Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!yale!cs.utexas.edu!milano!bigtex!james From: james@bigtex.cactus.org (James Van Artsdalen) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Re: 386sx Motherboard Message-ID: <48351@bigtex.cactus.org> Date: 5 Oct 90 11:06:06 GMT References: <1990Oct3.173937.995@urz.unibas.ch> <1990Oct4.141439.1039@eng.umd.edu> Reply-To: james@bigtex.cactus.org (James Van Artsdalen) Organization: Institute of Applied Cosmology, Austin TX Lines: 34 In , tim@ziggurat.gg.caltech.edu (Tim Kay) wrote: ] this guy wants to offer a 386sx 16Mhz with a fast crystal installed ] to yield 20Mhz (he says Norton SI is 21). Is this a safe thing to do? | It is not safe. While you might get lucky [...] > This is incorrect. Typically, there is absolutely no difference between > the fast and slow parts that a manufacturer ships, *except* that the faster > parts happen to work at the faster speed. No, it was correct. The word "typically" was a good choice. > After Intel manufactures each 386 chip, their tester determines how > fast it can run reliably and stamps it accordingly. [...] There are two different processes for the 386, the original 1.5 micron and a newer 1 micron. I think the 1 micron has been shipping since last summer? In any case, all 33MHz parts are the new process, and all 20MHz parts are the old process. 25MHz parts can come from either process depending on what the motherboard design requires (the parts aren't quite the same). A 1micron 25MHz part might run at 33MHz, but a 1.5micron is a lot less likely I think. As for the SX, it is quite possible that the 20MHz parts are a different process entirely than the 16MHz. Certainly the shortages of 20MHz SXs several months ago suggest Intel wasn't having much luck sorting 16MHz parts up to 20MHz. Clearly you can get lucky, but sometimes maybe not. -- James R. Van Artsdalen james@bigtex.cactus.org "Live Free or Die" Dell Computer Co 9505 Arboretum Blvd Austin TX 78759 512-338-8789