Editing Data General Nova (section)

===1200 and 800===
[[File:Data General Nova 1200 CPU.agr.jpg|thumb|right|Nova 1200 CPU [[printed circuit board]]. The 74181 ALU is the large IC center-right.]]

As a demonstration of the power of their Micromatrix [[gate array]] technology, in 1968 Fairchild prototyped the 4711, a single-chip 4-bit ALU.<ref name="Gianluca G." />{{sfn|Hendrie|2002|p=44}} The design was never intended for mass production and was quite expensive to produce. The introduction of the Signetics 8260 in 1969 forced their hand; both Texas Instruments and Fairchild introduced 4-bit ALUs of their own in 1970, the [[74181]] and 9341, respectively. In contrast to the 8260, the new designs offered all common logic functions and further reduced the chip count.<ref name="Gianluca G." />

This led DG to consider the design of a new CPU using these more integrated ICs. At a minimum, this would reduce the CPU to a single card for either the basic Nova or the SuperNOVA. A new concept emerged where a single chassis would be able to host either machine simply by swapping out the CPU circuit board. This would allow customers to purchase the lower-cost system and then upgrade at any time.{{sfn|Hendrie|2002|p=55}}

While Seligman was working on the SuperNOVA, the company received a letter from Ron Gruner stating "I've read about your product, I've read your ads, and I'm going to work for you. And I'm going to be at your offices in a week to talk to you about that."{{sfn|Hendrie|2002|p=55}} He was hired on the spot. Gruner was put in charge of the low-cost machine while Seligman designed a matching high-performance version.{{sfn|Hendrie|2002|p=55}}

Gruner's low-cost model launched in 1970 as the '''Nova 1200''', the 1200 referring to the use of the original Nova's 1,200&nbsp;ns core memory. It featured a 4-bit ALU based on a single 74181 chip, and was thus essentially a repackaged Nova. Seligman's repackaged four-ALU SuperNOVA was released in 1971 as the '''Nova 800''', resulting in the somewhat confusing naming where the lower-numbered model has higher performance.{{sfn|Hendrie|2002|p=55}} Both models were offered in a variety of cases, the 1200 with seven slots, the 1210 with four and the 1220 with fourteen.