1. Re: 386/486
Robert McDougal wrote:
> However, unless I'm mistaken since my computer is
> a 386 then it wouldn't have built in floating point
> (unless I had the 387, but I don't.)
> My understanding is that with the 486+ they have
> built floating point
> stuff built in. (Am I correct here? Anybody know?)
ummmm no.
a 386 uses the 387 to obtain FP calc.
a 486 is (in essence) a pair of 386's piggybacked
to allow a larger datapath.
there are 2 core varieties of 486 chips:
a 486SX and 486DX.
the DX adds a FP unit to the 486, whereas the 486SX
is sans FP for those that dont need it (or couldnt
afford it when it first came out). So if you have
a 486SX then you basically have a pair of 386.
If you have a 486DX then you have a pair of 386
-and- a 387 (in essence...this is just an analogy
guys)
hope this clears it up? --Hawke'
