PERSONAL COMPUTERS -
UPGRADE OR BUY NEW?
By WILLIAM T. SUNLEY, Engineer of Local Roads and Streets
Remember the state-of-the-art Commodore 64 or
IBM compatible 8086 dual floppy with the green monochrome monitor? Where are they now? Some people
may use them as plant stands, others as a parts supply.
The Commodore, on the other hand, still has a small
following of people who play the old Commodore
video games.
For those people brave enough to venture past the
infancy stages of the personal computer (PC) into the
realm of today's supercomputers, the changes have
been overwhelming to say the least. The 386, 486, and
even 586 (Pentium) class of PCs seem to be obsolete
soon after leaving the computer store. This is due
mainly to increased technology and the quest for the
ultimate processing speed. Every aspect of the PC has
grown. The 20 MB hard drive thought never to be filled
would not even be able to store a word processing
package today. The hard drives used now are in gigabytes not just megabytes. In fact there can be more
megabytes of Random Access Memory (RAM) on a PC
than that same 20 MB hard drive has for actual storage.
Over the past year or two the question of upgrading
a 386 PC has been posed several times, and if not an
upgrade then a new PC, and if a new PC, 486 or Pentium? These questions depend on both the user and the
application software packages. If you are not satisfied
with your 386's performance, or plan to install any
Windows based applications software, then it would be
wise to investigate upgrading or purchasing a new PC
of the 486 or higher class. If the decision has been made
to upgrade, then what? There are three areas that
greatly affect the performance of a PC — Random
Access Memory, the Hard Drive, and the Processing
Chip.
Random Access Memory is the working storage
area of your PC; it allows Windows, DOS and other
programs to operate without frequent access to the
hard drive. Windows applications devour RAM, so it
would be best to install enough RAM to accommodate
present and future Windows applications packages — 8
MB minimum, preferably 12 MB. Based on past experience, creating forms through Microsoft Word for
Windows v6.0 that contained tables and calculations
used all remaining RAM (8 MB total on a 486/33 MHz
PC). The form was neither lengthy or complicated.
This PC has been upgraded to 12 MB RAM.
For the purpose of being consistent in references,
the subject of this upgrade will be a Compaq 386s/16
MHz PC. Upgrading the Compaq from 2 MB to 8 MB
of RAM will require an expansion board and a memory
module. This expansion board comes with 4 MB installed. An additional 2 MB memory module makes a
total of 8 MB. Depending on the 386, the expansion
board will cost around $250-$450.
The next item to upgrade is the hard drive. Most
386's were shipped with a 40 MB — 120 MB hard drive.
At that time, who would have dreamed of filling that
much memory with applications and data files? Microsoft Word for Windows currently requires about 25 MB
of disk space. Combine that with Windows, DOS, and a
few other application packages and the 40 MB drive has
run out of room, and the 120 MB drive is nearly full. For
a modest replacement, a 420 MB drive with controller
card and cable costs about $200-$250; however, a 1—1.5 gigabyte drive costs only around $500 and has two
to three times the storage capacity of the 420.
The last area for upgrade is the processing chip. This
chip, in conjunction with a few other smaller hardware
components, is the heart of your computer and controls
the speed at which applications perform. If a 386/16
MHz PC takes a while to boot up, or must allow Lotus
to finish its calculations before data entry can resume, it
is due to the 16 MHz processor. These tasks would take
place almost instantaneously if a 486/33 MHz or Pen-
August 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 11
tium class PC were used. A 486 processor upgrade for a
386 sx (no math coprocessor) costs around $250-$300.
In summary, the total cost for an upgrade to an
approximately 3-4 year old sx/16 MHz PC is as follows:
4 MB RAM Expansion Board
2 MB RAM Memory Module
420 MB Hard Drive & Controller Card
486 Processor Upgrade for 386 sx
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$250.00
$100.00
$200.00
$250.00
$800.00
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For comparison, a Compaq 486/66 with a 420 MB
hard drive, SVGA color monitor, and 12 MB RAM costs
around $2200. A good rule of thumb to follow is that the
upgrade cost should not exceed 40 percent of a new
PC's price. In this case, the upgrade price of $800 did
not exceed 40 percent of $2200; however, these upgrades were bare minimum. The question one must ask
is: is it worth upgrading a system that is (1) not in
production anymore, and (2) will be even more out-of-date when the next generation of computers are introduced?
If purchasing a new 486 or Pentium (highly recommended) rather than upgrading an old 386, research the
product/vendor reliability, warranties, services, and
product components extensively. Don't ever buy the
"latest and greatest." It is best to stay at least one step
behind to allow the manufacturers and overzealous
consumers to work the bugs out.
Credits to: Mark Blankenship, Local Program Data Management,
Unit Chief.
Page 12 / Illinois Municipal Review / August 1995
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