VOGONS


387 Co-Processor, where can I find one?

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First post, by tokyoracer

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A few months ago or so, I got hold of an Amstrad Mega-PC and see there's a socket for a Co-Processor (FPU?). After some google'ing I discoverd what I am actually after is a Intel i387 Co-Processor (preferbly at 25Mhz).

Does anyone have any idea where I can find one? eBay isn't coming up with anything for me and can't source anything from Google. 🙁

Last edited by tokyoracer on 2011-02-13, 16:47. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 29, by Old Thrashbarg

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I'm guessing you must be searching "i387", which isn't going to get you very far, since they weren't generally called that in reality... most of the ones on eBay are listed either as '80387' or by any of the other miscellaneous numbers used for 'em.

The other problem is, the Mega PC looks to have a 386SX, which would require a 387SX... and those are a bit more difficult to come by. Most of the ones you find for sale are the 387DX variety.

Also, there's the question... why do you want one? They really aren't particularly useful.

Reply 4 of 29, by tokyoracer

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@ Old Thrashbarg, Thanks for the info. I got a few extra key searches to open my options.

@ Tetrium, I might just do that, thanks. 😀

@ Markk, Great find! It does'nt have to be Intel really, just would be nice to have a posh matching Co-Pro. Aslong as it will perform the same as an Intel one I might take it. Il do a bit more searching first (and might take up on that CPU forum too) just to exhaust all my other options. 😀

Reply 5 of 29, by sliderider

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Good luck with that. They're getting to be almost as hard to find as 68881/68882 co-processors. You may have to scrounge globally to find one. I am in US and had to go to a German seller to get a 68882 chip for one of my Mac upgrades. There is a seller on ebay called IC-China. Try him first and keep trying if you don't have any luck right away but expect to wait a bit for shipping as he really is located in China.

http://shop.ebay.com/IC-China/m.html?_dmd=1&_ … &_sop=15&_rdc=1

Reply 6 of 29, by tokyoracer

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sliderider wrote:

Good luck with that. They're getting to be almost as hard to find as 68881/68882 co-processors. You may have to scrounge globally to find one. I am in US and had to go to a German seller to get a 68882 chip for one of my Mac upgrades. There is a seller on ebay called IC-China. Try him first and keep trying if you don't have any luck right away but expect to wait a bit for shipping as he really is located in China.

http://shop.ebay.com/IC-China/m.html?_dmd=1&_ … &_sop=15&_rdc=1

Oddly I have owned a good number of 68882's in the past. I think it's another one of them things where people are made to believe this is alot rarer then it really is.

I gave the guy a contact and apparently has no PLCC FPU's at all. Although I have a response on CPU-World, an i387SL, I just hope its compatible with a 386SX. 😒

Reply 7 of 29, by Old Thrashbarg

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The 386SL was a sort of integrated 386SX + some support logic in a single package, with some rudimentary power management features. So it's conceivable that there could be something different about a 387SL... however, considering how small a market there was for coprocessors in notebooks, I find it rather unlikely that Intel would've bothered to create a whole new chip for the purpose.

This is just speculation here, but I'd figure it's probably a standard 387SX core, that may also be able to run on lower voltages.

Reply 8 of 29, by tokyoracer

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Old Thrashbarg wrote:

The 386SL was a sort of integrated 386SX + some support logic in a single package, with some rudimentary power management features. So it's conceivable that there could be something different about a 387SL... however, considering how small a market there was for coprocessors in notebooks, I find it rather unlikely that Intel would've bothered to create a whole new chip for the purpose.

This is just speculation here, but I'd figure it's probably a standard 387SX core, that may also be able to run on lower voltages.

It's probably worth a punt I suppose, il see what the guy wants for it. Good thing is that it's a genuine Intel chip.

Reply 9 of 29, by Tetrium

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If you're sking for a chip, chances are price will be higher then buying from someone who's posting a selling topic.
Another hint:Some of the members there have posted trade lists with hundreds of chips. Many are much cheaper then what you pay on the bay 😜

My experience is that theres always a very small risk you'll get something that won't work for you, but generally speaking, I found that if a chip has some minor damage, they'll usually tell you in advance.

My experiences with buying from there are very good, I'm just so glad it exists!

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 10 of 29, by tokyoracer

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Tetrium wrote:
If you're sking for a chip, chances are price will be higher then buying from someone who's posting a selling topic. Another hin […]
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If you're sking for a chip, chances are price will be higher then buying from someone who's posting a selling topic.
Another hint:Some of the members there have posted trade lists with hundreds of chips. Many are much cheaper then what you pay on the bay 😜

My experience is that theres always a very small risk you'll get something that won't work for you, but generally speaking, I found that if a chip has some minor damage, they'll usually tell you in advance.

