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From: cs173scq@sdcc5.ucsd.edu (Dennis Lou)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Subject: Re: 486SX
Message-ID: <19095@sdcc6.ucsd.edu>
Date: 7 May 91 20:03:52 GMT
References: <1991May2.212247.12525@dartvax.dartmouth.edu> <3645@borg.cs.unc.edu> <932@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM>
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In article <932@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM>, dltaylor@cns.SanDiego.NCR.COM (Dan Taylor) writes:
|> In <3645@borg.cs.unc.edu> cullip@sargent.cs.unc.edu (Timothy Cullip) writes:
|> 
|> >The SX is in fact a DX, but with the floating
|> >point unit turned off (i.e. it's on the chip, but disabled so it's just 
|> >as expensive to produce) but sells it for about $250. Kind of gives you 
|> >an idea of the profit margin on the DX.
|> 
|> Ah, but notice that the 486SX is only available in speeds under 24MHz.
|> They are probably "fallout", i.e. chips that don't run at rated speed,
|> or have defective FPUs.  Normally they would just be "roundfiled".
|> Instead, Intel sells defective (as 486DX) chips for $250.  What's the
|> margin on that?  THEN, they sell you the running 486DX, in a slightly
|> different package, for MORE than the regular DX.

While we're on the subject, the 486 should't have been named the 486.
The 486 is more of a lateral progression of the design rather than a
vertical one.  (The 486 has no new instructions on the 386, but is 
really an integration of a bunch of 386 family chips)

I think they should have named the 486SX the 386LX and perhaps the 486DX
the 386GT.  This we have 386SX, 386DX, 386LX, and 386GT, just like
the Mazda motorcar line (626 Std, DX, LX, and GT).  Heck, they already
call a portable a "convertable".  We could even refer to cases as having
"3, 4 or 5 doors".  Cooling fans are already being marketed as "AirConditioning"
and motherboards as being "turbo".  

This doesn't really belong in comp.sys.amiga.* so I've redirected
the followups...
-- 
Dennis Lou             || "But Yossarian, what if everyone thought that way?"
dlou@ucsd.edu          || "Then I'd be crazy to think any other way!"
[backbone]!ucsd!dlou   |+====================================================
dlou@ucsd.BITNET       |Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak went to my high school.