I've been upgrading my computers since 1986. My basement looks like a museum of modern computer history (it even includes a VAX 780 which requires a 3 phase power supply). Surprisingly, thanks to the wonders of backwards compatibility, I hardly have to change much of my system. Of course I now have 4 of everything <g>.
When deciding how much money you should spend on a system component, the key question is how quickly is that technology changing. The slower the change, the more money you should throw at it. For example, my 15" super VGA monitor that I bought in 1988, though quite costly at the time has served me well and still continues to do so. As is the 21" monitor that I bought 3 years ago. So every 5 years or so, I go out and buy the best monitor I can afford. Storage devices, esp. raids, juke boxes, and tape drives come next. Joy sticks, light pens, digitizing tablets, etc. are a close third if you need them. I/O controllers (SCSI, USB, etc) are next. At the bottom of the list of what you should throw money at is RAM and CPU/motherboard.
However, every 5 years or so, a new architecture comes to play at the board level and you need to make sure to make the right bet. Examples are micro chanel ('87), EISA (~'91), and PowerPc (?). In all these cases, you did well to stay with the older technology. So if history is any guide, investing in a Camino/DRDRAM system may not be a good choice (which is why I am partial to go the K7 way). But just the same, I don't want to buy 256 MB of PC-133 DRAM if it turns out that DRDRAM is the way to go. Fortunately these turning points happen only once every 5 years, so it is not often that I have to wait to know which way to go.
Sun "you can tell I don't have much to do today" Tzu |
