours upon hours of LAN Free-for-All/Deathmatch games created an insatiable need for top-notch hardware, and the quest for the first true 3D experience had been realized with the 3Dfx Voodoo1 graphics accelerator. At that point, the House of Chthon was the Hypersonic PC board of choice for deathmatch mayhem while Mplayer served us our regular diet of +200ping mass multiplayer fragging. Hypersonic PC was and still is obsessed with the primal joy of head-to-head human competition in an ever expanding virtual world. Though times have changed and the current favorite is Q3DM9, the basic roots remain.

To this day, Hypersonic PC's system building philosophy is quite simple. Take it out of the box, install your favorite game, get your online team together using the bundled Roger Wilco and start gaming. If the system can't do that out of the box its time to go back to the drawing board. The additional perk of a Hypersonic PC system is that it's also an ideal platform for a variety of uses, such as an audio/graphic workstation, CD burning station or home entertainment system. In most cases the gaming hardware can handle all of those tasks without any additional add-ons. A variety of capabilities make Hypersonic PC systems more than just a gaming system, we prefer to call our systems Audio/Visual platforms."

Guru3D: One of the first things i noticed when i visited your web-site, was the fact that I didn't see any generic parts, only name brand components. It looks like you spent a lot of time selecting the highest quality parts available. You guys sell high-performance rigs, and it shows in the products you use. How do you decide which components to use when designing your systems?

Fred Kohan: "Testing. Every single component is thoroughly tested for long term stability. If a product passes that stage, it is then tested for performance in stock and optimized configurations. In addition batch quality is also determined. All to often reviews recommend products based on a single unit. Batch testing reveals the possibility of a large percentage of defective parts within a given group. We cannot afford to offer a product that has a disproportionate rate of failure. You can bet on the quality of any product carried by Hypersonic if properly configured. To emphasize, quality assurance takes precedence over performance during this selection process, as a system is useless if it isn't reliable."

Guru3D: I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that you already include the IBM Deskstar 75GXP series of hard drives in all your systems. This is the very latest technology, and offers Ultra ATA/100 support. Not many system builders have upgraded to these drives yet, so how did you guys pull it off?

Fred Kohan: "The IBM Deskstar 75GXP line is simply outstanding. We have carried the IBM Deskstar series line of drives since the original 14GXP release. Every single line of Deskstar drives has been stunning and their quality is untouchable. They even give the Seagate 15000rpm X15 Ultra160 drive a run for the money. A 32mbps average data transfer and blistering 60+mpbs burst speeds due to its ATA-100 support makes the 75GXP a winner, not to mention the record breaking 75GB max capacity. The performance specifications and our past experience with IBM Deskstar drives makes them the most attractive choice for our storage solutions."

Guru3D: Do you build systems based on the AMD Athlon-Thunderbird or the Intel Pentium III-Coppermine platforms and why?

Fred Kohan: "This is a very common question amongst Hypersonic customers. With only the media to guide them (for the most part) they come to us with a variety of perceptions. It needs to be understood that a platform must be judged as a whole and the most important factor in determing a platforms credibility is the motherboard that is available for it. The most recent arrivals are the Intel 815E and Via KT133 chipsets featuring BX stability and the best stock performance to date of any chipsets offered for either manufacturer. In addition the Pentium III Coppermine and Thunderbird have both upped the level of CPU Performance in the past year with full speed on-die cache running on a 1GHz CPU. Performance on either platform is superb. The Thunderbird cache has finally taken the Athlon over the edge giving it a significant performance advantage over the Coppermine, however some real-world game benchmarks can perform better on either platform with platform-specific optimizations."

Guru3D: What Motherboards do you use for the 2 different platforms?

Fred Kohan:5. "The Asus A7V KT133 is our primo Athlon motherboard. Its eye-opening list of features include a 200MHz FSB,133MHZ SDRAM, AGPPro4x, standard ATA-66 and a secondary onboard Promise ATA-100 controller for those 75GXP drives. This motherboard has produced the best benchmarks we have seen to date on any platform. Our Intel options include the Asus CUSL2 815E with 133MHZ FSB, 133MHZ SDRAM, AGPPro4x and ATA-100 or the well-known Intel VC820 RAMBUS platform."

