CompuServe Messages

Marion, I agree with your assertions about floating point vs. integer performance on a Pentium relative to a 486. I looked around here for some 3DS benchmarks (I don't run 3DS but I was curious to see how an existing program that I assumed used a lot of floating point ran) but didn't see any. Maybe they scrolled off before I started looking… MM> The currently-available PowerPC 601 chip at 66MHz … runs over MM> 80 SPECfp92, vs. 56.9 SPECfp92 for the Pentium. Are you saying the PowerPC 601 is running 80 SPECfp92 when emulating a 80×86+80×87? That WOULD be impressive. What I'm saying is: 1) Now, 3DS won't even run under a DOS box from Windows or OS2 and probably won't work under DOS emulation under NT on any other platform. Even if it does run, I expect it will run much slower than on a Pentium unless the host processor has an FPU that is instruction set compatible with the Pentium. If I'm right about this, there's no point in getting a PowerPC now to run 3DS now. 2) I would guess that 5 to 10 percent of 3DS is coded in assembler for speed and that the rest of the code was not written with portability in mind. I wouldn't expect to see a Pentium NT port in less than a year. An NT port to another processor probably won't be around for a year and a half or so. I agree that once a native PowerPC NT version of 3DS is available, that it will, in all likelyhood, run much faster than the Pentium version. Of course, by then we'll be running Hexiums or Septiums or something, but I expect the RISC machines will be able to keep their performance edge since the Pentium decendents will have to maintain 8086 compatibility. I don't know if anyone really cares about power comsumption or footprint in a rendering engine. All my PC's (2) are in tower cases with 300 watt power supplies. You're talking a few cents a day more to run a Pentium than a PowerPC, and maybe a few dollars in fiberglass for the motherboard. Portables are another thing entirely… And Pentium systems will cost a little more since the chip itself is more expensive. I suspect that most people will accept the extra cost for full DOS compatibility though. John.