Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!mimsy!umd5!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!cbosgd!mandrill!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Norton SI vs Reality
Message-ID: <853@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: 16 Dec 87 18:59:59 GMT
References: <1098@quacky.UUCP> <580@netxcom.UUCP>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 33
Keywords: norton,SI
Summary: Use PC Labs' _Bench_ program


I heartly recommend the use of PC Magazine's PC Labs' _Bench_ IBM
compatible computer test suite.  I forgot just how we obtained our
copy.  I think it was gotten from one of the software offerings
from the back of PC Magazine.

Bench is a pretty good test suite and can be used to test quite a
few aspects of system performance.  CPU relevent feautures
including instructions, FPU and regular as well as (E)EMS memory
timings are tested.  Hard disk and video apators can also be
spec.'ed.

The CPU oriented items tested are:

1.  128K NOP Loop
2.  Do-nothing Loop
3.  Integer Add Loop
4.  Integer Multiply Loop
5.  String Sort and Move
6.  Prime Number Sieve

The times are given as %of 4.77 MHz XT and 8.00 MHz AT

Before I put a V-30 in my AT&T 6300, the integer Multiply was about
0.3 of an AT.  After the V-30, the Mults went up to about 0.6 AT.
String Sort and Move also showed noticable improvement.  The other
CPU operations were not so dramatic.  I don't remember the exact
figure difference for 8086 vs V30 as reported by si, version 4.0;
it was something like the performance of the V30 was 2.5 times the
8086.  Just watching the computer run, it was obvious that the
Norton Index was over-rating the V30.

--Bill