daveegan@dhw68k.cts.com (Dave Egan) (01/07/91)
If this has already been hashed beyond belief in this section, please
point me to a summary.... Tnx.
I am moving from an Amiga to the IBM world. I would definately prefer to
go to a 386Dx (25mhz or more) but the $$$ get to be prohibitive. I have
been reading several articles that make give me the impression that software
that takes full use of the 386DX just isn't there yet, that most software is
still in the '286 capability range (not using the protected mode). It appears
that most compilers/linkers cannot handle this mode, that you must get a DOS
extender from Phar Lap or Watcom.
I intend to use the following software. Does anybody see any reason to use
one CPU or the other (SX vs DX?)
Oracle (Professional Developer)
Actor
Smalltalk
Windows
C compiler
Coherent (The Unix clone)
Thanks. This might be best handled via EMAIL; I can summarize if there is
sufficient interest. I do appreciate anybody who takes the time to answer
with a logical, well-reasoned answer (my emotions say BUY THE DAMN DX!!! B-) )
--
Dave Egan | Radio: N6XVZ
uucp: ...{spsd,zardoz,felix}!dhw68k!daveegan |
InterNet: daveegan@dhw68k.cts.com |dlow@pollux.HP.COM (Danny Low) (01/10/91)
>(Dave Egan) >I am moving from an Amiga to the IBM world. I would definately prefer to >go to a 386Dx (25mhz or more) but the $$$ get to be prohibitive. I have >been reading several articles that make give me the impression that software >that takes full use of the 386DX just isn't there yet, that most software is >still in the '286 capability range (not using the protected mode). It appears >that most compilers/linkers cannot handle this mode, that you must get a DOS >extender from Phar Lap or Watcom. There are more and more software coming out that support the 386 specifically. Mathematica exist only in a 386 version. It will not run on a 286. Windows and several C compilers support the 386 protected mode. The biggest difference between the 286 and 386 is the additional memory management instructions in the 386. There are many programs out there that support this extension (e.g. QEMM and 386Max). You will find the flexibility this memory management capbility gives you to be enormously useful. A cheap way to get a 386 is a 386SX. The only difference between the SX and DX is the SX has a 16 bit I/O bus while the DX has a 32 bit I/O bus. However most PCs use the ISA I/O bus which is only 16 bits. So most DX systems do I/O no faster than an SX system. I know someone whose SX runs certain applications faster than her DX system. Your system runs as fast as the slowest bottleneck. For many applications the slowest bottleneck is I/O. So an SX with a faster hard disk can run faster than a DX in many cases. Danny Low "Question Authority and the Authorities will question You" Valley of Hearts Delight, Silicon Valley HP CPCD dlow@pollux.svale.hp.com