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Comm
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Communication Hardware Meet That Need for Speed The American Micro Devices Solution by John Woody |
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Comm
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Communication Hardware Meet That Need for Speed The American Micro Devices Solution by John Woody |
| This article is about another of those areas which indirectly
affect our computer communication effort. This month I will attempt to
cover the highlights of installing a new Central Processing Unit (CPU)
and motherboard in one of my machines and its effect on my communication
to the outside world. As you may have heard me say in the past, "There
is no substitute for CPU speed, faster is better." I may have also said
"There is no substitute for Random Access Memory, more is better." I could
have even said "There is no substitute for Hard Disk size, larger is better."
I might have said once "There is no substitute for Modem speed, faster
is better." It's hard to keep track of all this wisdom.
Review AMD HardwareAs noted in this column last month, we are in the midst of finding the best way to utilize the AMD CPUs and EFA motherboards donated by American Micro Devices (AMD). The club is in the process of finding a way to utilize the new AMD donations and not affect the current equipment. We will be covering more on this issue as it unfolds.AMD had provided one unit to me for review purposes. I will attempt to relate the upgrade process in this column and in a formal hardware review. I have made the modification to one of my machines. This is the Windows 98 problem machine, which I have had the Com Port problems with for the last five months as has been mentioned in this column. As has been related, that machine would not communicate through its analog modem as I attempted to setup WinFax Pro v 9.0 on it. I had no problem communicating through my network to other computers and to the Internet through my router. I selected this machine to do the modification. My upgrade installation procedure was to follow the directions included in the EFA Viking 3 motherboard setup sheet. The EFA instruction sheet was complete and fairly easy to understand. I simply removed the installed I/O cards and piled them in a corner. The old motherboard/CPU setup was then removed. I then used canned air to blow all the dust out of the case and power supply. I also attempted with some success to remember all the case cable pinouts. The Viking 3/K6-2 setup is a 66/100 MHZ AT style motherboard utilizing a Socket 7 CPU connection. I chose the 100 MHZ motherboard clock speed to get the maximum benefit from the 400 MHZ K6-2 CPU and 100 MHZ RAM. This board also includes a AGP style video card slot. The board uses DIMM style Random Access Memory (RAM). The documentation concerning the motherboard jumper settings was straightforward. The EFA motherboard manual has good board diagram layout indicating where the pinouts and jumpers are located. The AMD K6-2 CPU plugs into a Socket 7 type plug on the motherboard. The old motherboard/CPU is not a shabby system in that it is a SuperMicro Computer Inc., AT style motherboard utilizing an Intel 233 MHZ MMX CPU. Other I/O cards include a ISA Creative 16 bit sound card, ISA Courier analog modem, PCI Diamond video card, and PCI NIC. The system also has an IDE Iomega tape backup unit with its own accelerator ISA card. It has a AT style keyboard and a serial Logitech mouse. I am using a USB case backplane connection with two USB ports, which plugs into the motherboard. The Viking 3 board installed with no problems. I opted to install a AGP class A50 Diamond video card in the new system to take advantage of the AGP style video capabilities. The other components were returned en masse. I chose one stick of 128 MB 100 MHZ SDRAM PC-100 RAM for this system. The remaining PCI and ISA I/O cards were re-installed in masse. The installation instructions recommended that these cards be re-installed one at a time to keep problems under control. I simply turned the machine on. It worked fine until it attempted to recognize my serial Logitech mouse. No luck! I ended up installing the provided PS-2 I/O plug in a free backplane case opening and purchasing a PS-2 mouse. The PS-2 mouse may have solved my modem problem, in that after a re-start or two, the modem seems to be working. This is because the PS-02 mouse uses another IRQ in place of the serial mouse. The case cable pinouts are almost all back in place. I opted to keep the USB backplane connections from the previous setup. I seem to have made a mistake on the HDD LED, which will be corrected when I next open the case. The machine then ran without any further problem. My fifteen year-old Tandy keyboard works just like before. Even Windows 98 worked without any new problems. All the application software worked including MS Office 97. The only remaining problem was the COM Port problem I had previously had and it may have been solved with the new IRQ setting. The system cooks at 400/100 MHZ and loves 128 MB or RAM. Then, even the Com Port problem has disappeared. I can see the modem in the diagnostics test. I have not tested the USB ports yet. A full up review will be forthcoming within the next month as I gain more operating experience with this setup. In the review, I will attempt to cover installation and setup tricks and give a detailed process of how to do a CPU/motherboard upgrade. There is, indeed, no substitute for CPU speed, faster is better! I think that this review is important in that anyone with a little knowledge and/or help can make that ole last year=s machine cook with the best of them. This upgrade method utilizes changing both the motherboard and the CPU, but using existing case and I/O components.
