486 Upgrade?

[CapnLockheed]

Hey ya'll, I'm planning on upgrading my
Gateway PIII 500Mz and I'm wondering
if I can drop that board in an old
486 I've got laying about. Will this
work or is a 486 just too primitive?

TIA.....CL

 

[dakota81]

What exactly are you trying to do?

Without looking at the two systems, I would have to say a definate no though. The Gateway computer is most likely an ATX style motherboard & case while the 486 is most likely an AT style. You will not be able to put the Gateway motherboard into the 486 case.

 

[Jomama46]

Not to mentions needing a larger PS.
I say drop it into a new case.
Or case mod time.

 

[CapnLockheed]

Thanks fellas, yeah that's pretty much what I thought.
Guess an old 486 isn't good for much more than a door
stop! Just out of curiosity, when did ATX style cases
come into play? PI? PII?

Cheers.....CL

 

[Jomama46]

whoa, capn! nobody said it was a loser.
Throw some cheap nw cards in there and make it a router.
Install some free linux distro on it.
use it for an e-mail server.
Or use it for a door stop

Jomama

 

[cdogg]

Not sure when ATX was initially introduced, but I had a IBM Aptiva that had a P1 - 166MHz with an ATX case. I think a lot of the earlier P1's still used AT. It really just depended on the vendor. Just about everyone was using ATX by the time the P1 - 233MHz was on store shelves.




~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[dakota81]

The ATX style case became main stream about the end of the P2 era, with the P3's coming out. Before then ATX cases were used by companies (ibm, gateway, etc.), but AT was still the standard used in all the custom built computers.

 

[rich110]

CapnLockheed

Just one major difference :
Your 486 needs a turn-on power switch (rocker switch) what about your P3 ? The power on off is all different. The PS had a different turn-on method. The physical mounting holes are another thing you have to consider.

 

[CapnLockheed]

Thanks for the info fellas!

"whoa, capn! nobody said it was a loser.
Throw some cheap nw cards in there and make it a router.
Install some free linux distro on it.
use it for an e-mail server.
Or use it for a door stop"

Hee..hee..that's all greek to me! I'm an audio
engineer turned geek...don't use the beige boxes
for much besides digital audio and graphics
workstations

Thanks!....CL