Author: Baldomero Garcia, Jr.
Date: 00:28:08 03/04/99
I saw at the Computer Shopper site that the new Pentium III 500 Mhz machines were available now. I was wondering how much faster they were compared to the PII 450 Mhz. I visited the Byte Online web site, and basically, the answer was that in some cases, the PIII 500 were 20% faster (which is significant), while in some others the PII 450 were actually faster. So, I guess if you're looking for a faster processor for your computer programs, it'd be best to wait for a faster computer if you already have a PII 450. Not only that, considering the price drop of PII 450's, that would be a better buy if you have something slower. I also looked at the Macintosh side of the house. I'm not a big fan of Macintosh, even though I own one. Apparently, Apple brags that the new G3 400 Mhz is faster than the PII 450 Mhz, at least in the integer test conducted by Byte magazine. The problem is, there are not a lot of computer chess programs available for the Mac. I think HIARCS is the only commercial one, while Mac Chess 5.0 and Crafty (Mac version) are available as freeware. I'm not sure how strong Chessmaster 4000 for the Mac is. In any case, it'd be interesting to see the rating lists from the SSDF include faster processors than the aging P200. Of course, money is the big issue in upgrading computers, and I'm not sure when we should expect the upgrades to happen.
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