PC Upgrade ... to do or not to do ? (Part II)

Hi, Voon Bean, what a coincidence ---- your system configuration is exactly the same as mine which was bought 3 years ago too ---- 486DX-33, 8Mb RAM, & 2 harddisks but totalling 800Mb.

Now, it's best time to upgrade your PC to keep up with the current demanding computing tasks ---- in fact, I have just upgraded my PC, last week!

As a rule of thumb, nothing is worth upgrading if it costs more than what's a new PC would be. In my personal opinion, each upgrading to the system shouldn't cost more than $1,000, otherwise, forget about upgrading and just go straight to buy a brand new PC.

"Upgrading" is a general term used on changing for better devices, and strictly speaking, it should not refer to as buying some new devices to add on to your collection of peripherals. Hence, by adding a new printer, a new scanner, a new modem . . . we usually use the term "add-on" instead of "upgrade".

There are many means of upgrading from changing a new mother board, harddisk, more RAM, faster CPU chip, bigger monitor, better sound card, faster CD-ROM drive . . . to even bigger casing.

For a 3-year old 486DX-33, I would NOT recommend it to be upgraded to Pentium because the costs involved can simply shot up to $1,500 and above! Let's see my "patented" analysis (don't worry if you can't understand some of the terms used):

1. Intel Pentium processor chip must be inserted into either Socket 5, 6 or 7, however, your mother board is most likely only equipped with Socket 1, 2, or 3 which are meant for Intel 486 processor only. Hence, you have to change your mother board!
2. By changing your mother board, you may have to change your RAM too as most new Pentium mother boards currently come with the memory sockets for 72-pin RAM chips (or the latest EDO RAM chips). However, your 486 system is likely to use the old 30-pin RAM chips. Hence, you must swap with your vendor (provided he's willing to) your 8Mb RAM from the 30-pin to the 72-pin chips for an extra charge of $50-$100. Alternatively, you would have to sell away your old 30-pin RAM at a discounted second-hand price (provided you can get a buyer) and buy the 72-pin 8Mb RAM chips at a cost of approx. $300-$350.
3. Most new Pentium mother board nowadays only equipped with PCI and ISA slots. However, the Graphic Card (or Windows Acceleration Card) and the I/O Controller Card in your 486 system are both likely in VESA Local (VL) Bus structure. Since the new mother board doesn't support VL bus slot, sorry, you would just have to throw away your old cards, and buy some new PCI cards for both your graphic and I/O controller.

On the other hand, I would recommend you for the following upgrades:

1. Replace your old 486DX-33 processor chip with the new Intel 486DX4-100MHz overdrive. The price should be <$200. Sell away you old chip in Internet for $30. (This upgrade is a MUST if you wish to play games such as FIFA96, Rebel Assault 2, etc.!)
2. Add a third 1.2 Gb Harddisk. The most talk about (and reliability tested) brand currently is Quantum "Fireball" which will cost approx. $350. But you may be using a normal IDE I/O controller card which can only support a maximum of 2 harddisk. Unless you intend to sacrifice one of your old harddisk, you need to replace with a new Enhanced IDE I/O controller card plus a Power BIOS card for a total of $70-$80.
3. DO NOT increase your RAM unnecessarily because it's expensive unless you intend to install WINDOWS95 which requires at least 16 Mb RAM for smooth running (please don't trust Microsoft's claim of using 4Mb or 8Mb, it won't work!). In general, the price of 1 Mb RAM is roughly $40-$45.
4. If you didn't own a CD-ROM before, then you can go straight to buy a Quad-speed CD-ROM drive. I would suggest a Creative Technology's Value Pack comprising a Quad-speed CD-ROM, Sound Blaster 16-bit sound card, speakers + a handful of CD-ROM titles, for a price tag of approx. $400.
   Actually, I hate to name any specific vendor if possible, however, Sound Blaster has been an industry leader in sound card industry for just too many years, and hence, it's usually very compatible with most, if not all, the software in the market as compared to other brands.
   But if you have already own a double-speed CD-ROM drive, then I would NOT advice you to upgrade to quad-speed drive, because most of the CD-ROMs in the market are still meant for double-speed drive, and only a handful of titles (especially VideoCD) require quad-speed.
   Thus, there is absolutely not necessary to waste your money in a 6-speed, or even 8-speed, CD-ROM drive as there are currently no title in the market which you can utilise the speed. Of course, you can still go ahead if you really desperate for one.
5. Presumed that you don't have a modem now, then you need to invest in a 28.8 kbps FaxModem to access Internet. As the price gaps are getting closer now, I would suggest the following brands for your reference (all were tested by me & my cyberfriends in one way or another): Hayes, USRobotics, ProLink. No comment so far on Motorola & Aiwa yet, but you can still try them as long as they are V.34 format.
   It's preferred to buy an external modem (though it's slightly dearer) than its internal counterpart because you can tell from the flashing front-panel lights whether your lines have been cut-off.
   Always remember to ask for the high-speed serial port (or UART 16550 COM port) to connect between your modem & mother board. Usually this serial port comes together with the modem set, but sometimes it doesn't, so watch out for this extra peripheral. But if you are using Pentium mother board, the chances are all your serial ports would already be UART 16550, then you don't need the extra card.
6. As I have mentioned in the demo, the preferred commercial Internet Service Provider in Singapore is still SingNet. Register now before 28 Feb 96, you will be waived for the $50 registration fee, and $10 extra hours. You will also be given a thin instruction booklet plus a thick manual titled "Internet Starter Kit" of a phonebook-size worth >$40, together with 3 installation diskettes, absolutely FREE ! (I sound like marketing for SingNet, hope they'll pay me some commissions, hey hey.)
   Go for Plan 2 ($30 for 18 hours/month) or Plan 3 ($56 for 32 hours/month) as a start shall not burn your purse too deep.
   You will be given 3 choices in naming your Host Name, so do name wisely.

In total, your need to come out with $$$:

That's all, folks. Hope to see you soon in cyberspace. Just do me a favour --- send me an email with your Internet E-mail Address and I'll regularly update you and all my cyberfriends with the latest info in the IT world.

See ya, and don't get drown when surfing, OK?


Written by:
J. W. Lee
26 January 1996

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