Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!pacbell.com!tandem!netcom!ergo From: ergo@netcom.UUCP (Isaac Rabinovitch) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Re: 286 w/co-processor vs. 386 price/performance ??? Keywords: 286 386 co-processor Message-ID: <15914@netcom.UUCP> Date: 31 Oct 90 07:06:16 GMT References: <144365@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> Organization: UESPA Lines: 43 In <144365@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> gchin@ssf.Eng.Sun.COM (Gary Chin) writes: >I am looking into a system for home/small business applications. >I was given some advice claiming that a 286 w/co-processor >is a better buy today than getting a 386SX or a 386. If anyone >has any benchmark data or references, please post it. Please. Surely you've heard that there are lies, damn lies, and benchmarks! Everybody who sells a system can "prove" to you that it's the best bargain around. You should evaluate a system on whether it can do what you want for a price you can afford rather than looking for the absolute "best buy". Nowadays, the fastest 286 board seems to be about 12 Mhz, the slowest 386 about 16 Mhz. That's probably just because nobody's found it worthwhile to design a 16 Mhz 286 motherboard, now that 386's are all the rage. If you need that extra speed, you buy the 386. But how many people need that extra speed? Most probably don't even need 12Mhz. The 386 knows how to make extended memory look like expanded memory. If you need a lot of expanded memory, it makes more sense to buy a 386 than a 286 and an expanded memory board. If you don't have any memory intensive programs, or if you can make do with extended memory (and, now that we don't need proper support for extended memory, we're finally getting it!), you don't need the 386. The 386 knows how to create "virtual machines". Very handy if you're going to run Windows or DesqView, especially if you want to multitask programs that don't want to multitask. But are you really going to run such fancy programs? Or are you just going to run WordPerfect and Zelda Returns? -- ergo@netcom.uucp Isaac Rabinovitch netcom!ergo@apple.com Silicon Valley, CA {apple,amdahl,claris}!netcom!ergo WISE SAYING NEEDED. Must reflect positive human values. Gentle humor a plus. Cuties, pseudo-quotations, and jingoistic proverbs need not apply.