tony@scotty.dccs.upenn.edu (Anthony Olejnik) (01/19/90)
I have an AT&T 6300 (8086 based XT clone) that I would like to speed up. I presently get a performance index of 1.8 (as determined by using Norton Utilities' System Information program - si.com). I'm thinking about replacing the 8086 with a V30 chip. The ads that I've seen claim an "up to 30%" speed increase. Is this really the case? Will I get a performance index of (1.8 x 130%) 2.34? Are there any other ways (without replacing the CPU board, RAM, Disks) that will improve the speed of my machine? What about those small boards that JDR MicroDevices sells that change the clock speed? Will they cause problems? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. --tony olejnik University of Pennsylvania Data Communications and Computing Services
positron@cosmic.berkeley.edu (Shigeki Misawa) (01/19/90)
Installing a v30 on an ATT PC 6300 may or may not be possible. The PC 6300 I had, one of the older ones, had a cpu that was soldered to the motherboard. I would check to make sure that your cpu is socketed before you go out and purchase a v30. --
drcook@hubcap.clemson.edu (david richard cook) (01/19/90)
From article <19163@netnews.upenn.edu>, by tony@scotty.dccs.upenn.edu (Anthony Olejnik): > I have an AT&T 6300 (8086 based XT clone) that I would like to speed up. > I presently get a performance index of 1.8 (as determined by using > Norton Utilities' System Information program - si.com). > > I'm thinking about replacing the 8086 with a V30 chip. The ads that I've > seen claim an "up to 30%" speed increase. > Installing a V30 (8 mHz) is well worth the $8.00 it costs. I estimate an average speedup of about 15% for the applications I run. If you should install a V30, NEC has some excellant free documentation available for this chip. David R. Cook Clemson University, SC
granoff@vaxwrk.enet.dec.com (Mark H. Granoff) (01/20/90)
> I have an AT&T 6300 (8086 based XT clone) that I would like to speed up. > I presently get a performance index of 1.8 (as determined by using > Norton Utilities' System Information program - si.com). Before I mucked with my configuration, I got a 1.9 I think. (I have an AT&T 6300, too). > I'm thinking about replacing the 8086 with a V30 chip. ... > ... Will I get a performance index of (1.8 x 130%) 2.34? > > Are there any other ways that will improve the speed of my machine? >... Well, let me tell you what I did. I bought the SOTA 286i accelerator card *and* replaced my 8086i with a V30. My Norton SI rating is up around 17 now. The SOTA 286i card is half-sized, and plugs into any slot on the bus. Its installation requires that you cable it into the CPU plug on the motherboard, and take the CPU from the motherboard and plug it into the SOTA card. What I did, was plug a V30 into the SOTA card. The 80286 handles everything except bus I/O, which is left up to the original CPU (the V30 in my case). So, I believe that memory access is via the V30, while computations are via the 286. SOTA is also marketing the SOTA Memory 16i board, which is especially for the SOTA 286i accelerator. Using it would make memory access via the 286; your original memory would be secondary memory, available for things like print spoolers, etc. accessed via the 8086. Unfortunately, this was just announced and apparently its got some bugs. But, when they fix it up, I'm planning on buying it. I think the SOTA 286i is around ~$269 or so; check mail order places for the best price. I know PC Connected in New Hampshire (1-800-243-8088) carries it. There's also a 386i accelerator card; don't know the price. ** I have no affiliation with SOTA, Inc except as a satisfied customer. ** --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark H. Granoff | Software Services/Engineering VAXworks Digital Equipment Corporation | ARPAnet: granoff@vaxwrk.enet.dec.com 129 Parker Street | EASYnet: VAXWRK::GRANOFF PKO2-1/M21 | Usenet : ...!decwrl!vaxwrk.dec.com!granoff Maynard, MA 01754 | AT&T : (508) 493-4512 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: Views expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
fredex@cg-atla.UUCP (Fred Smith) (01/20/90)
