From: rmitch@irus.rri.uwo.ca (Ross Mitchell)
Subject: 66DX2 ISA,VLB xor 50DX EISA ??  Advice wanted...
Organization: University of Western Ontario, London
Nntp-Posting-Host: vega.irus.rri.uwo.ca
Lines: 81


Hi:

I need some advice (opinions?) regarding which PC would best suit my needs!
I want to use this (proposed) beast for basically four things:  

     -	Editing documents using WordPerfect 5.1 (under dos)

     -	Creating graphs/analyzing data using Sigmaplot V5.0 (under dos)

     -	Editing/playing with images using Aldus PhotoStyler, running under 
	Windows 3.1 - these images can be large, say 2k x 2k, 24bits/pixel

     -	Using the PC as an Xterminal, running DesqView/X 1.1 and Sun PC-NFS, 
	talking to our network of Sparcstation's - this is where a lot of
	the images/data come from, and is the most demanding of these tasks.

I've read, read, read PC magazines, performed benchmarks, read this newsgroup,
and decided that a "nice" system (price/performance) would be:

	486DX-50 256k cache, ISA, VLB, 16meg ram
	ATI Graphics Ultra Pro, 2 meg ram, local bus
	15" monitor, 1280x1024 NI
	3Com Etherlink III 16bit
	Maxtor 240MB IDE hard drive

However, the parts don't fit!  Our local retailer apparently put one of these
together, only to discover that the ATI card wouldn't run at 50MHz - surprise
surprise.  Actually, after reading this group, I'm surprised that they even
have a 50MHz local bus running...

I have a choice now between basically the above system but with a
486DX2-66 with ISA and VLB,  or,   a 486DX-50 with EISA and no VLB (and thus
the non-local bus version of the ATI card).  Which is better, keeping in mind
that I'm primarily interested in the last two tasks?  

Any help would be greatly appreciated!  (I need to decide quickly, so any 
speedy help would be appreciated even more!!)



BTW: We have a system now to perform these tasks, it has the following 
configuration:

	486DX-33 64k cache, ISA, 8 meg ram
	ATI Graphics Ultra+, 2 meg ram
	14" monitor, 1024x768 NI
	SMC Ethercard 8 bit
	Maxtor 120MB IDE hard drive

We're quite happy with the ATI card - very fast, ONCE the data gets to it!!
~Slow~ repainting images under PhotoStyler that have moved off screen, or
been uncovered!  

There doesn't seem to be enough raw cpu when running DesqView/X!  Its sluggish
running the local window manager.  Also, many functions under PhotoStyler take
a long time (even when the images fit entirely in ram).

There's not enough memory in the system - DesqView/X and a 1 meg SmartDrive
don't leave much room for other apps.  Photostyler will page to disk with
medium size images.

I have performed a number of benchmarks on the ethernet transfer rates.  This
machine sustains only 120k/sec over ethernet while our Sparcs sustain 600k/sec 
on the same network.  Going to the 16 bit version of the SMC card increases
transfer rates to 160k/sec - still very slow (especially when moving large 
images).  Is there such a thing as a local-bus ethernet card coming??  Will it
make a difference?  I'm hoping so, and leaning towards the 486DX2-66 choice 
(above), for that reason.

Also, are there DX2-100's on the horizon?  What about DX3-99's?  DX3-150's ???!

Any information is greatly appreciated.

-----
Ross Mitchell, Imaging Research Lab, |   rmitch@irus.rri.uwo.ca
John P. Robarts Research Institute   |
P.O. Box 5015, 100 Perth Drive       |   office: (519) 663-3833
London, Ontario, Canada  N6A 5K8     |   home: (519) 657-4437


