usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) (03/07/90)
Recently, I was suprised to see that Zilog has introduced a new version of the venerable-but-quite-functional Z80 processor that runs, you got it, --> 20 Mhz <---- What's worse, it only costs $18 in sample quantity! That's an incredible price. The chip is rated at 5 MIPS. That puts it at roughly 5 times faster than an IBM AT. '286/'286/'486 Real Mode MIPS (i.e. DOS) are very close to Z-80 MIPS in terms of work done (not talking about 32-bit protected mode instructions) so the comparison is pretty fair. As all my Model I's are sped up, the natural thought was "gee, what if..." 20 Mhz? Hmm. Think I'd need to replace those 1K x 1 video rams with some faster parts (80 ns?) and it's likely that very high speeds will require going to 64K chips (I don't think 20 Mhz signals will make it out to the E.I. and back!) but still... Think of it this way. Lots of Model I/IIIs are running 300% speed-ups, what's the big difference between 300% and 1000%? #-) Terry Conklin conklin@egr.msu.edu uunet!frith!conklin The Club (517) 372-3131 <- has YOUR machine lasted a decade online? The Club II (313) 334-8877 IBM compats - Just Say Unreliable!