The ultimate sleeper system

[Floppies_only]

Gang,

I'm toying with the idea of taking a dead IBM PC AT and putting a modern computer into the case. Can anyone tell me the newest motherboard who's expansion bus and cards fit the eight slots of the PC AT case?

Also, does anybody have a handle on a source for a combined 5 1/4" and 3 1/2" drive? I have seen pictures.

Thanks,
Sean

 

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe the best AT motherboards ever made only went up to 1GHz. There might still be a company producing modern AT motherboards for industrial systems, but I somehow doubt it.

It looks like if you want a Core "Too" Duo in your AT case you're going to have to bust out the dremel.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

The only places I have seen the combo 5/3 drives is FleaBay, and the occasional one at a local computer thrift shop. (I just got one for $5 from just such a place. Too bad my only modern desktop computer doesn't support 5-1/4" drives...)

 

[Unknown_K]

I have a couple working (and one dead) combo 5.25/3.5" drives, 2 were from ebay and one from a classic computer list. Ebay gets them all the time, you will need the old style floppy cables to use it (or an adapter from slot connection to pin type).

I have a K6, and a couple slot-1 P2/P3 motherboards that are AT style.

 

[tezza]

Gang,

I'm toying with the idea of taking a dead IBM PC AT and putting a modern computer into the case. Can anyone tell me the newest motherboard who's expansion bus and cards fit the eight slots of the PC AT case?

Interesting. In 1987 I remember toying with the idea of putting my old System-80 motherboard in an AT case, and getting it to work with an AT keyboard and EGA screen. Pure fantasy of course, as the mechanical and electronic hoops requiring jumping were everest-like.

Then emulators came along and gave me a software solution to the problem :smile:

 

[Jorg]

I put an Asus TP4 (Pentium I, AT layout) board in my spare XT case, and I found that the keyboard connector is slightly shifted, so it doesn't nicely fit the hole.
I needed to cut off some insulation of the keyboard connector, even then it barely fits.

ISA/PCI slots are ok though, but I needed to use some extra mounts (or better supports), to fix the board. Some of the mounting holes fit.

 

[nige the hippy]

There is often a slightly easier way to fit a modern motherboard, and that's to remove the old slots, and fit the backplate from a modern PC where they used to be. There's usually a whole lot less to match up.

I did that quite recently with an ancient 19" rack enclosure (for a 286) and was surprised to find that many of the mounting pillars still matched up with holes in the P4 motherboard!

I just had to drill a couple of extra holes & file a little half-moon in the case for the edge of the keyboard plug to slide past.

 

[creepingnet]

I've done this already, including what Nidge said he has done, my GEM 386 turned into a GEM PIII after joking about it for a few years, and this is the result, it's been my main computer ever since, and is being turned 64-bit in it's next incarnation....

 

[Floppies_only]

The only places I have seen the combo 5/3 drives is FleaBay, and the occasional one at a local computer thrift shop. (I just got one for $5 from just such a place. Too bad my only modern desktop computer doesn't support 5-1/4" drives...)

There isn't a driver for that? Those aftermarket 3 1/2" drives used one on the IBM PC, because that type of drive wasn't supported by the BIOS.

Sean