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From: silver@xrtll.uucp (Hi Ho Silver)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 286 w/co-processor vs. 386 price/performance ???
Keywords: 286 386 co-processor
Message-ID: <1990Nov4.223324.4914@xrtll.uucp>
Date: 4 Nov 90 22:33:24 GMT
References: <144365@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <8417@darkstar.ucsc.edu>
Reply-To: silver@xrtll.UUCP (Hi Ho Silver)
Organization: Not around here, pal!
Lines: 37

$>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.
$If you just look at "benchmarks" (which can prove anything, depending on
$the benchmark), the fast 286 may be a better deal. Perhaps that assumes
$that you're only going to use your computer for running benchmarks.;-}

   A 10 MHz 8088 with an 8087 may well be faster at pure number-crunching
than a 16 MHz 386SX, but very few people perform strictly number-crunching.
A 16 MHz 80286 often proves marginally faster than a 16 MHz 386SX, but
the 386SX is probably the better choice for most people.

   The most important question to keep in mind when considering a hardware
purchase is "What will I be using it for during the time I expect to keep
this particular machine?"  If you're going to be doing a lot of numerical
stuff with software that uses a math coprocessor, then you'd probably be
best off with the 286+287 combination because it will do math significantly
faster than a 386SX or 386DX without a coprocessor.  But if that's only
going to be a small part of what you'll be doing, go for the 386SX or 386DX.

$You should also be considering the longer term factors. With the far
$superior instruction set and memory management of the 386, more and more
$(don't ask me for numbers) programs are being written that won't work on
$a 286. The prices of the 2 are so close, that I think you should buy for
$the future!			-ted-

   One big consideration for many people is whether or not you'll be using
Windows 3.  If so, don't even think about a 286.  Also, as Ted points out,
the memory management of the 386 is quite useful; it can be used for such
jobs as loading device drivers outside your 640K address space, leaving
you more memory, or for turning your extended memory into expanded memory,
with the ability to switch between the two at any time.
-- 
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