Guru3D: Hmmmm, Asus is considered by most to be the premier Mobo manufacturer, and the choice of many serious do-it-yourself guys out there. Why Asus, and couldn't you have just used less expensive boards?

Fred Kohan: "Expense? Although we would like to attempt to keep costs and therefor prices down on any particular product, quality and features must be our deciding factors when picking any component. Asus is inarguably the premiere motherboard manufacturer in the world. They have repeatedly won awards for their feature rich, high performance motherboards. There are plenty of other manufactures that make similar products with similar performance but they just don't cut it in terms of batch quality. In our view, Asus is the preferred manufacturer of motherboards."

Guru3D: What is currently the fastest processors you offer from AMD and Intel?

Fred Kohan: "We are currently shipping systems with 1GHz AMD Thunderbirds and 933 MHz Intel Coppermines. We are working on 1.13GHz Coppermines and 1.1GHz Thunderbirds and expect to have them available in the near future."

Guru3D: I see that you have your own cooling system for the CPU, graphics card, and case. What is it called and what can you tell us about it?

Fred Kohan: "Our cooling system consists of 5-6 fans depending upon the case. The most prominent cooling feature that is standard on ALL systems is a dual 8cm fan-cooling unit, which mounts perpendicular to the video card. Our video cooling system is our secret weapon.

The beauty of this setup is that it allows us to alter stock video card settings without having to worry about meltdown. Generally the bigger the heatsink a card features the better it can take advantage of our clock speed alterations. In the past we've altered TNT2/Voodoo3500 driver sets in order to achieve higher frame rates at high resolutions. Our current recommended performer is the Hercules 3D Prophet II Geforce 64MB. For Hypersonic PC the dawn of 1280x1024 has truly arrived with 60+FPS at 1280x1024 in the majority of the current games available making the 19" monitor the size of choice for our systems. Included is also the CPU fan/heatsink combination, a central intake fan and an exhaust fan for basic airflow. We call our 5-point cooling system and 3D video optimization the Innerworks™ 3D optimization system."

Guru3D: One of the more interesting things that you offer is the option to include both a GeForce2 card, and dual Voodoo2's running in SLI mode. For hard-core gamers, this is the ultimate, and would seem to be the best of both worlds. Have you found this to be a stable and reliable set-up?

Fred Kohan: "Dual video cards used to be mandatory just a short while ago. Glide was an important API for some of the most popular titles until Direct3D/OpenGL patches became available. Secondly, dual Voodoo2 systems boasted the fastest frame rates until the TNT2 appeared on the scene. The combination of compatibility and performance made secondary accelerators a necessity ever since the original 3Dfx Voodoo. At this point in time dual Voodoo2’s with their 1024x768 max resolution can’t come close to the frame crunching power of a Geforce2. The necessary pass through cable can slightly distort image quality at higher resolutions and the cards do take up precious PCI slots. At Hypersonic PC 3Dfx Voodoo series cards can bring back quite a bit of nostalgia. However nostalgia is not a good enough reason to buy one unless you are running a glide only application."

Guru3D: Heres the big question! Like many of our readers, I have built my own computers in the past, and taken my time, and made sure everything was adjusted just right. Usually though, there is at least one compatibility issue, or a bad piece, or a part that has to be returned for one reason or another. With many people's busy schedules these days, even some do-it-yourself guys are considering buying a complete system again. Some just don't have the time or the patience to build one anymore. What does Hypersonic do to make sure that the system will arrive ready to go? And what about all those little tweaks and adjustments that need to be made when putting together so many pieces of new hardware?

Fred Kohan: "Well the process begins with the initial component testing and selection phase. That would be the point where any problems are discovered. Motherboards will have their resource limits fully tested and our technicians have an exact setup plan that they follow with every system regardless of configuration. In a sense it makes the setup process function like an assembly line process even though every system is built and tested by one technician from start to finish for a period of about a week to a week and a half. The dual benefit from this type of setup is individualized attention to your system that is setup according to a tested standard. Our testing process is quite tedious with one exception. Every single system is play tested on the Hypersonic LAN. A thorough long-term multi-application burn-in process runs for a few days during which your system is set to run all out. Any defects will be spotted in this phase. Following the burn-in process your system is benchmarked to see if it is performing up to snuff. A number of component-specific procedures are performed and all of the quality checks are completed. At the end of it all, it is LAN tested, imaged for our disaster recovery CD and boxed with the full custom documentation package in a binder."

