beaucham@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu (11/16/89)
I am interested in upgrading my old 6 MHz genuine PC AT to a 386 (SX?) 16 MHz or up. I would appreciate product recommendations. Is a new motherboard the best way to go? What about the Intel Inboard AT? They were selling for a hefty price but I heard that they are no longer available, although the one for the PC still is. This or a similar product would be much easier to install, I suppose. Or is it really not worth it to upgrade? but rather one should invest in a new machine? Thanks for your help! Jim Beauchamp beaucham@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu
apollo@bucsb.UUCP (Doug Chan) (11/19/89)
In article <19500043@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu> beaucham@uxh.cso.uiuc.edu writes: > >I am interested in upgrading my old 6 MHz genuine PC AT to a 386 (SX?) 16 MHz >or up. I would appreciate product recommendations. > >Is a new motherboard the best way to go? I believe getting a new motherboard is the way to do. The prices have come down to the point where a low cost 386 motherboard (re:made in Taiwan, no caching) can cost less than an Intel Inboard. I just came back from computer show and bought a baby AT 386-25Mhz motherboard w/ an AMI BIOS $665! (and even a real 25mhz chip, not a push 20mhz.) I saw 20mhz full size AT mbs going for around $590. As for 16mhz units, I remember seeing any being sold although I believe 16mhz SX's were going for around $350-$400. The only other thing I had to buy were 80ns SIP RAMs through some mail-order place. I ordered 4Megs for a total of about $430. As an aside, the motherboard can handle up to 8Megs of SIPs plus another 8Megs of DIP RAMs on a separate 32 bit card. (BTW, does anyone want to buy a slightly used 4.77mhz XT motherboard????) >What about the Intel Inboard AT? They were selling for a hefty price but >I heard that they are no longer available, although the one for the PC still >is. This or a similar product would be much easier to install, I suppose. I suppose they'd be a good buy if you can find them really dirt cheap otherwise I'd stick with a replacement motherboard. True, sticking in a card is easier than replacing the motherboard but it shouldn't be all that much of a problem... all you have to have is some spare time, and a screw driver plus yanking a few cables and setting some jumpers. A friend managed to replace the motherboard in his AT in about 2 hours, unfortunately I took a bit longer because I was trying to fit this board into an IBM XT type chassis and found it didn't fit quite right. :-{ Since you have an AT, you shouldn't run into any problems. >Or is it really not worth it to upgrade? but rather one should invest in a >new machine? Well, if you have some extra time and want to save some money and fairly satisfied with the rest of the components in the system then upgrade... I managed to keep all the old plug-in cards and even run them at a 12.5mhz bus speed! (the bus speed can be changed in the CMOS settings to 8/8.33/12.5mhz.)