OT-motherboard

[Jonathan Berry]

On 5/1/06, Bob Taylor <brtaylor at sanfelipe.com.mx> wrote:
> Many thanks to all who replied. I appreciate the input.
>
> A little background to those who asked. I live in San Felipe on the Sea
> of Cortez 120 miles south of Mexicali which is on the California Baja
> California border. Getting computer parts is difficult. I had an Intel
> 32 bit computer which died on me. I also had a 64 bit Alpha which also
> died shortly thereafter. I was given a Gateway 2000 by a friend with
> only 128 Meg RAM. Gateway wants too much for 2 128 Meg DIMMS leaving me

Of course they do.  As someone else suggested, you should try getting
RAM from an independent source.  What kind of RAM is this exactly? 
It's probably like PC-66 or PC-100 memory or something like that.  You
probably won't find a good deal on RAM in that case.  The old RAM is
incredibly expensive, almost 2x that of DDR.

> still short of RAM. I had hoped to replace the motherboard with another
> that would accept at least 1 Gig RAM and still use (for now) my old but
> still usable boards/drives. For your information these are:

Ahh, well that is a different matter ;).

> 1. Hp C5110A SCSI scanner
> 2. Adaptec AHA-2940/2940W / AIC-7871

Is this ths SCSI board?  Is it a PCI card?

> 3. National Semiconductor Corporation DP83815 (MacPhyter) Ethernet
> Controller
> 4. Ensoniq ES1371 [AudioPCI-97]

Almost all new motherboards have sound and Ethernet on them.

> 5. HP C1536A SCSI DAT drive
> 6. C1599A DDS-2 SCSI DAT drive

I would think these would be fine as long as the SCSI card works.

> 7. Matrox Graphics, Inc. MGA 2164W [Millennium II]

Is this a PCI or AGP card?

> 8. QUANTUM Fireball EL10.2A 10 Gig IDE
> 9. Maxtor 6Y120P0 120 Gig IDE

IDE drives should work fine with any motherboard.

> 10.KB9910 IBM keyboard
> 11. Logitech MouseMan Serial Mouse port. Listed as PS/2 Logitech Mouse

A keyboard and mouse are a keyboard and mouse.  Wait, did you say
serial mouse?  I'd suggest spending the $5-$10 and getting a simple
PS2/USB mouse :).  Some new motherboards may not have a serial port.

> 12. TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1102 (IDE)
> 13. LITE-ON LTR-24102B CD-R/RW (IDE)

Same as for points 8 and 9.

> Currently all are working fine. I would upgrade the Millennium II to a
> G550 eventually.

Is the G550 an AGP or PCI-Express card?  If you can, upgrade to a
motherboard with PCI-Express so you can get a matching graphics card
eventually.

> I *would* like a 64 bit CPU but I don't think Linux is quite there yet
> in support.

Linux most certainly "is quite there" as far a 64-bit support (By the
way, x86_64 (what we have been calling 64-bit) is quite different from
your 64-bit Alpha, in case that's not clear).  Much more so than
Windows in fact.  I've been running 64-bit for about a year and a
half, I guess.  Works great.  Sure, you can have some rough spots in
places.  The great thing about x86_64 processors is you can run them
in 32-bit mode with a 32-bit OS.  You can even run 32-bit programs on
a 64-bit OS.  So, if you get a 64-bit CPU, even if you don't do 64-bit
now, you can later when you are ready.  There is no reason (except
possibly price) to buy a 32-bit processor :).

As Jay mentions in his email, be careful about trying to put a new
board in your old Gateway case.  It'll be a little more money, but you
might consider getting a new case and power supply as well.  I don't
know if they ship to Mexico, but check out http://www.newegg.com/ for
any computer parts.  I have used them a few times and they have a
great selection, good prices, and excellent service.

Jonathan