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Pastimes : Dream Machine ( Build your own PC ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: khalid jaffar who wrote (130)	2/5/1998 12:52:00 AM
From: Zeuspaul	Respond to of 14778

>>It's hard to build a system today with the idea of just upgrading to next-gen CPU in 12 months.<< I agree. We are not looking at just upgrading CPU's. We are looking at overall value as well. We want to inform ourselves as well as others and to assist in purchasing decisions of any nature (prefab systems or build your own or spec the machine and have someone else build it). The network idea is an idea that we should spend more time on. The older networked machine would also make an excellent file back-up system. There are many things that come into play and are of importance. For example, what are your RAM upgrade options? Will you have enough spare slots to offer several options for additional RAM as the price comes down. Many LX boards have 4 DIMM slots. You would be able to start with 32 MB add 32MB 6 months later and still have the capability of adding 256MB more if the price gets cheap. Some boards only have 2 or 3 DIMM slots, limiting your upgrade options. Also, one must consider the number of items integrated on the motherboard and how it effects future upgrades. With a quality motherboard such as the ABIT LX6 which sells for only $140 it won't be very painful removing it two years from now and replacing it with a BX motherboard for a similar price. If you make the right RAM choice now you will be able to move it to your next board. One may well spend more on RAM than the CPU so it is worthy of consideration. You will also be able to move your graphics card forward but it is important to consider PCI or AGP. If you choose PCI you may limit the amount of available slots on your next motherboard. If your video card isn't integrated on the motherboard you can give it to someone that needs it more than you do when you upgrade. We seem to be able to see about one year in front of us on the CPU and motherboard as our next upgrade is already on the market or soon to be. This gives us the ability to do a little planning. We might guess wrong but we can shift the odds in our favor with some thought. Some components such as cases and monitors have longer lives. There is a good chance that the proper case can last 10 years or more. Many major box makers use proprietary cases. They are only good for the life of your original machine. I plan on recycling my case (still verifying a couple of things) as a SCSI tower. If it acts as a drive tower it will be able to house drives even if the SCSI format is changed. It could also act as some type of a networked computer as you indicated in your post. As a network storage device I could remove some RAM and put it in my next machine if it is compatible. I am also confident that the power supply can be reused. The primary consideration is to maintain an open architecture machine. If we maintain this concept we will keep more doors open, even if we don't know what lies ahead. Thanks for your input Zeuspaul