🚀 go-pugleaf

Coltof EW <ecoltof@cs.vu.nl> wrote in article
<64pj0i$eb5$1@star.cs.vu.nl>...
> PrEzTo (au138@chebucto.ns.ca) wrote:
> : =3D>> Well, I don't know about the K6, but I know the FPU of my AMD
5x86 =
> : 133
> : =3D>> is only the equivalent of an Intel P75. Which is why I say: Go =
> : Intel!
> : =3D>> John

The 5x86 is, despite the name, a 486 chip.  No wonder it *only* performs
as well as a P75.

> : =3D>Or as I say go bankrupt!!!
> : =3D>To go intel costs about 20% extra for the same clock speed and as
> : =3D>someone who doesn't play quake I don't give a toss what the FPU
speed
> : =3D>is.
> 
> : QUAKE is not the only thing the FPU is used for!!!  It's also used for
> : intensive mathematical calculations which is why Intel chips have been
> : popular in the past as they are now.  If Quake was the only reason for
> : a faster FPU then Intel would die!  Not only that, the Quake team
> : could of used integer calculations and made the code a lot faster.
> : What am I to say, programmers are getting lazier with all this new
> : technology ;-).

The K6 has a great FPU.  It's not superpipelined, like Intel's, but it's
plenty fast.  The issue with Quake is that the game engine was
specifically optimized for a superpipelined FPU, which means that Intel
chips run Quake particularly well.  Software optimized for the K6's
architecture would run better on it than on a Pentium.  If you run GLQuake
and use a high-end 3D accelerator like a 3Dfx board -- the only real setup
for serious Quakers -- the benefits of Intel's FPU are negligible.

> Well, if floating point is REAL important, like Raytracing, there's
always
> the alpha AXP, those things are FAST. As soon as I have a job i'm going
> to save my money to buy one. I do a lot of numerical math and
simulations,
> I think I'm gonna like it. 
> BTW I don't like Quake, so I dont'care about that.

Overall, the performance of the K6 falls somewhere between a P55C and a
PII.  It rivals a PII is some areas and falls short in others.  Currently,
it is the best price/performance CPU value available, although the price
for end users of the 233 MHz version is much higher than it should be due
to a persistent shortage.
-- 
md

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