DX4/100 RAM Upgrade.

[Son of Zeus]

I am running an older i486DX4-S/100MHz PC with 32MB FPM RAM (upgraded from an original 16MB). I now want to move up to 64MB but there are two factors holding me back.

First, Charles mentions the following in the PC Guide:
"Maximum Cacheable Memory
========================
It is extremely important to realize that many PCs will not allow all of the memory they support to be cached...Using more system memory than can be cached can lead to significant performance degradation"

Second, I only have two slots, so I need 2 sticks of 32MB. Does FPM RAM come in 32MB sticks?

Cheers.......Son of Zeus.

[ixl]

FPM should come in 32, if you can *find it*. The other issue is that some 32 modules are "double-sided" and may not work in some mobos. Worth a try...

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[Paleo Pete]

The memory caching issue refers to the fact that some chipsets will only cache 64MB RAM. These are mostly Intel 430 series Pentium chips. 486 with a memory caching limitation I'm not too familiar with, but I think it's also 64MB.

Try CSO (http://www.computersurplusoutlet.com) and Pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com) and you might find the chips you want at decent prices.

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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

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

[Son of Zeus]

If FPM RAM exists in 32MB modules I should be able to pick it up 2nd hand in Australia. Remember we are still 2-3 years behind the US in terms of PCs & technology. Things that are hard to pick up there are still quite common here.

As an example I have heard that 17" monitors are the "sweet spot" in the States. However over here we are now really just settling into 15" (home users anyway-business & professional users may be different). I still survive quite happily on my ViewSonic 6E 14". Apart from a low population of just 19 million & a very weak dollar, we also have huge shipping costs to get anything here Down Under. I think you would get quite a shock if you were to live here awhile & see the outrageous prices & availability of PC items.

Only a couple months ago I went to a one of the largest PC suppliers in Brisbane to enquire when Thunderbird & Duron processors would be available here. Their reply was: "What's a Thunderbird? What's a Duron?" They weren't kidding. Told them that these were the new AMD processors just released in the States. They said that they had AMD a few years ago but had too many problems with them & that I should ignore the Internet & US prices because they are so far ahead of Australia & allow 6-12 months for the same thing to be available here.

I tried to tell them that after my research on the Net I believed that there was nothing wrong with AMD processors. The original problems had more to do with bad motherboard, chipset & driver support (largely due to fear of Intel). They remained adamant that these new upstart Thunderbird/Durons would never last. We’ll see. :-)

Cheers.......Son of Zeus.

[ixl]

Thanks for telling us all of that SOZ, especially now. I keep seeing all the beautiful scenery and the fun you Aussies have when I turn on the TV, and it was making me feel like I wished I lieved there. Your posting cut much of that down to size in short order. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[Paleo Pete]

Hmmm...it is food for thought ixl, didn't know about any of that, except for the prohibitive cost of shipping... Thanks for the info SOZ.

Makes me wonder why a manufacturer or 3 hasn't sprung up there...

What I would do, then again I'm in the states, is check around in resale shops. I still haven't found any memory, but I find lots of parts, and missed on a couple with memory I needed bad. Watched someone else carry them out...Also check with computer shops, even if the time frame is different, memory made basically obsolete 2 years ago might be available as used parts at a decent price from a shop.

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If you had everything...Where would you put it?

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

[Son of Zeus]

ixl,
a couple points. Firstly, I am writing from Brisbane, Queensland not the larger, more cutting edge cities of Sydney or Melbourne. Prices & availability of the latest & greatest PC hardware/software is much better there. And I'm sure that if you moved away from the major US cities into the more rural areas you would find PC prices at a premium & availability lower. Once again shipping costs play a big part once you move away from the larger port cities & then add in road freight costs as well. The Australian government also takes a huge slab in Import Duties on all this wonderful technology we import-further adding to the cost.

Also, as Katie Couric on the Today Show mentioned the other day, Australia is just slightly smaller than mainland USA, yet only has the population of Texas. When I was growing up in my home state of Tasmania, an island state off the coast of Australia with only 400,000 people, we would joke that Tasmania was 5 years behind Sydney & Melbourne. Whilst they in turn were 5 years behind the US. But this has also improved dramatically.

However being 2 or 3 steps behind the newest technology is not always bad. The cost of living on the "bleeding edge" of the latest is expensive & you often end up being the unpaid testers of new software/hardware which seems more & more to be rushed to market with bugs, bugs & more bugs. By the time it reaches us most of these glitches have been ironed out & the production volumes have been ramped; meaning that prices have dropped considerably.

Another point to ponder. Watching "Mr Microsoft" Bill Gates at the Olympics a couple days ago (he was at the ping pong venue at the time) bought up some interesting points in the US/Australia analysis. The reporters had been advised to leave him alone as he was on holidays & to remember that most Americans only get 2 weeks holidays a year.

Holy Gwackamoly!!! There would be a civil uprising in OZ if anyone suggested cutting back Annual Leave from 4 weeks to 2 weeks. We also get nearly two weeks in Public Holidays a year. And as the old joke goes “don’t expect anything to be done in Australia over Christmas/New Year as the whole country in on holidays”. If you need anyone you'll find them at the beach cooking up a sausage sizzle whilst downing a cool Chardonnay.

As we say Down Under: "Life's a Beach".

Cheers.......Son of Zeus.

[Paleo Pete]

Ain't this a hoot...I come to a computer forum to get lessons in international culture...

Not complaining mind you, I enjoy picking up interesting information, no matter what the subject or source.

Now how do I get folks here in Texas to give up 4 weeks a year...it'll never happen, they complain about the measly 2 weeks we get now, and some places start you with one week. To get 4 weeks you have to be there about 15 years...Then you retire with a gold watch that's about half the quality it was when you started, at three times the price, and a pension you can't survive on...

------------------
If you had everything...Where would you put it?

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