Card-based computers keep getting more powerful, unless you’re Matt Millman. Because this chap has decided to build an Arduino-style board that’s powered by a giant of computing history — Intel’s 8086 processor, which is now 37 years old.
He explains that he “always thought it’d be cool to build a single board computer in the old style, specifically, one with a traditional local bus.” He explains how it happened:
[A]t the start of July 2014, I kicked off a second project: 8OD. Based on the Intel 8086. It quickly became apparent that this project was going to be on another scale. The resulting board is definitely guilty of looking very complicated, but really, it’s pretty basic. It’s just got most of the stuff which is normally jammed inside an SoC as real circuitry.
He’s posted a bunch of details about the project online, but also adds that if “you’d like one, and you’re not on a tight budget,” then he may be able to help. Tempted? [Matt Millman]