kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) (03/15/90)
Just ran across some interesting utilities, and I felt obliged to
report. The first one is called REFTEST and the second is called
SMOOTH. Both are available from the Signetics BBS at (800) 451-6644.
The former is in REFTEST.ZIP, the latter as SMSCROLL.LZH. Both zip and
lzh decompressors are also available.(Standard disclaimer applies).
REFTEST allows you to adjust the DRAM refresh rate on your machine
to optimize performance. Based on its numbers, Norton's si, and my own
benchmark suite, my machine now exhibits a 4.1% speed increase. BTW,
the docs say that control-c will terminate the testing, but didn't on my
system; on the other hand, control-alt-del worked just fine.
SMOOTH is not nearly so usefull, but is interesting. It is a file
browser that uses the EGA/VGA video controls to generate a smoothly
scrolled output. The best part is that the assmebly source is provided.
I would be interested to hear about speed differences and/or other
experiences involving REFTEST.
kdq
--
Kevin D. Quitt Manager, Software Development
DeMott Electronics Co. VOICE (818) 988-4975
14707 Keswick St. FAX (818) 997-1190
Van Nuys, CA 91405-1266 MODEM (818) 997-4496 Telebit PEP last
34 12 N 118 27 W srhqla!demott!kdq kdq@demott.com
"Next time, Jack, write a God-damned memo!" - Jack Ryan - Hunt for Red Oct.robert@ireq.hydro.qc.ca (R.Meunier 8525) (03/15/90)
In article <72@demott.COM> kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) writes: > > Just ran across some interesting utilities, and I felt obliged to >report. The first one is called REFTEST and the second is called >SMOOTH. Both are available from the Signetics BBS at (800) 451-6644. >The former is in REFTEST.ZIP, the latter as SMSCROLL.LZH. Both zip and >lzh decompressors are also available.(Standard disclaimer applies). > >kdq >-- Could you post these program in comp.binaries or give us an FTP site please Thank you Robert -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Meunier Institut de Recherche d'Hydro-Quebec Ingenieur 1800 Montee Ste-Julie, Varennes Internet: robert@ireq.hydro.qc.ca Qc, Canada, J3X 1S1
kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) (03/15/90)
In article <603@s3.ireq.hydro.qc.ca> robert@ireq.hydro.qc.ca (R.Meunier 8525) writes: >In article <72@demott.COM> kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) writes: >> >> Just ran across some interesting utilities... > > Could you post these program in comp.binaries or give us an >FTP site please >Thank you >Robert I am reluctant to post that material without permission of the Signetics BB's SYSOP. I will try to contact him today to obtain that permission. kdq -- Kevin D. Quitt Manager, Software Development DeMott Electronics Co. VOICE (818) 988-4975 14707 Keswick St. FAX (818) 997-1190 Van Nuys, CA 91405-1266 MODEM (818) 997-4496 Telebit PEP last 34 12 N 118 27 W srhqla!demott!kdq kdq@demott.com "Next time, Jack, write a God-damned memo!" - Jack Ryan - Hunt for Red Oct.
dgl292@pallas.athenanet.com (Doug Lee) (03/16/90)
In article <72@demott.COM> kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) writes: > REFTEST allows you to adjust the DRAM refresh rate on your machine >to optimize performance. Based on its numbers, Norton's si, and my own >benchmark suite, my machine now exhibits a 4.1% speed increase. BTW, CAREFUL!!! Adjusting the RAM refresh rate can, indeed, produce a speed increase. However, changing it too much can, in my experience, cause some WEIRD problems. On my machine, which is a Zeos 12 MHz 286, a refresh rate which was too slow caused a slow death of memory (i.e., bits started flipping at random!!!). The trouble is NOT something you are guaranteed to see immediately; sometimes I could run for several minutes before noticing strange behavior. I have no way of knowing how other machines will respond to an overly slow refresh rate, but I would advise caution to anyone who tries to slow it down beyond the rate recommended by the manufacturer (which, BTW, seems often to be slower than the rate IMPLEMENTED by the manufacturer). Good luck. Doug Lee (dgl292@athenanet.com or uunet!pallas!dgl292)
hgcjr@utastro.UUCP (Harold G. Corwin Jr.) (03/17/90)
