Intel 80386SX

A microprocessor introduced in 1988 with all the electronic characteristics of the Intel 80386, except that the chip has a 16 bit external data bus structure that enables it to use the inexpensive peripherals developed for the Intel 80286. The 80386SX is like the Intel 8088 because it processes data internally twice as fast as it communicates with the rest of the computer. However, this compromise enables the computer to use the significantly less expensive 16 bit peripherals and microprocessor support chips but at the cost of sluggish performance. If you plan to use Microsoft Windows, choose a system based on the Intel 40486 microprocessor.