antonyc@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Antony Chan) (03/07/91)
i was thinking about getting an i486/25 system, but i seem to recall hearing about some of the i486's having problems. does anybody remember which serial numbers they were and what the problem was, or am i going senile already? thanks
smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) (03/08/91)
antonyc@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Antony Chan) writes: > >i was thinking about getting an i486/25 system, but >i seem to recall hearing about some of the i486's having >problems. does anybody remember which serial numbers >they were and what the problem was, or am i going >senile already? It's not so much a serial number as it is a series letter. On the BOTTOM of the i486 chip is a letter signifying what version it is. There were some problems with version B5 and earlier, particularly when running OS/2 or Unix. Version B6 is, I think, the last made in the "B" series; series "C" is the current one. As far as compatibility problems...there are none--but just make sure that your vendor guarantees that the chip on the motherboard is a series "C" chip. When I was shopping for a 486, I asked Gateway and Ultra-Comp what version of the i486 chip they were putting on their motherboard, and they assured me it was the "C" series chip. Of course there's no way you're going to check this out if you get a 486 since you would have to pull the chip (~$750 per chip, remember!) from the motherboard to look on the bottom of it to read the version number...one broken pin and kiss your 486 goodbye. The only other "problem" that I've heard concerning 486's is that there is sometimes trouble with HD-->FD and FD-->HD data transfers (with large files). I've seen people post queries about this several times, and I haven't yet heard from anyone what causes this or what their solutions were. (Obviously only a few people are having this problem; it sounds to me like their busses are running at faster than 8 MHz and their HD controller can't keep up.) Stephen M. Smith \ + / <smsmith@hpuxa. \+++++/ " #*&<-[89s]*(k#$@-_=//a2$]'+=.(2_&*%>,,@ ircc.ohio-state. \ + / {7%*@,..":27g)-=,#*:.#,/6&1*.4-,l@#9:-) " edu> \ + / BTW, WYSInaWYG \ + / --witty.saying.ARC
kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley) (03/08/91)
In article <1991Mar7.180156.25560@magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu> smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) writes: >antonyc@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Antony Chan) writes: >> >>i was thinking about getting an i486/25 system, but >>i seem to recall hearing about some of the i486's having >>problems. does anybody remember which serial numbers >>they were and what the problem was, or am i going >>senile already? > >It's not so much a serial number as it is a series letter. On >the BOTTOM of the i486 chip is a letter signifying what version Not necessarily true... My 486 has [...]B5 on the bottom, and SX250 on the top. Some don't have anything on the bottom according to some reports. Someone posted an SX### to Rev. table, if I remember correctly, SX250 is not B5. >it is. There were some problems with version B5 and earlier, >particularly when running OS/2 or Unix. Version B6 is, I think, >the last made in the "B" series; series "C" is the current one. For what it's worth, my SX250/B5(??) ran OS/2 and runs ESIX(UNIX) without any problems. > [...] >The only other "problem" that I've heard concerning 486's >is that there is sometimes trouble with HD-->FD and FD-->HD >data transfers (with large files). I've seen people post queries >about this several times, and I haven't yet heard from anyone >what causes this or what their solutions were. (Obviously only >a few people are having this problem; it sounds to me like their >busses are running at faster than 8 MHz and their HD controller >can't keep up.) I'll second that opinion, I've not had a single problem in almost six months of operation. But I do know that some games just don't work on the 486; at least some of the older ones. The release notes for a game I received for Christmas had a comment like: "fixed 486 instruction scheduling," and a friend's game that works fine on his 386 just won't run on my 486. -- Kaleb Keithley kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov As of right now, I'm in charge here now... Alexander Haig. Voodoo Economics, that's what it is, voodoo economics. George Bush
floyd@starsend.UUCP (Floyd Miller) (03/09/91)
In article <1991Mar7.114128.14955@nntp-server.caltech.edu> antonyc@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Antony Chan) writes: ... > i seem to recall hearing about some of the i486's having > problems. does anybody remember which serial numbers > they were and what the problem was, or am i going ... I don't know about bugs in the i486, per se, but I have run into some software that crashes on a 386 if there's a 387 co-processor present. The save programs crash on a 486 and the floating point hardware can't be removed from the 486. ******* ******************************************* ***** ******************************** Floyd Miller *** ************** floyd@starsend.UUCP * ******** floyd%starsend@PRC.Unisys.com ** starsend!floyd@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.com *