ieby@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (04/01/91)
My XT Turbo fried last week, and I am looking into ways to replace it.
One line of memory chips blew on the motherboard. I suspect there's more
to it than that, and that simply replacing the chips won't do it. So I will
need a new motherboard. Options I am considering include: 1.) Simple
replacement, but with 12Mhz instead of 10 Mhz XT board 2.) Replace XT board
and make it nicer, by adding scanner, 20Meg more HD, and better graphics
card (it's mono monitor, but I think they make CGA cards for mono monitor
now) or 3.) Build what a friend called a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing," putting
an 80386 25 Mhz board in but keeping the other XT stuff until I can afford
to change the rest. I sort of want to do #3. What should I look for in
an 80386 25? Any brands to look for or watch out for? Any specifications
that are positive or negative features? Can I get away with just putting
in a new board, connecting the power supply, adding memory chips, and using
it, or is there something I'm missing here? (I know, it will need I/O
card and probably different MFM controller for the drive, unless an XT
card can function on an AT, but I don't know.) Are monitor cards (ie;
mono or CGA) ok with any machine or are they specific to XT/AT? What
does "Baby Size" mean? (Ie; is it just smaller or is it missing things
like slots?) I would appreciate any info y'all can give me about this
stuff.
Scott IEBY@VAX5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU