bartling@mozart.amd.com (Steve Bartling) (07/27/90)
In article <292200022@trsvax> ken@trsvax.UUCP writes: > > >I was reading the July 16, 1990 issue of PC Week and saw an ad that caught >my eye. Advanced Micro Devices is advertising an 80C287 math coprocessor >for only $99.00. I could not believe it. Does anyone know anything about >it (ie. speed) or even how reliable the company's products have been in the past. The only thing that makes me skeptical is that the company adds, in very >small print, that you are "limited to two lifetime replacements per >person." I know components do not fail very often but this does not >exactly install confidence in them. > >Any info would be greatly appreciated. > > >KEN trsvax.UUCP!ken >#include <disclaimer.h> The 80C287 is a 'real' 80287. It is completely hardware and software compatible with the Intel 80287. As far as reliability goes, I can answer that by example. Did you know that 60% of all 80286 microprocessors that are sold were made by AMD ? You can rest assured that it would be very unlikely that you will even need to replace the chip even once. The "limited to two lifetime replacements" clause is required by the legal folks. As far as operating speed is concerned, it is designed to run at 10MHz. Since the 286 based AT uses a divide by two clocking scheme for the processor and a divide by three scheme for the coprocessor, the 10MHz 80287 can be used in up to a 16MHz 80286 system. The arithmetic works out as follows : A 16MHz 80286 system requires a 32MHz crystal. 32MHz / 2 = 80286 processor clock = 16MHz 32MHz / 3 = 80287 CO-processor clock = 10.66 MHz Thus the 80C287 can be used in up to a 16MHz AT. As far as price goes, a 10MHz 80287 currently is available in single quantities by mail order for about $280. The $99 dollar deal is designed to buy market share ( IMHO ). AMD probably will not over this good a deal for very long. I would jump at the offer soon. If anyone has any further questions, please feel free to email me at bartling@mozart.amd.com. -Steve Bartling bartling@mozart.amd.com P.S. For those of you who don't know much about AMD, they are the 12th largest manufacturer of semiconductors in the world. And they DON'T make DRAMS ( DRAMS skew the statistics since the volumes are very high ). You don't get this large without doing something right. Disclaimer : I hate myself, my wife hates me, my dogs hate me, and AMD hates me. None of the aforementioned ever believe a word I say, so why should you ? In other words, I don't speak for AMD and they don't speak for me. I just happen to work at AMD.