24 Oct
1999
24 Oct
'99
7:37 p.m.
A dx2/66
running Dhrystone 2.1 will be 2 to 3 times faster than an 6500.
So? My roommate's 200MHz Pentium will blow my 7.1MHz 68000 based Amiga
out of the water, yet my Amiga still feels quicker, even though they have
the same capabilities (okay, the Pentium has a better sound system and
graphics sub-system than the Amiga, yet it took the PCompatible over 10
years to match capabilities and it still feels a bit sluggish at times). So, a 486DX2/66 will beat a VAX 6500 in integer
math. Great, if all I'm
doing is integer math. Do an I/O benchmark and I'm sure a VAX 11/780 will
beat the 486DX2/66 no problem.
See? There you go again! The 780's I/O was no great shakes. Sure, you
could stuff on a Fujitsu Eagle and do -pretty- good, but it was definitely
no speed demon. Since a dx2/66 is around 20 to 30x the integer performance
of that 11/780, I'm pretty sure the Intel part would crush an 11/780 in any
benchmark you could name. Of course, the 486 came out in 1989, and the
11/780 came out in, what, 1979. And, I don't have data on the 11/780's I/O
channels, so I can't be positive.
Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me! In case you hadn't noticed, there are more PCs than
every other type of computer ever made, ever! Did you notice this?
I wouldn't go that far---as a general purpose computer, yes, it is
probably the most numerous. Most numerous of ALL computers? I doubt it.
More people probably have microwaves than computers. Or VCRs. FACT: And it wasn't designed by some little
ass-kisser fresh out of college; it
was designed by Intel.
Sigh. What do they teach in school these days? -spc (I've seen the building where the PC was
designed---when I saw it, it
was an art museum)
-mac