Jim:

The 486 motherboards I've seen which handle AMD Dx4-120
CPUs (which usually require AMD enhanced settings, and
also handle AMD-DX5-133 CPUs) are the later models which
invariably have 72-pin SIMM memory sockets and PCI. These
will also have 4 ISA and 3 PCI (the older PCI bridges only
allowed 3) expansion slots. I've worked on many such
motherboards.

Of course, Larry Fisk, as the technician on the scene,
will need to consider these issues.

The later 486 motherboards also do LBA. But if DDO is an
issue, Larry can use any method to do a backup/restore
and run Win95 setup again to reconfigure his system.

My advice is never to spend $75 or more to "fix" a 486
system unless the components can migrate to a Pentium
system. There are plenty of working Pentium classic
boards with 75/90/100MHz CPUs which can be bought used
for $75. Anyway, 8MB 72-pin SIMMs are $10, and inexpensive
PCI video cars are $20. So add $40 to the bill if need be.

Regards,

John Chin

----------------------------------
At 02:31 PM 4/8/1998 Jim Meagher wrote:
>
>Sorry John, but I think you have oversimplified the alternatives.
>
>Most 486 vintage systems are running with 30 pin SIMMs so
>more likely than not, he will need new RAM. (I don't like those
>30 to 72 pin adapters -- you've get a new fast CPU and then
>you throttle it down with old slow ram)
>
>I could be wrong, but I've never seen a 486 era MoBo with a
>PCI bus which means he has all ISA cards.  If he has more
>than 3 peripheral cards to transfer, then he will also need to buy a
>"PCI-something" to make up for the lose of slots.
>
>And how about the LBA/DDO issue?  Many times those drive
>overlay programs wreak havoc with upgrades.  So he could also
>be looking at a complete reformat and install.