Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ames!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!mcnc!thorin!tsc!lewis
From: lewis@tsc.cs.unc.edu (Jeffrey Lewis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Speeding up PCs - Inboard - Sota
Keywords: Sota InBoard Zenith
Message-ID: <4989@thorin.cs.unc.edu>
Date: 1 Nov 88 17:56:02 GMT
Sender: news@thorin.cs.unc.edu
Distribution: na
Lines: 39


I recently posted a request for help about the Intel InBoard 386/PC
to put in my Zenith 159 (XT like) machine (the board, not the help).
In response to one helpful note, I called Intel's technical
support/information number (1-800-538-3373) and asked them about my 
machine, which they said "failed the timing test and wouldn't boot." 
Oh, well.

Can anyone tell me anything about the new Sota 286i accelerator?
I've seen ads for it in Byte, (in which they specifically mention
Zenith PC compatibility) where they claim it will run at a
"Landmark speed of 17.3" -- meaning runs as if it were a 17.3MHz
AT.  It also says that the InBoard 386/PC is Landmark 15.9.  Can
anyone tell me how a 12.5 MHz 286 accelerator running off my 150ns
memory on my 8 bit XT bus can run faster than a 16 MHz 386 board
with its own dedicated 120ns chips on a 32 bit data path?  What's
the "cache"?  - or is a cache the catch, because the InBoard doesn't
have one?  The ad says the benchmarks were run on a PS/2 Model 30 -
would that make a difference?  

If someone could point me to any reviews about this board that have
come out, that would be very helpful.  Also, are there any mail-order
companies that sell Sota products?  I've looked all through Byte and
PC magazine and haven't found anybody selling Sota.  The ad sets the
list price at $595, and being the penurious student-type, I wouldn't
mind paying less if I could.  If anybody has had any positive/negative
experiences with Sota or their products, I wouldn't mind hearing about
them, either.  (I also hear that Sota is putting out a slower version 
of this board - it has only half the MHz as the original - and they're 
calling it the Diet Sota 286i :-)

So, how about it?  Are there any Sota fountains of information out
there? :-)

Thanks in advance for your voluminous, yet witty and insightful help. 

-----
                              | "Outside of a dog, a book is man's
Jeff Lewis                    |  best friend -- inside of a dog, 
ARPA: lewis@cs.unc.edu        |  it's too dark to read."