| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 309.1 | | MR4DEC::BMCWILLIAMS | Home is where the office is ... | Thu Jan 05 1995 09:58 | 12 |
| 309.2 | | KDX200::ROBR | Drinks for all my friends... | Thu Jan 05 1995 10:22 | 3 |
| 309.3 | Number for Zeos? | JHAXP::DECARTERET | | Mon Oct 16 1995 13:47 | 6 |
| 309.4 | | TNPUBS::MACDONALD | | Mon Oct 16 1995 14:33 | 2 |
| 309.5 | The Pragmatics of Computing | EVMS::KRSNA::DKOSKO | Oh Lord, won't you buy me... | Tue Mar 18 1997 09:46 | 30 |
| Hello All,
My current system is a Zeos desktop, 486/DX2, ISA/EISA, 16MB memory and Pheonix
flash BIOS. The system was purchased new in 1994.
Over the years, with this system and others, I've upgraded just about every
component in a PC...except the motherboard. I'm ready to do that now. As
always I'll upgrade a component so that I'm still behind the technology curve,
reaping a performance boost at less that leading edge cost. For me this
probably means stepping up to a pentium motherboard, PCI and 133MHZ processor.
I see these on the web and in stores for $300+ with used ones in the $200+
range. I'm in the process of doing my homework in terms of quality, function
and upgradability tradeoffs.
The problem I'm having, never having upgraded a MB before, is much more
practical that technical specs, and that is...will it fit? I can judge from MBs
I've seen that all MBs are not physically the same. So how will I know, short
of pulling my current MB and dragging it around to stores, if the new MB will be
physically compatible with the topology of my desktop case?
Are there any standards in terms of component layout, location of IO ports,
mounting apparatus, etc? Or does one have to go about making one-on-one
comparisons to ensure a proper fit? Is there anywhere (perhaps on the web)
where one can cross reference the physical characteristics of MBs?
I suspect you see my problem at this point :^) Any and all advice is most
appreciated.
cheers,
dave
|
| 309.6 | Check with Zeos 1st | TWOTOO::SMITHP | Written but not read | Tue Mar 18 1997 10:53 | 9 |
| We just upgraded our 93/94 vintage Zeos. We called Zeos 1st and found
it used their "Martin?" MB which has a standard PC layout. Check with
Zeos on their 800 number to see what yours has, they will need the
number from the white sticker in the back of the unit or BIOS display
numbers (800-555-1212 for info).
The ASUS 55T2P4 works great for about $150 from places like
www.tccomputers.com or www.einsteinscomputer.com.
Generic P5 PCI boards can be had for under $100.
|
| 309.7 | | EVMS::KRSNA::DKOSKO | Oh Lord, won't you buy me... | Tue Mar 18 1997 11:31 | 8 |
| Thanks for the reply!
I also have a Martin class board. I was able to determine that from the Micron
web site. You say it has a "standard PC layout". Does that imply a "standard"
does exist? If I upgrade to any MB claiming to be have "standard PC layout" can
I assume that it'll just drop in and play?
/d
|
| 309.8 | | TWOTOO::SMITHP | Written but not read | Tue Mar 18 1997 13:15 | 7 |
| The ASUS we used is considered a Baby-AT form factor board. I would
assume any Baby-AT P5 board should work. You can look at pics at
www.asus.com or www.tyan.com or www.tccomputers.com to verify connector
layouts.
Enjoy
|
| 309.9 | A vote for ASUS and Einstein | IROCZ::ALBRIGHT | She bop-he bop-a-we bop | Wed Mar 19 1997 07:06 | 16 |
| Having just built a new system from scratch, and owning a 93 vintage
Zeos, I think you'll have no problem putting a baby AT card in the Zeos
chassis. I had it open while putting things together and determined I
could have just as easily put my ASUS mother board in it rather than
the new box I bought.
I can also vouch for Einstein, or ESC Technologies as they are also
known. They had the best price on the SCSI based ASUS motherboard I
wanted, and the best price on the 200MHz MMX Pentium. There was a
short delay in getting the system due to CPU availability but it came in
ahead of schedule. They also promptly answered a technical question I
had when I could not get the floppy to work (a conflict, of course
dummy). Their "What's new" section of their web page is a must read.
Regards,
Loren
|
| 309.10 | Thanks for the advice! | EVMS::chiles.zko.dec.com::dkosko | David Kosko | Wed Apr 02 1997 10:11 | 30 |
| First let me thank all of you for your advice regarding an upgrade for my Zeos
486/66. Following your leads I did the homework, ran the numbers and purchased
the following:
Asus P/I55T2P4 Baby-AT motherboard
- 3 PCI slots
- 3 ISA slots
- on-board PCI connector for IDE drives
- 512KB cache
AMD K5 133mhz Pentium clone w/fan
The entire package from ESC Technologies (Einstein) was $257 including shipping.
The board arrived pre-configured and ready to run. The staff at ESC were
delightful, even a follow up call to make sure my board arrived and that I was
satisfied. I had a little trouble making the baby-AT size board fit, but not much.
Once the hardware was installed the board booted first time and performed
flawlessly. The AMD K5 screamed through the WinTune benchmarks. I am a
happy camper :^)
I also purchased a new Matrox Mystique as my old Diamond Viper VLB simply
refused to fit on the new PCI motherboard. But that's okay, I've been looking for
an excuse to upgrade my video anyway. The lowest mail order price I could find
for the Mystique w/2MB was $125 plus S&H. The board is priced at CompUSA in
Nashua at $159 but I got it with my Digital discount for $128 -- no taxes! no S&H!
Pretty good deal!
My new system is awesome! Thanks again for the help.
dave
|