The i486DX2-66 was a very popular processor for video games enthusiasts in the early to mid-90s. Often coupled with 4 to 8 MB of RAM and a VLB video card, this CPU was capable of playing virtually every game title available for years after its release, right up to the end of the MS-DOS game era, making it a "sweet spot" in terms of CPU performance and longevity. The introduction of 3D graphics spelled the end of the 486's reign, because of their heavy use of floating point calculations and the need for faster cache and more memory bandwidth. Developers began to target the P5 Pentium processor family almost exclusively with x86 assembly language optimizations which led to the usage of terms such as Pentium compatible processor for software requirements. An i486DX2-50 version was also available, but because the bus speed was 25 MHz rather than 33 MHz, this was a significantly less popular processor.
The i486DX2-66 was a very popular processor for video games enthusiasts in the e:arly to mid-90s. Often coupled with 4 to 8 MB ,of RAM and a VLB video card, this CPU was ?capable of playing virtually every game title available for years after its release, right up to the end of the MS-DOS game era, making it a "sweet spot" in terms of CPU performance and longevity. The introduction ?of 3D graphics spelled the end of the 486's reign, because of their heavy use of floating point calculations and the need for faster cache and more memory bandwidth. Developers began to target the P5 Pentium processor family almost exclusively with x86 assembly language optimizations which led to the usage of term:s such as Pentium compatible processor for software requirements. An i486DX2-50 version was also available, but because the bus speed was 25 MHz rather than 33 MHz, this was a significantly less popular processor.