Voltage converter for 80486 dx4 processors 2007 03 27

i486 The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor introduced in 1989. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the i386, Intel 386. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the Inte ...

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

with 16 KB level 1 cache.http://www.pld.ttu.ee/~prj/486dev.pdf Intel named it DX4 (rather than ''DX3'') as a consequence of

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

with

Advanced Micro Devices Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a Information technology, hardware and F ...

over

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

s. The product was officially named IntelDX4, but OEMs continued using the i486 naming convention. Intel produced IntelDX4s with two

clock speed Clock rate or clock speed in computing typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a processor can generate pulses used to synchronize the operations of its components. It is used as an indicator of the processor's ...

steppings: A 75-

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

version (3× 25 MHz multiplier), and a 100-MHz version (3× 33.3 MHz or 2x 50 MHz). Both chips were released in March 1994. A version of IntelDX4 featuring write-back cache was released in October 1994. The original write-through versions of the chip are marked with a laser-embossed “&E,” while the write-back-enabled versions are marked “&EW.” i486 OverDrive editions of IntelDX4 had locked multipliers, and therefore can only run at 3× the external clock speed. The 100-MHz model of the processor had an iCOMP rating of 435, while the 75-MHz processor had a rating of 319. IntelDX4 was an OEM-only product, but the DX4 Overdrive could be purchased at a retail store. The IntelDX4 microprocessor is mostly

pin-compatible In electronics, pin-compatible devices are electronic components, generally integrated circuits or expansion cards, sharing a common footprint and with the same functions assigned or usable on the same pins. Pin compatibility is a property des ...

with the

, but requires a lower 3.3-V supply. Normal i486DX and DX2 processors use a 5-V supply; plugging a DX4 into an unmodified socket will destroy the processor. Motherboards lacking support for the 3.3-V CPUs can sometimes make use of them using a

voltage regulator module A voltage regulator module (VRM), sometimes called processor power module (PPM), is a buck converter that provides the microprocessor and chipset the appropriate supply voltage, converting , or to lower voltages required by the devices, allowi ...

(VRM) that fits between the socket and the CPU. The i486 DX4 OverDrive CPUs have voltage regulator modules built in.

Specifications

References

{{Intel processors, discontinued 80486DX4 32-bit microprocessors Computer-related introductions in 1994 de:Intel i486#Intel DX4