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From: harry@aeshq.UUCP (Harry Pulley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: 286 w/co-processor vs. 386 price/performance ???
Summary: Only if you do a lot of float...
Keywords: 286 386 co-processor
Message-ID: <788@aeshq.UUCP>
Date: 2 Nov 90 19:17:09 GMT
References: <144365@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Organization: AES Headquarters, Environment Canada, Toronto, Canada
Lines: 32


I have one benchmark for a 286-10 w/co-processor vs. 386-25, but it is very
one-sided in favor of the 286.  I wrote a fractal program in Turbo Pascal.  
This program calculates the newton iterations of root approximation for cubics
in the complex plane.

The only integer variables in the program are the loop counters; the float     
equations for the calculations take up most of the program.  

Anyway, here are the numbers: 286-10 w/cp finished a 640x480 screen in 33 min.
386-25 at the same res. took 47 min. to complete the task.  Note: these numbers
are approximate.

This sort of benchmark does not take advantage of any of the features of the 
386 (32-bit addressing, v-mem., etc).

The conclusion that I have drawn from these results, is that any small program
which uses little memory, disk-time, etc. and requires a large amount of 
number crunching time will probably run faster for less money if you go for a 
286.  You can get a nice 286 system with co-processor for <$2000.  The 80287-10
is ~$300 (up here in Canada...), while the cp's for the 386 line are over $700.

If you wish to do a large amount of math (spreadsheets, fractals, neural-nets,
graphics in perspective, etc...) and you have a limited budget, I would 
recommend a 286-12.  If you have the cash, a high speed 386/486 with a cp to
match will give you an incredibly fast system.
  
-- 
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~     HCPIV (2b||!2b)     ~        Harry Pulley        ~   harry@aeshq.UUCP   ~ 
~    Computo, ergo sum    ~     Environment Canada     ~     TOR, ON, CA      ~
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