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Autodesk Multimedia Forum · Hware/OpSys/video

Pentiums – How Fast?

10 messages in this thread

#117295From: Bruce MeikleAug 9, 1994 4:57 PM

We knew this was coming… <g> We're thinking of buying a Pentium machine to be our main 3DS station, but we're wondering about clock speeds. Does anyone have any experience that could help pin down the differences between 60 Mhz, 66 Mhz and 90Mhz Pentiums. Are the speed variations dramatic (read as "worth $")? Thanks Bruce Meikle

#117415From: John TissavaryAug 10, 1994 1:49 AM

A P5/90 is DEFINITELY worth the $$$. The difference $$$ is not that great, and the speed will be welcomed (I think it is @ half again as much faster). John Tissavary (LUNA cie, inc)

#117426From: ALAN IGLESIASAug 10, 1994 2:25 AM

Just today my hardware vendor's price difference between a 66 and a 90 came down to 100 dollars, Bruce. For my money, that's well worth the speed increase (about a third faster) of the 90. Besides, 3.3 volt technology is really a better way to go for a number of reasons. -Alan

#117466From: Bruce MeikleAug 10, 1994 8:42 AM

>>Just today my hardware vendor's price difference between a 66 and a 90 came down to 100 dollars<< It may be that these price differences haven't trickled up to Canada yet. My vendor's difference is CAN$350, but still… I think I might recomend the powers that bean-count pony up for the extra speed <g>. Thanks for your advice (you too, John). Bruce Meikle

#117764From: Jamie Clay [DPh]Aug 11, 1994 11:51 AM

Funny you should mention this. Just before I left Autodesk, I was evaluating the performance of the Pentium 60 over 66 over 90, for rendering. Though I didn't get a chance to do an indepth benchmark comparison, I used all three CPUs for rendering (plus some 486/33 and 486/66s) on one scene and got the following results. This scene used 44mb of memory to render at full video rez. The average was based on all frames rendered by that CPU type. All 486s are Gateways, the P5s are Microns. CPU Average Render Time 486/33 50:12 486/66 24:22 P5/60 12:05 P5/66 10:29 P5/90 08:04 What's interesting to note here is how much faster the P5/90 is over the 486/33, the original CPU that was considered the 'top of the line' when 3DS 1.0 was released. The Image lab at that time had 6 – 486/33s to do all it's rendering. Now 1 P5/90 does the same job. Hope you find this useful. J-me

#117787From: Bruce MeikleAug 11, 1994 2:11 PM

Jamie: Thanks for the benchmarks! We've ordered the 90 Mhz Pentium and it looks like your numbers confirm we've made the right choice. The only problem is that once we get the lil demon into the office, my 486/33 at home is going to feel like a drunken slug in comparison <g>. Thanks again Bruce Meikle

#118739From: George OmuraAug 17, 1994 7:25 AM

hello Jamie, I met you at the now defunct SF 3DS user group. What are you up to now? George O.

#118894From: John SchmidtAug 17, 1994 7:54 PM

George, The S.F. Users group is slowly resurrecting itself. The next meeting is Sat. Sep. 10th, 10 a.m. at 425 Market St., S.F., second floor. This meeting will be looking at the latest IPAS effects, etc. Stop on by. John

#118984From: George OmuraAug 18, 1994 7:13 AM

Thanks for the message, John! George Omura

#119686From: Jamie Clay [DPh]Aug 22, 1994 2:58 PM

>>What are you up to now?<< Working from home, decompressing from working at the 'desk, looking for that next level of play. It's been a gas to come back to the forum. I'm an old Product Support tech so it's actually very enjoyable to help trouble shoot other folks problems. (ok, so I'm a sick puppy) Looks like the SF group will rise again! Maybe I'll see ya there. J-me