Intel iAPX432

The iAPX432 is quite a interesting item. It was supposed to be the successor to the 8086 processor and add all sorts of advanced processing required by modern operating system. But it was too slow. The 80286 which was contemporary to the iAPX432 was faster and became popular as an upgrade path. The iAPX 432 was soon abandoned.

This particular board was found on the Skärholmen flea market in the early nineties. There are quite a lot written about the iAPX432 and the Intel flop. Eric Smith has collected a lot of information here.

This report, Performance Effects of Architectural Complexity in the iAPX 432, studies the shortcomings of the iAPX432.