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Re: On The Face + other all-in-one chip
On Sun, 8 Feb 1998, Udi Finkelstein wrote:
> On Fri, 6 Feb 1998 08:55:32 +0000 ( ), "Peter L. Peres"
> <plp@actcom.co.il> wrote:
>
> >On Thu, 5 Feb 1998, Schlomo Schapiro wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> I thought EISA is dead ! What's the use of EISA if you have PCI ???
> >> Do you know a board-maker that uses this chip ?
> >> (And for that and Israeli reseller ?)
> >
> >Dear Schlomo, EISA is the 'Extended Industry Standard Architecture'. Pay
> >attention to the fact that 'Industry' does not mean
> >Microsoft+Intel+Cyrix+2 others.
> >
> >While the PC industry has been pushing EISA out, not because it is
> >unusable, but because it wants to sell you new and fascinating things, the
> >industrial PC industry is busily making boards with up to 16 EISA slots.
> .
> .
> .
>
> Sorry, I've been following the industrial computer field, and so far
> all the expansion backplanes I've seen for sale are ISA+PCI, not EISA.
>
> You are right that industrial computers use a lot of different card
> types that does not require a high bandwidth, and does not require the
> PCI levels of performance.
>
> EISA cards, on the other hand, are (were) expensive, because they were
> trying to achieve high performance while staying backwards compatible
> with ISA.
>
> Also, industrial computers are HIGHLY dependant on desktop PC
> architecture, because ALL industrial computers that I know use off the
> shelf PCI chipsets from Intel, SiS, and Opti. All of these provide
> ISA, not EISA. I don't know of any chipset providing EISA **which is
> still manufactured**. These chipsets have a very short life span.
>
> I do agree that *ISA* is here to stay, as far as industrial computers
> go.
>
> Udi
>
When I say EISA I mean the usual, common, 16-bit interface found on
motherboards made by everyone. ISA is, in my book, the original 8-bit
version of it (short slot, such as modems etc). EISA is the current
version (long slot, two contact groups, takes short and long cards).
Maybe my book is wrong. ISA referred to the the 'Industry Standard
Architecture', which was set by the original PC (and it had only short
8-bit slots as it used the 8088 CPU), and EISA, to the standard set bt the
AT for the first time (it actually apperared with the first PCs that used
the 8086, but it became popular with the AT). This is the present one.
Again, my books may be wrong, but be aware that no-one makes 8-bit ISA
anymore (excepting on single-board computers sometimes), and that the EISA
is called ISA without discernment, just like the kB and kb are mixed
together according to the writer's mood.
Peter