Re: transfer from 83/86 to 85

To: CALC-TI@LISTS.PPP.TI.COM
Subject: Re: transfer from 83/86 to 85
From: Reinier Zwitserloot <R.Zwitserloot@BTINTERNET.COM>
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997 20:53:49 GMT
Organization: BT Internet
References: <3.0.1.32.19970922153223.00809700@www.thethinker.com>
Reply-To: Reinier Zwitserloot <R.Zwitserloot@BTINTERNET.COM>
Xref: paladin.american.edu bit.listserv.calc-ti:16995

I assume those numbers are the result of a basic program you wrote
that would simply count up a var. you let em all run an x number of
secs and found that the ti-85 is fastest.

It is true that the TI-85 is the fastest TI-8x on basic programs. as
to asm programs, the TI-86 is behind about a millionth of a second..
ie: nothing.

NB: This counter will give different values depending on:

1. Amount of variables you have. not amount of space taken up. the
number of vars.

  WHY: Everytime you use a var, your calc runs through the VAT and
finds it. the more variables, the more VAT entries, the longer it
takes.

2. romcode. I think the 82 is naturally a bit slower than the 85. Not
because of chip (both carry the same hardware, really. It's buying the
ROM software that makes the big difference)

3. Memory swapping. only applies to the 86. 82,83, and 85, are always
on RAM page 1. the ti-86 can be in pages 1-4. If you have more than
32k of memory in use, your calc might have to swap pages lots. It
takes just a few cycles (1 cycle=1/6 million seconds.. ie: 6 million
times a sec, ie: 6Mhz), but if it has to do it lots of times... (as in
a counting program where it has to swap to the VAT and the actual
location of the var.)


oh, there is another reason for incompatibility between TI-86 and
zshell: a program that uses variables will screw up because the format
of the VAT on the 86 and the 85 is different. the 86 has a 'page'
entry.

References:

Re: transfer from 83/86 to 85

From: Joseph Gaffney <gaffney@THETHINKER.COM>