A real overclockers dream

Absolut Talent · Post by **Absolut Talent** » Fri Jan 17, 2003 1:37 am

and just think, you too can add an extra 5mhz to your system for $45:D

PreDatoR · Post by **PreDatoR** » Fri Jan 17, 2003 1:44 am

8085 hehe... when i was in school we got to program 8088 processors. it was pretty interesting... don't remember any of it now though... amazing what 7 years does to a person

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Fri Jan 17, 2003 2:33 pm

And how many of you are old enough (like me) to identify the name of the slot that card plugs into?

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Fri Jan 17, 2003 2:55 pm

Is it an IOC?? I've got a ton of old computers in my warehouse. Just haven't taken some of them apart. But I've got some old ones.. I've got some that run on punch cards for gods sake!! lol.. eGo

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Fri Jan 17, 2003 11:23 pm

Oh come now, surely some old fart here recognizes that card shape. It's quite distinctive. Anyone from the 8080 era should recognize it.

Pugsley · Post by **Pugsley** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 4:07 pm

im wanting to say EISA... but i know thats not it.

RubberDuckie · Post by **RubberDuckie** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 10:41 pm

EISA ... Not
ISA ... Not
Microchannel ... Not

Im going to give "Multibus expansion slot" a try.

I have worked with computers since the 8086 days....but only started working on the insides since MicroChannel 32-bit cards in the IBM 286's.

LoneWolfX1X · Post by **LoneWolfX1X** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 12:08 am

isbx wasnt it?

CaterpillarAssassin · Post by **CaterpillarAssassin** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 1:48 am

agp?

*&

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 9:29 am

Oh man, I really AM the oldest fart around here!

That's an S-100 board. It was used in 8080 era computers like the Altair and Imsai 8080. Here's an example with the cover off:

S-100 design was inefficient as hell. There was no mobo, just a big backplane with a bunch of card slots, a BIG 18volt power supply and sometimes a front panel. No switching power supplies yet so the PSU was just this HUGE transformer and soda-can size caps putting out 18v at maybe 30+ amps (you could jump-start a car with it!).

Regulators were located on the S-100 cards. So each card would have it's own 5, 12, -5 and -12v regulators. Inefficient and HOT!

That card above is the CPU card. Contains the CPU, BIOS, addressing chips, etc. Other cards would be for memory, ROMs, interfaces & (much later) video cards. Early systems didn't have video and either used a front panel or a teletype or terminal.

More S-100 board pics here. Notice the regulators on all the boards and the high parts count - very few VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated) chips back then. Took a whole S-100 card full of chips to do the work than a single chip does now. Shows you how far we've come. This is all circa mid 1970's:

CPU cards:
http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/S-100CPUCards.htm

Controller Cards:
http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/S-100DiskCards.htm

RAM Cards:
http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/S-100RAMCards.htm

Video card:
http://www.geocities.com/~compcloset/Cr ... azzler.htm

I never owned one myself. I was a teenager when the Altair 8080 kit was released (in KIT form, no display or input device - front panel only - around 4K memory). I remember looking longing at magazine construction articles.

My first computer wouldn't be until 1979 - a Commodore PET.

Rooster · Post by **Rooster** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 2:16 pm

That transformer had to make a buzz sound.

Absolut Talent · Post by **Absolut Talent** » Sun Jan 19, 2003 3:06 pm

Originally posted by FlyingPenguin

My first computer wouldn't be until 1979 - a Commodore PET.

heh, my first computer was a commodore64.

Man.......it rocked having to type in about 3 pages worth of code just to make the commadore make a sound like a gunshot

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A real overclockers dream

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