

When I was a kid we had a 386-33MHz with 4MB RAM, it ran Doom at about 1-2FPS. Upgraded to a 486 DX (66MHz I think?) and 8MB RAM and it ran great on that. It’s possible that the 386 would have been fine if we put more RAM in though, I think the biggest issue was swapping.



TBF, the switch is a mechanical part that goes through a series of stresses, not just from the person actuating it, but also from the electrical forces causing the switch to bounce and arc for several ms before it settles. Putting all that stress into a little package with tiny contact wafers, and it’s bound to fail sooner or later.