Stories that Intel Corp was working on a 16-bit bus version of the 80386 first surfaced last year and was immediately dubbed the 80388, and by the beginning of this year, the part was thought to be imminent. And, finally, Intel Corp launched the part yesterday, perversely calling it the 80386SX. And because of the 16-bit bus, it is able to use the much cheaper support chips developed for the 80286, so that it will make it possible to build low-cost personal computers with the compute performance of the 80386. The race is on to be the first to announce – and ship – a box using the new part, with Compaq in the vanguard planning to launch a Deskpro 386s using the chip next week, alongside its 386/25 – and Amstrad Plc may well not be too far behind. Early versions of the part will be clocked at 16MHz, and Intel looks for a sustained 2.5 to 3 MIPS from it; a specially-designed 80387SX maths co-processor has been developed for it, and it supports the 82706 Video Graphics Array controller. Price of the 80386SX in 100-up lots is $219.
