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From: psc@lznv.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.att,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: 6300 upgrade
Message-ID: <1161@lznv.ATT.COM>
Date: Wed, 28-Oct-87 12:48:06 EST
Article-I.D.: lznv.1161
Posted: Wed Oct 28 12:48:06 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Nov-87 18:15:19 EST
References: <2478@sphinx.uchicago.edu>
Organization: AT&T
Lines: 35
Keywords: 80x86 accelerator for 6300?
Summary: maybe - 8MHz, no connection to old CPU
Xref: mnetor comp.sys.att:1671 comp.sys.ibm.pc:9784

In article <2478@sphinx.uchicago.edu>, pgil@sphinx.uchicago.edu (paul  gilna) writes:
> 	                                             I saw
> 	a pre-release demo of Microsoft's EXCEL for the PC.
> 	It was excellent. My congrats to them for creating
> 	a 80x86 Mac II :-). My understanding is that EXCEL
> 	will only run on 80286 and 80386 machines.

No way, and I'm getting tired of this (not your fault, Paul).  Excel is
a Windows application.  It's (presumably) a bit of a pig, compared with
text applications.  But it'll run on an XT with a CGA, or a 6300 with
640x400 monochrome graphics (color with a DEB).  They better not have
used 286 protected mode, or it wouldn't run on one of the virtual 8086s
in Windows/386.

> 	SO. Can the 6300 be upgraded to 80x86 status by use
> 	of accelerator boards etc.

Maybe.  The key is that most accelerator boards have a cable to the
original CPU (the 8088).  Those boards *won't* work.  The 8086 isn't
pin compatible with the 8088.  (I'm pretty sure it isn't.)  You need an
accelerator board without such a cable.  This would be possible:  put
the whole works on the board, and communicate entirely over the
expansion bus.  (You'd want lots of on-board RAM, or at least a cache.)

That brings us to the second concern.  The 6300 runs its bus clock at 8
MHz.  Will the board be able to keep up with the bus?

> 	          (Intel has just announced a 80386 InBoard
> 	for 8088 machines). 

Microsoft has, too, but they've got a cable to the 8088.  Too bad.

-Paul S. R. Chisholm, {ihnp4,cbosgd,allegra,rutgers}!mtune!lznv!psc
AT&T Mail !psrchisholm, Internet psc@lznv.att.com
I'm not speaking for my employer, I'm just speaking my mivoif