OT: computers

[Hunkpapa]

Still mullying over my 2 choices, would like to have the future upgrade available, don't want to get stuck topped out like I am currently.

I am definitely buying a pre-made now, but I will seriously be considering building my own in the next 3-5 years.

Must importantly I cleared it through the boss (wife).

the old one is being donated to a family member

Thank you all for your help.

[ April 08, 2003, 22:26: Message edited by: Hunkpapa ]

[Wardad]

Originally posted by Hunkpapa:
Still mullying over my 2 choices, would like to have the future upgrade available, don't want to get stuck topped out like I am currently.

Shortly after I upgraded from the AT to the AT-X hardware the Pentium P4 hit the market. ARRGH.... My case does not have the four screw studs for the P4 cooling fan, but my power supply does have the extra P4 connector. Although the P4 hardware is standard now, I bet some AMD and Celeron based systems have cut costs. So some of these systems will not be easy to upgrade to P4.

AMD: Great products but the company is sitting on a mountain of debt.
Will they be in buisness when you want to upgrade?
Can they afford to keep up with Intel?

Intel: Sitting on a mountain of cash.
Will the next P4 or P5 be compatible with your current hardware?

[rdouglass]

Originally posted by Hunkpapa:
Still mullying over my 2 choices, would like to have the future upgrade available, don't want to get stuck topped out like I am currently.
...

Unfortunately, due to the laws that govern the computer universe, the only way to avoid this is to never buy one...

[Thermodyne]

The upgrade path is different today than it was in the past. Memory is evolving just as fast as
CPU’s, so the benefit of reusing the motherboard are greatly diminished during an upgrade. These days we are often finding that a replacement CPU is a cheap upgrade, and cost effective for a one or two year SLE. We can flash the BIOS and the replace a 500mhz PIII with a Celeron getting a 100% increase in speed theoretically. Add a new hard drive and we have less than $150 dollars in a system that we expect to get 3 more years out of. CD and floppy readers get pulled or disabled so no troubles there. We run Citrix, so CPU speed was not a big issue, but now that we have rolled out with a compliant serverbased antivirus system, the older workstations are beginning to really suffer. We have some 400MHz Deskpros that take 16 minutes to boot and scan a 20Gig drive.

Also, someone posted about AMD being the inexpensive upgrade path. Need to look at the
price sheets again there. Amd has started a campaign to regain profitability and XP’s are priced right up there with P4’s these days. Performance is great on both brands, so it is a case of preference these days.

[raynor]

Originally posted by Instar:
Not to say you're wrong Wardad, but you can redrill the holes on an AT case to get an ATX case, and the AT PSU can be rewired as well... but I would not want to do it, and I am good at computers!

Necessity really *is* the mother of invention.

I can't say that we've ever done this where I work. But I can remember cutting off part of the I/O shield to make it fit a slightly different case design.

[Dawn Falcon]

Wardad, given the speed of evoloution of chipsets and memories these days, don't worry about what happens 2-2 1/2 years down the line when you want an upgrade.

You WILL need a whole new CPU/Motherboard/Memory anyway.

And AMD have their 64-bit chips to use in the mainstream market, Intel don't. And Intel are continuing to lose market share over here.

[Wardad]

I was not worried... I was helping Hunkpapa.