PC System Design Guide: Difference between revisions

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{{More citations needed|date=April 2023}}

{{Short description|Series of hardware design requirements and recommendations}}

The '''PC System Design Guide''' (also known as the '''PC-97''', '''PC-98''', '''PC-99''', or '''PC 2001''' specification) is a series of hardware design requirements and recommendations for [[IBM PC compatible]] [[personal computer]]s, compiled by [[Microsoft]] and [[Intel Corporation]] during 1997–2001. They were aimed at helping manufacturers provide hardware that made the best use of the capabilities of the [[Microsoft Windows]] operating system, and to simplify setup and use of such computers.

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==Versions==

Four versions of the PC System Design Guide were released. In PC-97, a distinction was made between the requirements of a ''Basic PC'', a ''Workstation PC'' and an ''Entertainment PC''. In PC-98, the ''Mobile PC'' was added as a category. In PC 2001, the ''Entertainment PC'' was dropped.

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===PC-97===

Required:

* 120 MHz [[Pentium (original)|Pentium]] or, MIPS [[R4000|R4x00]] or, Digital [[Alpha 21064]] (EV4) or [[PowerPC|IBM PowerPC]] architecture (latter three only under [[Windows NT]])

* 16 MB RAM

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===PC-98===

(Not to be confused with NEC's incompatible [[PC-98]] series)

Aimed at systems to be used with [[Windows 98]] or [[Windows 2000]]. Required:

* 200 MHz Pentium processor with [[MMX (instruction set)|MMX]] technology (or equivalent performance)

* 256 KB [[L2 cache]]

* 32 MB [[Random -access memory|RAM]] (recommended: 64 MB of 66 MHz DRAM)

* [[Advanced Configuration and Power Interface|ACPI]] 1.0 (including power button behavior)

* Fast [[BIOS]] power-up (limited RAM test, no floppy test, minimal startup display, etc.)

* BIOS [[Year 2000 problem|Y2K]] compliance

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* 300 MHz CPU

* 64 MB RAM

* [[Universal Serial Bus|USB]]

* Comprehensive color-coding scheme for ports and connectors (see below)

Strongly discouraged:

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* 64 MB RAM

Final version. First to require IO-[[Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller|APIC]]s to be enabled on all desktop systems. Places a greatly increased emphasis on legacy-reduced and [[legacy-free PC|legacy-free]] systems. Some "legacy" items such as ISA expansion slots and device dependence on MS-DOS are forbidden entirely, while others are merely strongly discouraged.<ref>{{cite webbook|url=http://www.freeopenbook.com/pc-hardware-nutshell-3/pchardnut3-chp-1-sect-1.html |access-date=January 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711032416/http://www.freeopenbook.com/pc-hardware-nutshell-3/pchardnut3-chp-1-sect-1.html |archive-date=July 11, 2011|isbn=0-596-00513-X|page=1.1 PCs Defined|edition=3rd|title=PC Hardware in a Nutshell|publisher=O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.|authorsauthor=Robert Bruce Thompson, |author2=Barbara Fritchman Thompson |date=24 July 2003 }}</ref>

PC 2001 removes compatibility for the [[A20 line]]: "If A20M# generation logic is still present in the system, this logic must be

terminated such that software writes to I/O port 92, bit 1, do not result in A20M# being asserted to the processor."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.tech-insider.org/windows/research/acrobat/001102/03sys-2001.pdf |publisher=Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation. |title=PC 2001 System Design Guide |chapter=Chapter 3 PC System |quote=SYS–0047. A20M# is always de-asserted (pulled high) at the processor |page=52 |access-date=2023-06-03 }}</ref>

== Color-coding scheme for connectors and ports ==

[[File:Soundblasterlive1024 2connectors.png|thumb|Color coded [[sound card]] connector on a [[Sound Blaster]]]]

Perhaps the most end-user visible and lasting impact of PC 99 was that it introduced a [[color code]] for the various standard types of plugs and connectors used on PCs.<ref>[http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/pcguides.mspx PC 99 System Design Guide], Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, 14 July 1999. Chapter 3: PC 99 basic requirements ([http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000pro/PCG/1.0/NT5/EN-US/pc99v1a.exe PC 99 System Design Guide (Self-extracting .exe archive)]. Requirement 3.18.3: Systems use a color-coding scheme for connectors and ports. Accessed 2009-02-05</ref> As many of the connectors look very similar, particularly to a novice PC user, this made it far easier for people to connect peripherals to the correct ports on a PC. This color code was gradually adopted by almost all PC and [[PC motherboard|motherboard]] manufacturers. Some of the color codes have also been widely adopted by peripheral manufacturers.

