Re: OPENPPC>: Re: [openppc] Future of openppc.org and openppc.com domains

[Alan Grimes <alangrimes@starpower.net>]

MEE TOOO!!

Yeah, this just sucks with absolutly no choice when it comes to
architectures.

My Athlon 800 burnt through its first PS a few months ago. The newer one
is quieter and more powerful but it doesn't vent as well meaning the
case gets too damn hot and I have to pull it out of its niche in my
computer desk. Damn suckey.

Interestingly, I am typing this on a 486 (AMD 5x86 150, 1
65 MIPS/18 MFLOPS) running windows 3.11. I bought the case sometime
around 1990-91. It is still on its _FIRST_ power supply  which is 50
watts weaker than the one. (200 watts) and the mini tower is fully
loaded. I was playing Full throttle on it earlier today and this thing
ROCKS. I know its ancient and suckey (mobo was bought in '93). I'm sorry
for going on like this but I really wish they made them like they used
to.

The VLB bus on this thing is throttled to 50 mhz(1ws). Its achiles heel
though is its RAM throughput, it is choking at 60mb/sec. The 36-CHIP
SIMMS (you read that right!) ram banks are so dense that they need very
agressive cooling. =(((( With modern DRAM running at 1-cycle turnaround,
I bet this thing could give a P120 a run for its money. Full throttle
never played well on a pentium. =P 

Now why do I love this machine so much? 

Well, It has no features! =) 
And that's a GoodThing(TM). 

You read that right too.

The Hard disk controller should not be on the motherboard.
The Floppy controller should not be on the motherboard.
The legacy IO ports should not be on the motherboard.
USB is a bus therefore it does belong on the motherboard.
Sound should not be on the motherboard.
Analog game-port should not be on the motherboard. 
MIDI is a type of bus therefore it should be on the motherboard. (I have
my machine rigged to a Roland SoundCanvas. SWEET!!)

The motherboard in this machine has only its slots and the keyboard
connector. (I wouldn't mind seeing that replaced with a serial console)
but that is it. 

The machine behind me, the one I never got around to getting a job to
get the money to finish has nothing but a classic 8-slot AT passive
backplane in it. PICMG is not a very good standard as it takes two of
your PCI address lines (A deficiency in the PCI spec) but it is
definitely in the right direction: 

Modular obsolescance resistant design. 

Assuming people made them, I could install any storage system ever
designed in my 486. It is currently running two HDs and a CD-ROM. 

All your motherboard needs are good buses and a clean design. Build it
and I'll buy... as soon as I can figure out how to make some money. =P 

-- 
Latancy is your enemy.
Bandwidth is your friend.
http://users.rcn.com/alangrimes/
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