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Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!uunet!paladin.american.edu!darwin.sura.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sample.eng.ohio-state.edu!purdue!news.cs.indiana.edu!umn.edu!noc.msc.net!uc.msc.edu!shamash!runyon.cim.cdc.com!pbd From: pbd@runyon.cim.cdc.com (Paul Dokas) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Is ISA ok? or should I wait for EISA? Message-ID: <47065@shamash.cdc.com> Date: 1 Sep 92 15:32:13 GMT Sender: usenet@shamash.cdc.com Organization: ICEM Systems, Inc. Lines: 36 I broke down yesterday and ftped the distribution boot floppy and booted 386bsd on a minimally configured portable. Amazing! However, this has only increased my desire to buy a machine. I've been holding out for 386bsd to support machines that have a higher bus bandwidth (EISA, local etc), but I realized this that I probably can't afford such a machine as my target price is around or below $3000 (CPU, 300MD disk, SVGA, lots of memory...) My question is: how does 386bsd perform with an ISA bus 386/486? I'm especially interested in SCSI (Adaptec 1542B) throughput and X performance. I know that this is a really broad question to ask and that an answer will depend on many variables (how much memory, speed of the processor, size of disk, type of disk, etc). But I want to avoid saying, "I really should have bought some other component." In short, I want to be relatively satisfied with the performance of what I buy. So, here's your chance. If you bought/have a machine and are disappointed or really happy with some piece of it (CPU, DISK, SVGA, etc) please let me know. I'm especially interested in whether an ISA bus is capable of supporting X performance and SCSI disks without sluggishness. If there is interest, I will post a summary. BTW, I've read the FAQ and Eric Raymond's (sp?) PC Buyer's guide but neither one really addresses subjective user's experience. -- #include <std.disclaimer> #define FULL_NAME "Paul Dokas" #define EMAIL_PRIMARY "pbd@runyon.cim.cdc.com" #define EMAIL_SECONDARY "pbd@power1.cim.cdc.com" /*** "modern" humans are the embodiment of koyaanisqatsi ***/