Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!snorkelwacker!apple!altos!altos86!rcollins
From: rcollins@altos86.Altos.COM (Robert Collins)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: Re: 486 Upgrades
Message-ID: <4264@altos86.Altos.COM>
Date: 17 Oct 90 15:35:27 GMT
References: <4665@bwdls58.UUCP> <1990Oct16.160729.1363@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov> <1990Oct16.174133.22215@agate.berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: rcollins@altos86.UUCP (Robert Collins)
Organization: Altos Computer Systems, San Jose, CA
Lines: 24

In article <1990Oct16.174133.22215@agate.berkeley.edu> ilan343@violet.berkeley.edu (Geraldo Veiga) writes:
>Isn't "B6" the current revision of the 486?  What is the risk of buying
>an old version?   $450  is too low for any Intel part, a 387 alone can
>cost more than that.

If memory serves me correctly, the B5 (that the original poster bought)
has some rather serious NPX bugs (Numeric Processor eXtention) that only
show up running under UNIX.  Therefore, it is safe to run the B5 for DOS
but not otherwise.

These bugs were fixed in the B6.

The errata dated 05/02/90 lists bugs in the C0 step.  So, B6 has long been
gone.  The ICE-486 on my desk is based on a C0, or C1 -- as component
ID information is 402.

So, no the B6 isn't the current version of the 486.  C0 has been out
for around 6 months.

-- 
"Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only."  Mat. 4:10
Robert Collins                 UUCP:  ...!sun!altos86!rcollins
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