What uses a 287 co processor.

[moijk]

I've aquired a 287 co processor. not sure if it is the original or later models. Just curious what actually uses that? I just like hardware, so whatever fits on my boards goes on my boards.

 

[flashedbios2012]

Anything with a 80286 as its primary CPU.

 

[eeguru]

Some early 386 motherboards had 287 sockets as well.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Some early 386 motherboards had 287 sockets as well.

Yup, got one of those myself. 20MHz 80386.

 

[moijk]

I was thinking what kind of software that utilized them. anything.. fun?

but anyway. it is a 10mhz one. does it matter what kind of 286 I use it with? I got 8, 10 and 12mhz models. Maybe other speeds too, I take what I'm given or what is available at a cheap price locally

 

[Xacalite]

If you mean software, it's mostly CAD stuff, math packages, spreadsheets.
Hardly ever vintage games - Mobygames only finds 7 pre-1995 games with FPU support.

 

[gepooljr]

The only game I ever found that used the x87 floating point was a shareware game called Begins. Fun game - based on the old Trek73 but a lot more fun.

 

[KC9UDX]

Most notably, AutoCAD. It runs painfully slow with an 80287 emulator.

 

[modem7]

Earlier thread on the subject:

http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.php?47705-Software-which-can-use-8087-80287-coprocessor

 

[PgrAm]

I'm not sure about the 287 specifically but I heard SimCity classic uses the fpu, I dissasembled it and sure enough it uses a bunch of FPU instructions, not sure exactly why yet though.

EDIT: after a little research it seems the 80287 didn't add that many extra features over the 8087, So I doubt much software supported it specifically.

 

[Xacalite]

BTW, I think the most interesting game which took advantage of FPU was Scorched Earth.
Its trajectory calculations were very realistic, and included many variables: gravity, wind, air viscosity, etc., so a coprocessor was very useful indeed.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Interesting that nobody mentioned Lotus 1-2-3 or SuperCalc, etc.

For many users, these were the primary reason to buy an NDP. I guess that tastes change.

 

[modem7]

Interesting that nobody mentioned Lotus 1-2-3 or SuperCalc, etc.

Lotus 1-2-3 is quoted in the thread that I referred to.

 

[Xacalite]

Interesting that nobody mentioned Lotus 1-2-3 or SuperCalc, etc.

Hey, I did mention "spreadsheets".
For me, the primary spreadsheet in the 286 era was Quattro Pro.

 

[KC9UDX]

It seemed to me at that time that the most popular was AppleWorks because early //es were going cheap, there was no copy protection, and then everyone that wanted a spreadsheet had one.