Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!bronze!flusekw@ucs.indiana.edu
From: "WILLIAM FRANKLIN FLUSEK" <flusekw@ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: RE: info needed on SOTA 386SX upgrade board
Message-ID: <1991Apr22.212745.20445@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu>
Sender: <flusekw@ucs.indiana.edu>
Organization: Indiana University
Date: 22 Apr 91 16:25:00 EST
Lines: 61


>In article <91107.194110U39648@uicvm.uic.edu>, U39648@uicvm.uic.edu (From The Mind Of) writes:
>>>    If anyone has ANY info (pricing, performance, compatibility etc.)
>>>    on SOTA Technologys SOTA Express/386 slotless accelerator upgrade
>>>    for ATs (80286) and PS/2 models 50/60, please e-mail me. I have a
>>>    model 60 and I'd like to upgrade it to a 386SX. I will summarize.
>> 
>> The SOTA Express/386 is basically an Intel 386SX processor with a static
>> RAM cache and a socket for a 387SX math coprocessor all on a little
>> card that plugs into an 80286 socket.  There are two versions, a 16MHz
>> version with 16K cache, and a 20MHz version with 32K cache.
>> 
>> Performance is not up to par with an IBM Model 55SX, which uses a 16MHz
>> 386SX.  Most lacking is graphics speed, but that's because the VGA gets
>> no speedup at all.  What does get sped-up is the actual computations, so
>> spreadsheets calc faster, spell checkers work faster, etc.  The 16MHz
>> version seems to perform better than a 12MHz 80286, and not quite the
>> performance of a 16MHz 386SX.  I've heard the 20MHz version performs
>> around the same as a mainstream 16MHz 386SX clone.
>> 
>> I saw the 16MHz version advertised locally for $425.  Note that you also
>> need an adapter, that runs from $50 to $75.
>
>    I just saw an ad for a SX/NOW! upgrade for PS/2 models 50
>    & 60. by Sigma Data. It features 16 KB of cache, onboard
>    16 MHz processor clock, socket for 387SX and requires no
>    expansion slot. They claim the following benchmark results:
>    Norton SI: 17.4, Landmark:23.1/12.3, Dhrystones: 3069/8.92,
>    Whetstones 69.3K/10.5. The price is $895. The product is
>    actually made by Kingston Technology Corporation.
>
>    This product seems interesting if their benchmark claims are
>    correct, but the price is a bit too much. For $200 more or so
>    one could get an Aox MicroMASTER (387DX-20) with one meg of
>    memory. Anyone have experience with this product ?
>
>   Teemu.
>-- 
>    Teemu Mottonen / Department of Computer Science / University of Helsinki
>    tmottonen@cc.helsinki.fi | TMOTTONEN@FINUH | tmottone@kruuna.helsinki.fi
>    address: Vapaalantie 26B, SF-01650 Vantaa, Finland / tel: + 358 0 844938
>

As a further addendum to this story, I got a new price list from Sigma Data 
the other day and the prices are now $595 and $695 for the 16 Mhz and 20 
Mhz upgrades, respectively.  They also told me before the price drop that 
they offered a $100 academic discount on them, and I was led to believe 
that this would stay in effect after the price drop.  This brings the price 
down to $495 and $595.  On the other hand, the Aox MicroMASTER is a 
bus-mastering board that is still supposed to allow the original 80286 chip 
on the motherboard to work, doing some IO for the 386 or (if you have their 
software to facilitate it) running another entire operating system (or 
another copy of the current OS).

Bill Flusek, Indiana University

Internet:	flusekw@ucs.indiana.edu
Bitnet:		flusekw@iubacs



