The inputs aren't 5V tolerant when powered at 3V. The Phillips spec
is Vcc + 0.5V. So the maximum specified voltage would be 3.5V.
yes, that's why I regret bringing that into the question, at the moment of posting I was in a whirlwind of seeing the "best of electronics sites" on google where every other thread had conflicting information
once I got a chance to purge the garbage from my mind, read the responses, and thought about it, much came apparent
Thanks again for all the help
Ps: all this is just cloud theory atm, trying to wrap my head around a (not too distant) future project, but I will be working with upwards 15 volts and various negitive voltages scattered about the board
I don't want to slip once and have to wait 4 days till a new port card comes in, or worse fry my pci bus