and we have another winner!

[mod at std.com (Michael O'Donnell)]

>>DMA transfer feature PCI provides.  A PCI card can write directly
>>to the memory of another PCI card.  That's why watching TV puts
>>so little usage on the CPU...
>
>I think you'd have a hard time with video on the ISA bus (as in, it
>wouldn't work).  The bandwidth of the PCI bus is needed for live video.

I find the notion of watching TV on my monitor rather appealing,
but now that you mention it, what *are* the bandwidth requirements
for live video?  What is the nominal bandwidth of the PCI?
I assume there's a notion of prioritization for PCI devices;
do the peripheral manufacturers make PCI cards that actually
play by those rules?  (I ask that since some ISA mfgrs are
notorious for flouting any rule they deem inconvenient) Since
system throughput is a zero-sum situation, what loses when the
video card is running?  For example, need I worry about being
able to keep a streaming tape streaming?  Or is the video card
prioritized low enough that it's near the bottom of the food
chain? i.e. does the video suffer unless system activity is low?

And the most important question of all: will any of these questions
look embarrassingly stupid to me after I've had some coffee...?


Regards,
  --Michael O'Donnell


P.S.  Does anybody know if these postings are archived
      anywhere that a spam-bot might be capable of
      harvesting our email addresses from them?

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