UNIX PC in 1986 vs VAX 11/780

[Greyguy1948]

I am reading a test in BYTE May 1986. They are comparing 68010, 68000 and 8088 with VAX 11/780.
Real time for sieve of Erathostenes in compiled C:
Vax 11/780 .............1.7
AT&T 68010............2.4
PCXT 8088..............8.2
TRS80-16B 68000..6.0

Multitasking (1 and 6 processes)
Vax 11/780 .............4.3..........13.8
AT&T 68010.............6.3..........29.8
PCXT 8088.............10.6........130.7
TRS80-16B 68000..20.0.........99.3

So why is 68010 so much better than 68000?
Why is VAX so much better on mulitasking?
Much more RAM could be one reason:
VAX...... 4 MB
68010 ..1 MB
8088.....512kB
68000..384kB

VAX 11/780 used 8kB cache
Anything else?

 

[mikeford]

The VAX advantage wasn't just raw power, they had a huge array of "mainframe" type hardware making it easier to port applications, like full size hard drives and tape.

 

[UNCjigga]

My first PC was a VAXmate (dad worked for Digital.) It had an 80286, integrated monochrome monitor (amber, not green!), keyboard, mouse, and 5 1/4 floppy drive. It also had a bus (ISA or EISA?) capable of adding a SCSI adapter, so back when HDs were 20-40MB, we had a 380MB monster SCSI drive. It ran both VMS (or at least a terminal emulator?) and DOS.

Eventually we upgraded the graphics and my dad had to break out a soldering iron to disable the onboard graphics and hook up an external 14” EGA monitor. I think I upgraded it again to VGA right when Kings Quest 5 came out, and soon afterwards we got our first 386 Windows machine.

 

[manly]

My first PC was a VAXmate (dad worked for Digital.) It had an 80286, integrated monochrome monitor (amber, not green!), keyboard, mouse, and 5 1/4 floppy drive. It also had a bus (ISA or EISA?) capable of adding a SCSI adapter, so back when HDs were 20-40MB, we had a 380MB monster SCSI drive. It ran both VMS (or at least a terminal emulator?) and DOS.

Eventually we upgraded the graphics and my dad had to break out a soldering iron to disable the onboard graphics and hook up an external 14” EGA monitor. I think I upgraded it again to VGA right when Kings Quest 5 came out, and soon afterwards we got our first 386 Windows machine.

wow, I didn't even know DEC made PC compatibles! I found an old reference manual (> 500 pages) and it's interesting to glance through. That thing was actually an all-in-one computer, but you had the expansion box. EISA dates to 1988, so the VAXmate must have ISA slots. I don't know anything about VMS, but guessing it didn't run it natively. Kind of wild that a mouse was standard equipment in 1986!

It's amazing to look up prices of old PC equipment and then adjust for inflation. 😱