VOGONS


First post, by Malik

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I have seen a few boards like the one pictured below :

7ebe_1.JPG

Does anyone have any idea about the bios settings, resource allocations, and reliability of these types of boards for dos gaming? Are they similar to non-server boards? More slots may mean more potential conflicts if managing multiple expansion cards - sound,video,network,gamecards and so on. But the number of slots waiting to be filled do look tempting! 😀

I'm interested in getting one. Of course, the next of my worries will be the server casing for AT boards, which is quite hard to find.

5476332566_7480a12517_t.jpgSB Dos Drivers

Reply 1 of 5, by GL1zdA

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I would get one just to look at it 😀. The four lower PCI slots are probably driven by a separate chip (Like on the ASUS P2B-D2). And you need a special chassis for it.

getquake.gif | InfoWorld/PC Magazine Indices

Reply 2 of 5, by swaaye

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Full length ISA cards may not fit in most of those ISA slots due to the CPU socket's positioning and that COAST slot being right there too.

But you gotta love how it has 6 ISA slots and 7 (!) PCI slots. 😁 Retro mainframe.

I wonder what Intel chipset is on there.

Reply 3 of 5, by GL1zdA

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swaaye wrote:

I wonder what Intel chipset is on there.

I would guess it's the 430HX. There are soldering points visible for a second socket, so the chipset would have to be DP capable. There were only 2 Intel DP chipsets for Pentium: NX and HX - and the mobo is rather similar to late Pentium mobos (coast cache instead of DIPs, no EISA slots).

getquake.gif | InfoWorld/PC Magazine Indices

Reply 4 of 5, by Old Thrashbarg

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That appears to be one of those strange Supermicro boards, but I can't figure out what model it is... even digging though the Wayback Machine, I can't find anything like it on their site, nor through Google.

FWIW, I can tell you that the SC801 chassis will fit it. Not that they're easy to find, even knowing what to look for. 😵

That is definitely the 430HX chipset, the older NX one was a 5-chip setup, plus the HX was the first one to use the BGA chip on the southbridge.

Swaaye's right, though, you're pretty limited on the ISA... looks like there's only two slots that have any chance of fitting a full-length card in 'em, and even there it'd be a close fit. The average Baby-AT board can do better than that. Likewise, the upper PCI slots could have troubles with interference from the RAM slots.

While it's a cool idea on paper, personally, I wouldn't wanna deal with that thing, it looks like a major logistical PITA.

Reply 5 of 5, by Malik

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True; the positioning of the cpu socket is not proper, in view of ISA cards' classic lengths. It's still tempting, though! And 8 72-pin simm sockets! Mama-mia!!!! 😁

5476332566_7480a12517_t.jpgSB Dos Drivers