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From: tmottonen@cc.helsinki.fi
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware
Subject: Re: info needed on SOTA 386SX upgrade board
Message-ID: <1991Apr22.165428.6092@cc.helsinki.fi>
Date: 22 Apr 91 16:54:28 GMT
References: <1991Apr17.165958.6023@cc.helsinki.fi> <91107.194110U39648@uicvm.uic.edu>
Organization: University of Helsinki
Lines: 40

In article <91107.194110U39648@uicvm.uic.edu>, U39648@uicvm.uic.edu (From The Mind Of) writes:
>>    If anyone has ANY info (pricing, performance, compatibility etc.)
>>    on SOTA Technologys SOTA Express/386 slotless accelerator upgrade
>>    for ATs (80286) and PS/2 models 50/60, please e-mail me. I have a
>>    model 60 and I'd like to upgrade it to a 386SX. I will summarize.
> 
> The SOTA Express/386 is basically an Intel 386SX processor with a static
> RAM cache and a socket for a 387SX math coprocessor all on a little
> card that plugs into an 80286 socket.  There are two versions, a 16MHz
> version with 16K cache, and a 20MHz version with 32K cache.
> 
> Performance is not up to par with an IBM Model 55SX, which uses a 16MHz
> 386SX.  Most lacking is graphics speed, but that's because the VGA gets
> no speedup at all.  What does get sped-up is the actual computations, so
> spreadsheets calc faster, spell checkers work faster, etc.  The 16MHz
> version seems to perform better than a 12MHz 80286, and not quite the
> performance of a 16MHz 386SX.  I've heard the 20MHz version performs
> around the same as a mainstream 16MHz 386SX clone.
> 
> I saw the 16MHz version advertised locally for $425.  Note that you also
> need an adapter, that runs from $50 to $75.

    I just saw an ad for a SX/NOW! upgrade for PS/2 models 50
    & 60. by Sigma Data. It features 16 KB of cache, onboard
    16 MHz processor clock, socket for 387SX and requires no
    expansion slot. They claim the following benchmark results:
    Norton SI: 17.4, Landmark:23.1/12.3, Dhrystones: 3069/8.92,
    Whetstones 69.3K/10.5. The price is $895. The product is
    actually made by Kingston Technology Corporation.

    This product seems interesting if their benchmark claims are
    correct, but the price is a bit too much. For $200 more or so
    one could get an Aox MicroMASTER (387DX-20) with one meg of
    memory. Anyone have experience with this product ?

    Teemu.
-- 
    Teemu Mottonen / Department of Computer Science / University of Helsinki
    tmottonen@cc.helsinki.fi | TMOTTONEN@FINUH | tmottone@kruuna.helsinki.fi
    address: Vapaalantie 26B, SF-01650 Vantaa, Finland / tel: + 358 0 844938