as2d+@andrew.cmu.edu (Alan Henry Stein) (07/26/89)
I am in the process of buying a 286 (20MHz) motherboard and have a question as to which BIOS I should get. Any opinions on Pheonix/AMI/Award??? alan
g-tookey@rocky.cs.wisc.edu. (Richard Schaut) (07/27/89)
In article <QYnRU-y00UzxE1Aqw3@andrew.cmu.edu> as2d+@andrew.cmu.edu (Alan Henry Stein) writes: >I am in the process of buying a 286 (20MHz) motherboard and have a question >as to which BIOS I should get. Any opinions on Pheonix/AMI/Award??? > >alan I wouldn't think of buying a "compatible" without Phoenix. I don't know, however, if the Phoenix has problems at 20MHz. BTW are you aware that Intel does NOT warrant the 80286 for anything beyond 12.5 MHz? Those who sell 20 MHz 286's field test them at that speed for a period of time, and if nothing goes wrong they call it a 20 MHz CPU. I would want to know EVERYTHING about how a particular machine was tested before plunking down any bucks on it. Rick Please send e-mail to: schaut@madnix.UUCP ArpaNet: madnix!schaut@cs.wisc.edu UseNet: ...uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!schaut {decvax!att}! Madison: an alternative to reality I am posting this through a friend's account. His consent to my use of his account in no way implies his consent to responsibility for the opinions expressed herein.
astieber@csd4.milw.wisc.edu (Anthony J Stieber) (07/27/89)
In article <8009@spool.cs.wisc.edu> g-tookey@rocky.CS.WISC.EDU (Richard Schaut) writes: >BTW are you aware that Intel does NOT warrant the 80286 for anything >beyond 12.5 MHz? Those who sell 20 MHz 286's field test them at that >speed for a period of time, and if nothing goes wrong... Harris and AMD both second source the 80286. They may very well produce chips rated for speeds greater than 13.5MHz. At least one produces a CMOS version that would run cooler at the higher speeds even if it wasn't rated for that speed. -- Tony Stieber astieber@csd4.milw.wisc.edu att!uwmcsd1!uwmcsd4!astieber Nancy Reagan on cursor positioning: Just say Home!
rogers@falcon.SRC.Honeywell.COM (Brynn Rogers) (07/27/89)
In article <8009@spool.cs.wisc.edu> g-tookey@rocky.CS.WISC.EDU (Richard Schaut) writes: >I wouldn't think of buying a "compatible" without Phoenix. I don't know, >however, if the Phoenix has problems at 20MHz. >BTW are you aware that Intel does NOT warrant the 80286 for anything >beyond 12.5 MHz? Those who sell 20 MHz 286's field test them at that >speed for a period of time, and if nothing goes wrong they call it a >20 MHz CPU. I would want to know EVERYTHING about how a particular >machine was tested before plunking down any bucks on it. Right. Intel doesn't want anything to compete with it's 386. Harris has been shipping 80286's rated for 16Mhz and 20Mhz for some time, and 25Mhz 80286's are just hitting the streets. Intel has not been happy with harris as a result of this, plus the fact that Harris parts are cheaper [at least for comparable speeds]. Second sourcing is a wonderful thing, now somebody needs to second source 80386 or 80486 parts. Brynn Rogers Honeywell S&RC rogers@src.honeywell.com 612-782-7737 use this address if your reply bounces
g-tookey@rocky.cs.wisc.edu. (Richard Schaut) (07/27/89)
In article <26458@srcsip.UUCP> rogers@falcon.UUCP (Brynn Rogers) writes: >In article <8009@spool.cs.wisc.edu> g-tookey@rocky.CS.WISC.EDU (Richard Schaut) writes: >>I wouldn't think of buying a "compatible" without Phoenix. I don't know, >>however, if the Phoenix has problems at 20MHz. > >>BTW are you aware that Intel does NOT warrant the 80286 for anything >>beyond 12.5 MHz? Those who sell 20 MHz 286's field test them at that >>speed for a period of time, and if nothing goes wrong they call it a >>20 MHz CPU. I would want to know EVERYTHING about how a particular >>machine was tested before plunking down any bucks on it. > >Right. Intel doesn't want anything to compete with it's 386. The 286 can compete with the 386? If the only thing that the 386 has over the 286 is speed, then Intel does have a problem with second sourcing. But try telling someone running MS Windows/386 that the 386 DOESN'T have anything more than speed over the 286. Rick Please send e-mail to: schaut@madnix.UUCP ArpaNet: madnix!schaut@cs.wisc.edu UseNet: ...uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!schaut {decvax!att}! Madison: an alternative to reality I am posting this through a friend's account. His consent to my use of his account in no way implies his consent to responsibility for the opinions expressed herein.
