To upgrade???

[mjc]

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May 06, 2001:

Folks, I'd like to pass along a great piece of
computer-upgrade advice. It's one sentence that will save
you a lot of worry over new chips, such as the Athlon,
Pentium, and even the PowerPC.

Chip makers are locked in a slightly dumb speed war. They
believe that people like you and me judge the "power" and
desirability of CPUs based on clock speed -- the chips'
megahertz and gigahertz ratings. They think people look at
a computer with a 750MHz CPU and exclaim, "Gee, that's a
lot faster than the poky 300MHz I've got now! Where do I
pay?"

Unfortunately they're right. That's exactly how most people
judge chips. There's a lot more stuff that's at least as
important, but nobody ever made a dent in public perception
talking about pipelining, backside caches, or memory buses.
Joe and Jane Six-Pack drool over clock speeds.

Here's your rule of thumb: Don't upgrade your CPU unless
the new one is triple the clock speed of your current
computer.(emphasis mine)

This week ZDNet reviews the first 1.7GHz Pentium 4-based
PCs. They're mighty fast. So, check the speed of your
current computer, pause, and multiply by three. Follow my
advice and scroll down for the link -- and if your CPU is
faster than 600MHz, just keep on scrolling.

Stephen Howard-Sarin

VP Content & Services, ZDNet


So like the man says if you ain't got less than a 600MHz CPU you shouldn't need to upgrade....

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

[Rick]

Does that Mean I have to Return My 1.2 ? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

I prefer to use Double Your Clock Speed

[tjaymadison]

AAAAMEN, mjc! And after Joe and Jane also pop for the DDR or RAMBUS, they'll see ads for ATA-100 HD's and 5.1 sound card/speaker systems and high-end video cards and 21" monitors and $900.00 digital cameras. So then they can take their $4500.00 rig home and find out that they don't have enough money left to replace the POS software bundle with some 'real' programs, so they play Solitaire or Oregon Trail, balance their checkbook, make PrintShop birthday cards for about a month until their relatives get sick of them, sign up for AOL and send Aunt Betty an email once a month, and basically just bask in the glow of knowing that they are 'plugged in', finally a part of 'Generation d'. Until they stop over to Uncle Bob's and notice that his $500.00 Celeron 333 navigates AOL just as fast, pushin' that V.90 WinModem to the limit.

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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)

[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-05-2001).]

[Rick]

The sad part is that Joe and Jane are not getting that screamer.
To many fall pray to the gateway essential promise.

To Small . To Slow and out dated before the box is even opened.

BTW. Why is it they can't Opt to NOT get the M$ Works Suite ?

[Paleo Pete]

Link?

I agree up to a point. Once you get into machines running the 100MHz bus or higher, that would be true. With earlier machines it's a bit different. I noticed a difference between my former P-200MMX and a machine also running 66MH with AMD K6-2 350. Not much, though, and once I went from P-200MMX to P-233MMX and 32MB to 64MB RAM, it's not a big difference, but the 350 w/64MB is still a bit faster.

Once the 100MHz bus kicks in, about anything 600MHz or so and up should be fine until they manage to make one that's pushing 2GHz. You'd have to run benchmarks to see the difference anyway...

But your theoretical consumers, the Six Packs, react to advertising in a very predictable manner. 30 seconds of 3 blue-faced drummers, (who happen to be just like farmers...outstanding in their field,) and they have to have a P-4 whether it's the fastestest and greatestest...or just plain hype. Same reason we have 100,000 people killed on the highways every year. Every football player in the known universe advertises one beer or another...and where is Joe on Monday nights?

I have a major attitude concerning advertising, especially advertising alcohol by so-called athletes. (Advertise alcohol and I will NEVER call you an athlete again.) TV is the only reason many useless products ever made their mark on society. Remember Veg-O-Matic? Worked about 4 times...Seal-A-Meal? Maybe 3 weeks...

But Pet Rocks will last forever and never need new belts or blades. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Unfortunately the majority of consumers will fall prey to the hype, since only a very small percentage of them will see this post, or the ZDnet article you referred to. Most will only see the advertising and find out what's between the lines way too late...

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So many idiots, and only six bullets...
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[tjaymadison]

Pete -- methinks you doth exhibit a bit too much familiarity with antediluvian gimmicks and gee-gaws. I'll just presume from your diatribe that you actually have a Pocket Fisherman or two lurking, probably broken, in the depths of the basement, garage or a closet -- maybe in the trunk. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif BTW, I found an old post of yours,
#26 or 27 I think it was, where you were looking for some tips for daisy-chaining that Seal-A-Meal and the
Veg-O-Matic off of COM2 on your XT -- you know, the one you're sitting at now. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Did you ever figure that one out, or did you just go with the rotary switchbox.

All this abuse is coming to you courtesy of the guy whose first exposure to DOS was version 1.1 running on a $200 'DOS compatibility card' in an Epson QX-10 CP/M box 'turbo-ized' from 2.5 all the way up to 4MHz by a Zilog Z80 CPU upgrade and a 2 Meg hardware RAM disk board, dialing in to CPMUG or CompuServe SIG's and downloading utilities and text-only messages to one of the dual 320K 5.25" floppy drives at an astonishing
300 BPS. Hard drive? We don't need no steenkin' hard drive! Besides, a external 10-Megger cost a grand, weighed about nine pounds with its own power supply, sat on the desk like a bread box and sounded like a Cuisinart grinding cashews. VIVA VALDOCS!

XT's sounded like Nirvana to me -- Buddhist variety -- when they debuted. The Promised Land at last! And lucky you, you've still got one, or maybe ten.

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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)



[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-05-2001).]

[Randy_tx]

SHOOT.....I recently lost a sale to the "color coordination" aesthetics of a competitors box, monitor and the fact that the speakers were incorporated into the dang monitor...never brought up speed!

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Will XP save Me ?

[Paleo Pete]

LOL!!

tjay: I have 4 working ones and about a half a ton of parts from others, and 4 or 5 empty cases awaiting components of some description.

And no, I never owned a pocket fisherman.

Can't think of anything so...

[insert witty comment here]

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So many idiots, and only six bullets...
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[VR7DETA]

If people quit buying things that they didn't need
50 million people would be put out of work!!

[kayofcircles]

oooowwwww, TJay! Know you weren't aiming directly at me cuz there's nothing fancy, fast, or expensive about my system but I got caught by the edge of the blast. Part of what I do is "make PrintShop birthday cards for about a month until their relatives get sick of them" ...only I use PaintShopPro and make custom cards for all occasions and have made my friends, relatives, and "customers" sick of them for over a year now.

Sniff.

[AwARe]

Just wanted to add.....
Thanks for making me laugh tj/Pete
I needed that http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
That was quite an editorial you had there Pete haha

[Paleo Pete]

This place wouldn't be what it is without a bit of humor now and then...glad we got a laugh out of you.

------------------
So many idiots, and only six bullets...
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[perryqhill]

i see where your coming from mjc,tjay,pete but theres nowt wrong with upgrading while parts are so darn cheap at the moment , i just sold a p3 500mhz , added about 100 pounds and got myself a 1ghz athlon mainly cos there was no agp port on the p3 board and there is a fair diffenrence in performance so i quite happy at the moment.

[yawningdog]

There's an upside to all this rampant fiscal irresponsibility everyone. M/M Sixpack practically (or maybe even literally) gave away their old machine.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler.