blog:286_shootout_pa286-sa1

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blog:286_shootout_pa286-sa1 [2021/01/19 23:10] – [Results] johnblog:286_shootout_pa286-sa1 [2024/02/16 19:02] (current) – [Conclusion] john
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 ====== Peaktron / Micro Systems PA286-SA1 ====== ====== Peaktron / Micro Systems PA286-SA1 ======
  
 +{{:blog:img20210115115936.jpg?150|}} 
 +
 +A 286 motherboard that seemed promising. Information on specifications and configuration, as well as benchmarks and testing.
 ===== Initial Thoughts ===== ===== Initial Thoughts =====
  
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 {{:blog:img20210116091224.jpg?200|}} {{:blog:img20210116093134.jpg?200|}} {{:blog:img20210116093104.jpg?200|}} {{:blog:img20210116091224.jpg?200|}} {{:blog:img20210116093134.jpg?200|}} {{:blog:img20210116093104.jpg?200|}}
  
 +===== Oscillator Modification =====
 +
 +The board has a soldered-in oscillator of 32MHz, giving a 16MHz processor clock. To do any performance tuning or use a 20MHz or faster processor, it will have to be replaced with a socket:
 +
 +{{:blog:img20210116110901.jpg?200|}}{{:blog:img20210116121004.jpg?200|}}{{:blog:img20210116121019.jpg?200|}}
 +{{:blog:img20210116121136.jpg?200|}}{{:blog:img20210116122204.jpg?200|}}
 +
 +The board works correctly again with the original oscillator in the socket.
 ===== 0 Wait State ===== ===== 0 Wait State =====
  
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 This is an identical configuration to config 1, except the processor is changed for a Harris-20, clocked at the same 16MHz as config 1. The speed testing confirms this performs identically, as expected; there are no architectural differences between the AMD and Harris 80286 implementations. This is an identical configuration to config 1, except the processor is changed for a Harris-20, clocked at the same 16MHz as config 1. The speed testing confirms this performs identically, as expected; there are no architectural differences between the AMD and Harris 80286 implementations.
  
-Further benchmarking, including tests run from the hard drive show that this configuration is //extremely// unreliable. There is a chance of disk IO causing system lockups.+Further benchmarking, including tests run from the hard drive show that this configuration is //extremely// unreliable. There is a chance of disk IO causing system lockups.  
 + 
 +Since the results are identical to configuration 1, they are excluded from the results table.
  
 === Configuration 3 === === Configuration 3 ===
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    * 2x 4MB 60ns SIMM    * 2x 4MB 60ns SIMM
    * Trident TVGA9000 512KB VGA    * Trident TVGA9000 512KB VGA
 +
 +Not yet tested.
  
 === Configuration 4 === === Configuration 4 ===
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 ==== Results ==== ==== Results ====
  
