Re: problems with UMC U5SX processor?

Malc Arnold (malc@thing.demon.co.uk)
1 Dec 1996 01:02:59 -0000


In article <199611301218.XAA00438@yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au>,
Hamish Moffatt <moffatt@yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au> wrote:
>
>I just upgraded one of my machines to a UMC U5SX, which is
>a 486SX clone, running at 33MHz. (Not much of an upgrade you say?
>Well, it was a from a 386-40. :-)

[Details of fpu error non-problem snipped]

One thing to watch out for on these CPUs is that for some reason, cron
will die after between 36 and 72 hours. Consistently. There are also
some other minor problems it causes; but I can't remember the exact
details since I upgraded from mine about a year ago. I didn't really
notice the problems at the time, just noticed that some things seemed
to work "properly" with the new CPU. (I still had the same motherboard
though).

I have nothing against non-Intel CPUs (in fact, I've never owned an
Intel processor), but I'd recommend getting an Intel or AMD 486
processor, rather than the UMC. An 486DX-33 will also work a *lot*
better when you run X, or any other math-intensive app (like Doom :-).

Given that (in this country, at least) the bottom has fallen out of
the 486 CPU market to such an extent that an AMD 486DX4-120 can be
had for about 30 pounds (45 US dollars) or less, then I'd also suggest
that you consider an upgrade unless you're really strapped for cash.

Hope this helps

-- 
M a l c . . .            |  "A wrong parameters may be caused the mainboard
(malc@thing.demon.co.uk) |  out of order."   -- Pentium Motherboard Manual.