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- Path: sparky!uunet!wupost!think.com!cayman!carl
- From: carl@Cayman.COM (Carl Heinzl)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
- Subject: Re: Replace 486/33 by 486/50-CPU possible?
- Message-ID: <CARL.92Sep14172902@atlantis.Cayman.COM>
- Date: 14 Sep 92 21:29:02 GMT
- References: <1992Sep11.171833.168@csghsg5a.bitnet>
- Sender: news@cayman.COM
- Organization: Cayman Systems Inc., Cambridge, MA
- Lines: 24
- Nntp-Posting-Host: atlantis
- In-reply-to: lmebold@csghsg5a.bitnet's message of 11 Sep 92 17:18:33 GMT
- bcc: carl
-
-
- >Can every 486/33 Computer be upgraded to a 486/50? So is it possible
- >with every 486/33-motherboard to take out the 486/33-Chip, take out
- >the crystal (provided it is in a socket), plug in the 486/50Mhz-CPU
- >and a 50Mhz-crystal to get a 486/50Mhz-Computer or is that not
- >possible with all systems? If not, why (means, what parts on the
- >board is the mentioned crystal responsible for)?
-
- The answer is a simple *no*.
-
- Now, for the more complete answer, here goes. *Many* motherboards can
- be run at several speeds (25/33/50 Mhz) depending solely on the CPU
- chip, BIOS, Oscillator, and RAM installed. So, it may be possible to
- switch the CPU chip and the oscillator and everything will work fine.
- The BIOS may croak if it has timing loops that must run at a certain
- speed (but you could always upgrade the bios too).
-
- Is it worth it??? Doubtful, especially with all the problems that
- could crop up. The CPU chip is still the single largest cost item and
- is roughly 60-85% the cost of the entire motherboard.
-
- -Carl-
-
- --
-