AST, ALR Announce PC Upgrades Using State-of-the-Art Intel i486 Chip
Two rival Irvine personal computer makers, Advanced Logic Research Inc. and AST Research Inc., are among the first companies out of the blocks with products to tap the power of a state-of-the-art microchip.
ALR and AST introduced add-on boards for their personal computer lines that take advantage of the ultrafast i486 microprocessor announced in April by Intel Corp., a Santa Clara semiconductor manufacturer.
A microprocessor is the brain of a computer, manipulating data and performing calculations.
The i486 chip is the industry’s fastest microchip, offering more than double the speed of Intel’s next-fastest chip, the 80386. The 80386 is the heart of the most advanced PCs.
The i486 has been touted as the first “mainframe on a chip,” meaning that it brings the computational power of much larger and more expensive computers to the personal computer for the first time.
ALR said its add-on board will have a list price of $2,995. The board is designed as an upgrade for the company’s new line of PowerFlex modular PCs. The basic model, with a less-expensive 80286 microprocessor, will be available in August and will carry a $1,495 price tag, the company said. The new add-on board, however, won’t be available until after Intel makes the i486 available in large quantities to PC makers, expected by year’s end.
Last month, International Business Machines Corp. became the first company to announce a PC utilizing the i486 chip. Availability of the IBM machine is also dependent on delivery of the Intel chip.
AST said it is introducing add-on boards for its top-of-the-line Premium/386 machines. The company said it will offer a $2,995 add-on board to upgrade its Premium 386/33 machine, and a $3,695 board for its Premium 386/25 model.
AST said its i486 upgrades will be available in October.
AST, ALR and IBM are among the first firms to announce computers that will use the i486 chip. However, software programs that can take full advantage of the new chip’s power are not expected to be available for about two years. In general, software development has lagged a couple of years behind advances in chip technology.
