VOGONS


First post, by Great Hierophant

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In this article, I will endeavor to compare the three most important 4.77MHz machines and compare their gaming potential. The systems to be compared are the IBM PC/XT, the IBM PCjr. and the Tandy 1000 SX.

Why the IBM PC/XT over the IBM PC?
Well, the IBM PC/XT has four major advantages over the IBM PC:
640KB of RAM on all motherboards
Eight slots compared to five
130W Power Supply compared to 65W
Improved BIOS supports 720KB disks and 101 Keyboards (sort of)

Why choose the Tandy 1000 SX over other Tandy 1000s?
Can install better video cards like EGA and VGA
Five slots compared to three or none on other Tandys
4.77Mhz or 7.16Mhz switchable speed, unlike some other Tandys
640KB on motherboard, unlike some other Tandys

So, with these issues in mind, let us proceed to the comparisons:

The IBM PC/XT is the gold standard for old-school gaming compatibility. It is the only computer that can use a true IBM CGA, the original gamer's card. It has plenty of slots, but it needs those slots for basic ports built into the other machines. It is the easiest to upgrade.

The IBM PCjr. is only mentioned here because it can run certain games that no other PC can, namely the cartridge games and the original version of King's Quest. It is hard and expensive to upgrade, uses proprietary connectors for peripherals, and difficult to configure for anything beyond the basic functionality. Its also the slowest of all the three PCs.

The Tandy 1000 SX is the best 4.77MHz machine Tandy put out. It actually has a respectable number of expansion slots, 5. It may be slightly more compatible with CGA games than the PCjr., and has a very large number of games that support its unique graphics and sound hardware. At the same time it may be too slow for many of those games, even with the high speed 7.16MHz capability. On the downside it uses non-standard joysticks and keyboards. It also uses IRQs that the PC/XT leaves free.