🚀 go-pugleaf

carvalho@worldaccess.nl (Washington Carvalho) wrote:

> Hello! Maybe you can help me... I have lots of questions...

I don't know whether I can answer _all_ your questions ... ;-)

> I have a 486dx2 80, with 8Mb. I use Dos 6.2 and win 3.11 (and just
> installed win32). I tryed win95, for ONE day, and gave up. It was much
> slower than my old configuration. I think I need some more ram. Is
> that so? Is 12Mb enough, or should I go straight to 16Mb? 

I'd go directly to 16 MB. You actually may have no other option, because
there usually are only eight memory slots -- and you also need to a add
memory in groups of four ... The options are usually:
4 MB = 4 x 1MB units
8 MB = 2 x 4 x 1 MB units  -- system full == what you probably have
16 MB = 4 x 4MB units  -- all new 
20 MB = 4 x 4MB units (new) + 4 x 1MB units (old)

I can't really answer on the rest of the hardware as I don't have any
experience with those specific things. 

> So, what do you think is ok, and what needs to be replaced or
> upgraded? I am too paranoid about my system? I use lots of big wav
> files ( I'm actually a musician!), photographs, some multimedia
> applications, some games and of course our "old" netscape, now heavier
> on my system than ever. It's mostly for fun, serious stuff only on
> Word Perfect!

Hm. If you are using the windows version of WP6 you definitely should get
more memory. Otherwise it depends on your financial situation.
If money is tight, I think you should save it just now, then buy a
completely new (pentium) system next year or so. Prices are dropping like
bricks, and 'standard' performance is going up like a rocket!


> Your truly
> Washington (I know it's a strange 1st name!)

Not a strange first name at all!


Greetings from Delft, The Netherlands.

Auke Reitsma

Auke.Reitsma@net.HCC.nl (Auke Reitsma) wrote:
>carvalho@worldaccess.nl (Washington Carvalho) wrote:
>> I have a 486dx2 80, with 8Mb. I use Dos 6.2 and win 3.11 (and just
>> installed win32). I tryed win95, for ONE day, and gave up. It was much
>> slower than my old configuration. I think I need some more ram. Is
>> that so? Is 12Mb enough, or should I go straight to 16Mb? 

>I'd go directly to 16 MB. You actually may have no other option, because
>there usually are only eight memory slots -- and you also need to a add
>memory in groups of four ... The options are usually:
>4 MB = 4 x 1MB units
>8 MB = 2 x 4 x 1 MB units  -- system full == what you probably have
>16 MB = 4 x 4MB units  -- all new 
>20 MB = 4 x 4MB units (new) + 4 x 1MB units (old)

Well, he DID say that he had 2x4Mb memory, so that effectively
excludes these "groups of four" - fortunately for Washington!
They're obviously 32-bit/36-bit SIMMs.

The problem is: how many SIMMs can you fit onto your mainboard?
In my case, the answer is 2, and I was only able to upgrade from 8Mb
to 12Mb (and later, to 16Mb)  thanks to my local "hardware dealer"
who accepted my 4Mb SIMMs in exchange.

The upgrade from 8Mb to 12Mb makes more of difference than the upgrade
from 12 to 16Mb. My system was awfully slow with 8Mb, swapping took
place all the time and drop down menus didn't ...until a few seconds
later. With 12Mb, all this stopped. Going to 16Mb helped too, but it
wasn't as detectable as the 8->12Mb upgrade. 
( on a 486DX4/100, I might add.)

Next time you want to buy a new mainboard, don't forget to count the
number of SIMM sockets !

- Ola



--------------------------------------------------------
Ola A. Snapa                            snapa@cadrus.fr
"There are three kinds of people: those who can count
 and those who can't;"
--------------------------------------------------------

carvalho@worldaccess.nl (Washington Carvalho) wrote:

>Hello! Maybe you can help me... I have lots of questions...

>I have a 486dx2 80, with 8Mb. I use Dos 6.2 and win 3.11 (and just
>installed win32). I tryed win95, for ONE day, and gave up. It was much
>slower than my old configuration. I think I need some more ram. Is
>that so? Is 12Mb enough, or should I go straight to 16Mb? 