Guru3D: What about when a person wants to add that latest and greatest graphics card when it comes out next year. Are your systems user friendly when it comes to accessing the interior of the case for upgrades?

Fred Kohan: "Our customers typically contact us within a year to two years for an upgrade package. Upgrading with Hypersonic is a cinch. Our motherboards offer fantastic upgrade capability. In addition, our cases are easily opened for convenience. All Hypersonic PC upgrades come with a suggested driver CD, warranty and technical support. You have the choice of performing the upgrade on your own, or sending the system in for upgrades. Quite often systems that are sent in benefit from a new operating system complete with a new recovery CD which essentially makes it a new PC."

Guru3D: From looking at the web-site, I see that a person can configure a system to meet his/her own needs or wishes. Does this mean that every system that Hypersonic ships is a "custom" built system?

Fred Kohan: "Yes, every Hypersonic PC system is considered to be a custom built system although to make the process easier we have three suggested platforms. The Silver Bullet series is a pure gaming platform that lacks some of the extra features of the higher end machines. Our most popular configuration base would be the Sonic Boom, which is our IDE-based flagship series. The top of the heap would be the SCSI-based Sonic Scream, which is primarily geared towards workstation A/V users. All of our systems are fully customizable to meet the individual needs of every user."

Guru3D: What kind of warranty does a new Hypersonic PC come with, and what does it cover?

Fred Kohan: "The standard Hypersonic PC warranty covers all parts, all labor and 2-way shipping in the unlikely circumstance of a system malfunction. If a particular component is diagnosed as defective within the year’s time we offer an advance replacement program to get you up and running ASAP. This warranty can be extended for a full three-year period."

Guru3D: What about Technical support. How long does it last, and do we have to call a long-distance number? ( I HATE THAT )

Fred Kohan: "Our technical support is a toll free phone and email service that is available for a three-year period following your purchase. Each technician is not only experienced with our hardware, they are also quite familiar with a great majority of the software titles in the gaming market. Due to the type of issues that may come up with a gaming system, a general technician would not meet our requirements. For this reason we do not outsource an onsite technical support company."

Guru3D: At the end of last year (Dec 99), Computer Gaming World named the Silver Bullet "Best Bang for the Buck" winner in their search for the Ultimate Gaming Machine. Would you say that's an accurate description of your Silver Bullet series?

Fred Kohan: "The Silver Bullet system is designed to be a high performance gaming system without some of the add-on options that add to the price. Such options as removable storage devices, and ultra high-end speakers, are great add-ons. However, they don’t contribute to performance. In short, gaming is what it's designed to do. Unlike many of our competitors we do not create a sub-standard system to meet a customers budget. No Durons, minimum of 128MB of RAM, etc. Instead you get the performance base of the Boom or Scream, and have the option to upgrade to some of the extras as time goes on. Although our prices are competitive, we do not compromise quality and performance just to achieve a lower price-point."

Guru3D: Recently (June 2000), PC Gamer gave your SONIC BOOM 1GHz Athlon system their highly coveted "Editor's Choice" award. How cool was that?

Fred Kohan: "The PC Gamer award was well deserved. It was PC Gamer’s first 1GHz AMD system review. The combination of the 1GHz chip and the Asus Geforce 64MB DDR outperformed any other system Greg Vederman tested previously. It also featured unprecedented stability even when tested with prototype Geforce2/Voodoo5000 graphics accelerators. Two unique features that were overlooked in the review were the flat panel Samsung Monitor we included for graphic designers (This monitor has the unique ability to be viewed horizontally or vertically and also features built in TV Inputs and speakers for catching a flick) and our Midiland Headphone Microphone set designed to be used with the bundled Roger Wilco for online team play."

Guru3D: Should we worry about all these awards going to your head, and the company kicking back now and taking it easy?

Fred Kohan: "Not at all. If anything expect to hear quite a bit more about Hypersonic soon. Very soon."

Guru3D: OK Fred, now I have a few personal questions for you. What type of set-up do you use as your personal system? Give me some specs!