rogers@falcon.SRC.Honeywell.COM (Brynn Rogers) (07/27/89)
In article <8014@spool.cs.wisc.edu> g-tookey@rocky.CS.WISC.EDU (Richard Schaut) writes: >In article <26458@srcsip.UUCP> rogers@falcon.UUCP (Brynn Rogers(me)) writes: >>Right. Intel doesn't want anything to compete with it's 386. >The 286 can compete with the 386? If the only thing that the 386 >has over the 286 is speed, then Intel does have a problem with >second sourcing. But try telling someone running MS Windows/386 that >the 386 DOESN'T have anything more than speed over the 286. A 12 Mhz 286 can't compete with a 386. A 20 Mhz 286 Benchmarks AS WELL AS a 20 Mhz 386 for MSDOS ONLY applications As long as you stay in the Realm of MSDOS, a 386 does not get you anything extra over a 286 except future possibilites or Desqview or Windows 386 which are almost operating systems themselves. Sure I would rather have a 386, but I can't afford it yet, although low end 386's and high end 286's are dropping in price fast. (and XT motherboards are selling for $89) Brynn Rogers Honeywell S&RC rogers@src.honeywell.com 612-782-7737 use this address if your reply bounces
as2d+@andrew.cmu.edu (Alan Henry Stein) (07/27/89)
The motherboard I just bought came with a full 20mhz 286 chipset. The processor was a 20MHz Harris CMOS 286 and the AT chipset was the Chips and Technology NEAT set(all chips rated at 20MHZ). My main question was that the board came with AMI bios. The companies ad said it came with Pheonix. They said they would replace the BIOS if I wanted. I was just wondering whether I should. thanks, alan
phil@diablo.amd.com (Phil Ngai) (07/29/89)
In article <8009@spool.cs.wisc.edu> g-tookey@rocky.CS.WISC.EDU (Richard Schaut) writes: |BTW are you aware that Intel does NOT warrant the 80286 for anything |beyond 12.5 MHz? Those who sell 20 MHz 286's field test them at that You mean Intel does not warrant the 80286s made by Intel for speeds beyond 12.5 MHz. There are other places to buy 80286s. -- Phil Ngai, phil@diablo.amd.com {uunet,decwrl,ucbvax}!amdcad!phil "The government is not your mother."
jca@pnet01.cts.com (John C. Archambeau) (07/30/89)
A 286 will always run a hair faster than a 386 that are at equal clock speeds
the reason being that the 286 has a smaller microcode than a 386. But of
course, you have all of these nice things that a 386 can do that a 286 can't
even think about doing. The bottom line is...do I really need the 32-bit
power of a 386? If all you're running is DOS...then no. But if you're
running something along the lines of Unix, then yes, you need a 386SX minimum.
The fact that Sun never produced a 286 workstation is proof to me that the 286
can't handle Unix effectively. The problem is with the brain damaged nature
of the 286. Just loading a descriptor table is a very expensive operation and
interrupt handling is slower than in real mode. But the other side of the
coin, a high speed 286 can make a decent file server under SCO Xenix. But I
would never use a 286 based machine as a work station.
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*--------------------------------------------------------------------------*/schuster@dasys1.UUCP (Michael Schuster) (08/03/89)
In article <8009@spool.cs.wisc.edu> g-tookey@rocky.CS.WISC.EDU (Richard Schaut) writes: > >BTW are you aware that Intel does NOT warrant the 80286 for anything >beyond 12.5 MHz? Those who sell 20 MHz 286's field test them at that Nobody sells 20 mHz 80286 machines with Intel CPU's. The 16 and 20 mHz chips are certified at those speeds by the manufacturer, Harris Semiconductor, who has been producing 80286 chips under license from Intel. -- l\ /l' _ Mike Schuster ...!dasys1!schuster l \/ lll/(_ Big Electric Cat schuster@dasys1.UUCP CIS:70346,1745 l lll\(_ New York, NY USA BIX,DELPHI,GEnie:MSCHUSTER
james@raid.dell.com (James Van Artsdalen) (08/05/89)
In <8009@spool.cs.wisc.edu>, g-tookey@rocky.CS.WISC.EDU (Richard Schaut) wrote: > BTW are you aware that Intel does NOT warrant the 80286 for anything > beyond 12.5 MHz? This is correct. Intel does not warrant their 286s past 12.5MHz, and does not warrant other manufacturer's 286s at all. > Those who sell 20 MHz 286's field test them at that speed for a > period of time, and if nothing goes wrong they call it a 20 MHz CPU. Interesting claim. No basis in fact. Other manufacturers of the 286 have had little trouble fabricating 20MHz 286s. It is more a matter of will than skill: Intel has powerful reasons for not wanting to see fast 286s: they compete with the proprietary 386. It is entirely possible to test for the speed of a particular part if the critical timing paths of the part are known. A manufacturer can test for speeds with confidence if desired. > I would want to know EVERYTHING about how a particular machine was > tested before plunking down any bucks on it. Then ask. Presumably most manufacturers can answer. We burn in and test each machine for several hours. -- James R. Van Artsdalen james@raid.dell.com "Live Free or Die" DCC Corporation 9505 Arboretum Blvd Austin TX 78759 512-338-8789