AlphaPC64 Motherboard User's Manual

This document is the User's Manual for the AlphaPC64 Motherboard, published by Digital Equipment Corporation in July 1995.

The AlphaPC64 Motherboard is a computing system module based on the Alpha 21064A microprocessor (running at 200-275 MHz) and the DECchip 21072 chipset. It is designed to support the Windows NT operating system, with information also available for Digital UNIX and OpenVMS.

Key features and components of the AlphaPC64 include:

• Memory Subsystem: Supports 16MB to 512MB of DRAM using 72-pin SIMMs, and an external Level 2 (L2) cache (512KB, 2MB, or 8MB) configurable via onboard jumpers and using L2 cache SIMMs.
• Expansion Buses: Features PCI (three dedicated, one shared slot) and ISA (two dedicated, one shared slot) interfaces.
• Integrated Peripherals: Includes controllers for diskettes, IDE devices, two RS423-compatible serial ports, one Centronics-compatible parallel port, and PS/2 keyboard and mouse. It also has a Time-of-Year (TOY) function and a 1MB Flash ROM.
• Firmware: The 1MB Flash ROM contains both Windows NT ARC firmware and a debug monitor, which can be used for system initialization, booting, and debugging. Firmware images can be selected via hardware jumpers or software commands.
• Configuration: The manual details the extensive use of jumpers for configuring clock frequency, L2 cache size and speed, and boot options.
• Power & Physical Characteristics: It is a Baby-AT-size board (22.1 cm x 33.0 cm) and requires a user-supplied standard PC power supply providing +12V, -12V, -5V, +5V, and +3.3V DC, with specific power requirements and environmental operating conditions.

The manual provides comprehensive guidance for users on installing the board, populating it with memory modules and peripheral cards, configuring both hardware and software, and understanding the functional elements of the motherboard (such as interrupt logic and power distribution). It also lists hardware and software requirements and information for technical support and ordering.