On 01/24/2017 05:49 PM, Eric Smith wrote: > It actually wasn't *that* expensive. Well, the development system > was hideously expensive, but the chips weren't. The General Data > Processor (GDP, the "main" processor) was two chips, which together > cost about $100 in modest quantities, and the Interface Processor > (IP, an I/O channel interface that worked in conjunction with a 8-bit > or 16-bit microprocessor) was about $50. While that's a lot more > expensive than an 8088, it was supposed to be a high-end processor, > not a low-end processor like the 8088. It's more appropriate to > compare it to the early pricing of the 80286 with 80287.
Admittedly, this was before the 432 was released in any form, but I recall "Fast Eddie" our Intel sales guy quoting us about $1K for a chipset--this would have been about 1982. That was expensive in anyone's book. --Chuck
