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Will an AT or Baby AT board mount in an IBM 5160?

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Fire-Flare

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I like the way these computers look, and want to build a DOS gaming machine in one.

But since later games want faster hardware I'll need to upgrade the system.

Will I be able to properly mount an AT or Baby AT motherboard in there and have the keyboard port and expansion slots line up?
 
IIRC the XT standard is basically the same as the AT, so yes a AT or baby AT board should fit into a 5160 case just fine. But make sure it's a 5160 case and not a 5150, they too look very much the same, but the 5150 was not quite the same layout as the 5160 and beyond.

EDIT: Baby AT form factor boards should fit just fine in a 5160 chassis. AT boards probably won't.
 
lutiana said:
IIRC the XT standard is basically the same as the AT, so yes a AT or baby AT board should fit into a 5160 case just fine. But make sure it's a 5160 case and not a 5150, they too look very much the same, but the 5150 was not quite the same layout as the 5160 and beyond.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have a 5150 already and have been trying to get a ITX board working in it, but I'm running into driver issues.

I think a 5160 with a super socket 7 or slot 1 board is the answer.
 
I think the OP is referring to a generic AT board, not an original IBM AT board. For clone boards, YMMV. The most common issue is that the keyboard port doesn't line up.
 
Trixter said:
I think the OP is referring to a generic AT board, not an original IBM AT board. For clone boards, YMMV. The most common issue is that the keyboard port doesn't line up.
Click to expand...

Right, when I said AT, I meant the AT form factor boards and not the IBM AT board (which will not fit into a 5160 chassis). But come to think of it, what I really meant was the baby AT form factor alone. That should have no issue fitting into a 5160 chassis.

ATX or ITX won't fit in those chassis (5150/5160) without some modification to the chassis, most notably the cutout for the I/O on the back of the board.
 
Fire-Flare said:
Yes, I have a 5150 already and have been trying to get a ITX board working in it, but I'm running into driver issues.
Click to expand...

I am having trouble understanding this statement. What do drivers have to do with getting a board to physically fit into a chassis?
 
lutiana said:
Right, when I said AT, I meant the AT form factor boards and not the IBM AT board (which will not fit into a 5160 chassis). But come to think of it, what I really meant was the baby AT form factor alone. That should have no issue fitting into a 5160 chassis.

ATX or ITX won't fit in those chassis (5150/5160) without some modification to the chassis, most notably the cutout for the I/O on the back of the board.
Click to expand...

ITX does, you can rotate it 90 degrees and the I/O ports will face the side with enough room to route the cables through the expansion slots.

lutiana said:
I am having trouble understanding this statement. What do drivers have to do with getting a board to physically fit into a chassis?
Click to expand...

Nothing, sorry. My previous attempt at gaming with a classic IBM was to use an ITX board inside, but DOS games are having problems with PCI sound cards.
 
The Baby AT form factor was created as a way to fit a 286 or higher motherboard into an IBM XT (or XT-clone) case. The original IBM AT used both a larger motherboard and taller expansion cards that wouldn't fit, but after a few years, most aftermarket manufacturers started producing smaller "baby" AT-class motherboards and cards that would fit in an XT case.

But eventually many Baby AT boards deviated enough from the original specification that they would no longer fit in an original XT case, at least without some metalwork, due to the CPU and/or RAM slots interfering with the drive bays.
 
NOT All Baby AT motherboards will fit into the IBM 5160 metal case.
Those that are an ~ 1 inch longer than the IBM-XT motherboard will hit a metal case support for the Left Drive Bay. That piece of metal is bent down from drive bay and “Spot welded” to XT case bottom.

Check dimensions before fitting.
==
DO NOT TRY. to Fit Modern Motherboards (Last 25 years) into Legacy Cases (XT, AT, Baby AT).
I have seen BAD HACK Jobs by those with No Skills, No Talent.
==
In 1995, INTEL set the New Computer Motherboard Form Factor ATX Standards.

Introduced in 1995, the ATX was the first PC motherboard to not only include I/O support (serial, parallel, mouse, etc.), but to place all the connectors directly on the motherboard. Prior to the ATX, only the keyboard connector was attached to the motherboard.

Advanced Technology EXtended motherboard) The PC motherboard that superseded the Baby AT design. The ATX layout rotated the CPU and memory 90 degrees, allowing full-length expansions to be plugged into all sockets. The power supply blows air over the CPU rather than pulling air through the chassis.

Numerous variations of the ATX were subsequently introduced with both smaller and larger form factors, including the microATX, Mini ATX, FlexATX and Extended ATX.

BTX was another form factor (mirror image) that was designed for servers and workstations 20 years ago.
It was Unsuccessful — Brand New Lenovo cases (BTX, empty) are seen on eBay, Alibaba.
DO NOT BUY, unless you have that motherboard (Dead End)..
 
Wow, a bit of a necro here.

Anyway, if this is still a thing that needs comments:

Fire-Flare said:
I think a 5160 with a super socket 7 or slot 1 board is the answer.
Click to expand...

I did this "hot rodded XT" thing several times back in the 1990's with 486 and Pentium boards. Short version: Any board that has something even remotely tall in the lower right-hand corner is very likely not to fit unless you're willing to take a hacksaw to the left drive bay. Which I did, several times. (I know, blasphemy, but back in the 90's an XT wasn't even worth a decent cheeseburger.) Even SIMM slots were often too tall.

Late in the 386SX's market life they sold *very cheap* "shorty" boards that were hardly deeper than a 16 bit ISA slot, those make nice modest XT upgrades that don't involve any hacking. (Basically turns them into a much faster and better 5162.) They also made similar 486 boards that weren't much bigger, but even those often manage to have heatsink or SIMM clearance issues with the left drive bay; even if it doesn't hit the drive bay itself it might prevent you from putting a 5.25" drive in the bottom of it. Which, eh, gives you a place to put a smaller hard drive.
 
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