Are there still NLX Form Factor MoBos?

[fobotcso]

My most favourite old Desktop PC is an HP Vectra VL because it is small and quiet. The MoBo is NLX and it uses a PCI riser to install cards horizontally. It's a Pentium 166 (no MMX) with on board USB, graphics. So it was fairly advanced in its day.

I'd like to do a medium upgrade, nothing fancy but something to prolong the life a little. Can't be too ambitious because there is a distinct limit to the cooling I could install.

All attempts to find an NLX MoBo fail. I've even looked at the industrial rack-mounted variety. They seem to have come to an end.

Would appreciate any advice or recommendations from you guys.

If I can't do this it'll have to go to that big IT room in the sky.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

fobotcso,

I would try Ebay, Computer Swap Meets, and some of the local computer shops that take old computers in trade. I might be wrong, but I think that form factor died out with the last of the Intel PIIs. (Somewhere around 450Mhz.)

Take Care,

Richard

[fobotcso]

Thanks Richard, that's roughly what I thought from my researches. Reckon you're about as likely as anyone to know the prospects. I searched the Web and catalogues high and low. I'll give it a few more days.

[ORAC]

NLX motherboards:

AOpen NX6B, ASUS P2B-N, ASUS MES-N, FIC KB-6120, GVC MX841, GVC NL440BX, Gateway

T440BX Intel® T440BX (NL440BX) - $159 (http://www.centrix-intl.com/fulllist.asp). Gateway (MX841) -$65 - $125 (http://www.dealsdepot.com/Shop/Control/fp/tcat/15343/SFV/11418).

The ASUS MES-N is preferable as it take a P3 PGA CPU up to 500Mhz, so you don't have to use a slot 1 adaptor. There a few available if you do a search.

Much cheaper to buy a new case/MB/CPU and start from scratch with a much faster CPU. If you're after a very quiet and small form factor at a reasonable price and aren't after the CPU speed, check out the mini-ITX boards at
mini-itx.com (http://www.mini-itx.com/store/).

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

ORAC,

If you are looking for something that uses a small form factor, Shuttle has been making some great Bare Bones FLEX ATX boxes for some time now. They have a version with the nForce2 Ultra400 Chipset and Dual Video:

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/56-101-217-07.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/56-101-217-06.JPG

If that is not enough power for you, Shuttle even found a way to get an Athlon64 into one of those form factors with the nForce3 150 Chipset:

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/56-101-415-07.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/56-101-415-05.JPG

MSI has a Bare Bones called the Mega PC. It is something that would be right at home next to your Home Entertainment System:

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/56-101-220-01.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/56-101-220-06.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/56-101-220-08.JPG

Another option if you wanted to build a computer from scratch to add as a component into your Home Entertainment System, you could use one of these cases from Antec:

(mATX Form Factor)

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-129-139-01.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-129-139-06.JPG

(ATX Form Factor)

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-129-142-01.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-129-142-02.JPG

Then add in one of these cards from Leadtech:

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/14-122-132-12.JPG

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/14-122-132-14.JPG

And you now have a computer in your Entertainment System that works as a Digital VCR, Pausing Live TV and letting you Timeshift it too.

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. fobotcso I hope I did not hijack you thread. :eek:

[ORAC]

Naples, as I write I'm using a Shuttle I put together for my sister. Excellent machines which can use all standard cards and drives. The mini-itx are even smaller though.

Personally, I'm waiting to buy a nano-itx when the come out in the new year. Then I'm going to fit a CF-IDE adaptor and a Linux boot card. Isn't this so much more fun than a Mac...... :p

[fobotcso]

Not exactly "on topic", Richard, but no worries :) :ok:

I try to keep an open mind and find the idea of a quiet little box like the Shuttle quite appealing. The mini-itx Site is informative and good fun too.

I may yet go that way but aim to keep it simple. One GHz max is all I want. Since the machines hereabouts range from 450 - 800 MHz, and they do almost everything I need, why aim higher?

But I mostly want a performance machine for decent video processing so a Mac is still an option for a new sports model.

[PPRuNe Towers]

:ok: :ok: :ok: :ok: ORAC

but please Richard - remember the poor huddled masses trying to use the forum on dial up:uhoh: :{ :{

Regards to all,
Rob

[ORAC]

Nano-itx (http://www.epiacenter.com/bilder/news/nano/nano1.jpg).

1GHz C3 CPU.
1 x Mini-PCI (back side).
1 x SODIMM (laptop memory).
1 x Serial ATA.
2 x IDE.
2 x USB 2.0.
TV-Out. (RCA and S-Video).
6-channel audio.
LAN.
DOC (disk-on-chip).


Size:.... 12x12cm (a CD case is 12 x 14cm) :}

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

Rob,

Sorry, I forgot about all the poor people stuck on 56k because Broadband is not in their area yet. I hope I did not cause any modems to scream for mercy with my post.

I did get a little carried away with that post, but as ORAC pointed out, all the options you get with PCs is, "so much more fun than a Mac."

Richard

P.S. Rob, I was wondering if you figured out how I was able to hack PPRuNe and get double the allotted amount pictures allowed in a single post, in my post yet? :cool:

[fobotcso]

Just a quick response to all the work that went into the ideas from ORAC and Richard.

I had been prepared to spend £200 to prolong the life of the HP carcass and peripherals. But it wasn't going to happen quickly because although there was a lot of info about NLX MoBos in the Web, there was no hardware to match.

So, with the help of the above advice, I forked out £400 for a bottom of the range Pentium 4 ShuttleX and used the existing monitor, keyboard, mouse, CD Drive and HDD. Wow! I work on some fast machines but the fastest in-house has been an 800MHz Transmeta so the step up to 2.4GHz with 512MB RAM was a quantum leap. The 120GB Wetern Digital HDD and XP had to follow, of course. I'm not over impressed with the noise; the beat frequency between two fans is very noticeable but I'll sort that in slow time. I was delighted to find that the BIOS supports USB Floppy for Boot for those rare occasions when it may be necessary. However, the cramped interior means I won't be using it for swapping kit in and out for development work.

I settled on the SB61G2 with on-board Sound, Graphics and LAN.

Thanks for leading my mind (and my Credit Card) down that route. I'm converted to retail component assembly. I chose overclockers.co.uk as supplier and the order arrived within 36 hours. The ShuttleX operation is excellent.

Now, this Dell Dimension XPS T500 is looking a bit tired.... :}

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

fobotcso,

Nice move up. (All we need to go is get you trained in the way of The Force, the nForce that is.) ;)

I have a solution for you that will take care of the noise of the fans. Just install a set of Logitech Z-680 500W 5.1 Dolby Digital THX Speakers and you will not hear those pesky fans again. :ok:

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/36-121-105-01.JPG

Enjoy your new computer,

Richard