Weird 486 DX4

[cedrik]

I got this Card-PC.. should be a 486 DX4 .. That Epson chip looking like a mobile pentium it's the 486? i didnt checked the other side...
Thank you

[cuttingedgecs]

I don't think that's the 486. These cards contained the chipset as well as the CPU. They are a complete computer minus the storage. I believe the Epson chip in the picture is the North Bridge.

The other side should contain the 486 (on the other side of the metal heat sink bit you can see at the bottom there), the south bridge (also an epson part, part number should start with "SPC"), and a DRAM chip (opposite of where the empty chip space is on this side - these came with 2 memory size options, and yours appears to be one with the lower amount of memory)

[cuttingedgecs]

I couldn't find the manual for this exact model, but these related models should give you the idea of what you have here
http://download.epson-europe.com/pub/electronics-de/card-pc/

[cedrik]

Thanks.. i also found this manual with more pictures for similar cards-PC

http://download.epson-europe.com/pub/electronics-de/card-pc/general/card_pci_e.pdf

unfortunately is kinda glued and i dont risk to break it.. maybe i'll find a picture of the exact 486D4 card

[cedrik]

seems to be rare since there are only a few infos about them

[cedrik]

i also found this article:

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/CardPCs_Ready_For_Station_Duty.html

[cuttingedgecs]

I couldn't tell you how many were made, or what they went into, but the fact that the lineup started with a 486sx, and continued to be developed up to a NS GX, and was also forked into an SH-3, tells me the range was successful. It may or may not be rare by now, but there must have been quite a few made originally. Your D4, not being in the European catalogue may mean it was a short run that was asian release only (and quickly replaced globally by the 586 model), so possibly the rarest of these cardpcs.

[Mixeur]

I have a similar card :

http://mixeur.x86-guide.com/en/collection/Intel-486SX-33-TQFP-cpu-no129-top.html

[cedrik]

[shanchya]

Can't resist myself (apology for posting a different 486 on your post mate) ..... here is mine

[cedrik]

[shanchya]

[Guest]

Hey guys I have a similar card I’ll try to get some info

Originally to seems like these cards were developed by S-MOS in California in the late 90’s, then were bought by Epson

A couple of different CNC controllers used these cards for their computer front end, and handed commands off to the machine mention controller.

Mitsubishi used this until they were obsolete and then made a Control upgrade which used a similar Embedded SBC that Mitsubishi made.

A big plus to the CardPC package was it was tiny, low power draw, and mostly environmental resistance. In industrial environments the air can be very humid and/or full of oil vapors which can condense on boards. While not exactly airtight the CardPC’s used in these controls were in a somewhat sealed case and lasted pretty well.

I’m no expert but that’s what I know