-^ Test                   ^ Config 0  ^ Config 1    ^ Config 2    ^ Config 3 ^ Config 4 ^ +^ Test                   ^ Config 0  ^ Config 1    ^ 
-| Norton Sysinfo CPU     | 9.2       | 12.1        | 12.1        | N/A      | N/A      | +| Norton Sysinfo CPU     | 9.2       | 12.1        | 
-| Norton Sysinfo HDD     | 996KB/sec | 1012KB/sec  | 1012KB/sec  | N/A      | N/A      | +| Norton Sysinfo HDD     | 996KB/sec | 1012KB/sec  | 
-| Norton Sysinfo Overall | 8.9       | N/A         | N/A         | N/A      | N/A      | +| Norton Sysinfo Overall | 8.9       | N/A  <color red>Crashed</color>       | 
-| CheckIt Dhrystones     | 3157      | 4042        | 4042        | N/A      | N/A      | +| CheckIt Dhrystones     | 3157      | 4042        | 
-| CheckIt Whetstones     | 528.1K    | 537.3K      | 537.3K      | N/A      | N/A      | +| CheckIt Whetstones     | 528.1K    | 537.3K      | 
-| CheckIt Video chars/sec VGA 1 | 2779      | 2913        | 2913        | N/A      | N/A      | +| CheckIt Video chars/sec VGA 1 | 2779      | 2913        | 
-| CheckIt Video chars/sec VGA 2 | 2779      | 2913        | 2913        | N/A      | N/A      | +| CheckIt Video chars/sec VGA 2 | 2979      | 3121        | 
-| CheckIt HDD Transfer   | 915KB/sec | N/A         | N/A         | N/A      | N/A      | +| CheckIt HDD Transfer   | 915KB/sec | 992KB/sec <color red>Crashed several times until it ran to completion</color>  | 
-| Landmark CPU           | 18.54MHz  | 24.67MHz    | 24.67MHz    | N/A      | N/A      | +| Landmark CPU           | 18.54MHz  | 24.67MHz    | 
-| Landmark FPU           | 18.25MHz  | 18.70MHz    | 18.70MHz    | N/A      | N/A      | +| Landmark FPU           | 18.25MHz  | 18.70MHz    | 
-| Landmark Video VGA 1   | 2488.71   | 2318.49     | 2318.49     | N/A      | N/A      | +| Landmark Video VGA 1   | 2488.71   | 2318.49     | 
-| Landmark Video VGA 2   | 2488.71   | 2318.49     | 2318.49     | N/A      | N/A      | +| Landmark Video VGA 2   | 5256.90   | 5093.47     | 
-| 3DBench VGA 1          | 5.1       | 6.1         | 6.1         | N/A      | N/A      | +| 3DBench VGA 1          | 5.1       | 6.1         | 
-| 3DBench VGA 2          | 5.5       | 6.5         | 6.1         | N/A      | N/A      | +| 3DBench VGA 2          | 5.5       | 6.5         | 
-| ATPerf RAM Read        | 0         | 0           | 0           | N/A      | N/A      | +| ATPerf RAM Read        | 0         | 0           | 
-| ATPerf RAM Write       | 76        | 14          | 14          | N/A      | N/A      | +| ATPerf RAM Write       | 76        | 14          | 
-| ATPerf ROM Read        | 0         | 0           | 0           | N/A      | N/A      | +| ATPerf ROM Read        | 0         | 0           | 
-| ATPerf Video Write     | 78        | 16          | 16          | N/A      | N/A      | +| ATPerf Video Write     | 78        | 16          | 
-| CompTest RAM thruput   | 4985KB/sec| 7423KB/sec  | 7423KB/sec  | N/A      | N/A      | +| CompTest RAM thruput   | 4985KB/sec| 7423KB/sec  | 
-| CompTest Effective WS  | 1.1 wait  | 0.1         | 0.1         | N/A      | N/A      | +| CompTest Effective WS  | 1.1 wait  | 0.1         | 
-| CompTest MFLOPS        | 0.045     | 0.046       | 0.046       | N/A      | N/A      | +| CompTest MFLOPS        | 0.045     | 0.046       | 
-| CompTest Video Wait States | 3     |             |             | N/A      | N/A      | +| CompTest Video Wait States | 3     | 3           | 
-| CompTest Video BIOS VGA 1  | N/A   | N/A         |             | N/A      | N/A      | +| CompTest Video BIOS VGA 1  | N/A <color blue>Not captured</color>  | N/A <color blue>Not captured</color>        | 
-| CompTest Video BIOS VGA 2  | 6965  | 6992        |             | N/A      | N/A      | +| CompTest Video BIOS VGA 2  | 6965  | 6992        | 
-| CompTest Video Direct VGA 1|       |             |             | N/A      | N/A      | +| CompTest Video Direct VGA 1| N/A <color blue>Not captured</color>  | N/A <color blue>Not captured</color>        | 
-| CompTest Video Direct VGA 2| 4926  | 5128        |             | N/A      | N/A      | +| CompTest Video Direct VGA 2| 4926  | 5128        | 
-| CompTest Dhrystones    | 3323.5    | 4198        |             | N/A      | N/A      |+| CompTest Dhrystones    | 3323.5    | 4198        |
  
 **Software Versions** **Software Versions**
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    * //(2)// - ATPerf benchmarks did not complete successfuly - part way through the system halted and the remaining test run was a failure. Another example of unstable behaviour at 0-wait state in this configuration.    * //(2)// - ATPerf benchmarks did not complete successfuly - part way through the system halted and the remaining test run was a failure. Another example of unstable behaviour at 0-wait state in this configuration.
    * All results marked as "N/A" were unable to be completed either due to lack of that configuration to POST successfuly, or the system crashed or froze repeatedly during that particular test.    * All results marked as "N/A" were unable to be completed either due to lack of that configuration to POST successfuly, or the system crashed or froze repeatedly during that particular test.
 +   * Several of the disk benchmark tools crashed several times at 0-wait states and were repeated until we achieved a complete result set. In addition, several tools would not load and the system rebooted multiple times until they could be run.
 +   * In both 1-wait and 0-wait mode the Tseng card exhibited some strange output in text mode:
 +     * Corrupted text on Tseng card: {{:blog:img20210119222635.jpg?150|}} {{blog:img20210119223647.jpg?150}}
 +     * Correct output from Trident card: {{:blog:img20210116163038.jpg?150|}} {{blog:img20210116163227.jpg?150}}
  
 Configuration **3** and **4** were left untested after the board proven unstable at just 16MHz operation. Configuration **3** and **4** were left untested after the board proven unstable at just 16MHz operation.
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 ===== Conclusion ===== ===== Conclusion =====
  
-This one looked too good to be true: 20MHz support, 16MB RAM support, modern-single-chip chipset, performance options (0-wait state, BIOS shadowing, etc). Unfortunately it simply //was// too good to be true.+This one looked too good to be true: 20MHz support, 16MB RAM support, performance options (0-wait state, BIOS shadowing, etc). Unfortunately it simply //was// too good to be true.
  
 The board is well made, clean and nicely finished... but... it simply can't run reliably with 0-wait state mode enabled; and that is absolutely essential for decent performance. Running in 1-wait state mode with a 16MHz processor speed drops the overall performance to that of a 10 or 12MHz processor (12MHz is being generous). The board is well made, clean and nicely finished... but... it simply can't run reliably with 0-wait state mode enabled; and that is absolutely essential for decent performance. Running in 1-wait state mode with a 16MHz processor speed drops the overall performance to that of a 10 or 12MHz processor (12MHz is being generous).
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