hdk@psuvm.bitnet.UUCP (02/04/87)
How to turn your PC into a true multitasking 80386 machine for 500$:
(Neither tools nor soldering needed except for a chip extractor).
1.. Insert in an empty slot an Everex "286 board for PCs". That will
give you an 8-Mhz no-waitstate 80286 with 640k of dedicated 16-bit
memory. Cost: 400$ list, 275$ by mail. By now, you are already
out performing the newest IBM 8-Mhz 1-waitstate AT.
2.. Remove the 80286 chip from the board you just installed and trade
it for a 80386. Or get a free sample from Intel.
3.. Insert into the now empty 80286 socket a Cheetah "adapter 386"
microcard (3.5x3.5-in). Place into the empty 386 socket on the
Cheetah your new 80386 chip. And that is it.
Now, your DesqView 1.3 or 2.0 will run the 80386's built-in mode
called "virtual 8086". DesqView will generate up to 256 totally
independent and multitasking virtual 8086/8088 PC-DOS sessions.
Further, each separate session can use its own dedicated 8 Megabytes
of Enhanced (EEMS) or regular Expanded Memory (EMS). Naturally, each
session has it own fully adjustable window. This means that you are
now able to load into the RAM memory of your five year old PC up to
256x(0.64+8)= 2,130 Megabytes of data and programs.
Help is on the way, Idea Associates has just started selling a single
1-slot card with 16 Megabytes of RAM on it (16 tiny columns of
1-megabyte sticks which collectively occupy less than half a full
card). Thus, you will only need slightly less than 150 of these cards
to exhaust the memory capacity of your rejuvenated PC.
Fortunately, further help is on the way. You can now buy "Above Disk"
sofware to create virtual EMS or EEMS by using your hard disk. Thus,
at most, you will only need a 2,130 megabytes hard disk to exhaust the
new capability of your old PC. Of course, when you order your hard
disk, it would be prudent to add a few megabytes to hold what you
already have on your present hard disk.
By-mail cost:
Everex "286 board for PCs" 275 275
80386 0 to 200
Cheetah "adapter 386" 140 140
DesqView 1.3 or 2.0 45 to 65
----- -----
460 680
Trade-in allowance for 80286 60 to 10
----- -----
FINAL COST 400 to 670
Should we investigate a mass purchase by the club ???.
Michel
PS: Upon reflection, it seems that the major problem with this scheme
is finding an empty slot on a 5-year old PC.
References:
Everex Excelerator 286 board for PCs: PC Magazine, 1987 Feb 24, p.45.
Color picture of it: InfoWorld, Feb 2, p.35.
Cheetah "Adapter 386": Preview, PC Magazine, 1987 Feb 24, p.35.
IdeAssociates 16-MBy board color picture ad: ibid, p.307.
TeleWare "Above Disk" ad: ibid, p.346.
and: PC Magazine, 1987 Feb 10, p.340.
In case you find you real 386 already to slow, help is already on the
way. Intel will announce February 16th:
a 20-MHz 386
a 16-MHz 387 math coprocessor
a 20-MHz 387 math coprocessor
a 386 specific DMA controller
a 386 specific cache controller
That should do until next year when we will need a few more megaHertz
and a 5-millisec hard disk to keep up.
This notice was contributed by Michel Bougon at Penn State: X2Q at PSUVM.bolasov@athena.mit.edu (Benjamin I Olasov) (07/22/87)
In article <10048HDK@PSUVM> HDK@PSUVM.BITNET writes: > >How to turn your PC into a true multitasking 80386 machine for 500$: >(Neither tools nor soldering needed except for a chip extractor). > [explanation of how to do it] It sounds great if it can be done! Has anyone else tried this? Are there any technical problems that could result? Any better ways to do it now? I'd really like to know... Thanks, Ben
mjr@osiris.UUCP (Marcus Ranum) (07/22/87)
In article <1183@bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU>, bolasov@athena.mit.edu (Benjamin I Olasov) writes: > In article <10048HDK@PSUVM> HDK@PSUVM.BITNET writes: > > > >How to turn your PC into a true multitasking 80386 machine for 500$: > >(Neither tools nor soldering needed except for a chip extractor). > > [explanation of how to do it] > [...] Are there any technical problems that could result? > Any better ways to do it now? I'd really like to know... Sure there are technical problems. Imagine taking a garden hose, and hooking it up to a 12-inch sewer pipe. In this analogy, that is the PC286 adaptor being hooked up to your PC. Now take the 12-inch sewer pipe and connect that to the flood gate at the Hoover Dam. That is the Cheetah 386 being hooked up to the 286 adaptor. What you're talking about doing is ramming a lot of raw power through several layers of kluge and expecting it to not break. Each of the various adapter cards has various buffers/caches and other nasty kludges necessitated by the braindead hardware. Each of those performs loops and twists and transformations to allow the next layer down to understand the next layer up. By the time the trickle-down takes effect, lord only knows what kind of performance you'll get. If it performs at all. There are going to be all manner of problems with timing. Nowadays, for under 500$, you can buy an AT clone board. That will be functional (but braindead) consistent (but braindead) hardware. If you want to add the 386 Cheetah adapter to that, at least the bus will have some *CHANCE* of being able to handle all that data. The total cost will come down. You're better off buying something at least slightly capable, rather than investing your 500$ in hardware that is going to be scrap in 1 year. Wait a year, and an AT board will be under 300$. By then a 386 board should be around 600$. --mjr(); -- If they think you're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical, go crude. I'm a very technical boy. So I get as crude as possible. These days, though, you have to be pretty technical before you can even aspire to crudeness... -Johnny Mnemonic
berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu (07/24/87)
If that's the message I recall, the hardware that was suggested for
the modification wasn't even available at the time - the notewriter
had only read reviews - and since then, a number of compatibility
problems have been mentioned. I suggest we wait for him to try it
first.
Mike Berger
Center for Advanced Study
University of Illinois
berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu
{ihnp4 | convex | pur-ee}!uiucuxc!clio!berger