The Blog

Amstrad Sega Mega PC Controller

Nix McRetro // 24th March 2012 // IBM PC, Sega

Picked this up on eBay from the UK and gave it a bit of a clean. It has become my favourite Mega Drive controller. Internally it is much the same as another Mega Drive controller I cleaned yesterday, although that one sadly had some tabs snapped off the D-pad. Amstrad’s... Continue reading

Amstrad Sega Mega PC Disassembled

Nix McRetro // 22nd March 2012 // IBM PC, Repairs, Sega

A quick look inside the Amstrad Mega PC with the system pulled apart. The Sega Mega Drive hardware sits on a dedicated ISA card inside the PC. This is the same machine that arrived in not-so-good condition with NiCad battery corrosion on the motherboard. Related posts Amstrad Sega Mega PC... Continue reading

Math Coprocessors and You

Nix McRetro // 22nd March 2012 // IBM PC, Repairs, Sega

Or, more specifically, math coprocessors for the Amstrad Mega PC and my 486SLC upgrade. The ULSI US83S87 Advanced Math Coprocessor is intended for 33 MHz SX/SLC systems. This one has a 9401 date code and comes in a 68-pin PLCC package. 387SX-compatible math coprocessors use the sort of external interface... Continue reading

Amstrad Sega Mega PC 486SLC Upgrade Experiment

Nix McRetro // 21st March 2012 // IBM PC, Repairs, Sega

Amstrad Sega Mega PC 486SLC Upgrade Experiment

Browsing the internet, I came across an Amstrad PC7486SLC motherboard. I couldn’t help noticing how similar it looked to the Mega PC motherboard. Since my Mega PC was already giving me grief with its hard-drive controller, having another related Amstrad motherboard around for spare parts seemed like a pretty good... Continue reading

Amstrad Sega Mega PC 386SX Overview

Nix McRetro // 20th March 2012 // IBM PC, Sega, YouTube

Just a quick demo to show the Mega Drive and 386SX PC sections functioning as well as can be expected for their age. Above is the Amstrad Mega PC with its original monitor connected. The supplied display is a dual-sync monitor designed to handle both the PC and Mega Drive... Continue reading