Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!helios.physics.utoronto.ca!ists!yunexus!maccs!cs4g6ag
From: cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: 386 and SX shortage
Message-ID: <25D89633.1520@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca>
Date: 13 Feb 90 23:20:18 GMT
References: <29108@amdcad.AMD.COM> <63320008@hpl-opus.HP.COM>
Reply-To: cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Stephen M. Dunn)
Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
Lines: 25

In article <63320008@hpl-opus.HP.COM> knotts@hpl-opus.HP.COM (Tom Knotts) writes:
$I hate to admit to being uninformed, but I've been wondering what is the
$difference between the 386 and 486. Can one eventually upgrade a 386 machine
$to a 486?

   The 486 incorporates the functions of the 386 and the 387 into one
chip.  To software, it looks pretty much like just a 386 with a 387;
however, the whole thing has been redesigned to be significantly
faster, employing some of the RISC philosophy.  Most common operations
have been trimmed down to one or two clock cycles, so a 33 MHz 486
will be significantly faster than a 33 MHz 386+387 combination (how
much, I don't know ... I'm sure someone else can give benchmark
figures if they're wanted).

   For most 386 machines, the only way to upgrade would be to buy
a 486 plug-in board (I don't think any are available yet, but I
could be wrong, and I'm sure that there will be several before
too long).  Some machines, however, were designed so that the
CPU can be upgraded (ALR, for example, has a 286 that can be
upgraded to a 386SX or a 486).
-- 
Stephen M. Dunn                               cs4g6ag@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca
          <std_disclaimer.h> = "\nI'm only an undergraduate!!!\n";
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               I Think I'm Going Bald - Caress of Steel, Rush