Re: [Off-Topic] Pentium Motherboard
On Fri, 14 Jan 2000, AU,SCOTT CHUONG wrote:
sau >1. It seems there's a VGA controller built into the motherboard with an
sau >accompanying serial cable to attach to a monitor. Does this mean I no
sau >longer need a video card like in older 486/386 models?
some boards have onboard VGA, if you want good performance(through X) i
highly reccomend getting a new VGA card. if all its gonna do is
console(text mode) stuff then thats fine, no need for a VGA card.
sau >2. All memory was stripped (except for what I believe is a lithium CMOS
sau >battery). When I tried turning it on, there's no startup seen on my
sau >monitor. Am I correct in assuming I need some memory for the BIOS to
sau >load? Or is this related to Question 1 (ie I need to purchase a video
sau >card).
most boards do require ram to show anything on the screen when you turn it
on. make sure the ram is compadible, this can be tricky, if you don't have
the manual that came with the board look it up on the net if you can and
hunt down memory for it..
sau >3. Looking at the ports, I noticed some 8 bit slots (no Vesa Local Bus
sau >slots though) and some shorter ports I did not recognize. Are these PCI
sau >ports?
not likely there are any 8 bit slots on a pentium board, but it may be
possible, 16Bit slots(ISA) are typically Black in color with gold pins
about 5-6 inches long, 32bit slots(PCI/VLB) are white if its PCI and light
brown if its VLB, there will be no VLB on a pentium board as the bus speed
is too fast, but there will be PCI. PCI slots are about 4 inches
long? (rough guess) i have seen tons of different mainboards and
backplanes and so far every single one has conformed to what is commonly
accepted as "standard" colors for the expansion slots.
sau >4. Additionally, there appears to a Com Port controller built into the
sau >motherboard (like the Video question above). Is this also a trend to
sau >integrate serial card controllers into the motherboard now?
serial controllers in motherboards started years ago ...so did IDE on
board. its also not uncommon to find sound, network, usb all onboard.
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