🚀 go-pugleaf

>I'm in the mood to upgrade my PC, but I'm not sure what to do.
>My systems specifics are:  Zeos 486dx-33, vesa local bus, 8mb of ram,
>Diamond Speedstar Pro video card with 1mb of ram.  I use Windows for
>work and exit to DOS for games and graphics.

>I had considered replacing the CPU with a dx2-66, but after reading
>articles in PC MAG and PC World, I don't think I'd get that much of a
>performance boost for the money.  So, would I get noticeably better
>system performance by adding a 256k ram cache?  Or from a video card
>with 2mb of ram?  (Model recommendations?) Any other good ideas?

>Any advice greatly appreciated. :)
>--Anthony

There is one company selling s dx4-100 with a voltage adapter, that may show 
some noticeable/worthwhile improvement. I also believe that Intel is supposed 
to be releasing a dx4-100 upgrade for the 5 volt systems, like ours (mines is 
the vlb dx2-66) Personally, I'm just gonna save and wait for a p-120 or p150, 
when those come out.....Zeos, of course!

==============================================================
   Barry A Barr            Chicago            barry@mcs.com
             FTP: ftp.mcs.net//mcsnet.users/barry
        Home Page: http://www.mcs.net/~barry/home.html
==============================================================

In article <19941104224623ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan) writes:
>From: ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan)
>Subject: Upgrade Suggestions?
>Date: Fri, 04 Nov 1994 22:46

>Hi all,

>I'm in the mood to upgrade my PC, but I'm not sure what to do.
>My systems specifics are:  Zeos 486dx-33, vesa local bus, 8mb of ram,
>Diamond Speedstar Pro video card with 1mb of ram.  I use Windows for
>work and exit to DOS for games and graphics.

>I had considered replacing the CPU with a dx2-66, but after reading
>articles in PC MAG and PC World, I don't think I'd get that much of a
>performance boost for the money.  So, would I get noticeably better
>system performance by adding a 256k ram cache?  Or from a video card
>with 2mb of ram?  (Model recommendations?) Any other good ideas?

Wait!  Think Windows 95.  Wait until late 95 and purchace a 90MHz
Pentium machine, 16MB RAM or better, 1GB HD, and Plug&Play
accessory cards.  Have you noted how the pricing of hard drives,
monitors, etc., have been comming down lately.  Although the price
of Pentium mainboards will not drop much further by late 95
the price of Pentium sysems *with* Windows 95 installed shoud be
within reach of high-use users.  Just start saving your money
now.  That's what I'm doing.  I'm not upgrading anything untill
late 95, software or hardware.

==============================================================
 Ed Redondo  |  The truth of a proposition has nothing to do
             |  with its credibility.  And vice versa.
==============================================================

>>>>> "evrwrite" == Ed Redondo <evrwrite@powergrid.electriciti.com> writes:

    evrwrite> In article <19941104224623ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU>
    evrwrite> ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan) writes:
    >> From: ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan) Subject: Upgrade
    >> Suggestions?  Date: Fri, 04 Nov 1994 22:46

    >> Hi all,

    >> I'm in the mood to upgrade my PC, but I'm not sure what to do.
    >> My systems specifics are: Zeos 486dx-33, vesa local bus, 8mb of
    >> ram, Diamond Speedstar Pro video card with 1mb of ram.  I use
    >> Windows for work and exit to DOS for games and graphics.

    >> I had considered replacing the CPU with a dx2-66, but after
    >> reading articles in PC MAG and PC World, I don't think I'd get
    >> that much of a performance boost for the money.  So, would I
    >> get noticeably better system performance by adding a 256k ram
    >> cache?  Or from a video card with 2mb of ram?  (Model
    >> recommendations?) Any other good ideas?

    evrwrite> Wait!  Think Windows 95.  Wait until late 95 and
    evrwrite> purchace a 90MHz Pentium machine, 16MB RAM or better,
    evrwrite> 1GB HD, and Plug&Play accessory cards.  Have you noted
    evrwrite> how the pricing of hard drives, monitors, etc., have
    evrwrite> been comming down lately.  Although the price of Pentium
    evrwrite> mainboards will not drop much further by late 95 the
    evrwrite> price of Pentium sysems *with* Windows 95 installed
    evrwrite> shoud be within reach of high-use users.  Just start
    evrwrite> saving your money now.  That's what I'm doing.  I'm not
    evrwrite> upgrading anything untill late 95, software or hardware.

Gawd...another Microsoft Zombie...."Let's just wait another year to 
get an operating system that has not even been proven...and will be
a huge hardware hog!"  

