When is an FPU chip really needed????

[kolla]

A search on Aminet for packages that contain files with name that either contain 68881, 68882 or FPU gives you a hint about the ammount of software that benefit from FPU, if not require it.

I am actually surprised by the number of games showing up...

http://aminet.net/search?content=68882&content=68881&content=fpu

In addition there is a lot of software buildt for 040 and 060 where FPU is not mentioned explicitly, but is taken for granted. Also in addition is software using math libraries that are optimized for FPU. And of course commercial software that is not on Aminet.

[kolla]

Ok, so let's see. This search results in 178 packages of a total 81912 packages

Should we make a point of distinguishing between what contains running binaries and what is merely content? And then make a point of distinguishing between what can be considered useful software and what is rather redundant? And then make speed/accuracy comparisons on what is left?

[kolla]

@UberFreak

That's not a compelling argument for the Vampire getting a FPU ASAP (or a Classic user to upgrade to be honest) as most 'regular' users will just check out Amiga demos on YouTube if that scene interests them!

Most regular users will also check out games on YouTube, and using UAE.

[kolla]

Vampire is nice for watching demos from YouTube after having them tediously converted and downscaled to suitable mpeg1 using ffmpeg or whatever (preferably on much faster system).

[kolla]

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. May I remind you that you started counting packages as argument?

It was not an argument, it was an attempt to answer the question asked - "when is an FPU really needed" - the answer is not "never".

Frankly, I can only tell you from my personal use case that only a minority of programs profits from the FPU, and an even smaller amount really requires it. I cannot tell you if that's 0.2%, 1% or 5%, but it's all in the same order of magnitude, namely "negligible".

It all depends on what software you install and use, and how you use them - the number of binaries is rather irrelevant, what is relevant is _what_ binaries, and whether the user sees a need to use those.

For example - do you want to use TV-paint? Then you need FPU.

Is TV-paint negligible? Maybe, for "most users". But so what.