PcChips M919

I haven't taken a look in th99 (it's one hell of a trip, finding a board through hundreds of pictures), but that brown slot above the CPU socket reminds me of PC-Chips somehow

Edit: Looks like I got ninja'd 😁

M919 Rev 3.3, "They're out there"

It doesn't have the cache stick. Finding the cache stick is like a needle in a haystack.

ha, even when you do find it it doesn't seem to be a guarantee. took me years and finally found one for about $40 which for me i thought was reasonable, if barely.

I installed the chip and when it boots it does indeed say 256k cache but if I run cache check it still detects no L2 cache so who knows?

even without the cache chip and the infamous reputation of the board its still not a terrible motherboard. I've used one for years and its still relatively stable and fast and you have your PCI slots on a 486 board. they work anyways.

Have you had any luck with VLB video cards on your M919?

I find that cachechk has no problem detecting L2 cache when I installed the COAST-like SRAM module.

A major drawback of this board, aside from it being made by PCChips, is that it auto implements a 2/3 PCI multiplier when you run a 40 MHz bus. I used this board for the Ultimate 486 Benchmark Comparison and will eventually need to redo the whole comparison on another motherboard. Maybe I'll use the Voodoo3 and Win95 for the remake... and perhaps add the 386DX-40, 486DLC, and 486SXL to the mix.

I've never tried a 4lb video card with it. if you were asking me. would that change anything?

I'm using a completely official SRAM module for it and as I said the board is obviously detecting it because it says "256k cache" on boot up as compared to "write back cache enables" that it said without it but when I run cache check no L2 cache is detected.

Isn't that because you have fake cache soldered to the board? I thought on this board they did something to the BIOS where the cache is disabled but it actually still says 256kb cache enabled on boot. Is a BIOS flash possible?

What BIOS version are you running?

I have noticed on occasion that the cache stick needed to be pulled and re-inserted for it to work.

all mine says is "american megatrends released 5/6/1996" on boot. if there's a specific place to look let me know

I have reinserted the stick several times. if its not detected i get "write back enabled" if it is i get "256k cache" but i never actually get l2 cache.
ive tried cleaning the connectors, ive even tried reducing my RAM from 64mb to 32 and less because i read something about the RAM amount causeing issues but none of it worked

Well, there are at least two newer BIOS revisions, though I'm not sure if they are from PCChips or a 3rd party. They would not fix the cache issue regardless.

Can you upload a photo of your cachechk screen for the instance where you get "256k cache"?

That is not the cachechk screen, that is the POST screen.

Lol, your right. I read it real fast. For some reason that's what I thought you meant. I just went out so I'll post it when I get back.

That is pretty black and white 😉

Is there a BIOS option to enable/disable L2 cache? Have you followed the motherboard traces around the cache slot to see if it is wired up properly? I wonder if PCChips didn't wire the cache slot properly for boards that had those fake "write-back" cache chips?

Or perhaps the cache slot is wired properly and all those extra long traces to the fake cache chips are causing excess noise?
EDIT: Nevermind, I seem to recall the M919 fake cache traces ran circles around themselves.

leileilol wrote:

M919 Rev 3.3, "They're out there"

Leileilol ... Thanks for sharing.

OK, I'm gonna get the board + CPU for 10$, I don't have the Cyrix chip anyway, so it's OK for me. The board does not appeal to me, probably cause I have a Zida Tomato 4DPS here, that still pretends to be dead (I'm gonna prove it wrong 😀 ). The Zida is the best board (for my needs) I know of (although never thried it personally).

And I don't have a cache stick. I have one from a socket 5 FIC board, but to the best of my memory - the 486 PC Chips sticks were different. The Pentium ones were pipline cache, and the 486 was not, or ... ?

I'm totaly lame in 486 😀

DO NOT USE A PENTIUM CACHE CARD IN A 486.

There is one on ebay right now, I'll try to find it again. normal coast modules have 2(or 4 for 512k) square chips and 1 small rectangle. The ones you want will have 9 of those rectangles and be on the WRONG SIDE compared to the pentium ones.

luckybob wrote:

DO NOT USE A PENTIUM CACHE CARD IN A 486.

There is one on ebay right now, I'll try to find it again. normal coast modules have 2(or 4 for 512k) square chips and 1 small rectangle. The ones you want will have 9 of those rectangles and be on the WRONG SIDE compared to the pentium ones.

If it's the one wiredforservice has been trying to sell for the last God only knows how many years, it's too expensive. I bought a while motherboard with RAM, CPU, and the cache stick for less than he wants for the stick alone. I personally would not go higher than $29 plus a few more for shipping to get one.The last time I checked, wiredforservice wanted $150. It's hard to find without buying it with a motherboard, but not so hard that it's worth that much.