file@gandalf.nosc.mil (Darren M. File) (04/12/89)
Has anyone had any experience with the 80286 accelerator boards? I've got a Tandy 1000 SX that is getting pretty sluggish, and I'm considering the options to speed it up (vs. purchasing an AT machine). I'm interested in the level of increased performance (ie. barley noticeable, very noticeable, etc), any peculiarities (decreased disk access times, compatibilty with software, etc), and of course cost. Any help would be appreciated. Darren File
ugkamins@sunybcs.uucp (John Kaminski) (04/14/89)
In article <1013@nosc.NOSC.MIL> file@gandalf.nosc.mil.UUCP (Darren M. File) writes: >Has anyone had any experience with the 80286 accelerator boards? I've >got a Tandy 1000 SX that is getting pretty sluggish, and I'm considering >the options to speed it up (vs. purchasing an AT machine). > >I'm interested in the level of increased performance (ie. barley noticeable, >very noticeable, etc), any peculiarities (decreased disk access times, >compatibilty with software, etc), and of course cost. > >Any help would be appreciated. > > Darren File Regardless of what processor you have running the system, from a 80386 down to the 8088 that the SX uses, you are "never" going to get different disk access. The main components of disk access speed are all mechanical and have nothing to do with the controlling CPU/uPU. Speed in the accelerator boards come in calculation and data manipulation. And disks use DMA so the different processor is not used real differently. In other words, if your main activities involve data movement to/from/around the disks, don't bother. If they are more computation-intensive, get something like the express order 286 board. If you do extensive real/floating operations as in many CAD packages, get an 8087.
spectre@cisunx.UUCP (Robert Sillett) (04/15/89)
In article <5264@cs.Buffalo.EDU> ugkamins@sunybcs.UUCP (John Kaminski) writes: | |In other words, if your main activities involve data movement to/from/around |the disks, don't bother. If they are more computation-intensive, get |something like the express order 286 board. If you do extensive |real/floating operations as in many CAD packages, get an 8087. Another point is that even if you put in the fast 80386 card that you can buy, you'll still be running the bus a 8 MHz. That's like driving a Ferrari only during rush hour. You'll have the power, but you can't use it. I've speed up my 1000 SX about as far as it can go. I spent $14 for a NEC V-20 CPU which speeds things up about 10-20%. I also spent around $150 or so for an 8087-2 coprocessor. This has speed my floating point calculations up around 1000-1100%. In fact I now preform floating point math at about 1/2 the speed of an IBM PS/2 Model 50 (10MHz 80286/87). However this is only for floating point math. You only _really_ notice the speed with Lotus or CAD programs. Since I use math-intensive programs often, the 8087 is worth it. It may not be worth the $150 or so to shave a couple of minutes off a spreadsheet calcuation. -- Robert Sillett -- Univ. of Pittsburgh Internet: spectre@unix.cis.pittsburgh.edu [130.49.254.10] Usenet: ...!pitt!cisunx!spectre Bitnet: spectre@pittunix