I decided to run a few benchmark tests on my 486 machine today, and to my surprise, when I run Trixter's TopBench utility, my machine has a better score with the original DX2 installed than it does when I install a 5x86 upgrade that should be clocked at 133 MHz. Another oddity, however, is that the machine appears more stable with the 5x86 installed than it does with the original DX2 installed (with the DX2, I got a runtime error the first time I started TopBench, and that has never happened with the 5x86). Does anyone know why this might be?
Incidentally, I also tried the 5x86 locked to a 3x multiplier (instead of 4x) with the motherboard set to 40MHz. This resulted in a similar instability to the original DX2 (runtime error when I first tried to start TopBench), but still worse benchmark scores after I did get it started.
EDIT: When I use -r to get TopBench to return the raw speed in MHz, it does say I'm running at just slightly above 133MHz. I wonder if it's a cache thing?
EDIT 2: System performance is much, much worse when I turn cache off in the BIOS. TopBench says I match a fast 286 or a slow 386 with the cache off. With the cache on, it says I match a 486 DX2 system, with the 5x86 installed. With the DX2, it still says I match a DX2 system, but it's one that was put into the database with a better score.
Incidentally, I also tried the 5x86 locked to a 3x multiplier (instead of 4x) with the motherboard set to 40MHz. This resulted in a similar instability to the original DX2 (runtime error when I first tried to start TopBench), but still worse benchmark scores after I did get it started.
EDIT: When I use -r to get TopBench to return the raw speed in MHz, it does say I'm running at just slightly above 133MHz. I wonder if it's a cache thing?
EDIT 2: System performance is much, much worse when I turn cache off in the BIOS. TopBench says I match a fast 286 or a slow 386 with the cache off. With the cache on, it says I match a 486 DX2 system, with the 5x86 installed. With the DX2, it still says I match a DX2 system, but it's one that was put into the database with a better score.
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