Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!ria!uwovax!baer
From: baer@uwovax.uwo.ca
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 286 w/co-processor vs. 386 price/performance ???
Message-ID: <7589.273089d7@uwovax.uwo.ca>
Date: 2 Nov 90 01:47:18 GMT
References: <15914@netcom.UUCP> <144365@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <13126@encore.Encore.COM>
Lines: 53

A quick response to the conversation regarding 386's vs. 286's


> STOP!!  I dislike reading responses from people who speculate rather than who
> know the facts.  All *new* 286 boards have LIM 4.0. A 286-16 board WITH
> LIM 4.0 costs $125.  A 286-12 board is $89.  And, there is a 286-20 
> available.
> 

Agreed.  My older 286 requires dip switch setting, though, so I cannot
switch back and forward from expanded to extended memory "on the fly"
as I can with my 386.
> A 386sx-16 still costs more that $300 (ok, so I saw it once in some
> small ad in Computer Shopper for $295, but...)  To me, the $175
> savings was significant.  And I could do everything a 386 could at
> about the same speed (did you ever notice that the SI and Landmark
> ratings for the 286-16 were actally slightly GREATER than
> the 386sx-16?  Of course, there is that BUG in the SI program...) just
> not at the SAM
Agreed, one pays a slight performance price on normal DOS applications
for a 386sx vs. a 286 at the same speed (16mHz.).

BUT:   1) As a previous posting noted, switching into and out of protected
       mode takes longer with a 286 (important when using DOS extenders,
       some of which don't even bother to support 286's, OS/2, etc.).
       2) On math applications, a 386sx/387sx combination is CONSIDERABLY
       faster than a 286/287 application at the same clock speed.  One 
       needs a really computationally intensive program to see this, though
       (even stats packages performing low-level stats on large databases
      may not see this  difference since much of the "work" is I/O, etc.)
      I run a stats application that takes 4 hours on some models with
      my old 286 and I get by in less than 1 1/2 hours with my 386sx
     (both with a math chip) -- big difference.  

E TIME.  Of course, ther exists some programs (NOT
> Windows) that multitask on a 286: Double DOS, vmix (shareware: see SIMTEL),
> etc.  I have not tried these yet, but I will try vmix.
> 
> Naturally, I reserve the right to upgrade my motherboard at a future date
> when my multiprocessing needs become significant.  Staying in an editor
> while a C program is compiling or with a terminal window on doesn't count.
> 
> Oh, if you really NEED the multitasking of the 386 (I'm going to offend
> a lot of people, now) you should forgo the sx and get a 20-25-33MHz 'dx.
> With cache.  Then you have a REAL computer.
>          
Depends on what you want.  I'd probably opt for a dx too, but sometimes the
price difference between a 386sx and a 386dx machine is bigger than the 
286/386sx gap.  

Douglas Baer, 
University of Western Ontario, London, Canada N6A 5C2
Internet: BAER@UWO.CA    Bitnet: BAER@UWOVAX