VOGONS

Search

Common searches

386SLC with 387 coprocessor, is it worth it?

Topic actions

First post, by DoktorNuts

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I've recently got myself an old IBM PS/ValuePoint 325T/S for free (someone who kept it for about 20 years gave it to me), so far it seems to work very well, it has an IBM 386SLC processor running at 25MHz, and i was wondering if adding a coprocessor (and which one) can make a difference in performance overall, i'm actually not too familiar with hardware from this era, and i can't find much information about these processors in general, so any help is appreciated.

Reply 1 of 6, by stamasd

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Only for software that does a lot of floating point operations (spreadsheets etc). It will make absolutely no difference in games.

Lots of information about x87 coprocessors: http://wiretap.area.com/Gopher/Library/Techdo … /Cpu/coproc.txt (as of January 1993) 😀

I/O, I/O,
It's off to disk I go,
With a bit and a byte
And a read and a write,
I/O, I/O

Reply 2 of 6, by Unknown_K

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

What would you be running that needs a math coprocessor?
Back when I purchased a new 386dx40 system I also purchased a Cyrix math coprocessor just for excel spreadsheets. Having a math coprocessor will not improve gaming at all or any other tasks that are not specifically looking for the chip. PKZIP will also use it.

Collector of old computers, hardware, and software

Reply 3 of 6, by Rhuwyn

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Does anyone use retro machines for spreadsheets? While I know lots of people use them for gaming and also music applications I am not sure I know anyone who wants to to use retrospreadsheets.....would be interesting to be wrong though!

Reply 4 of 6, by stamasd

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t
Rhuwyn wrote:

Does anyone use retro machines for spreadsheets? While I know lots of people use them for gaming and also music applications I am not sure I know anyone who wants to to use retrospreadsheets.....would be interesting to be wrong though!

Hmm, I might try one day to recreate the experience of preparing my undergrad thesis again... printing form Word 2.0 and Excel to an Epson dot-matrix printer (LQ-something, I'm actively blocking the memory that contains the actual model number) that was severely past its prime, with lots of paper jams, from a 16MHz 386 in the early '90s. Took about a day and a half of babysitting that system to get the whole 89 pages printed. In 3 copies.

On second thought, no I won't do that.

I/O, I/O,
It's off to disk I go,
With a bit and a byte
And a read and a write,
I/O, I/O

Reply 5 of 6, by Zup

Posted on 
User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Some flight simulators (i.e. TFX and Falcon) would run better with 387. But they'll benefit from more raw power (=486, Pentium), too.

Apart from those games, only apps like spreadsheets and CAD will run faster.

Thinking about that... does anybody knows if there were games with x87 patches/versions? Something like using 387 instructions in Doom to make it run faster on some computers.

I have traveled across the universe and through the years to find Her.
Sometimes going all the way is just a start...

I'm selling some stuff!

Go to top of page Go to top of page
Back to General Old Hardware
Close window
Close window