🚀 go-pugleaf

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";
****************************************************************************
               I Think I'm Going Bald - Caress of Steel, Rush