In article <19163@netnews.upenn.edu> tony@scotty.dccs.upenn.edu (Anthony Olejnik) writes: >I have an AT&T 6300 (8086 based XT clone) that I would like to speed up. >I presently get a performance index of 1.8 (as determined by using >Norton Utilities' System Information program - si.com). > >I'm thinking about replacing the 8086 with a V30 chip. The ads that I've >seen claim an "up to 30%" speed increase. > >Is this really the case? Will I get a performance index of (1.8 x 130%) >2.34? > Well, if you are using Norton's SI for your performance testing, be aware that itis a lousy test of cpu speed. For example, I have a 10Mhz XT clone which originally had an 8088, and SI said a computing index of 2.1. When I replaced the 8088 with a 10Mhz V20 SI gave a computing index of 4.1. There is no way that a V20 is TWICE as fast as an 8088 in overall performance. I have run a number of other benchmark programs on my machine, and most of them indicate that it is 5-20% faster, depending on the particular benchmark, with the V20. However, a V20/V30 chip is really inexpensive, so it is probably the cheapest 5-20% performance boost you can find! I found that it is enough faster that many games which were intended to run ona CGA will run just fine on my Hercules clone along with SIMCGA to fake the CGA. With the 8088 SIMCGA used up enough of the cpu that many of those games were too draggy to bother with. Now they tend to run just fine. My machine is around 2/3 of an AT (performance-wise) with the V20, so it certainly was worth the twelve bucks to me! Fred
kaleb@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley) (01/20/90)
In article drcook@hubcap.clemson.edu (david richard cook) writes: > Installing a V30 (8 mHz) is well worth the $8.00 it costs. I >estimate an average speedup of about 15% for the applications I run. >If you should install a V30, NEC has some excellant free documentation >available for this chip. > While you're at it, check into the V33. If it's available in the same pin configuration, it should run even faster. Chewey, get us outta here! kaleb@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (818)354-8771 Kaleb Keithley
wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) (01/21/90)
The V30 does indeed work well in the PC6300 for virtually all applications. You'll find that basic register-register and memory-register operations aren't speeded up much but things like string move and multiplies complete at 2 to 4 times the rate of an 8086 at the same clock speed. The V30 is well worth the $10 cost, especially if you have an application that is math-intensive. Installing the V30 is simple, provided that the original 8086 is in a socket (some very old PC6300s we have actaully have the CPU soldered in). Simply remove the 8086 and replace it with the V30. Of course, the usual precautions to prevent electrostatic discharge should be followed while performing the chip swap. The V30 is also a CMOS chip, and thus consumes slightly less power than the 8086. The power savings of the V30 really isn't significant relative to the power consumed in the rest of the machine, however. Note that a stock V30 is rated at 8 MHz, and will not work in a 6300-WGS, which runs at 10 MHz. There are some slight bus timing differences that make the V30 incompatible with the AT&T 16-bit memory expansion card. The AT&T card is the same as the card manufactured by AST for the PC6300. I have been using a V30 in my Xerox 6064 (same chassis as the PC6300) for over two years now, and have not encountered any software incompatibilities. In fact the V30 is nice because it is more forgiving in that it recognizes the 80186 instruction set extensions. I use an everex modem, Taiwan serial board, eprom burner, STB ega board, intel aboveboard, and OMTI 5027 disk controller in that machine and have not seen any problems related to the V30. Xerox had a BIOS numbered 1.36, but I ordered 1.43 from the AT&T parts line and also upraded to AT&T msdos 3.2. Bill
psrc@pegasus.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) (01/23/90)
In article <1879@neoucom.UUCP>, wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) writes: > There are some slight bus timing differences that make the V30 > incompatible with the AT&T 16-bit memory expansion card. The AT&T > card is the same as the card manufactured by AST for the PC6300. Not quite, if you're talking about the Enhanced Expanded Memory board. (This EEMS board is very much like an EMS 4.0 board, as I explained in an earlier posting [which I didn't keep a copy of, so don't ask].) The board was designed to work slightly differently in an AT&T PC 6300 and an AT&T PC 6300 PLUS. The software "looks at the computer's navel" to decide which it is, and a 6300 with a V30 "looks" like a 286 to the software. There was a patch that corrected this. Sorry, I haven't the faintest idea where to get it from. Can anyone pick it up from here? Paul S. R. Chisholm, AT&T Bell Laboratories att!pegasus!psrc, psrc@pegasus.att.com, AT&T Mail !psrchisholm I'm not speaking for the company, I'm just speaking my mind.