My experiences with buying from there are very good, I'm just so glad it exists!

Thanks for the info! 😀

Yeah i'm glad too, one would think nobody would have interest in old PC's anymore but to actually get 2 results (so far) from my thread is super news and thanks all who have made this site possible. Without this I would have never been able to track one down leave alone 2!

Reply 11 of 29, by Tetrium

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Np 😉

You don't wanna know how many chips I've bought from that place 😜
It's awesome and the people are kind, though more oriented towards trading.

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 12 of 29, by sprcorreia

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tokyoracer wrote:

A few months ago or so, I got hold of an Amstrad Mega-PC and see there's a socket for a Co-Processor (FPU?). After some google'ing I discoverd what I am actually after is a Intel i387 Co-Processor (preferbly at 25Mhz).

Does anyone have any idea where I can find one? eBay isn't coming up with anything for me and can't source anything from Google. 🙁

I believe i have one, but it's a 33mhz part. Are you still interested?

Reply 13 of 29, by tokyoracer

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sprcorreia wrote:

I believe i have one, but it's a 33mhz part. Are you still interested?

I certainly would, how much are you looking for it, or trade? Have you got a picture of it? 😀

Reply 14 of 29, by Norton Commander

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tokyoracer wrote:

A few months ago or so, I got hold of an Amstrad Mega-PC and see there's a socket for a Co-Processor (FPU?). After some google'ing I discoverd what I am actually after is a Intel i387 Co-Processor (preferbly at 25Mhz).

I'm curious as to why you would want one as well..Unless you have an application that specifically requires or makes use of it (Lotus 1-2-3, CAD, and Borland products) it will pretty do nothing but occupy space on your motherboard.

Anyone remember if there were any games that used i387?

Reply 15 of 29, by swaaye

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Falcon 3. The game has a few flight models to choose from and the "most realistic" one can use a FPU (287 even). But I've read that flight model was glitchy and people preferred the medium setting instead.

There are more but they target 486s and wouldn't run on a 386 anyway. Such as TNG A Final Unity and Quake.

Reply 16 of 29, by Tetrium

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Norton Commander wrote:
tokyoracer wrote:

A few months ago or so, I got hold of an Amstrad Mega-PC and see there's a socket for a Co-Processor (FPU?). After some google'ing I discoverd what I am actually after is a Intel i387 Co-Processor (preferbly at 25Mhz).

I'm curious as to why you would want one as well..Unless you have an application that specifically requires or makes use of it (Lotus 1-2-3, CAD, and Borland products) it will pretty do nothing but occupy space on your motherboard.

Anyone remember if there were any games that used i387?

Actually, I'd like to know this also.

When the 387 was new, it had very few uses. Even during the 486 reign the fpu part of the processor was little used.
Only during the Pentium age did it start to become important.
But wouldn't that mean that applications made during the Pentium age would benefit from the 387?

Reply 17 of 29, by tokyoracer

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Norton Commander wrote:
tokyoracer wrote:

A few months ago or so, I got hold of an Amstrad Mega-PC and see there's a socket for a Co-Processor (FPU?). After some google'ing I discoverd what I am actually after is a Intel i387 Co-Processor (preferbly at 25Mhz).

I'm curious as to why you would want one as well..Unless you have an application that specifically requires or makes use of it (Lotus 1-2-3, CAD, and Borland products) it will pretty do nothing but occupy space on your motherboard.

Anyone remember if there were any games that used i387?

Well it just could do with that little more oomph but i'm very limited with what I can do with it. A Co Pro. is just one of the things I can add even if it does'nt get used often. Though I too would like to know when it gets used particularly in gameplay. I know Doom uses it but that's made for 486's really.

Reply 18 of 29, by Old Thrashbarg

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I know Doom uses it but that's made for 486's really.

Doom doesn't use an FPU... I'm not sure where you got that idea.

The only pre-Pentium era games I can think of having coprocessor support are Falcon 3, which only gained a higher-detail graphics setting, and V for Victory. And IIRC, the latter came with two executables, one that had FPU support and one that didn't, and the FPU-enabled one was kinda buggy.

Reply 19 of 29, by tokyoracer

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Old Thrashbarg wrote:

I know Doom uses it but that's made for 486's really.

Doom doesn't use an FPU... I'm not sure where you got that idea.

Well it did on the 68k based machines, I assumed it would do the same on the PC, I was obviously wrong sorry. =/