Retrocomputing Stack Exchange
Retrocomputing Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [chip]

General questions about computer chips and chipsets in retro hardware. Use a specific chip’s tag instead if available.

Regarding chips in general.

"Chip" can refer to any integrated circuit, monolithic integrated circuit, or microchip.

Many specific processors or controllers have their own tags, please use those specific tags when they exist in preference to this tag.

86 questions
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Is there any advantage of a ceramic microprocessor over a plastic one?

Looking at this page which refers to the initial release of the Z80 microprocessor, it prices the ceramic one at $65 versus the plastic version at $59. I know that at least with the 6502, the earliest run was ceramic and now considered quite…
bjb
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Reading the program on an EPROM chip

Is it possible to build a breadboard device to simply view the code burned into a 28 pin or 40 pin DIP chip? I do not intend to do any erasing/programming on the chips, just wanted to view what is on them without the expense of a full-blown EPROM…
Bob Rutledge
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DOA 40 “chip” on a voice synth

I was at the Ontario Science Center with the kid today and came across one of the few bits of tech from when I was a kid, a machine that speaks the word “coffee”. It consists of six seemingly identical breadboards with mostly analog components,…
Maury Markowitz
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Good book on the history of fabrication?

Crystal Fire is a great book about the development of the transistor, but much less so for the IC side of things. What is the equivalent for ICs, and especially microprocessor development? I'm interested in the seminal steps in fabrication…
Maury Markowitz
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