Re: LZ: Old PC's What should I do with them?
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Re: LZ: Old PC's What should I do with them?
On Wed, 16 Oct 1996 22:53:24 -0600 (MDT), you wrote:
>On Wed, 16 Oct 1996, Robin, Jim, & Eric Barker wrote:
>
>> My computer programming teacher has a lab of about 30 "old" PC=20
>> computers. He is now starting to rack up some 286's and 386's so he =
is=20
>> getting rid of his old 8086's and 8088's. Since they aren't worth =
more=20
>> than a dime, he is basicly giving them away. Is there anything I can =
do=20
>> with parts to these computes? Is the 8086 or 8088 Z80 compatable? =20
>> Should I take one or two and do something with it or is it a waste?
>>=20
>> Eric Barker (rbarker@polarnet.com)
>>=20
>
>There's some prety heavy similarity between Z80 and 8080 / 8088. One of
>those last two. But hey, if he's giving them avay, try grab one... see
>what happens.
There's a very heavy similarity between the z80 and the 8080/8085, but
there's hardly any similarity between the Z80 and the 8088/8086. The
8088 multiplexes the data and address busses, it uses segmented
addressing, etc. It's basically the first x86 architecture chip, and
it has little to do with the 8080.
The 8080 was intel's first really popular 8 bit microprocessor, and
some rockwell and intel veterans created Zilog, and "defected" and
designed a grealy improved version, the Z80. It retains most of the
instructions of the 8080, but it adds a host of other instructions
including some 16 bit instructions.
Those old PC's are good for experimentation, but don't plan on doing
anything revolutionary because the original PC architecture is very
difficult for mortals to understand, and at best you can design your
own 8 bit interface card.
-Mel
<pre>
--
The TI Memory Expansion Homepage
http://pilot.msu.edu/user/tsaimelv/expander.htm
</pre>
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