In article <313@pallas.athenanet.com>, dgl292@pallas.athenanet.com (Doug Lee) writes: : In article <72@demott.COM> kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) writes: : > REFTEST allows you to adjust the DRAM refresh rate on your machine : >to optimize performance. Based on its numbers, Norton's si, and my own : >benchmark suite, my machine now exhibits a 4.1% speed increase. BTW, : : CAREFUL!!! Adjusting the RAM refresh rate can, indeed, produce a speed : increase. However, changing it too much can, in my experience, cause some : WEIRD problems. On my machine, which is a Zeos 12 MHz 286, a refresh rate : which was too slow caused a slow death of memory (i.e., bits started flipping : at random!!!). The trouble is NOT something you are guaranteed to see : immediately; sometimes I could run for several minutes before noticing : strange behavior. : : I have no way of knowing how other machines will respond to an overly slow : refresh rate, but I would advise caution to anyone who tries to slow it The caution above may be true, but simply experimenting with longer and longer refresh rates will tell you what your machine can handle. I have an 8-MHz 286. With the default refresh rate of something like 15 millisec, I was getting around 1600 dhrystones. I found that I could slow down the refresh rate to something like 0.1 sec and get 1800 dhrystones. But if I went beyond that, the machine did indeed do odd things. Still, I've been running at the slower refresh rate for nearly two years with no problems. By the way, I'm using "qfresh" from PC Magazine to change the rate. I've forgotten the issue, but can dig it out if anyone is interested. To summarize: experiment! Harold Corwin ------------- -- Harold G. Corwin, Jr. UUCP: {backbonesite}!{noao,cs.utexas.edu}!utastro!hgcjr Internet: hgcjr@astro.as.utexas.edu MaBell: 512-471-7463 Astronomy Dept., RLM 15.308, Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX 78712-1083
kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) (03/17/90)
In article <313@pallas.athenanet.com> dgl292@pallas.athenanet.com (Doug Lee) writes: >CAREFUL!!! Adjusting the RAM refresh rate can, indeed, produce a speed >increase. However, changing it too much can, in my experience, cause some >WEIRD problems. True indeed. The documentation that comes with REFTEST is very explicit in how to decide what timing to use. I have not yet heard from the BBS SYSOP about posting here. kdq -- Kevin D. Quitt Manager, Software Development DeMott Electronics Co. VOICE (818) 988-4975 14707 Keswick St. FAX (818) 997-1190 Van Nuys, CA 91405-1266 MODEM (818) 997-4496 Telebit PEP last 34 12 N 118 27 W srhqla!demott!kdq kdq@demott.com "Next time, Jack, write a God-damned memo!" - Jack Ryan - Hunt for Red Oct.
mep@stb.uucp (Marty) (03/19/90)
In article <603@s3.ireq.hydro.qc.ca> robert@thorin.UUCP (R.Meunier 8525) writes: >In article <72@demott.COM> kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) writes: >> >> Just ran across some interesting utilities, and I felt obliged to >>report. The first one is called REFTEST and the second is called >>SMOOTH. Both are available from the Signetics BBS at (800) 451-6644. >>The former is in REFTEST.ZIP, the latter as SMSCROLL.LZH. Both zip and >>lzh decompressors are also available.(Standard disclaimer applies). >> >>kdq >>-- > > Could you post these program in comp.binaries or give us an >FTP site please >Thank you >Robert > >-- >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >Robert Meunier Institut de Recherche d'Hydro-Quebec >Ingenieur 1800 Montee Ste-Julie, Varennes >Internet: robert@ireq.hydro.qc.ca Qc, Canada, J3X 1S1 Why not save the band width here and call the 800 number... besides, there is alot more on that BBS that has general interest. Quite surprizing from a large company... Motorola has something similar but they don't have an 800 number. marty
derek@sun4dts.UUCP (derek) (03/21/90)
Please note that U.S. 800 numbers are NOT callable from Europe as far as I've been able to make out (paid or not). If anyone knows differently, ***Please*** correct me. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I expressed an opinion?
ph62303@tut.fi (Hartoma Petri Juhani) (03/21/90)
In article <72@demott.COM> kdq@demott.COM (Kevin D. Quitt) writes: ... > REFTEST allows you to adjust the DRAM refresh rate on your machine > to optimize performance. Based on its numbers, Norton's si, and my own I tried to boost my machine (which WAS 286/10MHz/0WS) with REFTEST and QFRESH: let them optimize the refresh rate and executed them (separately). Norton SI showed something more than before - this increase, however, wasn't noticeable. BUT - my hard disk (60 MB 20.6 ms MicroScience) slowed down VERY noticeably! Also, whole performance decreased -> I don't recommend using any of those programs. > SMOOTH is not nearly so usefull, but is interesting. It is a file It is from PC Magazine, also available in SIMTEL20, wuarchive and other mirror sites. Haven't tried it, anyway... -- $ Petri Hartoma, Tre University of Technology $ $ Internet: ph62303@tut.fi, ph62303@tut.UUCP, $ $ mcvax!tut!ph62303 $