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Author Topic: pc bridgeboard alternative?  (Read 1165 times)

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Offline mechy

Re: pc bridgeboard alternative?
« on: November 23, 2014, 05:06:05 AM »
I just bought one of these myself to experiment with. They are not made to be plugged into a active computers pci slots, They are intended for passive backplanes of slots usually-a standard is called PICMG similar to this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATX6022-14G-BACKPLANE-BOARD-14-slot-ATX-supported-Bridged-PICMG-Bus-Active-Backp-/261653492811?pt=BI_Control_Systems_PLCs&hash=item3cebc3744b

These will not work like real bridge boards,but they could be useful for a all in one machine.

The board i just bought is here, i made a offer for $30 and got it:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191382046261?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

This particular one had isa 16bit and pci. i intend to use the isa in the 4000t or 2000(havent decided) and it will draw power from it-this board being a p4-2.8ghz uses the 4 pin additional power from a molex also. I just got the board and haven't had a chance to try any of this yet.
This board also came with a p4 cpu that uses under 60W(or was it 65w?) cant recall. It shouldnt suck the life out of the power supply ;)
it has almost anything you could want or need: usb,ethernet,sata,ide,floppy port,ps2 ports,serial/par etc.
 
The best advice: Get the model number and revision of the board you want to buy,and carefully
find the pdf and check the specs closely. some use special breakout cables for ports that can be costly or impossible to find,some have different connector like pci-e,pci-x,isa 8 bit,or proprietary. Pay attention to power usage. Isa is really the only way on amigas since its basically a "dead" slot with power to it.
 

Offline mechy

Re: pc bridgeboard alternative?
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2014, 03:45:25 PM »
Quote from: amigadave;778071
Cool find Mechy!  I would worry about the amount of heat that thing is going to produce.  The bad thing about using that one is that you won't be able to fit many Zorro cards in the A2000, or A4000 at the same time due to space limitations, but it should be interesting.  Let us know what version of Windows you plan to install and run on that P4.  I am guessing that it should be able to run Windows XP, or maybe even something newer.

Heat comes from wattage,and being its 60w cpu( one of the lowest in the list) it should be fine.
Dont get me wrong,it will make some heat. I checked the fit in the left most slot in the 2000 and there is still room for several zorro cards and the accelerator,so its not as bad as it seems. As mentioned i was going to probabaly use it in a 4000T(tower),not a desktop. I think a 4000D would be too cramped and cooling would be a issue. The docs to the board say it will run 2000,NT,Xp etc..anything 32bit as long as there are drivers.. as mentioned above the only thing missing on my card is sound. But the sound board is $30 addon,or i could use a ISA sound card. a wireless mouse and kbd might make it less of a cable mess.