Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!udel!haven!mimsy!midway!gargoyle!ddsw1!infopls!system From: system@infopls.UUCP (SYSOP) Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms Subject: Re: Video speed Keywords: video speed standard enhanced real mode 256 colour Message-ID: Date: 16 Dec 90 17:05:13 GMT References: <1990Dec14.134019.21702@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au> Organization: INFOPLUS support, Wheeling, IL Lines: 46 cpa@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au (Christopher P Avram) writes: > I have seen a lot of talk on this group about the speed of > Windows 3.0 so here are some tests. > > Question. Is 256 colour mode much slower? > Question. Is standard mode much faster than 386 enhanced mode? > > To understand these tests find and run WINBench.EXE. > Its a PC Magazine program. > > My conclusions are that for this particular card, enhanced > mode costs very little in video performance (perhaps it does > slow CPU bound processes this test didn't test that). > There is a performance cost for 256 colour mode on this video card. > The card is very much slower in area fill operations in 256 colour > mode. Screen re-paint is not always an area fill type operation. > > The program used to do these tests is a windows 2 program that > seems to work in windows 3. I plan to publish tests for a TVGA > clone and a Paradise VGA Plus clone real soon now. The tests > are only comparative between modes not between video cards. > If you want to know which is the fastest video card, this series > of tests wont help. > > Chris Avram I compared Chris's numbers with what I've determined from testing on my own system (386/25 w/ 64K cache, ATI VGAWonder in 16-bit mode, 4M RAM.) If you use the stock 640x480x16 VGA driver as a basis, and compute ratios, my numbers come very close to his. The biggest difference I saw is that for 640x480x256, my fill was nearly twice as fast. (3x slower vs 6x slower). I changed drivers by simply changing the driver name in the SYSTEM.INI file. I made no other changes. If anyone else does similar testing, you should try to do a few things to keep things comparable. Winbench and Program Manager should be the ONLY programs loaded. Program Manager should be minimized. Move the mouse OUT of the Winbench window, and use the keyboard. (Having the mouse in the window, or moving it while testing, can have a MAJOR impact on the numbers.) I also left the window in the upper left corner of the screen. I don't know if moving it will have any effect. --------------- Andrew Rossmann andyross@infopls.UUCP or ..!uunet!ddsw1!infopls!system Infoplus Support BBS +1 708 537 0247, 1200/2400, 24 hours