On Sep 17, 23:33, Mike Kenzie wrote:
> On another list someone mentioned that a PDP11 ran at about the same
> speed as a 486-66.
>
> I don't have a 486-66 but do have a PDP11/34 in the garage so I
> suggested that if a 486-66 could be found we could have a race.
I don't think an 11/34 or similar would come anywhere close to a 486DX2-66
in terms of processor speed. More like a slow 286. The real advantage of
a mini was the architecture, which was designed to reap the benefit of
multiple intelligent DMA subsystems and perhaps multiple busses. The same
is true now, comparing expensive SGI kit with fast Pentiums -- you only see
the advantage on specific tasks, like certain kinds of rendering.
> Any suggestions for a fair race?
Something that reflects the sort of use a mini would be put to; something
with multiuple users or at least multiple processes, and a healthy mix of
I/O. A Dhrystone test is definitely not what I'm thinking of :-)
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Tue Sep 18 2001 - 17:20:19 BST