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From: kim@mips.UUCP (Kim DeVaughn)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Re: MS Mouse, V-20 w/8087, Edge Questions
Message-ID: <440@mips.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 15-Apr-86 14:49:51 EST
Article-I.D.: mips.440
Posted: Tue Apr 15 14:49:51 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Apr-86 04:54:59 EST
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Organization: mips ... where RISC is a way of life
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[ ... go ahead, eat my bits ... ]

> Has anyone with a V-20 processor used an 8087 with it? Do they work  
> together without contention? What kind of speed advantage did you 
> find?  I have become addicted to an 8 Mhz 8088/8087 but like the
> idea of CP/M native code with the new patch programs.  How well do
> THEY work?

I replaced the 8086 in my 8-MHz Fujitsu Micro-16s about 8 or 9 months
ago with a V-30.  The FJ box has an 8087, and runs MS-DOS (2.11).
I have had *NO* problems whatsoever, nor any S/W that behaves differently
(thankfully, none of my S/W relies on instruction cycle/timing loops).

Overall, I see a performance improvement of about 15%, though programs
that do alot of string manipulation are a bit better than this (say 20%).

The V-30 has had no problem communicating with the 8087, though you
will see very little of a performance improvement (if any) in any
application that is 8087 intensive.  Rumor has it that NEC is about
ready to introduce an 8087-equivalent part that runs faster/cooler/etc.,
and has additional built-in functions, and other enhancements.

I dunno how well the 8080 mode works out, as the FJ machine has a Z80
subbordinate processor that runs what little 8-bit code I have.  There
was an excellent 2-part article on this subject in Micro/Systems Journal
earlier this year.  (Too bad the NEC 8080-mode isn't really a Z80 mode.)

In terms of price/performance, the V-30 gives alot of bang for the buck;
cost was about $21.

/kim

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