Any Benefit To Having An FPU In A Classic II?

[Paralel]

Is there any benefit to having an FPU installed in a Classic II if I'm not running something like CAD, etc...?

 

[Scott Baret]

You won't find any difference in performance until you get into high-performance situations. Think of it as having V-rated tires on your car. When I had my Volvo 850, I had both V and H rated of the same tire at various points and noticed no difference for what I was using it for (regular driving where the fastest I'd go was 65mph on an interstate). Had I been driving at much higher speeds or using it in racing of some sort, the V-rated tires would have been beneficial. Think of big calculations, CAD, etc. as being your "racing situation" here.

That being said, I do have an FPU in my Classic II but have never had a situation in which I've had to use it. It came with the machine, unbeknownst to me when I got it as a 15th birthday gift from my cousin many moons ago, and I've always wanted some excuse to use it.

(Also, I only buy H-rated tires now...has saved me lots of cash...could get away with lower but I have yet to see Michelin Primacy MXV4+ at a lower rating, and I swear by that tire...)

 

[CelGen]

Excel would use it.

 

[James1095]

It's one of those things that just sits there until something written to take advantage of it is used. I wonder if there is a list of floating point intensive 68k apps?

It wasn't until the first-person 3D games took off on the PC that FPU performance became important for the typical home user. 3D rendering, CAD, spreadsheets, and audio editing are all likely to make use of the FPU. I doubt you will run much on a Classic II that will get much use out of the FPU so it's probably not worth seeking one out, but if you have one kicking around, you may as well pop it in.

 

[volvo242gt]

There are some. One of which would be the Maple mathematics software. Granted, I don't think it'd run too well on a Classic II, since it does prefer a color Mac, like a IIsi, etc. It seemed to run well on my old IIsi that I had in '97. But, then again, that computer did have the Nubus adapter installed, complete with the 68882.

-J

 

[Paralel]

Makes sense that they are so rare then. Not good for much expect professional applications, and if one needed to run professional applications, then they were likely using something with beefier specs in the first place.