P8/P9 Connectors

[hackrgrl]

Does anyone know the reason behind IBM's design of the P8/P9 connectors? In particular, why did they design them as two seperate connectors? Considering the potential risk of inserting them without putting the 'black wires together in the middle' that could be disastrous, I'm surprised they didn't design a single connector originally, like the P1. What changed to allow for the new P1 design, if anything?

I'm curious if there is a reason for the duel connector design thats not obvious.

Anyone know or care to venture a guess? All suggestions welcome. Thanks!

[mjc]

This is my own opinion, with no evidence to support it:

I think that when they settled on that design, noone was thinking that your average consumer would want to get inside the box and actually change things.

I can see no real advantage for it. I have not seen any mobos that split the connector, placing one here and th other somewhere else.

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mjc
Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.


Please Post Questions in the forums, not my email. Thanks

[old_kid]

Hey hack:

It would have been logical to do so. One connector had 12 volts and one connector had 5 volts - and in those days, it was pretty common practice to make separate voltage buses etc going back many years.

When ATX came along, and with it, the addition of 3.3Volts, and "soft power on" - I guess it finally occured to someone to make one combined connector instead of adding a 3rd connector for the 3.3 volts.

There were also many tecnological advances made with more and more devices running at lower voltages, power management, breaking the 33Mhz barrier that existed due to RF interference, smaller and smaller circuits, combining of several single dips for various functions into multifunction chips etc.

This allowed stepping away from many old conventions and practices that had been standard for years.
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Good Judgement comes from Experience - Experience comes from Bad Judgement - but bad judgement is more fun!!