Give OS/2 3.0 a try!  You will be quite pleased!
--

Wally Crapps              | Center for           | The above opinions are
wall@cimar.me.ufl.edu     | Intelligent          | obviously claimed by me
CIMAR Dept., Univ. of FL  | Machines And Robots  | and me alone.

GO IRISH!!!!!! 				GO GATORS!!!!
Words to live by:  He who dies with the most toys wins!!!
"Ya can't spell it, but it eats good."  - The Natural
"In a pig's poop!  That ball is drier than your gramdpappy's scalp!" 
	- The Natural

On 06 Nov 1994 18:27:06 GMT Wally Crapps (wall@cimar.me.ufl.edu) wrote:

: Gawd...another Microsoft Zombie...."Let's just wait another year to 
: get an operating system that has not even been proven...and will be
: a huge hardware hog!"  

: Give OS/2 3.0 a try!  You will be quite pleased!

Give Linux a try!  I know I'm pleased :)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Sneeringer                                                CrowMan @ EFnet
crowman@netcom.com      jsneerin@flute.aix.calpoly.edu      jsneerin@slonet.org

In article <evrwrite.311.0043A72E@powergrid.electriciti.com>, evrwrite@powergrid.electriciti.com (Ed Redondo) writes:
> In article <19941104224623ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan) writes:
>>From: ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan)
> 
>>I'm in the mood to upgrade my PC, but I'm not sure what to do.
>>My systems specifics are:  Zeos 486dx-33, vesa local bus, 8mb of ram,
>>Diamond Speedstar Pro video card with 1mb of ram.  I use Windows for
>>work and exit to DOS for games and graphics. [...]
> 
> Wait!  Think Windows 95.  Wait until late 95 and purchace a 90MHz
> Pentium machine, 16MB RAM or better, 1GB HD, and Plug&Play
> accessory cards.  Have you noted how the pricing of hard drives,
> monitors, etc., have been comming down lately.

The prices of hard drives, monitors, memory, CPU's, etc, have all
been dropping fairly steadily for the last 30-40 years (well before
the PC came out), and there is no indication that the trend will
stop any time in the near future.  As long as this is true, the
price will always be better next year, and there will not be a point
at which the prices start `bottoming out'.  What keeps happening is
that the low-end machines are simply removed from the market -- just
try getting a 286-based machine nowadays, let alone one like the
original 8088!  Even a (new) 386 is hard to find.  In a year you will
be able to buy something like a P-120 or P-150 or so instead of a
`mere' P-90, and _that_ will be the new `power users' machine.

The moral is, if you can justify upgrading now on economic grounds,
you may well be better off doing that & enjoying the benefits of
the more powerful machine immediately rather than waiting.  There
are always borderline cases where it's arguable, and situations
where a major manufacturer is about to announce major price cuts,
but if you just keep sitting and waiting you'll never get around
to getting the higher-performance machine.

The question to ask is, how much is the slower machine costing you,
in extra time & possibly lower reliability (due to older parts), and
in the difficult-to-define aggravation factor.  If it's not costing
you much but a few seconds of aggravation you may want to wait
(depending on how much free cash you have and how much you want to
reduce that aggravation).  If it's costing you serious money (time=
money), then you might as well go for it now.

Bruce C. Wright

In article <evrwrite.311.0043A72E@powergrid.electriciti.com> evrwrite@powergrid.electriciti.com (Ed Redondo) writes:
>From: evrwrite@powergrid.electriciti.com (Ed Redondo)
>Subject: Re: Upgrade Suggestions?
>Date: Sun, 6 Nov 1994 09:25:37 LOCAL

>In article <19941104224623ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU
>(Anthony Ragan) writes:
>>From: ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan)
>>Subject: Upgrade Suggestions?
>>Date: Fri, 04 Nov 1994 22:46

>>Hi all,

>>I'm in the mood to upgrade my PC, but I'm not sure what to do.
>>My systems specifics are:  Zeos 486dx-33, vesa local bus, 8mb of ram,
>>Diamond Speedstar Pro video card with 1mb of ram.  I use Windows for
>>work and exit to DOS for games and graphics.

>>I had considered replacing the CPU with a dx2-66, but after reading
>>articles in PC MAG and PC World, I don't think I'd get that much of a
>>performance boost for the money.  So, would I get noticeably better
>>system performance by adding a 256k ram cache?  Or from a video card
>>with 2mb of ram?  (Model recommendations?) Any other good ideas?

