SUBJECT: CHANGING AN INTEL 386DX25 OR 386DX33 INTO A CYRIX 486SX25 OR 486SX33. 
         ADDING THE APPROPRIATE 387 MATHCO MAKES THEM INTO A 486 DX.

STORY:   THE ONLY REASON I AM WRITING THIS, IS THAT I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO
         HAVE 386 DX'S AND A FAIR AMOUNT OF MONEY TIED UP IN THEM. NOT TO
         MENTION, THAT, AS ILLOGICAL AS IT IS, SOME OF US GET QUITE ATTACHED 
         TO OUR MACHINES. SO, SWITCHING TO CYRIX CHIPS, FOR UNDER $200.00 
         (486SX) OR UNDER $300.00 (DX), WILL GIVE YOU A REGULAR SPEED DEMON 
         486 FOR THE LEAST AMOUNT OF MONEY.

         THE BAD NEWS..... THIS IS NOT FOR EVERYONE!!  IF YOU HAVE AN OLD
         HARD DRIVE (OVER 20MS. ACCESS TIME) OR UNDER 80 MEGS; OR HAVE AN
         OLD CGA OR EGA CARD AND MONITOR, THEN YOU HAVE OTHER PROBLEMS AND
         WOULD BE BETTER OFF JUST TO BUY ONE OF THE NEW 486'S. BETWEEN 1500. 
         AND 1800. DOLLARS WILL BUY YOU A VERY NICE NEW UNIT WITH SVGA, FAST
         HARD DRIVE, AND... UPGRADEABILITY IN MOST CASES....WHICH YOU WILL
         NOT HAVE AFTER YOU DO THE THE CYRIX UPGRADE. HOWEVER..... IF YOU
         DON'T HAVE THE BIG BUCKS AND DO HAVE A REASONABLE DX...THEN THIS IS
         THE WAY TO GO.

         CYRIX DOES NOT SELL THE UPGRADES DIRECTLY AND DOES NOT ADVERTIZE THE
         CAPABILITIES OF THEIR CHIPS. THEY ONLY SELL TO RESELLORS(sp?) AND 
         COMPUTER BUILDING OUTFITS. SO YOU MUST DEAL WITH A MAIL-ORDER CO.
         OR YOU CANNOT GET THE CHIPS AT ALL. BY THE WAY, THAT WAS NOT A KNOCK
         ON MAIL ORDER!!!! IT IS THE ONLY WAY I DO BUSINESS. I LIVE IN A RURAL
         AREA ABOUT 60 MILES AWAY FROM ANY SIZE CITY, AND THOSE CITIES ARE NOT
         GOLD MINES OF COMPUTER SUPPLY OR SERVICE HELP!! WHEN YOU LIVE IN WVA
         YOU PUT UP WITH THESE THINGS FOR THE LOW CRIME RATE, AND THE ABILITY
         TO LEAVE YOUR KEYS IN THE TRUCK!

         A WORD ABOUT THE 386-SX.  CRYIX ALSO SELLS CHIP UPGRADES FOR THE 386-SX.
         NOW I AM NOT A COMPUTER ENGINEER, OR EVEN A COLLEGE GRADUATE FOR THAT
         MATTER.(OBVIOUS IS IT NOT?) ANYWAY, WITHOUT GOING INTO ALL THE TECHNICAL
         SPECIFICATIONS...........YOU JUST DO NOT GET ENOUGH PERFORMANCE BOOST OR
         ADDITIONAL CAPABILITES FOR THE MONEY YOU WILL SPEND. THE SAME COMPANY
         I GOT MY UPGRADE FROM, ALSO SELLS THE 486 SLC (THE CHIPS FOR SX). I DO
         NOT RECOMEND IT. THE 486 DLC IS THE CHIP FOR THE 386 DX UPGRADE.
         AND NOW THEY HAVE ANOTHER UPGRADE THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE EVEN BETTER,
         BUT THE PRICE I SAW WAS ABOUT 450.00. IF YOU ARE INCLINED, YOU CAN GET
         A SUPER COMPLETELY UPGRADEABLE MOTHERBOARD FROM COMPUADD, AUDTIN TX. FOR
         ABOUT 625.00. ALLWAYS A QUESTION OF MONEY !!! 
         
