Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!cs.uoregon.edu!ogicse!ucsd!nosc!crash!ryptyde!dant
From: dant@ryptyde.UUCP (Daniel Tracy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: What to buy??(numbercruncher)
Message-ID: <77@ryptyde.UUCP>
Date: 20 Jun 91 10:57:45 GMT
References: <71A0D62DC000263C@FANDM> <1991Jun17.124116.1900@sugar.hackercorp.com> <63@ryptyde.UUCP> <4ocHh98?@cs.psu.edu>
Reply-To: dant@ryptyde.UUCP (Daniel Tracy)
Organization: Ryptyde Timesharing (ryptyde.cts.com)
Lines: 22

Responding to the following:

"I think you must be under Unix(SYSVR2) to take advantage of the I/O
coprocessors in the IIfx.  System 7 doesn't even utilize them.  That
killer graphics coprocessor board won't work with System 7.0 for a few
more months.  However, if you want a real killer graphics board, I
would recommend the NeXTDimension board for the NeXT Cube.  I haven't
seen any benchmarks, but it is using an i860, so I'm willing to be
that it's damn fast!"

No, the Mac OS takes advantage of the IIfx's I/O chips, just doesn't use
the DMA of the SCSI controller. I agree about the NeXTDimension board.
Too bad it isn't available for the Mac (there are i860 "cocomputers"
available, but no graphics boards yet, I think). I haven't seen any
benchmarks done either, but I've read a visual analogy of someone who
was working with the board and comparing it with the IIfx. He said 
with multiple 24-bit image windows up, moving one window from over the 
other gives the impression that the other image is "just there", with
no visual redraw whatsoever. The technical specs of this board are just
short of incredible (to quote MacUser). 8 megs (expandable to 32megs)
just for the board?! A 33MHz i860, JPEG compression, NTSC conversion
with genlock.