Phoenix System Upgrade Board

The Phoenix System Upgrade Board is a enhanced mainboard which allows a computer upgrade to take place more economically, faster and with significantly higher performance results for computers than are available from alternative upgrade methods.

You can for example turn your turn your Pentium I or Pentium II computer into a current generation computer without taking out any of the existing components.

This in itself saves time (and saving on technical time saves money) but the real advantage is the massive performance boost that is achieved.

Significant performance upgrades, such as the jump from Pentium I or II to Pentium III commonly require significant component swap-outs in a PC to the extent that you almost have a different computer at the end of the process.

Why the Phoenix System Upgrade Board has revolutionised computer upgrades?

Computers are designed with different System Architectures (ie combinations of components that will work together). If you want a processor that will run contemporary software it is not as easy as simply putting in the latest processor to get more processing power ! For any type of significant improvement with other upgrade options you need to swap out the computers mainboard (which everything inside a PC connects to in order to work together).

Changing a mainboard however usually creates more issues - principally that other components also need to be upgraded to work with the new "next generation system architecture" that has been created. Changing too many components means you end up with a new box and all you are holding onto is your monitor, keyboard and mouse. This older traditional approach is a costly time-consuming technical job.

Not upgrading older generation computers can also be costly if staff experience problems of slow or crashing PCs that prevent them carrying out their work as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Why not buy new computers ?

The decision on whether to upgrade PCs or buy new ones has always been a difficult decision to make. At what specification do you buy in at ? Once you have spent your money you then face heavy asset depreciation as your PC is quickly overtaken in performance terms by newer models.

Phoenix System Upgrade Boards allow you to spend less money on upgrading your existing PCs and still achieve the contemporary performance standards needed for later versions of software.

What exactly can the Phoenix System Upgrade Board achieve ?

The Phoenix 370/S System Upgrade Board allows you to
• Keep your existing computer's components intact
• Achieve Intel Pentium III or Intel Celeron processor standards (using these processors)
• Allow your PC to take memory types and capacities needed to use the latest memory hungry software (eg latest versions of MS Windows, MS Office etc).
• Make considerable savings on the alternative - buying new computers.

An overview of an upgrade using the Phoenix System Upgrade Board

The Phoenix System Upgrade Board fits into an ISA slot (as an anchor point only). The existing components including the original mainboard are kept intact while the Phoenix Board takes over control from the existing mainboard. A processor and DIMMs memory are easily fitted.

The user keeps their Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Floppy Drive, Hard Disk and other components. Functionality such as network card, sound and graphics are built-in to the Phoenix Board.

The technical time needed for carrying out the upgrade is much less than situations where the old mainboard is taken out and replaced by a newer one. This also saves considerably on the overall service and product cost of the upgrade and minimizes downtime for an upgrade roll-out. The costs of any upgrade project include capital costs of new hardware, technical time needed for the upgrade and downtime / disruption costs to staff. The Phoenix System Upgrade solution helps to save resources in all these areas.

Phoenix 370/S System Upgrade Board

Technical Product Overview

The Phoenix 370/S System Upgrade Board is a complete system upgrade for AT, Baby AT and ATX footprint PCs (including tower systems). The Phoenix upgrade board provides an upgrade to the processor, memory and all other subsystems, bringing even the oldest computer up to today's technology, at the fraction of the cost of a new machine. It is compatible with any machine with an ISA slot (used as an anchor point only), providing a cost effective solution where budget prevents the investment in a new PC.

Technical Specification

Phoenix 370/S System Upgrade Board
Processor Intel Celeron and Intel Pentium III (FC-PGA) up to 1.3GHz designed for PGA370 ZIF sockets (FCPPGA & PPGA 370)
Chipset SiS 630E 2D/3D Ultra-AGP Single Chipset
Realtek 8139C 10/100M Ethernet
Bios Award BIOS, supports DMI, Plug-and-Play, ACPI, Boot from CD-ROM, LS-120 120MB FDD, ZIP devices, PXE2.1 Anti-virus BIOS for prevention against boot-virus
System Memory 2x 168-pin DIMM sockets, for up to 1.0 GB of SDRAM memory capacity Supports8/16/32/64/128/256/512MB memory modulesECC support
On-board I/O features