         MY COMPUTER IS,(EXCUSE ME), WAS A COMPUADD 386-25. I GOT IT IN NOV. 90
         AND IT HAS PUT UP WITH A WHOLE LOT, ESPECIALLY SINCE I DIDN'T KNOW HOW
         TO TURN ONE ON WHEN I GOT IT. I DECIDED THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE
         TO ESCAPE COMPUTERS FOREVER, AND I MIGHT AS WELL GET TO IT. SO, I WENT
         TO THE BANK AND BORROWED ENOUGH TO PAY BACK MY CREDIT CARD FOR THE
         PURCHASE. IT COST ME 3500.00 AND I AM STILL PAYING FOR IT! 9 MORE
         MONTHS...SINCE I GOT IT I HAVE COME TO GET 2 MORE AT WORK. A ZEOS ,YECH,
         486-33 AND A CUBAN CLONE,"INTELEC" 386-40 FOR OUR HOSPITAL BLOOD GAS
         MACHINES. THE COMPUADD REMAINS MY FAVORITE AND IS ALSO MY FAVORITE
         COMPUTER COMPANY TO DEAL WITH. IN SPITE OF ALL THE RAVE REVIEWS,
         ZEOS HAS BEEN LESS THAT WONDERFUL!
         
         BOY DO I RAMBLE ON....  ANYWAY NORTON SI 6.1 ALWAYS GAVE ME A 25.9 RATING 
         RIGHT NEXT TO COMPAQ'S 34.7 FOR THEIR 386-33. LANDMARK 2.0 ALWAYS GAVE ME
         A 37.  SINCE I PUT IN THE CYRIX 386-25 DLC CHIP AND THE 387 MATHCO, MY
         NORTON SCORE IS 40.1 AND MY LANDMARK IS 79.6  I DIDN'T RUN THE TEST WITHOUT
         THE MATHCO AND I HEAR THAT IT MAKES NEGLIGABLE DIFFERENCE IN THE SCORES.
         I JUST WANTED ALL THE TESTING PROGRAMS TO IDENTIFY MY MACHINE AS A 486DX!
         WHICH THEY DO!! I USED WINSPEED, WINDSOCK, SWANS TEST AND DRYSTONE, JUST
         TO MENTION A FEW AND THE INCREASE IS INCREDIBLE....  
         BUT, JUST TO STEAL A PHRASE...THERE ARE LIES, DAMNED LIES, AND BENCHMARKS!
         
         THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT MY COMPUTER IS A WHOLE SHITLOAD FASTER THAN IT WAS
         BEFORE. IF YOU DON'T USE A NUMBER CRUNCHER AND OR DON'T CARE IF PROGRAMS
         CALL YOUR MACHINE A 486-SX; $200.00 MORE THAT COVERS IT! LESS THAT $300.00
         IF YOU ARE AS PICKY AS I WAS (STILL AM).

         BE PREPARED TO FEEL A LITTLE LIKE A PIONEER THO', THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE
         DONE THIS EITHER AREN'T TALKING OR NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT IT MUCH! I GOT MY
         START FROM A COUPLE TEXT FILES I FOUND ON CHANNEL 1, (THE SUPREME BBS OF
         ALL TIME). BY THE WAY!!!!!  I WILL  GUARANTEE  THE STATEMENT ABOUT 
         CHANNEL 1, BUT I WILL  NOT GUARANTEE  ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS DOCUMENT.
         I'VE SEEN LOTS OF OTHER PEOPLE MAKE THESE "I AM NOT LIABLE FOR ANYTHING
         THAT HAPPENS TO YOU OR YOUR OFFSPRING AS A RESULT OF ANYTHING YOU READ
         THAT I WROTE"!!!!!! SO THERE.  THAT IS MY STATEMENT OF NON-OBLIGATION.

         I GOT MY PARTS FROM EVERGREEN TECHNOLOGIES OF CORVALLIS, OREGON. THEY
         TREATED ME OK, BUT BELIEVE ME, THEY DONT KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT DOING THIS.
         THEY JUST SELL THE STUFF.  OF COURSE, THAT WAS THE FIRST OF NOV. 92 AND
         THEY MAY HAVE LEARNED SOME, BY NOW. CYRIX IS OF ALMOST NO HELP! I 
         REQUESTED LITERATURE FROM THEM AND THEY WERE VERY NICE, BUT WHEN THE MAIL
         CAME THERE WAS VERY LITTLE IN IT.

