murray@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Murray Karstadt) (01/15/91)
hello out there in netland,
I have been a novice question which someone may be able to help me with.
I would like to upgrade an old 2 drive IBM PC to a 386SX with two
high density drives. One drive has to be 5.25 the other 3.5. My question
is what kind of pieces parts do I need? My guess is that I need the
following:
mother board with 640K
disk controller
power supply(how many watts?)
hd drives 5.25 and 3.5
have I left anything out? do you have any brands you like or dislike?
thanks for any help
murray@andromeda.rutgers.edu
berger@iboga (Mike Berger) (01/18/91)
murray@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Murray Karstadt) writes: >hello out there in netland, > I have been a novice question which someone may be able to help me with. > I would like to upgrade an old 2 drive IBM PC to a 386SX with two > high density drives. One drive has to be 5.25 the other 3.5. My question > is what kind of pieces parts do I need? My guess is that I need the > following: > > mother board with 640K > disk controller > power supply(how many watts?) > hd drives 5.25 and 3.5 > > have I left anything out? do you have any brands you like or dislike? > *---- You'll need a new keyboard. The new motherboard will probably not fit in the original enclosure, so you'll need that too. Unless you plan to boot with a floppy every time, you'll also need a new hard disk controller. I'm not convinced that you'll save any money by using your old computer. If you can get $ 250 for selling it, you'll probably come out ahead. -- Mike Berger Department of Statistics, University of Illinois AT&TNET 217-244-6067 Internet berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu
poffen@sj.ate.slb.com (Russ Poffenberger) (01/19/91)
In article <1991Jan17.212429.5106@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> berger@iboga (Mike Berger) writes: >murray@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Murray Karstadt) writes: > >>hello out there in netland, > >> I have been a novice question which someone may be able to help me with. >> I would like to upgrade an old 2 drive IBM PC to a 386SX with two >> high density drives. One drive has to be 5.25 the other 3.5. My question >> is what kind of pieces parts do I need? My guess is that I need the >> following: >> >> mother board with 640K >> disk controller >> power supply(how many watts?) >> hd drives 5.25 and 3.5 >> >> have I left anything out? do you have any brands you like or dislike? >> >*---- >You'll need a new keyboard. The new motherboard will probably not fit in the >original enclosure, so you'll need that too. Unless you plan to boot with a >floppy every time, you'll also need a new hard disk controller. > >I'm not convinced that you'll save any money by using your old computer. If you >can get $ 250 for selling it, you'll probably come out ahead. >-- Much of this is not true. Many "baby" size motherboards will fit PC/XT cases just fine. What you need to be concerned about is that the original AT had a taller case. Some AT boards are too tal to fit in a PC case. If you go this route, check the size of any boards you plan to purchase. You may very possibly be able to use the old disk controller, but the performance will suck. You are not likely to get more than $100 for that old thing. Russ Poffenberger DOMAIN: poffen@sj.ate.slb.com Schlumberger Technologies UUCP: {uunet,decwrl,amdahl}!sjsca4!poffen 1601 Technology Drive CIS: 72401,276 San Jose, Ca. 95110 (408)437-5254
leoh@hardy.hdw.csd.harris.com (Leo Hinds) (01/19/91)
In article <1991Jan18.180548.1782@sj.ate.slb.com> poffen@sj.ate.slb.com (Russ Poffenberger) writes: >Much of this is not true. Many "baby" size motherboards will fit PC/XT cases >just fine. Yes they will fit, BUT you WILL NOT be able to plug in any expansion cards. The slot to slot spacing on an original PC is DIFFERENT than that on an XT. I too am faced with same dilemma ... a local clone wholesaler will sell me the 286/12MHz board for $85 ... but now I need to get a case, PS, etc., etc. ... If I had an XT ... well, all of that would have been much simpler :-) leoh@hdw.csd.harris.com Leo Hinds (305)973-5229 Gfx ... gfx ... :-) whfg orpnhfr V "ebg"grq zl fvtangher svyr lbh guvax V nz n creireg ?!!!!!!? ... znlor arkg gvzr
amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) (01/19/91)
In article <1991Jan18.180548.1782@sj.ate.slb.com> poffen@sj.ate.slb.com (Russ >In article <1991Jan17.212429.5106@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> berger@iboga (Mike Berger) >>murray@andromeda.rutgers.edu (Murray Karstadt) writes: >>> I would like to upgrade an old 2 drive IBM PC to a 386SX with two >>can get $ 250 for selling it, you'll probably come out ahead. >You are not likely to get more than $100 for that old thing. That's funny, have any of you guys tried BUYING these for your mystery number ? The used equipment dealers price for pc-jr's is greater than that. PC Week, monthly tracks the market price of popular used equipment available (they have however dropped tracking the jr I think). Recently I saw their national blurb, and this antique was over $500. (remember it says IBM on it). al -- Al. Michielsen, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University InterNet: amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu amichiel@sunrise.acs.syr.edu Bitnet: AMICHIEL@SUNRISE
ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) (01/20/91)
From article <91018.222216RFM@psuvm.psu.edu>, by RFM@psuvm.psu.edu: > Upgrading an *Original* IBM PC can be tricky re replacing Motherboards. > Original PCs only come with 5 slots; one of biggest changes with > the XT model is/was the 8-slot board & case. > If you're *hard-core* about your original PC, some points > to make: > 1. Hard to find a motherboard replacement: most are XT, with > 8 slots. DP Computer of Salt Lake City does sell a 5-slot motherboard with 286 processor. It is actually called XT-286 motherboard, whereby everything is XT (including disk controller, etc) but uses a 80286 for 3 times more computing power. I used a 8-slot version of the same XT-286 board for 3 years and it worked great (considering I was using an original IBM PC before that). But I must say that the first XT-286 motherboard DP sent me was bad and I had to send it back for a replacement, which is still working today. Operating speed wise is goes up to 16MHz (mine is 8MHz). I assumed that the 5-slot version (for original IBM PC upgrade) works the same as the 8-slot version. E. Teng Ong (ong@d.cs.okstate.edu)
mvolo@uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) (01/20/91)
If anyone wants to upgrade a 5-slot PC at least to a 286, one solution is the Bullet motherboard. It comes in 8, 10, 12, 16 (?) MHz models, can hold 1 Meg of RAM, of which the upper 384K is a dedicated cache. It is a composite motherboard with the fast processor, but with a slow 4.77 MHz 8-bit bus so 8-bit cards *and* PC-XT-only keyboards will work. We put one in a 5-slot IBM PC at work and it made life for the secretary much better. In the applications we were using, we didn't miss the faster throughput of a 16-bit buss. The motherboards come in 5-slot and 8-slot models and are a good way to go if you do not plan further upgrades. Prices $125-170. Check ads in Shopper: D.P. Computers, Leo, Marchand Int. You will probably need new memory if you pick one of the faster boards. -- Michael Volow, Psychiatry, Durham VA Med Center, Durham NC 27712 919 286 0411 Ext 6933 mvolo@ecsvax.edu
leoh@hardy.hdw.csd.harris.com (Leo Hinds) (01/23/91)
In article <1991Jan19.035107.25711@rodan.acs.syr.edu> amichiel@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Allen J Michielsen) writes: > That's funny, have any of you guys tried BUYING these for your mystery >number ? The used equipment dealers price for pc-jr's is greater than that. >PC Week, monthly tracks the market price of popular used equipment available >(they have however dropped tracking the jr I think). Recently I saw their >national blurb, and this antique was over $500. (remember it says IBM on it). >al Well Al, Hopefully you know someone that wants a true blue IBM PC (not XT) with the 5 slot mother board (since updated to xt status) for the dollars you quote ... I have one I would LOVE to sell for $500. If you or anybody else has any leads ... PLEASE let me know ... thanks leoh@hdw.csd.harris.com Leo Hinds (305)973-5229 Gfx ... gfx ... :-) whfg orpnhfr V "ebg"grq zl fvtangher svyr lbh guvax V nz n creireg ?!!!!!!? ... znlor arkg gvzr