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From: ked@garnet.berkeley.edu (Earl H. Kinmonth)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: V20 vs. 8088: Is there any useful difference?
Message-ID: <26367@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 16 Jul 89 00:31:33 GMT
References: <2305@deimos.cis.ksu.edu>
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Reply-To: ked@garnet.berkeley.edu (Earl H. Kinmonth)
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In article <2305@deimos.cis.ksu.edu> jfy@phobos.cis.ksu.edu (Joseph F. Young S89) writes:
>Looking through some magazine advertisements, I found
>the NEC V20 chip which was described in the ad as
>giving a 10 to 40% increase in performance as compared to
>the Intel 8088.  If these claims are indeed true, I will
>probably get one for my system.  

I cannot speak to the V20. I do have considerable experience with the
V30 (replacement for the 8086). First, the punch line: for a very minor
expenditure, you get a MAJOR improvement.

Now, the details. I was running SCO Xenix on an ATT 6300 (XT clone with
8086 processor). Changing to a V30 allowed at least one more process to
run without making the machine too sluggish to tolerate. Screen updates
were MUCH more rapid.

You will note that there is no V40 (or whatever) to replace the 80286.
This is a classic case of a company using intellectual property rights
to protect its incompetence. NEC was doing such a good job of
correcting the brain-dead features of Intel processors that Intel took
NEC to court and succeeded in stopping NEC innovations.

When you read all the hype and bull shit about the 80386 and 80486,
keep in mind that if Intel had not had heavier weight legal council
than NEC, some of the features of these chips might have been here
earlier, "Made in Japan."

Usually I am a defender of American firms, but as far as I am
concerned, Intel is the GM of the chip world -- using marketing and
legal power to make up for a desperate shortage of common sense.