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Intel Microsystem Model 401, AFAIK first 25MHz 486 Motherboard from Intel, Picture

mR_Slug

mR_Slug

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Anyone know anything about this board, AFAIK this was the first 486 motherboard from Intel:
Model-401.jpg

PBA: 504916-005
Image Link: http://108.59.254.117/~mR_Slug/deviceInfo/Intel/Model_401/Model-401.jpg

I think the manual is called "Intel 486 Microcomputer Model 401 Board Technical Reference Manual". It's listed in google books, but no preview or source to buy. Checked Bitsavers and that document isn't there, though thanks to:
http://www.bitsavers.org/components/intel/_dataBooks/1990_Intel_Microcomputer_Boards_and_Systems.pdf
I have a little info about it.

I'm trying to find a memory card for it. They go in those long slots. These slots are known as the AT32 bus, a kinda quasi-standard from Intel that's a bit like VLB. Anyone have one of these or know somewhere I might find one?

PS: How do you get an image to scale? I've tried everything. Never-mind, it just doesn't show it in the preview.
 
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Yeah I can't get an answer to any of your questions but be damned if that board is not pretty. Is the CPU actually soldered in?
 
rmay635703 said:
I had a 386 board that was nearly identical for what it’s worth, never got it to post
Click to expand...

That may be the 301.

NeXT said:
Yeah I can't get an answer to any of your questions but be damned if that board is not pretty. Is the CPU actually soldered in?
Click to expand...

No it's in a socket, probably "socket 1", probably not even a low insertion force one. It's a DX 25MHz. The board has no cache or co-processor/weitek, and is based around the idea that the 486 didn't need cache. According to Intel, the 8K on-chip cache was faster than a 386DX 33MHz with the typical 64K cache. Though Intel would soon be offering their 485Turbocache module. Strange how a year or two later, a 486 without external cache was considered a real cheapo cost-cutting measure, *COUGH* - PC-CHIPS. It represents an odd period of the 486, before the 487SX and presumably before the Weitek 4167. Has a copyright 1990, though I think it's an '89 design.

AFAIK this needs a RAM card before you'll get anything out of it.

I did a bit more research and it looks like there are 3 memory cards available:
iSBC ATMEM04
iSBC ATMEM08
iSBC ATMEM16

Googling this turns up little info. Lead me to a website that indicates this board was used in an early Packard Bell system. Though that's not likely the only one.

Anyone got one? Know anything else about them?
 
I'm going to take a pretty focused guess based on the design year, the level of integration on the mainboard, the number of memory board slots, and their spacing, that they will take DIP RAM.
 
Thanks, though I have already trawled through that. Very useful for finding the pinout of the serial port on the 301. It is the first board to use the AT32 bus. That board however has SIMM sockets as well, so the RAM card is not so important.

I think the ATMEM04 and ATMEM08 use DIP RAM and the ATMEM16 uses SIMMs. I would imagine the DIP boards are annoying soldered RAM. I guess it's possible to build a RAM card from the info in that document, but, well, I don't think I want to do that.

At present I have this rather generic image to go on:
image001.gif
 
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