Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!bsu-cs!zoo-hq!cgh!paul
From: paul@cgh.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: BENCHMARKS
Message-ID: <425@cgh.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 15-Jun-87 00:12:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: cgh.425
Posted: Mon Jun 15 00:12:54 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 16-Jun-87 01:39:09 EDT
References: <3019@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Reply-To: paul@cgh.UUCP (Paul Homchick)
Organization: Chimitt Gilman Homchick Inc., Radnor, PA
Lines: 18
Keywords: Norton, Benchmark
Summary: Norton SI (Speed Index) Bogus

In article <3019@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> kalra@cit-vax.UUCP (Devendra Kalra) writes:
>
>... Also what does the Norton Index mean.

One of the programs distributed with the Norton Utilities is SI, or
Speed Index.  When run, it produces a number which is supposed to be an
Index relative to the original IBM PC.  That is, a Norton SI of 2.0 is
supposed to mean that the current machine is 2 times faster than a
standard PC. 

However, beware: the test uses a small subset of machine instructions
and the values it gives can vary wildly when used on different families
of processors.  It gives entirely misleading results when comparing say,
an 8088 and an 80286, or an 8086 and a V20. 

To summarize: the Norton Index means nothing.  You would be well advised
to ignore all claims based on it unless you are comparing like
processors, in which case it can show you the relative clock speeds.