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- From: Alex Raftis
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.hardware
- Subject: Re: Are the Turbos CPU Upgradable?
- Message-ID: <1992Aug28.162634.175174@zeus.calpoly.edu>
- Date: 28 Aug 92 16:26:34 GMT
- References: <17khsrINN3gi@agate.berkeley.edu>
- Sender: news@zeus.calpoly.edu
- Reply-To: alex@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu
- Organization: Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo
- Lines: 34
-
- Tin Yau Fung writes
- > Hi,
- >
- > A NeXT representative told me today that the CPU chip on the
- > turbo stations are upgradable. ie, when a faster version of
- > the 68040 chip comes out, you can replace the 33 Mhz one with
- > the faster one.
-
- I can give you no definite answer on this except that it's simple to do. If
- they designed the support hardware to run at faster speeds, a CPU upgrade
- can be as easy as a faster chip and a new clock crystal. This is a common
- approach in the PC clone market place.
-
- > I've never heard of this for the Turbos. Is this true?
- > And if it is, can I replace the 040 with a 050 when it comes
- > out?
-
- Probably not. When chips move from one version to the next they tend to change
- the number of pins. The Next generation of the '040 will likely have more pins
- to support larger data and or address busses. Unless Motorolla does something
- like the 386SX, which is basically a 386 with a 286 pin out, you'll probably
- not be able to do this.
-
- As a side note, can anyone verify the rumors that Moto will skip development of
- the '050 and jump to the '060? I was told a short while back that the '050 was
- to be a stepping point on the way to the '060, but because of pressure from
- Intel with the P5 (aka '586) they decided to go directly to the '060 to remain
- more competative.
-
- Alex
- --
- ______________________________________________________
- Internet: alex@data.acs.calpoly.edu (NeXT mail)
- alex@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu
-