VOGONS


First post, by Mau1wurf1977

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Looking at these 2 boards:

!B3UsbkwBWk~$%28KGrHqEOKkUEyM+zgniJBMlze3FRM!~~_12.JPG

Comes with a DX2-50 and 16MB ram.

and this one:

!B3UrQewBGk~$%28KGrHqYOKnEE%295WKgsLtBMlzYp%29zsw~~_12.JPG

Comes with a DX2-66 and 8MB ram.

Any comments / which one to go for / good or bad / bring it 😁

Reply 1 of 25, by Old Thrashbarg

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Comes with a DX2-50 and 16MB ram.

The picture shows an SX2, if it matters to you. I'd actually consider that a plus, though, since those are pretty uncommon. (I'd probably swap it out for a DX2 or DX4 for actual use, but the SX2 would be neat to have for the collection.)

As far as which board to go for, either one would probably be fine, but I'd personally go for the top one. It's a Soyo board, so it should be alright quality, the 4 72-pin SIMM slots make it a bit easier to equip with a decent amount of RAM, and I'd considerthe Sis chipset to be much preferable to the Opti on the second board.

Reply 2 of 25, by Malik

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The bottom board looks like a good one. I do not know what's the make, but I like the layout of the board, with additional SIMM slots.

The cpu socket is away from the ISA&VLB slots - good if you intend to use a larger non-fan heatsink for quiet operation which will not obstruct long ISA/VLB cards.

It also comes with DX2-66 and 8MB RAM. Perfect for dos gaming. I also prefer to run the bus at 33Mhz rather than 25MHz.

However, you can change/alter any of these parameters in the top board too, so it's quite a close tie.

Most importantly, for me, these two come with the CR-2032 coin-cell battery sockets - removes the headache of replacing the other types, common those days.

5476332566_7480a12517_t.jpgSB Dos Drivers

Reply 3 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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So we got 1 vote for the OPTI chipset board and 1 for the SIS chipset board 😀

Old Thrashbarg quite amazed you found out what model it is! Having documentation and all jumper settings is a huge plus for me!

But the layout is a bit odd, as Malik pointed out. It seems that with the top board the video card and controller card would go at the bottom and the soundcard at the top, which is a bit unusual right?

What is the main difference between SIS and OPTI chipset? Was any of these the better one in those days?

Reply 5 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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Ok I am convined now. Top board it is 😀

Thanks guys

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Reply 6 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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The second board is from QDI: http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/Q/QD … B486P3-151.html

They both seem to be good boards. One supports more memroy, the other one more cache.

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Reply 7 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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The seller tells me he has a PCI 486 board. Haven't got a model number yet though...

Can I assume that PCI boards are the way to go? Is there such a thing as a bad PCI board? Not looking for speed, just something that works.

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Reply 8 of 25, by retro games 100

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

The seller tells me he has a PCI 486 board. Haven't got a model number yet though...

Can I assume that PCI boards are the way to go? Is there such a thing as a bad PCI board? Not looking for speed, just something that works.

Some folks will either say that all PCI boards suck, compared to a good VLB board, or that nearly all of them suck, compared to a good VLB board. The main problem is that their PCI implementation is poor. However, the Asus PVI-486SP3 is a good board, even though I understand that it too has a poorly implemented PCI.

However, you say that you are not looking for speed. Therefore, I would go for a PCI based board, because you'll have a great choice of video cards in which to choose from. Also, the board is likely to have some useful features, such as integrated I/O, and a button/coin battery rather than a real time clock. All of my 486 boards are PCI based, and I personally wouldn't want any VLB mobo because I am also disinterested in a very fast 486 (because I can use a Pentium based mobo instead), and I really like the wide choice of readily available video cards you can choose from.

Edit: I see in the original post that those 2 VLB boards have button/coin batteries. That's a little bit unusual. Consider getting the mobo that the other posters have recommended, if the price is right.

Reply 9 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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I will see what model number that PCI board is!

I guess the coin batteries are modifications as the documentation pages all show the older type batteries.

If the PCI board has onboard FDD and IDE I will just go with that. Easier life 😉

EDIT: This is the board: http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/motherboards/F/FI … -486-PIO-2.html

It has FDD and IDE which is awesome.

Google tells me it's a VIA Pluto chipset. Any good?

Image03.jpg

Reply 11 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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Will do 😀

It will come with a DX4-100 and 4 MB Ram. Also included is the manual. Just need to source a PCI video card, which should be easy.

What's the go? S3 graphics as usual?

*Hugs to everyone*

Reply 12 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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Hmm he passed on my $20 offer. Need to wait until it's listed and bid for it...

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Reply 13 of 25, by retro games 100

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

It will come with a DX4-100 and 4 MB Ram. Also included is the manual. Just need to source a PCI video card, which should be easy.

What's the go? S3 graphics as usual?

A DX4-100 is nice. Hopefully it's an Intel. The 4 MB of RAM will need upgrading. Should be easy.
Re: S3 graphics: How about a Trio64V+ If that idea appeals, try and get one manufactured by STB. Good quality. 😀

Reply 14 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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Sound good!

I'm in no rush as I yet have to get all the Super Socket 7 stuff and go nuts with that.

He will list the items soon and I will just take my chances with the auction. I should be able to save a bit on mony with the onboard IDE controller and PCI video card, at least that's what I am hoping.

A bit of research also told me that there was an even later board, the FIC PIO-3 which was very popular over here in Australia and kinda has a "legendary" status...

EDIT: And dohhh fail on my part, I now remeber that the CPU bundle that's underway (another auction) also included some 486s cpus. So no need for extra cpus. 🤣

Reply 15 of 25, by retro games 100

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

A bit of research also told me that there was an even later board, the FIC PIO-3 which was very popular over here in Australia and kinda has a "legendary" status...

Yep, although I didn't have a great experience with that version. You can read about it here.

Reply 16 of 25, by Mau1wurf1977

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Interesting. Is that maybe because it had a VIA chipset?

Did you ever find out what was wrong with that board?

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Reply 17 of 25, by retro games 100

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Interesting. Is that maybe because it had a VIA chipset?

Did you ever find out what was wrong with that board?

Generally speaking VIA = a bit dodgy. 😉
After writing those messages, I moved on to do something else, and so I can't say for certain whether the problem is fixable, or not.

Reply 19 of 25, by Old Thrashbarg

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I don't really consider the layout on the first board to be that odd. Video and drive controllers at the bottom, longer sound card in either the top slot or the unused VLB position, shorter cards in the middle. It shouldn't really limit your options much, as long as you're not going for a particularly exotic configuration.

OTOH, the QDI board is apparently pretty nice, according to Red Hill.

Note that the above link also has a blurb about the FIC PIO2, calling it one of the first really reliable PCI 486 boards. While I personally don't care for PCI 486 boards, that one probably would be a good option given the seeming lack of availability of good VLB cards in Australia.