marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) (08/25/90)
Well kiddies, I finally got all my ducks in a row to test out the speed of the various video modes and drivers for my Ahead Systems VGA Wizard. Here's the data followed by a discussion of the results. Win3 Video Driver Comparison for use as a Unix Terminal ------------------------------------------------------- PC Configuration: Dell System 325 (80386/25) Dell GPD-16C 16" Color Monitor Ahead Systems VGA Wizard w/ 512K Unix Configuration: Masscomp MC 5550 (68020/20) 19200 baud direct connection Test: cat .login (57 lines, 1390 bytes). Full screen to start with. Character Mode Results using Crosstalk XVI outside of Win3: 1.72 seconds Win3 Results (time in seconds): Driver Resolution Terminal Crosstalk for Windows ------ ---------- -------- --------------------- Win3 VGA 640x480 3.04 4.08 Ahead WIN480 640x480 2.94 4.10 Generic SV800 800x600 5.18 8.37 Ahead WIN600 800x600 5.19 8.22 Ahead WIN768 1024x768 20.47 44.23 As you can see, you pay a penalty right up front for using Windows. However, I feel I can easily put up with the ~40% loss of speed for the added benefits of using Win3 Terminal in VGA mode. The 2/3 loss of going to 800x600 with Terminal is still acceptable. Moving on up to 1024x768 is just totally unacceptable. Who can afford to wait ten or twenty seconds to scroll one page? Not me. There seems to be very little difference between the Ahead drivers and the generic Microsoft drivers. I'll probably stick with the Ahead drivers, as they may have debugged them a little more thoroughly for their board. I'm totally disgusted with Crosstalk for Windows. It isn't so bad at the standard VGA resolution, but it really begins to fall behind at the higher resolutions. Their performance at 1024x768 is outrageous. It's really painful to watch. It's like running at 300 baud. Microsoft's Terminal is also better with copy/paste support and function key support. The only advantage of CfW is it's script language. I really don't need it very often, so I'll probably use Terminal for most of my work. Gee, I wonder if MS could offer this in their next release? Hint. Hint. I wish I hadn't wasted the extra $50 to get the 1024x768 capability. I'll never use it. Having all that information on screen is really nice though. I'm going to try and get Dell's graphics accelerator board. If I do, I'll redo the test to see how it performs. The Dell technician thinks it should be about 10x faster. Now we're talking character mode speed. I think I'll get some knee pads so it won't be so painful when I go into my boss's office to beg for the $840. ;-) Thanks to all who helped (or offered help) to get the drivers for this test. I also like to thank those who earlier posted the instructions on how to get and install the drivers. It was a BIG help. The .DOC instructions left a lot to be desired. Later. -- Marshall L. Buhl, Jr. EMAIL: marshall@seri.gov Senior Computer Missionary VOICE: (303)231-1014 Wind Research Branch 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393 Solar Energy Research Institute Solar - safe energy for a healthy future