| Title: | IBM PCs, clones, DOS, etc. |
| Notice: | Intro in 1-11, Windows stuff in NOTED::MSWINDOWS please |
| Moderator: | TARKIN::LIN ND |
| Created: | Tue Jan 03 1995 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 3023 |
| Total number of notes: | 28404 |
I looked but did not find this discussed.
I want to upgrade a Digital 420SX as much as possible before giving it
to one of my kids.
Currently the memory slots are fully populated with only 8 meg.
What chips can I get to go as high as possible (32 ideally)?
Any other upgrades recommended? The CPU chip is removeable, but I do
not know what to put in its place.
The hard drive is a 1/2 height critter of 105 meg - that NEEDS
replacing, any idea what best to get?? I think it needs at least 500
meg.
Thanks, sorry to bother you with ancient history.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2924.1 | can upgrade to... | CSC32::I_WALDO | Mon Feb 17 1997 16:43 | 8 | |
There is an overdrive chip which will take it to a 440DX.
You can replace the SIMMs with 4 megers, 32 MEG is the max for the box.
I had a 540 MB Maxtor drive in mine.
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| 2924.2 | DECpc 420SX upgrades | GRUFFY::ZAHORA | Rob Zahora | Wed Feb 19 1997 13:25 | 25 |
As mentioned in -.1, you can upgrade the memory to a max of 32 MB. The
420SX has two banks of four slots, so you could go from 8 MB to 20 MB
as an intermediate step.
For the CPU, you can go to a DX2 (Intel BOXDX2OPD50) or DX4 (Intel
BOXDX4ODPR75) with a simple CPU swap. The 420SX BIOS was not designed
to take a DX4 chip. But I'm using one in my kid's PC and have only
encountered a problem with the MAX8 memory manager. I haven't tried
any other CPUs but if you do, be sure there is clearance from the top
of the heat sink to the power supply module when it's in the closed
position.
A 540 MB hard disk should do fine if you can find one. Also you may
want to consider adding a video card to get faster response than you
can with the built in video.
You can also replace the 20 MHz clock with a 25 MHz part. You'd need
to find the 25 MHz oscillator and be a little skilled with a soldering
iron. But the change is not too difficult.
If you find a source for any of the CPUs at a reasonable price (< $50),
please let me know as I have another 420SX that I'd like to upgrade.
But you may find that the CPUs are unavailable or so costly that
it's not worth the effort. It may make more sense to spend your money
on a newer, more upgradeable box.
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