I never got too excited about the '386 adapters to a '286 system, because
the 386DX was a mite slower than a '286 running from the same clock. What's
more, when you used a '386 back then the first thing that the OS did was
tell it "you're a '286 now" and proceed. The '286 did this a little better.
By the time there was a '386 that actually outran the '286, ther was a '486
that could outrun 'em both.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, April 10, 2000 12:05 PM
Subject: Re: 386 upgrade cpus?
> >
> > The upgrades for the '386 types were typically 486DLC thingies that
claimed
> > to be a '486 but looked like and fit in the place of a '386. They also
had
> > no internal math processor.
> >
> > The '286's weren't so easily upgraded, but there were 20 and 25 MHz CMOS
> > (Harris) versions that were pretty popular.
>
> There were daughterboards that fitted in place of the 80286 processor
> chip. They normally contained an 80386SX (16 bit data bus) or sometimes a
> 486SLC-type thing (that could be convinced to use a 16 bit data bus
> without too much work) and a couple of PLDs to combine bus control
> signals, etc. Some of them even had a floating point chip on the board.
>
> They work. I'm using one right now (how else do you run linux on a PC/AT
> :-)). But they're not exactly fast...
>
> -tony
>
Received on Mon Apr 10 2000 - 16:29:28 BST