1/ These two boards are remarkably similar and yet somewhat different. ECS above, TMC below. The TMC uses resistor networks and jumpers to configure options on the board, while the ECS uses only jumpers (and not many of them). Resistor networks are an absolute pain to work with. - ThreadSky

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brassicgamer.bsky.social • 7 days ago

1/ These two boards are remarkably similar and yet somewhat different. ECS above, TMC below.

The TMC uses resistor networks and jumpers to configure options on the board, while the ECS uses only jumpers (and not many of them). Resistor networks are an absolute pain to work with.

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luiscorreia.pt•7 days ago

and you guys probably didn't had to deal with them, way back when

yes, mega pain in the rear end!

brassicgamer.bsky.social•7 days ago

2/ The ECS uses a ZIF socket, while the TMC uses a LIF. This could suggest the ECS is a later board, but the presence of 72-pin SIMMs on that board suggests the opposite. It could also suggest the TMC is a higher-end board, however, further hinted at because the TMC supports up to 512KB of cache.

brassicgamer.bsky.social•7 days ago

3/ Both boards use SMD ICs exclusively for the logic, which I think is a more high-end characteristic for a board in 1992. But then the presence of EISA is the main indication of this. The ECS has 8 slots, however, while the TMC only has 7, one making way to accommodate the 72-pin SIMM banks.

brassicgamer.bsky.social•7 days ago

4/ The TMC uses a clock generator for frequency control, whereas the ECS appears, until I test it, to use a discrete crystal as a reference for whatever trickery the chipset uses to discern the CPU clock.

You can see from the photo that some models of the TMC board used a pair of XTALs instead.

brassicgamer.bsky.social•7 days ago

5/ The main difference is the chipset, with the TMC using the OPTi 82C682 (with "50 MHz" seemingly scratched into the surface of the chip) and the ECS using the SiS 85C406. Just noticed that the ECS board is obviously later, dated week 46 of 1993, while chips on the TMC are a whole year later.

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