On Jul 19 21:53, 1997, John Aldrich of 1:362/669 wrote:
JA> top an old XT could handle....I won't debate you, though, since I've 
never 
JA> tried it... :) Besides the XT we have doesn't have a hard drive...only 
two 
JA> low density 5.25" drives. :)
You can probably satisfy yourself that I'm correct with a simple test.  
Download a file from a BBS, and time how long it takes.  A fairly large file, 
a mb or so.  Let's assume the file name is TEST.ZIP and its 1 mb in size, and 
that you're downloading with a 14,400 bps connection.  That should take about 
10 minutes (assuming a throughput of 1650 cps).  Now, copy that file to a new 
file with the command COPY TEST.ZIP NEWFILE.ZIP, and time that, too.
The first time (downloading the file) gives you the throughput capability of 
the modem; the second gives you a pretty good idea of the throughput 
capability of the PC system, including the disk.  On my system, it takes 
about 6 seconds to do that copy.  That would suggest my system can handle 
data about 100 times faster than the modem can (a throughput of about 1.6 
mb/sec).  My system runs at 50 Mhz.  An XT ran at about 8 Mhz. So, my system 
is (roughly) 6 times faster than an XT, so the XT throughput would be about 
17 times faster than that 14.4 modem.  More than enough to keep up. :-)
There are gross simplifications in the above, but you get the idea. :-)
Rick
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