Re: Chuck's 486

[Frank Sergeant <FS07675@xxxxxxx>]

Penio Penev <Penev@venezia.Rockefeller.edu> 1-212-327-7423 writes

  > I have an idea.

    I like your idea.

  > A NexGen Nx586 P90 with 256K 12ns SRAM can be had 
  > (tax,S&H included) for $545. 

    Since you mention the SRAM, I gather the above is a motherboard
(not just a CPU)?  Do you have one?  Have your tried one?  What do
you think of it?  How hot does it run?  I have a general objection
to Pentiums because they run so hot.  (I've heard the faster ones,
using smaller geometry processes, run cooler, but I'm still suspicious.)
Who do you recommend buying it from?  I didn't realize any Pentium
clones were available yet.

  > Since it has a 64-bit path to DRAM, 2 72-pin SIMMS are need. 
  > 2 x 1Mx32 70ns can be had for another $315, which makes a total 
  > of $850.

     Perhaps I should just upgrade my PC with the above and forget 
altogether about the P21 and/or F21.  (At least partially joking.)

  > If Jeff agrees to sell coupons for future F21s from the first 
  > lot for $10 each (instead of the $20-$25 MuP21 goes for now), 
  > he needs to sell 85 chips now to get Chuck the Nx586 P90. 

     From the first commercial run _after_ the prototype/debugging stage
is finished, right?  I also want an agreement that the manuals and
documentation and sample code will all be available free (via ftp).
(Jeff, Penio and I are pretty free with your committments!)  I was
sadly disappointed in the "kit" for the P21 I got from Ting.  That 
sort of <deleted> tends to drive me away from the P21 and toward
the Texas Instruments DSP chips, or to Jeff's F21, providing I don't
have to deal with Ting.

  > There are ~150 subscribers to the list currently. I 
  > personally am ready to buy 3 F21s @ $10 now and get them 
  > when they are ready.

     I, too, with my above qualifications, would agree to at least
three.  I might go as high as ten chips.

  > If Jeff thinks, that the simulations are the bottleneck, 
  > and that Chuck's time can be utilized better from doing work, ...

     Well, Jeff, are grass-roots investors the answer?

  -- Frank
  fs07675@swt.edu