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Windows 3.1 in my BIOS? It's more likely than you think

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Re: Windows 3.1 in my BIOS? It's more likely than you think

#61
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not cache, friend - that's main system memory =) (and 640 KB by the time of the 486) (though, speaking of cache, the 486 was the first chip in the family to have L1 cache - a whole 8KB of it!)

Parent specified a board with SIMM sockets, which would contain main memory. The 486 family supported external L2 cache, for which 64KB would be a plausible size.

Did SIMM RAM straight up replace the DIP chips when it was introduced? For some reason I thought they were used in parallel, with conventional RAM physically separate from the rest. I guess there's no reason that should have to be, though, as the 640K barrier was a real mode limitation, and nothing more. What they say about assumptions applies.

I guess I kind of missed out on the fun here, going straight from an XT to a Pentium...

Re: Windows 3.1 in my BIOS? It's more likely than you think

#62
post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parent specified a board with SIMM sockets, which would contain main memory. The 486 family supported external L2 cache, for which 64KB would be a plausible size.

Did SIMM RAM straight up replace the DIP chips when it was introduced? For some reason I thought they were used in parallel, with conventional RAM physically separate from the rest. I guess there's no reason that should have to be, though, as the 640K barrier was a real mode limitation, and nothing more. What they say about assumptions applies. I guess I kind of missed out on the fun here, going straight from an XT t…

> For some reason I thought they were used in parallel, with conventional RAM physically separate from the rest.

I don't specifically know of any boards like that, but Pre-Pentium boards were kind of a free-for-all, so I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they exist.

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