PC System Design Guide

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 computers, 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.

Every part of a standard computer and the most common kinds of peripheral devices are defined with specific requirements. Systems and devices that meet the specification should be automatically recognized and configured by the operating system.

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.

Version Date
PC-97 February 9, 1998
PC-98 December 31, 1998
PC-99 July 14, 1999
PC 2001 November 2, 2000

PC-97

Required:

Initial version.

PC-98

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

  • 200 MHz Pentium processor with MMX technology (or equivalent performance)
  • 256 KB L2 cache
  • 32 MB RAM (recommended: 64 MB of 66 MHz DRAM)
  • ACPI 1.0 (including power button behavior)
  • Fast BIOS power-up (limited RAM test, no floppy test, minimal startup display, etc.)
  • BIOS Y2K compliance
  • PXE preboot environment

It was published as ISBN 1-57231-716-7.

PC-99

Required:

  • 300 MHz CPU
  • 64 MB RAM
  • USB
  • Comprehensive color-coding scheme for ports and connectors (see below)

Strongly discouraged:

It was published as ISBN 0-7356-0518-1.

PC 2001

Required:

  • 667 MHz CPU
  • 64 MB RAM

Final version. First to require IO-APICs to be enabled on all desktop systems. Places a greatly increased emphasis on legacy-reduced and 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.[1]

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."[2]

Color-coding scheme for connectors and ports
Color coded sound card connector on a Soundblaster
Color-coded motherboard 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.[3] 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 motherboard manufacturers. Some of the color codes have also been widely adopted by peripheral manufacturers.

Color / pantoneFunctionConnector on PC
Mouse and keyboard
   Green / 3395C PS/2 mouse / pointing device 6-pin mini-DIN female
  Purple / 2715C PS/2 keyboard 6-pin mini-DIN female
  Gold / 131C Game port / MIDI 15-pin D female
General input/output
  Black / 426C USB 1 USB Type A female
  Grey / 424C IEEE 1394 (FireWire) 6-pin FireWire 400
  Burgundy / 235C Parallel port 25-pin D female
  Teal or turquoise / 322C Serial port 9-pin D male
Video
  Blue / 661C Analog monitor 15-pin VGA female
  White Digital monitor DVI female
  Yellow / 123C Video out: S-Video 4-pin mini-DIN
  Yellow / 123C Video out: Composite video RCA jack
Audio
  Pink / 701C Analog microphone audio input (mono or stereo). 3.5 mm TRS
  Light blue / 284C Analog line level audio input. 3.5 mm TRS
  Lime green / 577C Analog line level audio output. 3.5 mm TRS
  Orange / 157C Analog audio output for the center speaker and Subwoofer 3.5 mm TRS
  Brown / 4645C Analog audio output for "right-to-left" speakers. 3.5 mm TRS

See also

References
  1. Robert Bruce Thompson; Barbara Fritchman Thompson (24 July 2003). PC Hardware in a Nutshell (3rd ed.). O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. p. 1.1 PCs Defined. ISBN 0-596-00513-X. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  2. "Chapter 3 PC System". PC 2001 System Design Guide (PDF). Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation. p. 52. Retrieved 2023-06-03. SYS–0047. A20M# is always de-asserted (pulled high) at the processor
  3. PC 99 System Design Guide, Intel Corporation and Microsoft Corporation, 14 July 1999. Chapter 3: PC 99 basic requirements (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

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