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-

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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:

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.

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