Are there any new AT motherboards?

[Guest]

Hello, I am hoping for some help.. I would really like to purchase a new AT form factor main board, as I do not like ATX, and I do like the AT case that I already have. I know this is probably a (very) long shot, but does anyone know of a manufacturer that still makes AT boards?

I know I may have to resort to a used 440BX board, but it's worth a shot anyway.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Unolocogringo]

the best at style motherboard i know of is the asus P2B-B which is the baby at board,with the BX chipset. although you could just change your power supply to an atx power supply and still keep your case.

 

[Bubba]

I think the best AT board with the VIA chipset for AMD chips is the FIC VA-503+.
But its kinda small.

 

[hammerhead]

Why don't you like ATX?

As an engineer who's built countless AT and ATX boxes, not having to plug the serial and parallel ports into motherboard headers then affix them to free case slots is great.

Especially as most AT cases give you so little room to work.

Grr... I hate AT.

 

[Guest]

OK Thanks guys.. Are these boards still in production?

The reasons I dislike ATX are:
1. forced case upgrading. Why throw away my old one?
2. I hate the power management. All I want is a simple switch. On or off. Simple.

Since I am only making one PC for myself, the plugging of ribbon cables and the space issues are no big deal. I could see the advantage of shaving a half hour off of each PC I built if I did them in bulk, but that is not the case..

Thanks again..

--Sean

 

[Kelledin]

Ok, my 2cents worth...

SuperMicro used to make a full-size AT motherboard, model P6DGH. Dual Slot1, up to 600 MHz I believe, 440GX chipset (holds 2GB of PC100, vs. the 440BX's 1GB max). Nine PCI slots, 2 ISA slots, 1 AGP slot, onboard dual-channel SCSI, RAIDport option.

Trouble is, it cost about $800 when I last checked. It's also *full AT*, which means it is an enormous board (about 12" by 13") and requires a suitably enormous AT case. The case SuperMicro recommended for it was the SuperMicro SC-801 AT chassis, which is also enormous and expensive (around $400). This chassis is actually manufactured by ChenMing, as are a lot of SuperMicro chassis.

I'd really advise you to go with ATX though. AT still has its place, mainly where many, many expansion slots are needed (I.E. backplane/SBC combo) or where motherboard space is very, very tight (certain lunchbox and compact rackmount chassis). For anything else, ATX is pretty much superior, and by sinking money into AT, you're sinking money into technology you may be hard pressed to use in the future. You're already feeling that now with this case of yours...

------------------------------------------------------------
"Eat a live frog in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day."