3 ms·
Was the difference in speed between Mel's super-optimized blackjack program and a less optimized equivalent actually noticeable to the user? Or was this level o
by mwcampbell 11y ago
Was the difference in speed between Mel's super-optimized blackjack program and a less optimized equivalent actually noticeable to the user? Or was this level of optimization crazy even back then?
- colomon 11y agoThe machine's main memory was a physically rotating drum. If you think of how slow that must have been, odds are very good that his optimizations made a noticeable difference.
- kenbellows 11y agohow many RPMs for one of those drums?
- kps 11y ago3600 rpm, with 64 words per track, so reading a word took 260 µs. Minimum cycle time (the address is up next) was 9 × 260 µs = 2.34 ms. Worst case then (just missed it) was (9 + 63) × 260 = 18.75 ms.