Very Computer

Hi all,

I have an old QDI VL/ISA-PB486P3 VLB motherboard that I'd like to
use for something respectable.
This board boots but has no L2 cache (like me). The sockets (4+4+1)
are there but empty. The jumpers indicate the board can handle 128,
256, or 512K of L2.

How does one go about installing L2 cache? Where can I find
installation instructions? Where can I find out what the right chips
for this board are? Where can I buy them - cheap? Can I just pull
chips off another 486 mainboard and install them in this one?

There doesn't seem to be very much information about cache on the
net beyond definitions. I suppose that's because L2 is now getting
built into the CPUs. All help appreciated,

        bill

Quote:> Hi all,

> I have an old QDI VL/ISA-PB486P3 VLB motherboard that I'd like
to
> use for something respectable.
> This board boots but has no L2 cache (like me). The sockets
(4+4+1)
> are there but empty. The jumpers indicate the board can handle
128,
> 256, or 512K of L2.

> How does one go about installing L2 cache? Where can I find
> installation instructions? Where can I find out what the right
chips
> for this board are? Where can I buy them - cheap? Can I just
pull
> chips off another 486 mainboard and install them in this one?

> There doesn't seem to be very much information about cache on
the
> net beyond definitions. I suppose that's because L2 is now
getting
> built into the CPUs. All help appreciated,

> bill

If you can figure out the MB manufacturer name, go to their web
site and see if they have tech documents covering that MB. If
they don't, because it is too old, try sending an e-mail to their
tech support department.

Cache memory comes in different size modules and speeds just like
RAM. You need to get correct modules. It *will* make a big
difference in performance, so it is worth searching!

Good luck!

Should be sockets on the motherboard... if not, then you're probably
not going to be able to install any.  I did a Google search for
QDI PB486P3 and found:
http://www.eztechstuff.com/archives/th99/m/txt/33782.txt
This is similar to the text doc I found for my Packard Bell unit.
This should be enought for you to find the right cache chips
for your motherboard.

Cheap?... probably not.  About a year ago I resurrected a 486SX
by adding 20M of memory and maxing out the cache... all in all,
probably spent $150 on that.... definitely not the kind of money
you want to spend... most people will give away a better machine
than that... but it was fun anyway.

It may be possible to get the chips from another 486.  Use the
doc above... may need some info from the machine  you're pulling
from as well.

Quote:

> There doesn't seem to be very much information about cache on the
> net beyond definitions. I suppose that's because L2 is now getting
> built into the CPUs. All help appreciated,

>    bill

First thing Google came up with on a search for 486 cache memory
http://www.baber.com/baber/products/memoryvc.htm

I cannot remember the vendor I got mine through... there are many out
there, I just went with the lowest price.