I just bumped my 486/33 up to 12M or RAM and it made a world of difference
in performance.  Enough in fact that I will probably pass on the DX2 chip
upgrade.  If you don't currently have any ram cache, definitely spend the 
$100 or so to put in 256k.  I usually don't notice a big difference
between 128K and 256K, but I can usually pick out the machine with no 
secondary ram memory.

>Wait!  Think Windows 95.  Wait until late 95 and purchace a 90MHz
>Pentium machine, 16MB RAM or better, 1GB HD, and Plug&Play
>accessory cards.  Have you noted how the pricing of hard drives,
>monitors, etc., have been comming down lately.  Although the price
>of Pentium mainboards will not drop much further by late 95
>the price of Pentium sysems *with* Windows 95 installed shoud be
>within reach of high-use users.  Just start saving your money
>now.  That's what I'm doing.  I'm not upgrading anything untill
>late 95, software or hardware.

According to this week's PC Week, Intel expects the cost of the 90Mhz
chip to drop in half by June.  My general strategy is to only add
upgrades that I can easily transfer to another system in 6 months to
a year.  Stuff like memory, bigger monitor, tbu, etc.

--rick

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Richard Hoffbeck, Sr Analyst              e-mail: rwh@cccs.umn.edu |
| Prostate, Lung, Colorectal & Ovarian      cis:    72406,521        |
| Cancer Screening Trial                    voice:  (612) 627-4151   |
| University of Minnesota                   fax:    (612) 627-4158   |
| 212 Ontario St SE, Suite 202                                       |
| Minneapolis, MN  55414                                             |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

In article <19941104224623ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU>, ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU
(Anthony Ragan) says:
>
>Hi all,
>
>I'm in the mood to upgrade my PC, but I'm not sure what to do.
>My systems specifics are:  Zeos 486dx-33, vesa local bus, 8mb of ram,
>Diamond Speedstar Pro video card with 1mb of ram.  I use Windows for
>work and exit to DOS for games and graphics.
>
>I had considered replacing the CPU with a dx2-66, but after reading
>articles in PC MAG and PC World, I don't think I'd get that much of a
>performance boost for the money.  So, would I get noticeably better
>system performance by adding a 256k ram cache?  Or from a video card
>with 2mb of ram?  (Model recommendations?) Any other good ideas?

My perception is that machines with RAM cache feel faster than ones
without, so I'd be inclined to go that route. (Many benchmark programs
give inflated figures because the benchmark runs in the cache, but
overall responsiveness seems to be better on a machine with cache).

But I'm interested in your comment about the advice you got from the
magazines. PC Mag recently reviewed various upgrade chips, and they
weren't blown away by the performance, but these are chips designed for
upgrading a 386 to a 486, using the 386's motherboard and peripherals.

Many newer 486 motherboards are capable of supporting a number of different
type of chips, and in this case, replacing your processor should give you
a very real boost. (Maybe you could even trade in your 486-33 processor :-)

>Any advice greatly appreciated. :)
>--Anthony
>  ecz5rar@mvs.oac.ucla.edu -OR- IrishSpy@aol.com
>
Aengus
--
alawlor@rohmhaas.com (preferred)        �  Aengus Lawlor
alawlor@ejovax.enet.dec.com (secondary) � (who used to be alawlor@dit.ie)
An bhfuil cead agam dul amok?           �
(For the record, neither Rohm & Haas nor Digital necessarily agree with me).

On Sun, 6 Nov 1994, Ed Redondo wrote:

> 
> In article <19941104224623ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan) writes:
> >From: ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan)
> >Subject: Upgrade Suggestions?
> >Date: Fri, 04 Nov 1994 22:46
> 
> >Hi all,
> 
> >I'm in the mood to upgrade my PC, but I'm not sure what to do.
> >My systems specifics are:  Zeos 486dx-33, vesa local bus, 8mb of ram,
> >Diamond Speedstar Pro video card with 1mb of ram.  I use Windows for
> >work and exit to DOS for games and graphics.
> 
> >I had considered replacing the CPU with a dx2-66, but after reading
> >articles in PC MAG and PC World, I don't think I'd get that much of a
> >performance boost for the money.  So, would I get noticeably better
> >system performance by adding a 256k ram cache?  Or from a video card
> >with 2mb of ram?  (Model recommendations?) Any other good ideas?

computer shopper did a nice article on how to get the most out of your 
upgrade dollar a month or so back.  ram gives you the biggest 
performance boost.  try and find a copy of the mag for other tips.
 
the views and opinions expressed by The Hermit are not necessarily those of
                                    The Hermit
  "who needs truth if it's dull?"  mason williams  the exciting accident