         EVERGREEN DOES INCLUDE THE CACHE ACTIVATOR PROGRAM THAT THE CYRIX CHIP
         REQUIRES TO ACTIVATE IT'S ONBOARD 1K CACHE. I HEAR THAT SOME COMPANIES 
         SELL THE CHIPS BUT DON'T INCLUDE ANY CACHE ACTIVATOR WITH IT. IF YOU 
         THINK THAT 1K IS NOT VERY MUCH COMPARED TO INTELS 8K ONBOARD,,, THEN
         RUN THE CHIP WITHOUT IT! YOU WILL BEAT THE 386 PERFORMANCE, BUT YOU
         CERTAINLY WON'T BE MESMERIZED BY IT!
         NOW, IF YOU FIND A COMPANY THAT HAS THE CHIP, BUT NOT THE CACHE ACTIVATOR,
         DON'T DESPAIR. THERE IS A PROGRAM, $5.00 SHAREWARE, ON CHANNEL 1,(OF COURSE)
         BY TOM WARREN OF TECH GUYS SW. THE PROGRAM IS CFGCYRIX DEVICE DRIVER 1.0
         NO I DON'T REMEMBER THE ZIP FILE NAME, BUT IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND DON'T
         KNOW HOW TO FIND IT, YOU ARE IN DEEP DO DO AND DON'T NEED TO BE ATTEMPTING
         THIS PROJECT ANYWAY.    TOM IS IN MOORPARK, CA AND HAS A COMPUSERVE # OF
         76167,1572 FOR YOU FILTHY RICH PEOPLE THAT CAN AFFORD TO MUCK AROUND ON
         COMPUSERVE. YOU NEED TO READ HIS ZIPFILE TEXT ABOUT DOING THIS ANYWAY.
         I TRIED TOM'S CACHE ACTIVATOR AND IT WORKS JUST FINE, ACTUALLY I COUDN'T
         TELL ANY DIFFERENCE IN IT AND THE ONE, (486CACHE), THAT CAME WITH THE 
         CHIPS. SO I DIDN'T USE HIS, BUT I AM SURE IT IS OK. I HAVE NOW USED MY
         MACHINE FOR 60 DAYS, HAVE ADDED A 2ND HARD DRIVE,(212 WD 12MS-GREAT),
         A PAS-16 AND A NEC CDR-73M CDROM WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS. THERE WERE A FEW
         STRANGE THINGS FOR A COUPLE DAYS, BUT THAT ALWAYS HAPPENS WHEN I DO 
         ANYTHING MAJOR TO ANY OF MY MACHINES.THESE THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO JUST BE
         NUMBER CRUNCHERS AND EITHER WORK OR NOT! HAR HAR!!!! ALL MINE HAVE RADICAL
         PERSONALITIES! THE ZEOS IS THE B-WORD.
         NOW, UNLIKE A LOT OF WELL MEANING PEOPLE WHO WRITE DOWN THESE IDEAS, BUT 
         NEVER GIVE YOU AN ADDRESS OR PHONE #, I WILL. DO NOT, HOWEVER, TAKE THIS
         AS AN ENDORSEMENT FOR THE COMPANY NAMED. I HAVE NOT PART OF ANY COMPUTER
         CO. SALES CO. OR MAGAZINE! I JUST WORK IN A HOSPITAL AND AM TRYING TO HELP
         OTHER PEOPLE. SOUNDS REASONABLE DOESN'T IT ?

         I GOT MINE AT: (YOU GET YOURS WHEREVER YOU WANT!)

                       EVERGREEN TECHNOLOGIES INC.
                       915 NW 8TH STREET
                       CORVALLIS, OR 97330-6211
                       PHONE 800-733-0934
                             503-757-0934
                       FAX   503-757-7350  AND I SEE THAT THEY HAVE A BBS!
                       DIDN'T KNOW THAT!  503-752-9851


         I PAID 199.00 FOR ITEM # 54 EVERGREEN 486 SUPERCHIP 386-DX-25
         AND     79.00 FOR ITEM # 57 THE EVERGREEN 387DX MATCO.PLUS 5.00 UPS GROUND 
         SECOND DAY IS ONLY 9.00!

         NOW IN CLOSING, DAMNED LIES AND BENCHMARKS WILL BE DIFFERENT ON VARIOUS 
         COMPUTERS. I KNOW THIS, BECAUSE I HAVE SEVERAL DIFFERENT COMPUTERS!
         I DO KNOW THAT THE PERFORMANCE BOOST AND INCREASED LIFESPAN OF MY COMPUTER
         ARE EASILY WORTH 300.00 TO ME!



                        IF FOR SOME REASON, I LEFT SOMETHING OUT AND YOU HAVE TO
                        CALL OR WRITE, OR FEEL IT NECESSARY TO HELP PAY FOR MY 
                        MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS AND FURTHER R & D!
                        

                        MICHAEL S SARTOR SR
                        205 SIMMONS ST
                        SPENCER WVA 25276

                        PHONE DAYTIME 304-927-6236 (OFFICE, NO SECY)
                        AFTER 5PM   304-927-5521


          MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, AND GET A SOUND CARD AND CD-ROM WITH THE
          MONEY YOU SAVE UPGRADING YOUR MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
