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Ask Michael: Your Hardware Questions Answered

© Michael Christopher Brinton

Last month, I mentioned that for my January Article I would be running an "Ask Michael" column where I would answer any hardware questions (problems, upgrades, etc.). It went very well, and here are two of the e-mails and responses. I thought that both of them had some good general advice.

I don't know if I'll be doing another "Ask Michael" column, but feel free to e-mail me with a question that you might have. I may not use it for a column, but I will try to respond to your question quickly.

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Dear Michael,

I currently have a VL486DX4 100MHz with 8MB RAM; 540MB IDE Hard Drive and am planning an upgrade. This is my home workstation. I use it for accessing the 'Net, Microsoft Office, and some games. I'd like to run the latest browser, Office '97, and Windows '95 (and update each as available).

My question is, should I go with an upgrade to my existing system: Pentium MMX 200 CPU/Motherboard; 32 MB RAM; 2.6GB Hard Drive (I'd need to be happy with it for a year and a half).
Or
a whole new system: Diamond Series Pentium MMX 200; 32 MB RAM; 2.6GB Hard Drive (I'd need to be happy with it for 2 and a half years).
Or
jump up to a Pentium II 233MHz, Intel mainboard, 440FX chipset (I'd need to be happy with it for 3 years).

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Response:
Overall in almost all situations, I would suggest getting the cheapest but most powerful upgrade you can afford at the time. So in your case I suggest upgrading to a 200 MMX, 32 MB ram and 2.6 GB HD. This is because the computer industry is changing so rapidly that in a year and a half or two you won't want to still be in debt for your computer. If at all possible, you will want to leave your future upgrade options as open as possible. For example, next year many new chips are expected to hit the market, including a new Pentium-II chip from Intel and two new K6 chips from AMD. With all the new technology to come, you won't want to be stuck with a Pentium II 233 for 3 more years. I would definitely suggest a P200 MMX with 32 MB of ram. It should last you about 1.5 years with the programs that you run on it. A Pentium II 233 is faster, but not too much faster than a 200MMX and definitely will not last a year and a half longer.

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