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Re: system 7 & Fpu question



In article <m0uMHHV-000GQSC@gwar.ardi.com>, mat@ardi.com (Mat Hostetter) wrote:


>Most Mac programs can't use the 680x0 FPU directly.  For those that
>can, emulating a 680x0 FPU would speed up their floating point
>substantially.
>
Mat;

Very true about this. I'm a Mac software developer for GIS type (very math
intensive) software and accessing the FPU processor directly on the 68K
series of macs will increase math performance by 2.5 to 4 times versus
doing it through Apples' SANE calls. Most compilers allow you to do this,
but it means having an additional version of the software for installation
(we have 68K, 68K with FPU and PowerPC native version and you can do fat
installs of either 68K or 68KWFPU with PowerPC too). It also means you
have to extend your testing procedures too, cause although you can use
those FPU emulators for both 68K and powerMacs, your testing the emulator,
not the actual hardware, so there is a difference. So unless the software
really needs that extra push for math intensive processing, it really is a
bit of work to maintain.

Milton.


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