sphilips@sun.udel.edu (Santosh S Philips) (08/01/90)
Hi, Just how much of an improvement can I expect from adding a math co-processor to a PC with a hard disk in terms of software like WordPerfect 5.1 Freelance Plus (lots of graphics), graphic terminal emulation communications software and finally Kermit? 1. Will it help the Norton SI rating if the machine? 2. Are the available xxx87 co-processors interchangable with xxx86 machines running at the same clock speed? e.g. 10Mz xxx87 in 10Mz xxx86 3. Would it hurt to put a 10Mz co-processor in a 6Mz or 8Mz machine? What about efficiency ... is any lost? Any help regarding the above will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Santosh.
grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Greg Ebert) (08/02/90)
In article <13074@sun.udel.edu> sphilips@sun.udel.edu (Santosh S Philips) writes: >Hi, > >Just how much of an improvement can I expect from adding a math >co-processor to a PC with a hard disk in terms of software like WordPerfect 5.1 >Freelance Plus (lots of graphics), graphic terminal emulation >communications software and finally Kermit? > Zippo. Only matters in computationally-intensive stuff, like Mandelbrot-set generators, unless Freelance Plus does 3-D image transformations. >1. Will it help the Norton SI rating if the machine? CI will improve. >2. Are the available xxx87 co-processors interchangable with xxx86 > machines running at the same clock speed? e.g. 10Mz xxx87 in 10Mz > xxx86 8086: only 8087 80286: 80287, possibly an 8087 if your hardware manual SPECIFICALLY states this. The 8087 and 80287 are NOT interchangeable. 80386: Depends. The (old) AST Premium/386 (20Mhz) had an 80287 socket. The 80387 is in a 68 pin PGA, whereas the 8087 & 80287 are 40 pin DIPs. Newer machines will accomodate 80387's only (and maybe a Weitek ?). 80486: Gee, I hope you're not looking for an 80487 :-). >3. Would it hurt to put a 10Mz co-processor in a 6Mz or 8Mz machine? > What about efficiency ... is any lost? > Only your pocketbook suffers. Putting a faster coprocessor in a system will work, but it wont execute faster. Speed is a function of the system clock rate, not the individual components. I suppose you could buy a 10Mhz co-proc for a 6Mhz system, and upgrade your system at a later time and not have to buy another coprocessor.
sonny@charybdis.harris-atd.com (Bob Davis) (08/02/90)
In article <1228@gold.GVG.TEK.COM> grege@gold.GVG.TEK.COM (Greg Ebert) writes: > >In article <13074@sun.udel.edu> sphilips@sun.udel.edu (Santosh S Philips) writes: >>Hi, >> >>Just how much of an improvement can I expect from adding a math >>co-processor to a PC with a hard disk in terms of software like WordPerfect 5.1 >Zippo. Only matters in computationally-intensive stuff, like Mandelbrot-set >generators, unless Freelance Plus does 3-D image transformations. > >>1. Will it help the Norton SI rating if the machine? > >CI will improve. > WHEN I run Norton's SI on my machine, I get NO DIFFERENCE with or without the CoProcessor. Appears Norton's SI ( the CI, or Computing Index portion) does NOTHING that makes use of the coprocessor and therefore the Norton SI rating is independent of whether you have a coprocessor or not. ______________________________________________________________________________ Bob Davis \\ INTERNET : sonny@trantor.harris-atd.com | _ _ | Harris Corporation, ESS \\ UUCP : ...!uunet!x102a!trantor!sonny |_| |_| | | Advanced Technology Dept.\\ AETHER : K4VNO |==============|_/\/\/\|_| PO Box 37, MS 3A/1912 \\ VOICE : (407) 727-5886 | I SPEAK ONLY | |_| |_| | Melbourne, FL 32902 \\ FAX : (407) 729-2537 | FOR MYSELF. |_________|