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From: thoger@solan8.solan.unit.no (Terje Th|gersen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 286 w/co-processor vs. 386 price/performance ???
Keywords: 286 386 co-processor
Message-ID: <1990Oct31.185158.27459@idt.unit.no>
Date: 31 Oct 90 18:51:58 GMT
References: <144365@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Sender: news@idt.unit.no (Usenet news admin)
Reply-To: thoger@solan.unit.no
Organization: Norwegian Institue of Technology
Lines: 39

In article <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.
|> 
|> Thanks,
|> Gary Chin

I don't have any data-references for you, but here are some things I figured
out when trying to decide whether to go with a 16-20 MHz 286 or a 16MHz 386sx.
As you'll probably guess from the following, I got a 386sx.. :-)

A 16MHz 286 is marginally faster than a 16 MHz 386sx, but the '286
was born brain-dead, and hasn't gotten any smarter over the years.. :-)

A 386sx is only slightly more expensive than a similarly equipped '286, and 
you get all the memory-managment advantages a 386 offers, like the ability
do 'loadhi' TSR's and device drivers out of the 640k DOS base RAM area. This 
gives me 570K free base RAM now, vs. 510K when I had the same TSR's / device
drivers installed on a 286.

The 386sx or dx are also 5-10 times faster in getting in and out of protected
mode. This becomes an issue if you use exTended memory on your computer.
(using Windows 3.0, for example)

A 386sx/dx can also remap it's exTended memory into real EMS 4.0 for programs
who use this, without speed or compatibility penalties. Although some newer
286's support EMS 4.0 on the motherboard, most 286's need a dedicated EMS 4.0 
expansion board on the bus to do this. On my 386sx, motherboard-based RAM is 72% 
faster than the RAM I have on the expansion bus.


	 -Terje

____________________________________________________________________________
thoger@solan.unit.no       |                 Institute of Physical Chemistry
THOGER AT NORUNIT.BITNET   | Div. of Computer Assisted Instrumental Analysis
                           |               Norwegian Institute of Technology