16MB

>I'd also like to upgrade my system... (if I get some extra money!)
>what should I do first? I just want a smooth running system, if this
>is possible. 
>Here's what I have... Nothing fancy...

>- Soyo "green" Mainboard 486 pci with on board local bus IDE
>controller ( I bought it as e-ide, but the manual just says ide, is
>there an e-ide controller, or just the HD has to be e-ide?). With 256
>cache and 2x 4Mb. Bios : Award (should IDE 32-bit transfer be enabled?
>and what about ide second channel control?)

>- Seagate ST3660A, 545Mb , e-ide( I bought it as e-ide, but the
>specifications says fast ata-2 , is it the same as e-ide  from western
>digital? Using qbench I got these results: data access time 12,7ms,
>data transfer rate 1810Kb/s. Is it okay? Sometimes it seems slow. 

>-Trident 9440AGI ,1Mb, pci VGA card. (What is GUI accelerator? Is it
>the same as 32bit accelerator?)

GUI - Graphical User Interface. Probably means Windows accelerator or
Graphics accelerator, which is a video card designed to speed up
Windows and/or programs that display graphics.

>- Wearnes cdd-110 double speed cd rom. I have lots of problems with
>this. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it even eats
>my cds. When I installed win95, I had a problem with the driver, it
>got really slow. (I didn't have the new win95 driver for it).Does a
>4speed improve performance substantially?

Speed improvement - noticeable. 4X is the current 'standard' but the
market is going towards 6X and 8X

>-enhance isa-bus multi-i/o card (no brand).With Uart 16550 (NS16C550).
>Connected is a ...

>- Best 28k8 V.34 extern modem.Sometimes it locks, specially if I don't
>turn it on before the computer. It also goes crazy sometimes, hangs
>off and does't dial anymore (just like NOW!)

>That's it, the monitor is bad, but it works ok!

>So, what do you think is ok, and what needs to be replaced or
>upgraded? I am too paranoid about my system? I use lots of big wav
>files ( I'm actually a musician!), photographs, some multimedia
>applications, some games and of course our "old" netscape, now heavier
>on my system than ever. It's mostly for fun, serious stuff only on
>Word Perfect!

Get a higher  performance 'GUI Accelerator'. Listed are egs in
ascending costs:

S3 Trio32
S3 Trio64
ATI series
Diamond Stealth series

You might want to get a faster hard disk. About 10ms

Use DOS's 'defrag' program (type defrag at the C:\> prompt) regularly
(once a week or two). This can improve your hard disk access speed.

Get that 4X or 6X CDROM drive if you run lots of wav or multimedia
programs off it.

If your board can support the new AMD 5x86-133 CPU (supposedly as fast
as a Pentium-75), get it!

An importanmt note, though. If you intend to upgrade more than this,
espcially the monitor, you might like to consider the current prices
of new PC systems with your total upgrade cost. It might be cheaper to
get a completely new system.

>So That's it! Long, isn't it? Can you share a bit of your knowledge
>with me? If so, please mail me at: carvalho@worldaccess.nl
>I'm actually a music student, and have a "baroque cello Homepage" at:
>http://www.worldaccess.nl/~carvalho/
>Please drop by any time!
>I have other questions about win3.11 enhaced 386 and  win32, but for
>now forget it! But I'd like to LEARN more. If you like to talk...

>THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!!!
>(if you got this far anyway)

>Your truly
>Washington (I know it's a strange 1st name!)

ryantan@mailhost.net (Ryan Tan) wrote:

>carvalho@worldaccess.nl (Washington Carvalho) wrote:

>>Hello! Maybe you can help me... I have lots of questions...

>>I have a 486dx2 80, with 8Mb. I use Dos 6.2 and win 3.11 (and just
>>installed win32). I tryed win95, for ONE day, and gave up. It was much
>>slower than my old configuration. I think I need some more ram. Is
>>that so? Is 12Mb enough, or should I go straight to 16Mb? 

>16MB

>>I'd also like to upgrade my system... (if I get some extra money!)
>>what should I do first? I just want a smooth running system, if this
>>is possible. 
>>Here's what I have... Nothing fancy...

