Can't find motherboard with ALL these features

[Gibbo]

Could someone help me out, I've searched high and low but cannot find a motherboard with ALL the following features:

Intel 975 chipset
Supports 533 DDR2 RAM
At least 1 x PCI-e x16 port
At least 3 x PCI 2.2
Parallel port
Support for at least 3 IDE devices (including 1 ATAPI device) ie 2 IDE channels.
+ several SATA


It seems like a simple list...I thought the Asus P5W DH Deluxe would fit the bill but discovered [thankfully in time] that it doesn't have a parallel port. All the Asus975 boards that have parallel ports have only 2 PCI 2.2 slots or just 1 IDE port so they're no good.

Am I asking too much?

[Steve B]

what do you need the parallel port for anyhoo?

[Gibbo]

MOTU 8 x 8 midi interface.

[Lee H]

Can you not use either a PCI Parallel card or a USB to Parallel adaptor?

This then would open up the range of boards you can use

[wja96]

I don't know of one, but the 975X Platinum PowerUp Edition has everything on your list but only 2 PCI ports. Could you swap one of your PCI devices for a PCIe device?

[Gibbo]

USB to Parallel adaptor?

I was unaware such a device existed but that could well be the solution. I assume the data transfer rate is more than adequate?

[Steve B]

if you're interfacing with a computer program, that looks for incoming data on a parallel port, it wont be possible, but if thats not the case then yes, it would be a good idea.

[Gibbo]

if you're interfacing with a computer program, that looks for incoming data on a parallel port, it wont be possible, but if thats not the case then yes, it would be a good idea.

Sonar won't specifically look for data on the parallel port.
As long as the midi interface is recognised in the device manager as a midi port then I should be able to tell Sonar to look for midi data there. Sonar can accomodate midi interfaces via PCI/Parallel/USB/Firewire as long as device manager is able to install the midi device.

So I don't anticipate a problem with a USB-Parallel conversion...I hope.

However - might there be driver issues?

[Steve B]

converters can be picked up in Maplin for only a few bob, so its worth a shot on current hardware to see if it works

[directhex]

p5wdg2 workstation pro. not cheap, but ticks all the boxes. ish. has 2x pci and 2x pci-x (full-length 64-bit pci) which is fine for regular pci devices.

[directhex]

wait, my mistake, only has one IDE connector

[Steve B]

you could use the extra PCI-X slot for an IDE controller?

[Gibbo]

p5wdg2 workstation pro. not cheap, but ticks all the boxes. ish. has 2x pci and 2x pci-x (full-length 64-bit pci) which is fine for regular pci devices.

nope - only 1 x UDMA 133/100 IDE channel so support for only 2 IDE devices

[Gibbo]

2x pci-x (full-length 64-bit pci) which is fine for regular pci devices.

How does a 32bit PCI card fit in those 64bit PCI sockets? The pin arrangement looks very different to me.

[dave87]

It does work

With the only 1 IDE channel, you could use an IDE to SATA adapter - Abit's Serrielle (sp?) was probably the most famous incarnation of this

[Steve B]

PCI cards usually have 2 notches, so they can fit into PCI-X sockets