Can anyone identify this board for me. I did a quick search, but I couldn't find anything that matched. Comes with a 486 DX33 and supposedly 256KB cache, but the auction ends soon and I'd like to know if the board is worth it and if it can be upgraded.
It also comes with an I/O card which is handy, but is it any good or should I find a better one if I purchase this board?
I don't see any transistor near the CPU, so I guess you'll be stuck with 5V CPUs (no 486 DX4 or AMD 5x86 except overdrives)
As for the I/O card, I guess it's decent like most I/O cards, but this mobo has VLB, so a VLB I/O card will be faster than this ISA one. But if you just need to have a working machine, it's ok I guess
You can easily turn this machine into a good DX2. But you won't be able to go much further, you can turn that into a DX4 overdrive as well, but the DX4 orverdrives have a premium price compared to regular models
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wrote:You can easily turn this machine into a good DX2.
That's as far as I'd like to take it so that would be good for me. Is the SiS chipset a good one for the 486?
There is voltage converters for 5x86 also but very rare and expensive, probably more then the board. I got a amd 586 133 on turbochip converter and ran it at 160mhz on a 5v isa only motherboard but unless you are specifically after a system thats ISA or VLB 5v running a cpu through a converter a dx2 66 5v will probably be as high as you will get as mentioned earlier
$60 ebay one 😀, seller specializes in this stuff, you can try asking him directly
30 pin simms = budget board, usually slow
lower right corner is a space for 3V regulator, and soldered jumper, super easy to mod
Yes, Looks like a nice motherboard. This is like the setup I had back in 1994.
Intel 486dx-33mhz.
VLB motherboard
1993 Phoenix bios. ( possibly supports up to 540mb. Hard-drive or higher, 4mb. memory simms (SDRAM, FPM)).
4-ISA 16-bit slots , and 3-VLB 32-bit slots.
16-bit ISA Controller ( Goldstar is good brand ).
I would try to use a 32-bit VLB controller if you are going to run Win3x or Win95.
Also try to find a VLB graphics card.
Socket-3 ZIF is good.
You should replace the Barrel battery ASAP. You can find 3.6v barrel battery replacements on eBay for about $2
265kb of cache is good enough. 15-nano-seconds is good cache.
baby AT form factor will fit in small case.
Motherboard will probably support 66mhz CPU. I don't know about a DX4-100mhz ?
Motherboard and 33mhz. CPU is good for Win3x and DOS and WinNT 3.5.1.
Might not be fast enough for Win95 ?
If you can't find a compatible IDE hard-drive then use a Compact Flash card with IDE adapter. Which you can buy for about $30.
AT power supply or ATX power supply with adapter.
Motherboard is clean and look like in good condition for age.
wrote:$60 ebay one 😀, seller specializes in this stuff, you can try asking him directly
30 pin simms = budget board, usually slow
lower right corner is a space for 3V regulator, and soldered jumper, super easy to mod
Yes that's the one.
My first 486 had 8 30-pin slots so that's good enough for me. I think I'm trying to replicate and upgrade at the same time.
This is the only information he included, but I'll try asking for a little more.
Motherboard Socket 3 VLB ISA SIS 486 VL-BUS 471 REV A2 + 256KB cache + CPU INTEL 80486DX-33Mhz + MULTICARD GOLD STAR Prime2C I/ […]
Motherboard Socket 3 VLB ISA SIS 486 VL-BUS 471 REV A2
+
256KB cache
+
CPU INTEL 80486DX-33Mhz
+
MULTICARD GOLD STAR Prime2C I/O FDD/HDD/COM/LPT/GAME ISA 16bit
+
NEW batery NICD 3.6V
wrote:1993 Phoenix bios. ( possibly supports up to 540mb. Hard-drive or higher, 4mb. memory simms (SDRAM, FPM)). […]
1993 Phoenix bios. ( possibly supports up to 540mb. Hard-drive or higher, 4mb. memory simms (SDRAM, FPM)).
Might not be fast enough for Win95 ?
use a Compact Flash card with IDE adapter. Which you can buy for about $30.
AT power supply or ATX power supply with adapter.
Never used Phoenix BIOS before so that could be interesting.
I "upgraded" my DX33 when Windows 95 came out. That was definitely an "experience" one should never have.
I have a few 120Gb IDE drives, but I was thinking of using one of those compact flash drives.
I may or may not have an old AT PSU so going for a new one with an adaptor would probably be the better option. Are there specific PSU's to get or just any new one?
wrote:Yes that's the one.
My first 486 had 8 30-pin slots so that's good enough for me. I think I'm trying to replicate and upgrade at the same time.
This is the only information he included, but I'll try asking for a little more.
ask for boot screen picture/capture, the one with cpu MHz and ram check, it usually has bios identifying string on the bottom
there are dos test programs able to identify motherboard vendor, like HWiNFO for DOS
he did post more pictures here https://picclick.com/Motherboard-Socket-3-SIS … 3661632309.html
bios looks very barren and basic, + price, I wouldnt be all that crazy about this board
not to mewntion you will either be limited to 8MB ram, or spend stupid money on 4x 30pin 4MB modules
wrote:ask for boot screen picture/capture, the one with cpu MHz and ram check, it usually has bios identifying string on the bottom th […]
ask for boot screen picture/capture, the one with cpu MHz and ram check, it usually has bios identifying string on the bottom
there are dos test programs able to identify motherboard vendor, like HWiNFO for DOS
he did post more pictures here https://picclick.com/Motherboard-Socket-3-SIS … 3661632309.html
bios looks very barren and basic, + price, I wouldnt be all that crazy about this board
not to mewntion you will either be limited to 8MB ram, or spend stupid money on 4x 30pin 4MB modules
He did post an image with that information, but as you said it's very basic and doesn't include such information.
I heard back from him this afternoon regarding the identity of the board, but I just received this:
"I checked it with an Intel 486 dx2-66 processor (5 volts) and 8 megabytes of RAM. You need something else for this motherboard I have a video card, sound cards, RAM, hard drives, drives. This motherboard only supports 5V processors."
