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My Computer

I'm learning the specifics to my computer, so, here are 'the basics'.

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Gateway2000 Vivitron15 (15") monitor, resolution: 1024 x 768 pixels at 16+ million colors
US Robotics Sportster 28.8 Internal modem(MOdulater-DEModulater)
Gateway2000 P5-120 Family PC (Personal Computer)
Microsoft Windows 95 OS (Operating System)
Hewlett-Packard 682c (color) Printer
Western Digital 1.6Gb (Gigabyte) hard drive
Intel 120 Pentium CPU (Central Processing Unit)
Toshiba 12x Multispeed CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) drive
48Mb (Megabytes) of EDO (Extended Data Out) RAM (Random Access Memory)
Why does that top-most animated .gif seem to move at a different speed, relative to the others? First downloaded?

     I've discovered that one can often know when a computer was ordered/bought by looking at the computer's specifications. For instance, a 6x CD-ROM was the fastest available, when I got it. Now, 12x and 16x(max) are the latest/greatest, and 6x just sounds pokey! Also, a 1.6Gb was, I think, the largest and fastest hard drive that Gateway 2000 was offering in March '96...now I'm reading about 5.1Gb and 6.4Gb hard drives...and, well, what's a Terabyte?*

     RAM prices have achieved historical lows, so I've recently (um, February '97...) added 32Mb of RAM to this computer. Although RAM prices on the Internet are still fluctuating near it's lowest mark (~$3.90 per MegaByte, around January 20th), the price drop seemed to arrive at local stores only recently. I purchased the (2) 16Mb RAM chips for $78 apiece, or, approximately $4.88/Mb. I bought it at the local store because I wouldn't be paying the mail-order shipping and handling which is often a greater cost than just the taxes, alone.

     By the way (BTW), machines using Intel Pentium CPUs must have RAM installed in matching pairs. OK. Since I'm a little behind-the-times on newer PC-clones, I must tell you that the RAM I'm speaking about, upon this page, and within my computer, is EDO RAM, in SIMM (Single Inline Memory Module) chips. Now there are DIMMs (Dual/Double Inline Memory Modules), and SRAM (Synchronous RAM). For me, RAM was a pretty confusing topic because there are so many types. For older 286, 386, and 486 computers, 30-pin RAM chips were required. Starting with the Pentium-class processors and motherboards, 72-pin RAM chips are the norm. I can't tell you why the number of pins was changed, but planned obsolescence is certainly one possibility.

     Adding this additional RAM gave me the opportunity to 'pop-the-top' on this machine. The case top was a little difficult to remove, probably because it had only been put on once, on March 6, 1996! It's pretty cramped inside the system box, and one must look around in order to exactly locate the SIMM chip slots. However, since I had the new SIMMs in my hands, I knew what to look out for.

     * Okay, some computer 'storage' (Hard drive, floppy drive, writable CD) background: A kilobyte (k) is 1,024 bytes. A Megabyte (Mb) is 1,024k. A Gigabyte (Gb) is 1,024Mb. And, a Terabyte (Tb?), while theoretical at this moment, is 1,024Gb. I personally cannot imagine backing-up a storage medium that large...back

     Since this is/was the first computer I've ever owned, and purchased through mail-order, I've necessarily learned some important lessons. When purchasing a computer, whether through a local store or mail-order, there are certain questions that should be answered, the computer industry and technological advances being what they are. First of all, one needs to know if their computer has the capability to be upgraded. Because I wasn't too certain what I was getting (or getting myself into...), I didn't know enough to ask the proper questions.

     My motherboard is the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) version of the Intel Zappa (Advanced/ZP)...which means that my motherboard isn't the standard Intel Zappa. Depending upon whom you ask, the fastest processor the the Intel Zappa will support is either the 120MHz or 133MHz Pentium, so, I'm virtually at the upper end of the processor's speed limit, and, to achieve more processor speed, I can either purchase a 133MHz Pentium to plug in, sometime in the future an Intel OverDrive might be available for my machine, or, I can get a new motherboard that allows greater upgrades. This OEM Zappa doesn't contain a Level 2 (L2) cache, generally sized either 256k or 512k, nor the ability to add one...the cache is an important piece of hardware for the computer's performance, because the cache stores data that is used frequently, therefore preventing your processor from having to seek that data either in RAM or your hard drive, which are typically slower than a cache chip. These are subjects that I wish my salesman had made clear to me before I submitted my order!

     Now that my computer is a year-obsolescent, there are now more processors to choose from. The next microprocessor chip, evolution-wise, is the Intel Pentium Pro. Then, there's the newly released Intel Pentium MMX. There's rumored to be a Pentium Pro with MMX technology due out in the summer, nicknamed 'Klamath'. Because I'm hoping to have this computer for a long time, I'm afraid that I haven't kept-up with the available processors -- by the time I get another computer, all of these processor types might well be extinct! New, emerging processor technology is another reason to be sure that the computer you want will allow upgrading!

Want to know more about my machine?  

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Uh-oh...I've used the words RAM and ROM on the same page...'scuse me while I run to my electronics dictionary...hmmm, lessee, acronyms, acronyms...

©1997 Tim Folker, all rights reserved

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