🚀 go-pugleaf

edhall@rand.org (Ed Hall) writes:
>In article <24370@galaxy.ucr.edu> insom@galaxy.ucr.edu (Chris Ulrich) writes:
>>
>In my case, I didn't have a bus-mastering disk controller or DMA-based
>audio card before I bought my motherboard, although I planned to get
>them.  So I bought a well-known, conservatively-designed MB to save
>myself future grief.  And it happened to be from an American company.
>Since then, I've added these devices (and a few other odd-ball cards)
>and had zero trouble.  If I had already had these cards, it would have
>made sense to get a cheaper MB with a money-back guarantee.  Instead, I
>paid a bit more and got the use of the faster CPU while I saved for the
*----
The 386-25 I bought several years ago (for a bargain price at the time)
finally had an incompatibility with some software and hardware I wanted
to run.  A BIOS upgrade was chancy, and would cost $ 100.  So I opted
for a new motherboard, a 386-33.  My memory and math co-processor were
adequate already.  The total upgrade cost was $ 185.  And I can use the
old board to upgrade a '286.  I'll bet my total cost for the two boards
over the 4 years or so was well below the cost of a premium board back
then (which would be obsolete technology by now).  

For the same reason, I wouldn't pay more than $ 100 or so premium for
an "upgradeable CPU" motherboard.  Bare '486 boards (no memory or
CPU) are only $ 120 now.  If it turns out I have to upgrade the BIOS
or CPU a couple of years down the line, it almost certainly won't cost
more than that.
--
	Mike Berger
	Internet    berger@atropa.stat.uiuc.edu