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From: psw@richard.mitre.org (Phillip Wherry)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Whis is fastest 386/33 or 486/25 ?
Message-ID: <113151@linus.mitre.org>
Date: 12 Jul 90 18:11:34 GMT
References: <1990Jul11.161138.13630@dvinci.usask.ca> <217@news.nd.edu>
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Reply-To: psw@richard.mitre.org (Phil Wherry)
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Organization: MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA
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In article <217@news.nd.edu> laughner@news.nd.edu (Tom laughner) writes:
>There would be no difference in speed between a 386 with a math
>coprocessor and a 486.  The 486 chip is a 386 + the math coprocessor in
>one.  Intel considers the 486 as a part of the 386 family.

This is incorrect.  The 486 has an internal cache (8K, I think),
and many instructions have been optimized so that they execute in
fewer clock cycles.  I've got access to both 486/25 and 386/25
machines (with coprocessor in the case of the 386), and I can assure
you that there is a LARGE speed difference between the two.  Two to
two and a half times the speed is about right.
--
Phillip Wherry
The MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA
psw@mitre.org