Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!dev!dgis!cschenk
From: cschenk@dgis.dtic.dla.mil (Cliff Schenk)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: HOME BREWED PC
Keywords: 386 486
Message-ID: <775@dgis.dtic.dla.mil>
Date: 27 Feb 90 12:53:46 GMT
References: <20154@bcsaic.UUCP> <206900167@prism> <2523@cs-spool.calgary.UUCP>
Organization: Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), Alexandria VA
Lines: 33

mcneill@cpsc.ucalgary.ca (William Mcneill) writes:

>I'm thinking of rolling my own 33Mhz 386 or 486 box. Where can a
>person get honest motherboard performance ratings? Is there anyone who
>could share any experiences with home building PCs.
>Thanks

MIPS magazine, Sept 1989 Vol 1 #9, compared the Mylex MX386-33, Micronics
386/33, Micronics 386/25, and the AMI Mark II motherboards.  They ran 
Dhrystone 2, Whetstones, Linpack, and Livermore Loops under Unix, OS/2, DOS/x.
In addition they ran workloads with four types of applications; software 
development, engineering/scientific, finacial, and publishing on the same
three OS environments.

There conclusions -- under DOS extenders no single board stood out,
hence choose the least expensive board -- Micronics.  Under Xenix the
Micronics board came in at slightly slower speeds on the AIM tests,
however it was concluded that the price difference overshadowed the
nominal performance difference.  The Micronics board was slightly
faster on tests they ran under OS/2.  The Mylex board offered the
greatest number of user-configurable options through jumpers and PALS.

BTW has anyone had any experiences with the MPT 386/33 MHZ mother board
made by SOYO.  I called a local computer dealer who is offering a 386/33
MHZ configuration identical to the Gateway 2000 for about $350 less.
However, it probably isn't worth it if I can't find reassuring
information on the speed and reliability of this motherboard.

Cliff
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Clifford K. Schenk 				MILNET cschenk@dev.dtic.dla.mil
Control Data Corporation 			UUCP   ..!uunet!dev!cschenk
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