1x PS/2 keyboard port
1x PS/2 mouse port
1x VGA port4x USB ports (2 USB option for cable)
1x Floppy port header (supportsLS120)
1x Parallel port header (EPP, ECP port)
1x IrDA TX/RX header
2x Serial port headers (16550 fast UART compatible)
1x MIDI/game port header and 1x audio jack: Line Out, Line In, and MicIn
1x RJ-45 phone jack (10/100Mb Ethernet support)

Advanced features AGP4X 3D Graphics and AC97 audio on-board
Modem ring-in remote power on (for ATX power) Hardware monitoring (fan, temperature, voltage)
Built-in Fast Ethernet controller
PCI Bus master IDE 2x UltraDMA/66 PCI Bus Master IDE Ports, supports up to 66MB/s
Power Connector ATX 20-pin power connector
AT 12-pin power connector
Switching VR Switching voltage regulator supports 1.3V to 3.5V
Form Factor Full Size (250mm x 12mm)

Phoenix 370/S System Upgrade Board

Frequently asked questions on expansion using a Phoenix Upgrage Board

Q Does it have sound ?
A Yes, it has 3D sound built in.

Q Can I use a modem with it?
A Yes, the Phoenix Upgrade can use a modem connected via a USB or serial port.

Q What graphics capability does the Phoenix Board have ?
A The Phoenix Upgrade has AGP 4X 3D graphics built in.

Q What hard drives does the Phoenix Board support ?
A It supports IDE (ATE 66 Disk Interface) drives. It works as well with an ATA100 75 Gb HDD as well as with an old 80 Mb Drive.

Q What about Network interfaces ?
A It has Ethernet 10/100 with full duplex capability built in.

Q Will the Phoenix Upgrade work with a PC with an ATX power supply?
A Yes.

Q Will the Phoenix Upgrade work with a PC with an AT power supply?
A Yes.

Q What if the PC has a non-standard connection for the power supply?
A Custom cable adapters for non-standard power supply connectors can be supplied.

Q Which processors will the Phoenix Upgrade support?
A Intel Celeron, Coppermine Celeron and Pentium III Processors are supported.

Q Are current generation Operating Systems supported ?
A Yes - Windows 2000 and Windows XP are supported.

Technical and Corporate Benefits derived from using the Phoenix Upgrade Board

Technical Benefits
• A comprehensive single board solution at a very competitive price
• Uses current technology · Expansion via legacy Serial/Parallel and USB
• Can be supplied with Disk Flash Module (for operating systems and data)
• Direct support from the manufacturer available
• Development support for special projects and tailoring
• Widely configurable to suit application.
• Standardises redeployment output - effectively one machine.
Allows unused case/power supply stockpiles to be turned into serviceable, high specification machines
• Provides a renewed lease of life for a machine AND manufacturer warranty and direct support, reducing the burden on you the refurbisher
• A single product that suits all desktop, and minitower machines.
• A single upgrade means simple across the board installation procedures and times, assisting in the refurbishment costing process.
• Ideal for refurbishments, providing a single image and hardware configuration, irrespective of the myriad of different machines used.

Corporate Benefits
• Genuinely extends the life of the recipient PC in the region of 2-3 Years
• Rationalises the install base by effectively creating a fleet of one kind of machine.
• Increases reliability by the renewing all of the major components of the system
• Simplifies administration by enabling a single operating system image across all machines with the Phoenix installed. · Eases desktop management by supporting DMI (Desktop management interface)
• Eases out of hours software updates by supporting ACPI and Wake on LAN.
• Simplified installation due to PXE (Pre Execution Environment) support
• Scalable performance enables configuration of the system to suit a wide range of changing application environments. (We can configure memory, processor, graphics, ethernet [see technical spec]).
• Provides a features/functionality upgrade to support the next generation of operating systems and applications: Hardware DVD decoder, USB, AGP 4X, and 3D Sound.
• Can be supplied with a next working day full PC maintenance offering at a very competitive price.
• Uses the cheapest memory technology (SDRAM) where some of the recipient machines may utilise scarce and expensive EDO technology.
• Supports all x86 operating systems, including LINUX.
• Approved for use with Windows 2000 , Windows ME, NT 4.0 and Windows 95/98.
• Offers a solution even when capital equipment freezes prevents the purchase of a new machine
• Provides a considerable saving over the cost of a replacement base unit.
• Cuts out need to deal with disposal of older PCs. This ensures that associated charges and new European Union legal requirements on PC materials re-cycling are met

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