Hi folks,
My tolerance level of the volume of dis-forum communications is high as I
have learned an awful lot from it and it is obviously a valuable and VERY
responsive and supportive network. However, I will be pleased to pass it
over to our new Learning Support Manager, Mo Kiziewicz, when she joins us
on 1st August. (will post this i.d.c.).
However, the amount of sheer techie-speak over the past few days about
re-cycling v. not and specs for hard and software has gone way beyond what
I can cope with - the sad result being a glance and delete (which means I
may miss other important d-f stuff). Are we are the stage of needing a
separate list for techie staff in addition to the general dis-forum
list with a distinction between the two, or is that asking for too much -
or is everyone else fascinated by the innards of PCs and needs to know all
this??
This is not a gripe but a genuine question...forgive my ignorance if it
has already been debated and resolved.
Leila
******************************************************************************
Leila Edwards Direct line: tel: 01225-826879
Dean of Students Internal ext: 6879
Fax: 01225-826709
Room 4W 3.4a External e-mail: [log in to unmask]
University of Bath Internal e-mail: adsle
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Secretary/Diary: Kate Lewis tel: 01225-826826 ext: 4796
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On Tue, 13 May 1997, Boffey, Heath wrote:
> Paul Dilley wrote:
> > As Ian confirmed:
> >
> > > No only if you want full pentium power rendering full colour
> > > polygons etc Usually you average the two out and install a P133
> > > motherboard + chip with your outdated video and controllers, you
> > > will get P75 speeds.
> <snip>
> > My calculations were P133 & motherboard stlg172, 32MB RAM stlg110, 2MB
> >
> > PCI graphics card stlg65, 1.2GB HD stlg114.00, CL soundblaster with
> > TextAssist stlg62.00, 12 speed CD ROM stlg58 = stlg581 + VAT =
> > stlg683.
> <snip>
> > Then evaluate your 3 year old 14" monitor against a new 15".
> >
> > The end result is not cost effective.
> >
> > I am becoming increasingly convinced that a P166MMX with 32MB RAM may
> > be justified as an entry level machine in September. More
> > software is being manufactured to take advantage of the MMX
> > features.
> <snip>
> Firstly, I just have to agree with Paul; what is the point of upgrading
> to a Pentium 133 but keeping an old graphics card giving you P75
> performance. You can get PCI S3 2Mb graphics cards that work pretty well
> for upwards of stlg30 which is a minor increase to the total price. Also
> if you are upgrading from a 486, the configuration of the memory SIMMs
> could force you to buy all the memory rather than an upgrade; Pentium
> PCs require the memory to be used in similar pairs (i.e. for 16Mb you
> need 2x8Mb or 4x4Mb). If the old PC has 4Mb then it's probably not worth
> buying another three 4Mb SIMMs since two of these would have to be
> removed for further expansion on most motherboards. Buying new memory
> would also mean that you could opt for EDO RAM which is slightly quicker
> than the standard SIMMs.
>
> As for processors, I've been using a Cyrix/IBM processor in my home
> machine for the past year which offers P150 power but typically costs
> stlg55. So far I've had no compatibility problems.
>
> As for MMX processors, if you are recommending these for students, can
> you really justify the extra stlg50 or so over the cost of the standard
> Pentium for the majority of cases? For standard WP there will be little
> improvement. Multimedia applications may be improved if the software
> supports MMX, but I think that MMX is more likely to be games oriented
> in the immediate future. In two years time it will probably be standard,
> but I don't feel that I can claim that it's essential for the majority
> of students (if any) at this moment. We're back to the need vs want
> argument.
>
> Heath Boffey
> Special Needs Technical Support Officer
> Lancaster University
>
>
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