mikes@sir-alan.UUCP (Mike Squires) (07/27/87)
I am a happy user of Tandy 68K hardware; for those of us far from the
centers of computer innovation the 16/6000 is the only relatively cheap
UNIX box with local support. The following information compares the
16/6000 under XENIX 1.3, 3.1, and the new and yet unreleased 3.2 to the
Sun 2/160. It is taken from two sources. The benchmarks run on
a 6000 (768K; 8MHz CPU) with a CMI 6640 primary and a 16 (1MB Snapp (piggy-
backed 64K DRAMS; 6MHz CPU) with a Quantum 2080 primary were run here at
Allegheny College. These were run under XENIX 3.1.1. The second set of
benchmarks were run at Tandy on a 6000 running at 8MHz with no wait states
and the Tandy 35MB primary, using XENIX 3.2 with the new MMU upgrade. The
All systems had 4097K swappers. The original code and the Sun 2 timings
came from the August 1984 issue of Byte ("Benchmarking UNIX Systems",
by David F. Hinnant; pp. 132-135, 400-409).
The times provided for the 6000 under XENIX 3.2 were not clearly identified
as to whether they were real, system, etc; I made the best guess for
comparison purposes.
Conclusions: the 6000 with a reasonable hard disk (not necessarily a
super-fast one; the 35MB Tandy and the CMI 6640 are, I think, 40ms average
access drives) is now a reasonable substitute for many tasks for the Sun 2/160.
The 6000 can be upgraded (I think) to 4MB fairly easily and the 16 to 2MB (with
no graphics card or UART card); 256K cards can be upgraded to 1MB fairly easily.
The additional space means that software such as GNUemacs, SCHEME, etc., can
be run on a 16/6000. Maybe even X Windows with the graphics card?
The 16/6000 under XENIX 3.2 would seem to be a reasonable system to keep in
operation until the newer hardware gets stable. The 1400 Dhrystones/sec of
the 6000 is comparable to the throughput of the PC AT and its clones, such
as the 3000; only a 386 or 68020 system would provide a significant improve-
ment. It would also seem clear that anyone operating a 16 or 16b under
XENIX 1.3 would be well-advised to upgrade to XENIX 3.2 rather than scrap
that system for a 3000 or AT clone under SCO XENIX.
The MMU was tested and operating as of January 1987; it is functioning in a
number of internal Tandy systems. XENIX 3.2 will support it. The parts cost
for the MMU appears to be about $40, which translates to a $200 retail price
in the consumer electronics industry; there is one PAL, so homebrew versions
will be difficult.
The final rumor this go-round: apparently some people have upgraded the newer
CPU board to 12MHz. This seems to work in some cases and not in others, and
appears to be "not recommended" except to the hobbyists.
System
Machine UNIX 1 2 3 4 5 6
Sun 2/160 4.2BSD 3.6 6.3 8.7 11.8 14.4 18.0
Tandy 16/2080 XENIX 7.7 10.5 16.8 20.0 21.4 25.6
Tandy 6000
CMI 6640 XENIX 6.3 8.6 10.6 18.3 31.4 50.7
Tandy 6000 XEN3.2 6.0 9.0 13.2 22.4 31.7 40.8 (512K)
4.3 6.0 8.6 11.6 13.6 16.3 (1MB)
2.6 4.6 6.9 9.2 11.4 13.8 (1.5MB)
2.6 4.6 6.9 9.3 11.5 13.8 (2MB)
2.6 4.7 7.0 9.4 11.7 14.2 (3MB)
2.8 4.8 7.1 9.4 11.8 14.2 (4MB)
System Function
Pipe System Call Call
Machine Version Real User Sys Real User Sys Real
Sun 2/160 4.2BSD 7.6 0.1 3.7 6.8 1.1 5.6 0.8
Tandy 6000 XEN 3.1 5.5 0.0 2.5 9.8 1.1 8.7 1.1
CMI 6640
Tandy 16 XEN 3.1 7.6 0.1 3.5 14.1 1.5 12.4 1.9
Q2080
Tandy 16 XEN 1.3 8.0 0.1 3.4 15.0 1.5 12.7 1.4
TM503(?)
6000 XEN 3.2 2.2 7.8 1.1
Tandy 35MB
System Disk Disk
Sieve Write Read
Machine UNIX real user sys real real
Sun 2/160 4.2BSD 5.1 2.8 0.4 1.8 4.9
Tandy 6000 XEN 3.1 3.2 3.1 0.0 6.3 2.2
CMI 6640
Tandy 16a XEN 3.1 5.2 5.1 0.0 4.3 2.3
Q2080
Tandy 16b XEN 1.3 6.0 4.8 0.3 8.0 22.0
TM503(?)
6000 XEN 3.2 3.1 3.8 9.5 (512K; 50 buffers)
Tandy 35MB 3.2 8.0 (1MB; 100 buffers)
2.4 5.9 (1.5MB;202 buffers)
1.8 1.8 (2MB;302 buffers)
1.8 1.8 (3MB;302 buffers)
1.8 1.8 (4MB;302 buffers)
System
Shell Loop
Machine UNIX real user sys real real sys
Sun 2/160 4.2BSD 3.5 0.3 2.0 7.4 7.0 0.1
Tandy 6000 XEN 3.1 5.8 0.3 1.9 7.9 7.8 0.0
Tandy 16a XEN 3.1 6.8 0.5 2.8 13.4 13.2 0.1
Tandy 16b XEN 1.3 18.0 0.4 2.6 14.0 12.5 0.5
Tandy 6000 XEN 3.2 NA NA NA 7.9
Michael L. Squires Office: 814-724-3360
Department of Political Science Home: 814-337-5528
Allegheny College ubbs: 814-333-6728 login: ubbs
Meadville, PA 16335
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