On 28 Jul 99, at 8:29, Jim Meagher wrote:

> The motherboard might fit, but the auxiliary cards (video, sound, etc) will
> not.
> The PCI slots will not line up with the holes in the case.
> The card's metal mounting bracket will not fit the case.

  I have encountered a couple of 286 systems that had non-standard *numbers*
of slots or proprietary keyboard connectors.  But unless he has one of these,
he should be fine.  PCI slots are offset on the motherboard to fit the same
case cutouts as ISA slots.

> And some of the cards will be too tall.

  IBM made one 286 model, around 1986 (after the 1984 AT) in a case the same
as the earlier PC and XT models, and thus too short for some "AT" expansion
cards.  I have not seen any other 286 system with this problem, although
improved integration densities mean that fewer and fewer modern cards require
the extra head-room that the AT provided.

> And most likely, the Power Supply will not have enough wattage to run the
> system.

  A 286 power supply was probably originally rated at 230W or more; IF it
still works to those specs, it will probably do fine.  Power supplies do tend
to weaken as they age, though, so it may no longer be quite up to spec.


David G

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