Fred Kohan: "My personal system features an AMD Athlon 800MHz running on the Asus K7V KX133 motherboard. The Hercules Geforce2, 3Dfx Voodoo2 12MB and SoundBlaster Live! X-Gamer handle my 3D A/V while my broadband connection is taken care of by the 3COM 3C905 Fast Ethernet Adapter. For storage I have a 20GB Deskstar drive, HP CD-Writer and Zip Drive."

Guru3D: Are you a gamer? If so, what kinds of games do you play the most?

Fred Kohan: "One of my Hypersonic henchman introduced me to the original Quake a ways back, you should see him play. He’s absolutely incredible and can take on about 3 of us at the same time. I would have to say that as a result of his shedding the light on Quake it ranks as my favorite FPS title. On the other end of the spectrum I am intrigued by "The Sims" although I can never find the time to get into the thick of it. Would I consider myself a gamer? Honestly, not as much as the rest of the Hypersonic group, they are all game junkies. I’m more interested in the technology that makes all this possible."

Guru3D: It seems that we have gone from 500MHz to 1GHz pretty darn quick, and the cooling of these faster processors is becoming a much more serious issue even with the smaller micron manufacturing processes. Have we reached the point where we can't go much farther until we design more efficient ways of keeping the chips cool?

Fred Kohan: "There may be some temporary truth to that statement. Moore’s law that the microprocessor die will shrink every 18 months has been amazingly accurate. We are currently at a .18-micron process which yields CPU’s with clock speeds of about 1GHz. Further die shrinkage will increase that even further. The effect is essentially an exponential increase in performance, which is why it took about a year to go from 500MHz to 1 GHz. Recently, IBM's copper technology has also contributed to this advancement and if anything, we may see an acceleration of this process."

Guru3D: Have you had a chance to learn about the new "ATI Radeon" graphics card, and if so, what do you think?

Fred Kohan: "If nothing else the ATI Radeon is a good thing for ATI. Driver issues have plagued our previous experiences with the latest ATI technology. So far the Radeon appears to be an attractive alternative to the Geforce2, however like the Rage Fury and Rage Fury Maxx it may have arrived a bit too late. Performance wise it is not necessarily a better choice then the Geforce although it does exhibit competitive frame per second rates at high resolutions with certain titles. However it will need to exhibit software compatibility on par with the trusty Geforce2 for it to be a real contender to the ultimate video card title. As of now we are hopeful that ATI will create an All-in-Wonder Radeon version. This may be an attractive option for certain gamers who want the Geforce performance in conjunction with powerful TV-Input capabilities."

Guru3D: OK Fred, Last question I promise. What kind of system will we be playing on in the year 2005 and what would you like to see?

Fred Kohan: "The question of the future is always a hard one. Whether we like it or not, desktop's, laptops, PDA's, internet boxes and even consoles are being influenced by each other. We should expect to see major design differences in the overall look of desktop systems. Larger monitors and advances in LCD technology should make for a low profile system with larger screen real estate. Next generation optical drives will be superior to current DVD/CD-RAM/RW technology. Perhaps used for primary storage as well. Motherboard specifications will be adapting to take advantage of advanced Firewire/USB technology and integrate advanced functions such as blue-tooth wireless connectivity technology. We should expect to see photo-realistic, advanced AI games in maybe two years, although too much visual reality may take away from the "game" aspect. Furthermore, if you look around you will notice that public arcades are becoming more intense with the help of virtual reality gear. An arcade game is changing from a psuedo-3D experience to a physical, and environmental 3D experience. This technology will be incorporated into home systems at some point. Virtual reality is the next big step in gaming, but first it has to be practical."

Well, these guys really know their stuff. Or maybe I should say they really know "our" stuff.

GAMER'S STUFF!! I can whole-heartedly recommend Hypersonic-PC to our readers. I personally feel that the combination of quality, performance, testing, and service they offer is near impossible to beat. If you are looking for a high-performance machine from a company that doesn't cut corners, you won't do any better than this.

I want to express my sincere thanks to Fred Kohan of Hypersonic-PC for spending this time with me, and answering what must have seemed like a never ending list of questions.

You can visit HyperSonic PC on this url: http://hypersonic-pc.com

Tim Allen :).

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