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Date:      Tue, 5 Jan 1999 20:33:43 +0000 (GMT)
From:      Doug Rabson <dfr@nlsystems.com>
To:        Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>
Cc:        sthaug@nethelp.no, jamie@itribe.net, freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: PnP PCI modem
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.01.9901052032510.391-100000@herring.nlsystems.com>
In-Reply-To: <199901051954.MAA18014@usr08.primenet.com>

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On Tue, 5 Jan 1999, Terry Lambert wrote:

> > > So, does this mean motherboards with a decent number of PCI slots will
> > > start appearing?
> > 
> > I wouldn't count on it - I think it's more likely that you'll see more
> > USB equipment.
> > 
> > AFAIK it's rather difficult electrically to have more than five slots in
> > one PCI bus. Thus if you need more, you'll need a system with more than
> > one system bus to PCI bridge. Thus higher cost, lower volume.
> 
> This is a current issue, and is related to the chipset.
> 
> Apple has a good PCI chipset, as does DEC; I believe both support
> 6 slots without a bridge because they have seperate lines for 6
> slots.  The Intel chips tend to have only 4 lines; some motherboard
> manufacturers double up one of the lines to get 5 slots.  I suspect
> you could double up some of the lines on the DEC chip; don't know
> about the Apple.

Not sure about Apple but the Dec alpha box which I have (with 6 slots)
uses a pci-pci bridge.

--
Doug Rabson				Mail:  dfr@nlsystems.com
Nonlinear Systems Ltd.			Phone: +44 181 442 9037



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