New ISA Motherboards: Buying Guide

Mar 27, 2015

NIXSYS supplies new ISA motherboards, built on the same platforms as NIXSYS ISA slot computers, for customers who build or repair their own systems. The current range covers 5 boards with 1 to 3 full-size ISA slots, priced from $195.00 to $695.00. Motherboards purchased separately carry a 1-year parts-and-labor warranty and ship from Irvine, California.

This guide compares the ISA motherboards in the range, explains when a board makes more sense than a complete system, and lists what to check before fitting one into an existing chassis.

ISA Motherboards Compared

Board	Processor and chipset	ISA slots	PCI slots	Form factor	Price
NX370-Y	Intel Pentium III, VIA 8601A	1 full-size	3	mATX	$195.00
NX370	Intel Pentium III, VIA 8601A	1 full-size	3	mATX	$295.00
NX853	Intel Celeron or Pentium 4, Intel 845GV	3 full-size	2	ATX	$395.00
NX945	Intel Celeron or Pentium D, Intel 945GV	2 full-size	5	ATX	$465.00
NX800	Intel Celeron or Pentium 4, Intel 845GV	3 full-size	4	ATX	$695.00

Each board has 1 serial port and 1 parallel port.

Operating System Support

NX370 and NX370-Y: MS-DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98 SE, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Linux.
NX853 and NX800: MS-DOS, Windows 98 SE, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Linux.
NX945: MS-DOS, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 7 and Linux.

How to Choose

Count the ISA cards. One card fits any board. Two cards need the NX945, NX853 or NX800. Three cards need the NX853 or NX800.
Count the PCI cards. The NX945 has 5 32-bit PCI slots, the NX800 has 4, the NX370 boards have 3 and the NX853 has 2.
Match the operating system. Windows 95 requires an NX370 board. Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 98 SE rules out the NX945. Windows 7 requires the NX945.
Check the chassis. The NX370 boards are mATX. The NX853, NX945 and NX800 are ATX and need a chassis with ATX mounting and enough expansion slot openings for every card.

Motherboard or Complete System?

A motherboard suits customers who already have a working chassis, power supply and drives, or who maintain spares for a fleet of identical machines. A complete NIXSYS system suits customers who want the whole unit assembled, tested and covered by the 2-year system warranty instead of the 1-year motherboard warranty. The same platforms are available as complete systems: see New Computers with ISA Slots.

Before Fitting a Board

Power supply. Confirm the existing power supply provides the connectors and wattage the new board and processor require. A power supply from a much older system may not.
ISA resources. Record the I/O address, IRQ and DMA settings of each ISA card and reserve them for ISA in the new board's BIOS.
Drivers. Driver packages for the NX37x, NX800, NX85X and NX945 boards are on the NIXSYS Support page.
Warranty terms. The NIXSYS warranty asks customers to email support@nixsys.com before adding or changing components in a NIXSYS system. See the warranty and return policy.

Legacy Boards Without ISA Slots

If the application needs 32-bit PCI slots and serial ports but not ISA, NIXSYS also supplies newer boards that keep those interfaces. The NX81, NX581, NX75 and NX781 support Windows XP. The NX586 and NX786 support Windows 7 through Windows 10 with 6 or more serial ports. See the full motherboard collection.