APU Board Types

There have been 4 different types of APU boards sold by Xenetech over the years.  The first board was approximately 13 inches long thusly called a "long board".  As computers evolved, their cases became smaller, so we had to shorten the APU board.  This board became known as the "short board".  And yes you guessed it, we call it the short board because is it about half the length of the long board.  Both of these board styles connected to an ASI slot on the computers motherboard.  Back then, this was the standard slot.  However, as technology grew, new types of connectors emerged and the ASI slot was quickly growing extinct.  To get a computer that used an ASI slot had to be ordered and could not be picked up at the local computer store.  

Once again we had to come up with a solution.  Xenetech's latest APU card connects to the PCI slot on the computers motherboard.  This new card is extremely user friendly and unlike the older boards, there are no jumpers on the card that need to be set.  The computers Plug and Play will detect the APU card much like any other card installed today.  After installing the provided driver, the APU card is ready to use with no additional setup.

How Do I Know What Type of APU Board I Have?

The first step in determining what type of board is installed in your computer will require removing the cover from the computer and looking at the APU board.  If the board is over 7 inches long, then it is a long board.  If the board is under 7 inches long then it is either a short board or a PCI card.

Determining the Long Board

There are two types of long boards:

• 8 bit long board - This was our first APU board and was used with the standard electronics.

• 16 bit long boards - When we switched to Micro-stepper electronics, we needed a faster card to handle the job.

The easiest way to determine what type of long board you might have is to remove the board itself from the machine.   If you do this, be sure that the computer is turned off and is unplugged from the wall outlet.  Once the board is removed, look at the connectors that plug into the computer motherboard.  The 8 bit board has one set of connectors where the 16 bit board will have 2 sets.

The 8 bit long board is approximately 13 inches long and as you can see from the diagram above, there is only one set of connectors that would plug into the motherboard.  The 16 bit board will have 2 sets of connectors.

The 16 bit long board is approximately 13 inches long as well and as you can see from the diagram above, there are two sets of connectors that would plug into the motherboard.  The 8 bit board will have 1 set of connectors.

Determining the short board or the PCI card.

If after opening the computers case and viewing the APU card you notice that it is not a long card, look at the connector that the APU card is plugged into.

• If your APU card fits into a brown or black colored connector, then you are using a short card.

• If your APU card fits into a white or off white connector, then you are using a PCI card.

            Short Card                                             PCI Card

It is a good idea that once the type of board has been determined, a notation be made of which type it is and what computer it is installed on.  Software installations and technical support will need to know this information about the boards.