Hi, this for a graphical app (Scalar Wave), not a game so I hope it's ok to post this question here.
Replacing an old Pentium 4 CPU/motherboard that runs a DOS app only. Wondering if a modern Pentium, like a PENTIUM N3710, will perform as well? The new Pentium has 4 cores. DOS will use only one core I know. I am wondering if a single core of the N3710 will meet or exceed the Pentium 4.
Thanks for shedding some light!
it should be faster, however these newer N series pentium uses a different core than the ones found for desktop machines so performance is way different
some celeron and pentium are the same as the atom but with more cores, more cache and in some cases, better I/O and memory controller. they normally came with the N or J prefix in the model and are mostly used in cheap low-end laptops
on the other hand, all desktop socketed celeron and pentium are based off of the Core i series but with less cache, less cores and threads, in some cases less instructions, no support for turboboost or overclocking, worse I/O (PCI-E lanes and memory controller), etc.
so in summary, it would be better but also not so much, and fundamentally you may encounter more incompatibilities as the hardware is not designed with this software in mind
DT: R7-5800X3D/R5-3600/R3-1200/P-G5400/FX-6100/i3-3225/P-8400/D-900/K6-2_550
LT: C-N2840/A64-TK57/N2600/N455/N270/C-ULV353/PM-1.7/P4-2.6/P133
TC: Esther-1000/Esther-400/Vortex86-366
Others: Drean C64c/Czerweny Spectrum 48k/Talent MSX DPC200/M512K/MP475
One way to approximate performance is to find a Geekbench benchmark and compare Single Core performance.
I agree with Weldum. An N3710 "should" should beat a single core Pentium 4.
Even the first generation of Atom cores were about twice as fast per clock as Pentium 4. Since this one does single core Turbo to 2.56 that should be beating a 3.8 P4EE I would expect.
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ChasN wrote on 2023-02-13, 21:03:CPU/motherboard that runs a DOS app
Is that program graphically-intensive or does it require any specific VESA modes support when drawing? If yes, you may have trouble meeting those requirements in modern hardware.
Besides accessing storage may be another problem (the new board likely has UEFI / secure boot)
I'm guessing the original concern was power draw and heat production? In that case you may look into VIA EPIA boards, they are quite compatible and readily available.
Bruno128 wrote on 2023-02-14, 05:56:Is that program graphically-intensive or does it require any specific VESA modes support when drawing? If yes, you may have trouble meeting those requirements in modern hardware.
This isn't related to CPUs (which should be speed-sensitive software in general), but with modern video hardware that doesn't have adequate DOS support anymore including VESA despite reporting VBE 3.0.
Besides accessing storage may be another problem (the new board likely has UEFI / secure boot)
Provided that CSM is still available on third-party motherboards, UEFI Secure Boot can be disabled.
But yeah, it will be difficult meeting the requirements in general as DOS fell out of mainstream support a long time ago.
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Thank you, all your messages bring much more clarity on this. I appreciate all the processor know-how here! 😀
Just to mention, the app here is pretty basic. It simply reads a text file, and displays the contents on a screen, over and over. There are a few hotkeys that can trigger different colors and formats and speeds, that's about it.
The geekbench score for the N3710 single-Core is 1170. The Pentium 4 is 185. It appears that ht N3710 is 6 X faster than the Pentium 4. Pretty amazing!
ChasN wrote on 2023-02-14, 23:18:Just to mention, the app here is pretty basic. It simply reads a text file, and displays the contents on a screen, over and over. There are a few hotkeys that can trigger different colors and formats and speeds, that's about it.
It's not necessarily about how complex it is but rather how compatible it is. Which year was the app version in question released?
If you want a free test, copy this app, start a dosbox on your modern pc, set a high cpu cycles value and see if it works properly.
ChasN wrote on 2023-02-14, 23:18:Thank you, all your messages bring much more clarity on this. I appreciate all the processor know-how here! 😀
Just to mention, the app here is pretty basic. It simply reads a text file, and displays the contents on a screen, over and over. There are a few hotkeys that can trigger different colors and formats and speeds, that's about it.
If that's literally all it does - it seems simple enough to rebuild it with a modern OS in mind. All of that is possible as a console app but even as a C# winforms you could make it 'look' like DOS output but it would work natively on a modern windows installation. That way you could avoid the DOS issue altogether and probably a whole lot of headaches along with it.
Do you know anyone that wouldn't mind a quick and dirty programming job for a few bucks?
