djb@wjh12.harvard.edu (David J. Birnbaum) (09/14/89)
I am interested in information about the possibilities and
procedures for upgrading my 286 to a 386SX. I am particularly
interested in the virtual 86 possibilities of the 386, rather
than any increase in speed. I would also like to economize
by scavenging as much as I can from my 286 system, even if
this will limit the speed of the upgraded system.
I currently have a CompuAdd Standard 286 operating at 12 MHz
with zero wait states. There is one meg of 80 ns ram (256k
chips) on the motherboard. Therer is a Phoenix BIOS, version
3.07 (dated 5/27/87). The bus operates at 8 MHz and is hosting,
among other things, a LIM 4.0 board with 4 MB of 100 ns memory
(1 MB chips). The board can be configured to backfill system
memory or to function entirely as extended, rather than expanded,
memory, as needed. I would like to be able to use both the
motherboard memory and the expansion card, with the understanding
that the bus speed could degrade performance speed.
I am amenable to CPU upgrades, new motherboards, or whatever
else might work. I have seen advertisements for 16 MHz 386SX
motherboards for under $400, which seems like a reasonably
inexpensive route (or am I deceiving myself)?
I know virtually nothing about support chips that might be
required, BIOS version to seek out (or to avoid), or other
details. Are there compatibility problems with some avail-
able products? I'd like to be able to run up to three
fairly large applications in Desqview.
I can install my own expansion boards, but I have never
tried replacing a mother board or a CPU. Is this something
a normal person without an advanced degree in computer science
can do?
Please reply by email and I will summarize responses.
Thanks,
--David
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David J. Birnbaum djb@wjh12.harvard.edu [Internet]
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