According to the BIOS string Lucky Star Technology should be the manufacturer of this board. I found it also as Pine PT-321 in the stason database.
The special thing about this board is the chipset: it uses the Macronix (MXIC) chipset MX83C305 / MX83C306 which includes 8 kBytes 2nd level cache.
For 16MB of RAM: my board only works stably with memory modules where nine pieces of 4 MegaBits x 1 organized chips are placed (e.g. Lucky GoldStar (LG) GM71C4100).
At modules with two pieces 4 MegaBytes x 4 organized chips (e.g. Hyundai HY5117400) - the board starts but freezes during loading the operation system.
Measured performance of the board
The motherboard supports the AMD 386DX-40 and the Cyrix/TI 486DLC very well.
You don't see a different between memory and cache access but this is clear: I measured the board in the assumption of 256kB cache. But the board has only 8kByte cache...
All measurement results are documented here.
A cache size of 8 kBytes is very small but the board gives the feeling of being fast. I want to compare it with the next motherboard in the list which has a "full" 256kBytes cache: PcChips M321.
A "real" cache boosts significantly the memory throughput. The M321 has app. 19% more memory performance (I remeasured the M321 with only 16MB RAM to be comparable with the Macronix board). But, nevertheless, the Macronix chipset isn't a slow one...
Facts
| Manufacturer: | Lucky Star |
| Year of manufacture: | April 1994 |
| Bios-String: | 30-0200-001256-00101111-111192-MXIC-H |
| Bios: | AMIBIOS (64kBytes) |
| Chipset: | MX83C305AFC (52/1993) MX83C306AFC (02/1994) |
| Manual: | Equal to Pine PT-321 |
Summary
Strong points:
- Small board format but still enough ISA sockets
- Keyboard controller without socket (no height problems on ISA slots)
- Support of 486DLC processors
- Processors with 33 and 40MHz possible (selectable with jumpers)
Weak points:
- Very small cache size
- Only 16MB RAM possible
Macronix MX86010FC ISA VGA card
I bought the matching Macronix VGA card especially for this board... (sorry :o) )
I read somewhere in the web: this is a low cost card but it generates a stable and sharp screen on my TFT monitor.
If someone needs the bios image for this card, it can be found here.
falk.richter*at*yandex.com
Last update: May 22, 2021