For anyone that has the IBM PGC...

[Moogle!]

Have you ever tried sticking an NEC V20 in it? Would it improve performance?

 

[romanon]

I did not but dont forget, 8088 in PGC is 8Mhz version. Also, how to benchmark IBM PGC card?

 

[Moogle!]

NEC V20s were made at speeds up to 16Mhz. I have no idea how one would benchmark, other than seeing how fast it drew in CAD programs. I admit this question was asked on Reddit on /r/battlestations, and I thought it was an interesting question.

 

[Trixter]

Have you ever tried sticking an NEC V20 in it? Would it improve performance?

Yes, but there could be side effects (incorrect rendering, locking up, etc.) if the software+hardware relies on the exact cycle throughput of an 8088.

 

[per]

The stock PGC is slow enough for you to see a frame being drawn, so there's absolutely room for improvement.

Looking over the schematics, The CPU clock is only running the CPU, with the graphics circuits being run by a separate dot-clock. It has accompanying waitstate logic to prevent colission between the CPU and pixel fetch circuit, so I guess the timing of the CPU is not really too crucial as long as it can wait fast enough. The real limiting factor if we're thinking overclocking as well (which should be very possible), is the speed of the memory.

 

[dkarguth]

I am the guy with the triple monitor XT setup that was on /r/retrobattlestations. I will source a V20, try it, and then report back. The PGC is pretty painfully slow sometimes, so if a V20 would improve that, I would love to have one in the system.

 

[Moogle!]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEC-D70108...087776&hash=item2f316eea09:g:t8AAAOSwx2dYD2MI I think that is the one I bought, but it has been awhile. According to Ebay, I bought -something- from them.

 

[soviet9922]

where i can see pictures of that beauty ? :D

 

[soviet9922]

NEC V20s were made at speeds up to 16Mhz. I have no idea how one would benchmark, other than seeing how fast it drew in CAD programs. I admit this question was asked on Reddit on /r/battlestations, and I thought it was an interesting question.

where i can see pictures of that beauty ? :D

 

[Moogle!]

This was surprisingly hard to photograph.

The cpu says NECV20 16Mhz, but I bought this from an overseas seller, as it turns out, (though both they and that seller in the link I posted previously used the same stock image), so who knows if it is a genuine part. Finding support chips that can handle more than 10 Mhz is difficult in any case, and the XI8088 itself (the board in the picture) will only do 13.33Mhz.

 

[Moogle!]

I am the guy with the triple monitor XT setup that was on /r/retrobattlestations. I will source a V20, try it, and then report back. The PGC is pretty painfully slow sometimes, so if a V20 would improve that, I would love to have one in the system.

So, did you ever get to try this?

 

[dkarguth]

So, did you ever get to try this?

Unfortunately, I do not have a V20 to try. However, it is a future project idea.