{{multiple image

| total_width = 230

| direction = vertical

| image1 = Shuttle XS29F - Backview (3565351519).jpg

| image2 = Mini-itx-motherboard.jpg

| footer = Color-coded motherboard [[ATX#Connectors|ATX connectors]]

}}

Perhaps the most end-user visible and lasting impact of PC 99 was that it introduced a [[color code]] for the various standard types of plugs and connectors used on PCs.<ref>[http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/pcguides.mspx PC 99 System Design Guide], Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, 14 July 1999. Chapter 3: PC 99 basic requirements ([http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000pro/PCG/1.0/NT5/EN-US/pc99v1a.exe PC 99 System Design Guide (Self-extracting .exe archive)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216004214/http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000pro/PCG/1.0/NT5/EN-US/pc99v1a.exe |date=2007-02-16 }}. Requirement 3.18.3: Systems use a color-coding scheme for connectors and ports. Accessed 2009-02-05</ref> As many of the connectors look very similar, particularly to a novice PC user, this made it far easier for people to connect peripherals to the correct ports on a PC. This color code was gradually adopted by almost all PC and [[PC motherboard|motherboard]] manufacturers. Some of the color codes have also been widely adopted by peripheral manufacturers.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! colspan="2" | Color / [[Pantone|Pantone value]] !! Function !! Connector on PC

|-

! colspan="5" | [[MouseComputer (computing)mouse|Mouse]] and [[KeyboardComputer (computing)keyboard|keyboard]]

|-

! style="background-color: #00c389;" | &nbsp;&nbsp;

! [[Green]] / 3395C

| [[PS/2 connectorport|PS/2]] [[MouseComputer (computing)mouse|mouse]] / [[pointing device]]

| rowspan="2" | 6-pin [[Mini-DIN connector|mini-DIN]] female

|-

! style="background-color: #8b84d7;" | &nbsp;

! [[Purple]] / 2715C

| PS/2 [[KeyboardComputer (computing)keyboard|keyboard]]

| 6-pin mini-DIN female

|-

! style="background-color: #cc8a00;" | &nbsp;

! [[Gold (color)|Gold]] / 131C

| [[Game port]] / [[Musical Instrument Digital Interface|MIDI]]

| 15-pin D female

|-

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|-

! style="background-color: #25282a;" | &nbsp;

! [[Black]] / 426C

| [[Universal Serial Bus#USB 1|USB]] 1

| USB Type A female

|-

! style="background-color: #707372;" | &nbsp;

! [[Grey]] / 424C

| [[IEEE 1394]] (FireWire)

| 6-pin FireWire 400

|-

! style="background-color: #840b55;" | &nbsp;

! [[Burgundy (color)|Burgundy]] / 235C

| [[Parallel port]]

| 25-pin [[D-subminiature|D]] female

|-

! style="background-color: #007377;" | &nbsp;

! [[Teal (color)|Teal]] or [[Turquoise (color)|turquoise]] / 322C

| [[Serial port]]

| 9-pin [[D-subminiature|D]] male

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|-

! style="background-color: #003594;" | &nbsp;

! [[Blue]] / 661C

| Analog monitor

| [[VGA connector|15-pin VGA]] female

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|-

! style="background-color: #ffc72c;" | &nbsp;

! [[Yellow]] / 123C

| Video out: [[S-Video]]

| 4-pin [[Mini-DIN connector|mini-DIN]]

|-

! style="background-color: #ffc72c;" | &nbsp;

! [[Yellow]] / 123C

| Video out: [[Composite video]]

| [[RCA connector|RCA jack]]

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|-

! style="background-color: #e68699;" | &nbsp;

! [[Pink]] / 701C

| Analog [[microphone]] audio input (mono or stereo).

| rowspan="5" | 3.5&nbsp;mm [[TRSPhone connector (audio)|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: #6cace4;" | &nbsp;

! Light [[blue]] / 284C

| Analog [[line level]] audio input.

| 3.5&nbsp;mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: #a9c47f;" | &nbsp;

! [[Lime (color)|Lime green]] / 577C

| Analog line level audio output.

| 3.5&nbsp;mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: #eca154;" | &nbsp;

! [[Orange (colorcolour)|Orange]] / 157C

| Analog audio output for the center speaker and [[Subwoofer]]

| 3.5&nbsp;mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|-

! style="background-color: #ad7c59;" | &nbsp;

! [[Brown]] / 4645C

| Analog audio output for "right-to-left" speakers.

| 3.5&nbsp;mm [[TRS connector|TRS]]

|}

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* [[Multimedia PC]]

* [[Sound card]]

* [[IBM PC–compatible]]

* [[PoweredUSB]] (proprietary high-power USB extension using other color-coded ports)

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==External links==

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141127014030/http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34585 Legacy PC Design Guides] – Microsoft Download Center

'''PDF versions:'''