Post by thread:PC Motherboards [OT] Was: Car MP3 Player

Miro wrote: > I have found a nice motherboard with integrated peripherals (sound, > graphics, modem, 10/100 Ethernet, both Socket1 AND Socket370...): I bought a nice (I hope - I've had nasty reliability problems with "integrated" motherboards and I hear it's not uncommon) motherboard with the above specifications but only Socket 7, branded "PC100 System§oard", at least on the Users manual which specifies it as a "M571LMR". The boards themselves as it seems to me, rarely carry any identification at all. What's really weird is that the vendor appears to sell a cheap version without the connecting leads for PS/2 mouse, USB, 10/100 Ethernet and modem as well as the fully-equipped version for $50 more. Weird because the motherboard appears to be fully chipped. They're actually saying that the connecting wires are worth half as much again as the fully assembled PCB itself! I don't think so! I got Rogered as (at the market) the label said it had all these facilities but when I got it home, half the leads were missing. What I could *really* use would be a pin-out for the PS/2 mouse and Ethernet, maybe USB. Any suggestions? Another hint at the current "mug" market for PCs is that it only has one serial port. Presumably the in-built (Win-?)modem is supposed to account for that. -- Cheers, Paul B.

On Mon, Aug 30, 1999 at 08:16:26AM +1000, Paul B. Webster VK2BZC wrote: > Miro wrote: > > I bought a nice (I hope - I've had nasty reliability problems with > "integrated" motherboards and I hear it's not uncommon) motherboard with > the above specifications but only Socket 7, branded "PC100 System§oard", > at least on the Users manual which specifies it as a "M571LMR". The > boards themselves as it seems to me, rarely carry any identification at > all. Your board is manufactured by a Hong Kong company, PCChips -- http://www.pcchips.com, board at http://www.pcchips.com/571lmr.html -- The Chipset would be labled "TXpro II", but is actually a relabeled SiS -- http://www.sis.com.tw/ -- 5598 chipset; see http://www.sis.com.tw/products/pentium/5598.htm (At least the TXpro II always used to be the 5598; it's possible that it might be the SiS 540 with all those extra functions and the high-speed bus support). I've had mixed sucess with PCchips motherboards. All I can say is that you probalby don't want to stress it too hard, Win95 with a mid-range Socket 7 chip, say a K6-266, would probably be reasonably stable. > What's really weird is that the vendor appears to sell a cheap > version without the connecting leads for PS/2 mouse, USB, 10/100 > Ethernet and modem as well as the fully-equipped version for $50 more. > Weird because the motherboard appears to be fully chipped. Depends on whether they throw in the "ATX Form Card". Of course it isn't worth $50. This is simply the classic approach of selling the same product for two different prices, which is well known to improve revenues. > What I could *really* use would be a pin-out for the PS/2 mouse and > Ethernet, maybe USB. Any suggestions? Another hint at the current > "mug" market for PCs is that it only has one serial port. Presumably > the in-built (Win-?)modem is supposed to account for that. The 571LMR's manual seems to be missing from PCchips' website, although they are rarely more than a little, glossy, folded-up sheet. My guess is that the pinout may not be obtainable; try seeing if you can get the ATX form card. You can also try looking at the websites for Eurone, at http://www.eurone.com/, or Matsonic at http://www.matsonic.com/, or Amptron at http://www.amptron.com/, or Alton at http://www.pcware.com/ (site down at this writing). These are all pretty much just PCchips under different names. The motherboards may vary from name to name, however. --Bob -- ============================================================ Bob Drzyzgula It's not a problem spam_OUTbobTakeThisOuTdrzyzgula.org until something bad happens ============================================================

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could point me to a site that discusses various motherboard issues (different chipsets & what is different about them, different processors (e.g., Intel vs. AMD),different motherboard manufacturers,etc.)? I do a lot of PC repair work,but motherboards are one of my weakest areas (because I don't have enough money to buy a new motherboard every time a new feature comes out<G>) I would welcome any similar sites on other PC topics (UltraDMA,different SCSI varieties,etc.),too. Thanks, Sean | | Sean Breheny | Amateur Radio Callsign: KA3YXM | Electrical Engineering Student \--------------=---------------- Save lives, please look at http://www.all.org Personal page: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/shb7 .....shb7KILLspam@spam@cornell.edu ICQ #: 3329174

"Sean H. Breheny" wrote: {Quote hidden}> Hi all, > > I was wondering if anyone could point me to a site that discusses various > motherboard issues (different chipsets & what is different about them, > different processors (e.g., Intel vs. AMD),different motherboard > manufacturers,etc.)? I do a lot of PC repair work,but motherboards are one > of my weakest areas (because I don't have enough money to buy a new > motherboard every time a new feature comes out<G>) > > I would welcome any similar sites on other PC topics (UltraDMA,different > SCSI varieties,etc.),too. > > Thanks, > > Sean > > | > | Sean Breheny > | Amateur Radio Callsign: KA3YXM > | Electrical Engineering Student > \--------------=---------------- > Save lives, please look at http://www.all.org > Personal page: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/shb7 > shb7KILLspamcornell.edu ICQ #: 3329174 Check out Tom Pabst's site: http://sysdoc.pair.com/ which I have always found really useful as a pointer to PC issues. Mind you, I'm not a "PC person". Cheers /Kevin -- ----------- Kevin J. Maciunas Net: .....kevinKILLspam.....cs.adelaide.edu.au Dept. of Computer Science Ph : +61 8 8303 5845 University of Adelaide Fax: +61 8 8303 4366 Adelaide 5005 SOUTH AUSTRALIA

On Sun, Aug 29, 1999 at 10:40:24PM -0400, Sean H. Breheny wrote: > Hi all, > > I was wondering if anyone could point me to a site that discusses various > motherboard issues (different chipsets & what is different about them, > different processors (e.g., Intel vs. AMD),different motherboard > manufacturers,etc.)? I do a lot of PC repair work,but motherboards are one > of my weakest areas (because I don't have enough money to buy a new > motherboard every time a new feature comes out<G>) > > I would welcome any similar sites on other PC topics (UltraDMA,different > SCSI varieties,etc.),too. Try: http://www.sysopt.com/ http://www.anandtech.com/ (check the "about" page... Anand, at the ripe old age of 18, has been running that well-regarded site for over two years; motherboard manufacturers regularly link to his page when he gives decent reviews...) http://www.tomshardware.com/ (One of the first...) http://www.motherboards.org/ (My least favorite, largely out of date, but he has a good list of links to websites of low-volume motherboard manufacturers) Rather than repeating more here, Anand has a comprehensive list of links to other PC hardware pages at http://www.anandtech.com/html/links.cfm --Bob -- ============================================================ Bob Drzyzgula It's not a problem EraseMEbobspam_OUTTakeThisOuTdrzyzgula.org until something bad happens ============================================================