If anything, my simulation is being generous, at least for the C64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4h9a2QGdQM
That is, drawing from BASIC though. Games weren't saddled with that, so they drew faster.
A comprehensive comparison would be hard, but just by straight instructions per second: An old 6502 is probably 1/2 a MIP with each instruction dealing with 8 bits. A new AMD Ryzen is 350,000 MIPS, with each instruction able to deal with 64 bits. So, 700k times faster, not including the difference between 8bit and 64bit.
Man, that video makes me appreciate my old TI-83 so much more, even with its lower resolution...
Re:The MAD Computer Program
by northwest65 on Tuesday December 11, 2018 @04:21PM
(#18659016)
Absolutely. I remember Elite on the Acorn Electron (think lower spec Beeb), and it would render in single digit FPS, in black and white wire frame. Just lovely.
Were computers really that slow back then or is that effect exaggerated for nostalgia? Really hard to imagine computers that slow for us young generation.