[comp.sys.hp] Anyone using SoftPC on HP720?

sgaras@brnwil.uucp (Sam Garas) (06/28/91)

We are currently considering purchasing an HP720 workstation.  I am 
interested in finding out what the performance is running SoftPC on the 720.  
We currently run it on a 400 workstation, but the performance is bad.  
I would appreciate any comments on this topic.  

Thanks

Sam Garas uunet!coplex!brnwil!sgaras

bsb@hpuerca.HP.COM (Brett Baumberger) (06/29/91)

Hi Sam,

I support SoftPC at the HP Response Center.  I do not have a copy of SoftPC
for our 700's yet, so I don't expect you will be able to locate any HP
*customers* that have it.  Maybe some labbies will give you ideas on what
to expect.  I will tell you what I expect, but keep in mind these are my
opinions only.

Currently,  SoftPC 2.03 does 286/12 MHz emulation according to benchmarks
I have run.  I compares favorably with my Vectra ES12 in every area EXCEPT
graphics performance and disk I/O.  The next version of SoftPC will be 3.0,
and claims to have 386/25 MHz performance. We'll see.  My understanding is
that 3.0 will be the first version to run on 700's.  I expect a 2x to 4x
performance increase on 400's.  I expect performance on Series 700's to be
much greater than what you are seeing now.  I could be *wrong* about the
first version to run on Snakes.

Keep in mind that SoftPC is *extremely* cpu intensive, so the amount of
other processes running will affect SoftPC performance.  I don't not expect
you to dedicate your 400 to SoftPC.

I am as anxious as you are to know about SoftPC performance on Snakes.

Brett Baumberger
*These are my opinions, not my company's, and they are not a sales pitch*

hardy@golem.ps.uci.edu (Meinhard E. Mayer (Hardy)) (06/30/91)

Let me add two remarks about SoftPC:  I have tried it on a NeXT (68040
at 25 MHz) and found it als as fast as on the Vectra ES12 standing
next to the NeXT (the NeXT and the 68040 400 machines should have
comparable performance, I suspect). But contary to what you say, I did
not find graphics much slower than on the VGA display.  This may hvae
something to do with  Display Postscript used on the NeXT (much faster
graphics  in general, windows move as fast as on the HP 9000/720). 
My problem with SoftPC was its erratic printing  on the serial port;
I wonder how the HP version handles printing?

Greetings,
Hardy 
			  -------****-------
Meinhard E. Mayer (Hardy);  Department of Physics, University of California
Irvine CA 92717; (714) 856 5543; hardy@golem.ps.uci.edu or MMAYER@UCI.BITNET