Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!nstn.ns.ca!watt.ccs.tuns.ca!macdonaldk
From: macdonaldk@watt.ccs.tuns.ca
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: help with assessment of i486 computer needed.
Message-ID: <1991Jun29.044951.1@watt.ccs.tuns.ca>
Date: 29 Jun 91 07:49:51 GMT
Organization: Technical University of Nova Scotia
Lines: 31

Hello hardware people!

This fall, I will buy a i486/33 microcomputer, which will operate under
OS/2 version 2.0.  In case you are not aware of OS/2 version 2.0, it is a
full 32 bit implementation of OS/2 version 1.x.  My questions are as
follows:

1. What criteria should I use to evaluate which components will operate
   the fastest.  I am looking for a low cost system, but am willing to
   spend a few hundred dollars here and there to get large gains in speed.

2. Are the benchmarks published in PC magazines (BYTE, PC Magazine, etc.)
   accurate enough to assess the performance of a computer running under
   a 32 bit environment.  Intel points out that a i486 computer doesn't
   show its full self when running 16 bit DOS applications.

3. Is EISA worth the extra cost?  Is SCSI(/2) faster than IDE fixed disks?
   What level of integration should the motherboard have: video? serial/
   parallel ports?

The specifications of my soon-to-be computer, subject to much change,
are as follows:

i486/33, 8Mbytes RAM, 100M-200M fixed disk, Super VGA or XGA, 14" or 16"
colour VGA display, 3 1/2" floppy disk, ad naseum...

So, can anyone help?

Thankyou for any assistance.

TTFN.