>>- Soyo "green" Mainboard 486 pci with on board local bus IDE
>>controller ( I bought it as e-ide, but the manual just says ide, is
>>there an e-ide controller, or just the HD has to be e-ide?). With 256
>>cache and 2x 4Mb. Bios : Award (should IDE 32-bit transfer be enabled?
>>and what about ide second channel control?)

>>- Seagate ST3660A, 545Mb , e-ide( I bought it as e-ide, but the
>>specifications says fast ata-2 , is it the same as e-ide  from western
>>digital? Using qbench I got these results: data access time 12,7ms,
>>data transfer rate 1810Kb/s. Is it okay? Sometimes it seems slow. 

>>-Trident 9440AGI ,1Mb, pci VGA card. (What is GUI accelerator? Is it
>>the same as 32bit accelerator?)

>GUI - Graphical User Interface. Probably means Windows accelerator or
>Graphics accelerator, which is a video card designed to speed up
>Windows and/or programs that display graphics.

>>- Wearnes cdd-110 double speed cd rom. I have lots of problems with
>>this. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it even eats
>>my cds. When I installed win95, I had a problem with the driver, it
>>got really slow. (I didn't have the new win95 driver for it).Does a
>>4speed improve performance substantially?

>Speed improvement - noticeable. 4X is the current 'standard' but the
>market is going towards 6X and 8X

>>-enhance isa-bus multi-i/o card (no brand).With Uart 16550 (NS16C550).
>>Connected is a ...

>>- Best 28k8 V.34 extern modem.Sometimes it locks, specially if I don't
>>turn it on before the computer. It also goes crazy sometimes, hangs
>>off and does't dial anymore (just like NOW!)

>>That's it, the monitor is bad, but it works ok!

>>So, what do you think is ok, and what needs to be replaced or
>>upgraded? I am too paranoid about my system? I use lots of big wav
>>files ( I'm actually a musician!), photographs, some multimedia
>>applications, some games and of course our "old" netscape, now heavier
>>on my system than ever. It's mostly for fun, serious stuff only on
>>Word Perfect!

>Get a higher  performance 'GUI Accelerator'. Listed are egs in
>ascending costs:

>S3 Trio32
>S3 Trio64
>ATI series
>Diamond Stealth series

>You might want to get a faster hard disk. About 10ms

>Use DOS's 'defrag' program (type defrag at the C:\> prompt) regularly
>(once a week or two). This can improve your hard disk access speed.

>Get that 4X or 6X CDROM drive if you run lots of wav or multimedia
>programs off it.

>If your board can support the new AMD 5x86-133 CPU (supposedly as fast
>as a Pentium-75), get it!

>An importanmt note, though. If you intend to upgrade more than this,
>espcially the monitor, you might like to consider the current prices
>of new PC systems with your total upgrade cost. It might be cheaper to
>get a completely new system.

>>So That's it! Long, isn't it? Can you share a bit of your knowledge
>>with me? If so, please mail me at: carvalho@worldaccess.nl
>>I'm actually a music student, and have a "baroque cello Homepage" at:
>>http://www.worldaccess.nl/~carvalho/
>>Please drop by any time!
>>I have other questions about win3.11 enhaced 386 and  win32, but for
>>now forget it! But I'd like to LEARN more. If you like to talk...

>>THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!!!
>>(if you got this far anyway)

>>Your truly
>>Washington (I know it's a strange 1st name!)


Boy I thought I  was the only person with this many problems to deal
with and decisions to make!!

I have learned alot about SOME of the problems and I would be glad to
share some answers that worked (at least for me) with ya! 

I have a 486dx2 66 with 8mb of ram a 4x cdrom and a 1mb windows
accelerator (video) I have had nothing but problems with my CD-rom but
after talking (ok, arguing) with the manufactures I have recieved
updated drivers for FREE this helped tremendosly. I have just ordered
16mb of ram which will take me to 20 and should be getting it within
the next couple of days, and would be glad to let you know how this
improved performance. I also just upgraded my windows to 95' and after
working on it for a while and find it to be much easier to control how
my system functions. This is where I expect to see the bigest
improvement. if you would like a response as to how this helped email
me at sandman@postoffice.ptd.net 

KEV