Try ebay and vintage computer forums to see what is available, or anywhere else you can think of [amibay has things sometimes].

There's a vast number of boards that were made, but not that many on sale.

Better to look at what there is, and post here to see what people think. Though that risks garnering oither people's interest in the item.

Little point getting recommendations for boards that rarely come up.

Of course some kind soul with time on their hands may do the searching for you.

Your post raises lots of questions so I'll just ask the first one that comes to mind - what currency are your 4 bucks in?

Just one dollar bills.

Hoping to raise my count soon.

You'll need a lot more than 4 if you want anything from the 286/386/486 time periods. that stuff gets more expensive by the day unless you get really lucky and spot something with a really low BIN before someone else does. I wouldn't expect to pay less than $50 US for any decent motherboard from those years and even that's a low price most of the time.

I hav a working 286 board but shipping to the US alone (I assume you are in the USA, you haven't made that clear) will cost you more than $4.

Eh, I can sell my Pentium 3 motherboard anyways. Here is the specs:

AMI BIOS
Pentium 3 - slot 1 (probably used to be a Pentium 2.)
Integrated SCSI controller. I can offer you a special cable (you will need it.)
_______________________________________________________________________
AGP slots
4 PCI slots + RAID slot
3 16-bit ISA slots

If anyone interested, I will post the auction on a seperated thread.

Yes, there are several people on the Vintage Computer Forums with 386s and 486s for sale right now. You will need to spend around $50 though, so asking your parents to get one as a gift is a great idea. Sign up to VCF and check the For Sale forum.

If you're planning to drop a 286, 386, 486 into the case you're pulling the P3 motherboard from, be aware that the power supply/case standard changed. P3s are ATX, 486 and earlier are AT. You can make it work with a converter, but you're better off getting a matching case if you don't have one.

The lowest Priority Mail shipping is $4, so try freecycle.

Are older 386/486 boards actually up in price now? Is the stockpile I have in my basement finally worth something? 😜

I still see old PC's (whole things) turn up in thrift stores, like a complete 486 typically for like $10. Haven't seen a 386 in a loooong while.

hifidelitygaming wrote:

The lowest Priority Mail shipping is $4, so try freecycle.

Are older 386/486 boards actually up in price now? Is the stockpile I have in my basement finally worth something? 😜

I still see old PC's (whole things) turn up in thrift stores, like a complete 486 typically for like $10. Haven't seen a 386 in a loooong while.

I recently paid $50 + s/h for a 286/20 board. Granted it was NIB, but still. crappy 386 boards can be ebayed for $20, GOOD ones tend to run $50+ Same thing for 486's.