Resource Center AMD MachinesThe Board of Directors has approved four new machines for the Resource Center Lab. I am setting them up at this time. Again, these are 400 MHZ/100 MHZ AT style machines. The setup is the same as with my machine, except all new components are being used as we build from scratch. This is another method of upgrading. Simply build yourself a new machine.I will review this process as well so that we have a record of how to build a machine from scratch. There are some benefits as well as drawbacks to building or upgrading computers from scratch. Benefits include getting the higher speed CPU and latest technology including the newest BIOS EPROM. If the CPU is the only change, then there may be a drawback because the motherboard clock speed is something less than optimum for the new CPU, ie., a P-5 233 MHZ MMX socket seven CPU in a 33 MHZ clock speed motherboard may not perform as well as you would like. Old motherboards may have BIOS chips with less than up to date BIOS firmware installed. The old BIOS may not be Y2K complaint. This may be cause for having to flash the BIOS EPROM. Real benefit may come from replacing both the CPU and motherboard. The main consideration in a CPU/motherboard replacement is that the case power supply is adequate to handle all the additional peripherals you can now add. Late manufacture motherboards also may have USB connections, which may be added.
Additional CPU Upgrade MethodsWhile I am talking about upgrade methods, I need to cover other techniques. These include adding higher performance CPUs to your existing computer. I have done this by adding 233 MHZ CPUs in place of 166 MHZ CPUs. Some companies offer more complete upgrades so that more powerful CPUs can be added to really older machines. These techniques include CPUs mounted on socket plug-in cards or CPUs mounted on I/O cards.Three companies, Kingston, Evergreen Technologies, and PowerLeap each offer additional options for CPU upgraders. Each manufacturer either offer Socket 7 direct replacement upgrade kits or card slot CPU replacement units. Kingston and PowerLeap are both offering socket seven replacement upgrades using both Intel and AMD CPUs. These replacement CPUs plug into the motherboard CPU socket. Both use AMD processors with speed ranges up to 366 or 400 MHZ. These upgrades are aimed at computers running Pentium, AMD or Cyrix processors in the 150 MHZ to 200 MHZ range. The Kingston approach is called TurboChip 366 and retails for approximately $249.00. (Kingston Web site is www.kingston.com). The PowerLeap method is called PowerLeap K6-III and retails for approximately $349.00. (PowerLeap Web site is www.powerleap.com). The Evergreen approach is to install the upgrade unit in an available PCI slot. This is an attempt to provide Pentium II performance to older systems. Since Intel holds the Pentium II bus patent, Evergreen is using the PCI slot approach. The card has a Socket 370 CPU plug capable of handling Intel Celeron CPUs. SDRAM RAM is also placed on the PCI card. The old processor is not removed. On boot-up, the BIOS recognizes the old components, then the BIOS recognizes the new PCI card, and the CPU on the card boots the OS. No motherboard jumper settings are changed, and no BIOS setting changes are necessary. The Evergreen approach is called AcceleraPCI (It was called EclipsePCI during the test phase). It will retail for $399.00 including the Celeron 433 MHZ CPU and 64 MB 100 MHZ RAM. The bench mark tests are quite remarkable. I have used Evergreen Technologies CPU upgrades in the past with good results. This PCI/CPU card approach may be a real benefit to upgraders. The AcceleraPCI is not designed for laptops, 486, Pentium Pro, or Pentium II based systems as they do not have the Socket 370 CPU pinout sockets.
Linux SIG UpdateThe Linux SIG is on track to kick off in September. We have a SIG Leader, Walt Vega. It looks as if the SIG will be well attended. John Gaddis has 30 or so names, and I have received e-mail from another ten members who would like to attend. I am attempting to get hardware ready by September. It looks as the SIG will start as a demonstration SIG and evolve into a hands-on SIG when we get additional computers up and running. Welcome to Alamo PC Organization, Walt.
My ADSL/Direct Cable ConnectionRoadRunner made the data cable connection to my office last month. I called SW Bell to check on my ADSL connection capabilities also. After a couple of tries, SW Bell determined that I am 1,000 feet beyond their 17,500 foot limit for ADSL service at this time. A real bummer. SW Bell said not to despair as they are retting ready to upgrade all the DSAM systems in each of the Central Offices (CO) to better serve their customer base.Call the SW Bell ADSL check line at 1-888-792-3751 if you are considering this broadband technology.
ConclusionsI have mixed emotions when talking about keeping up with the Joneses computer speed. As you know, your current computer is like last year=s skis, the most dangerous things ever designed or developed, according to the salesperson. My usual advice is to not worry about the latest, hottest machine, but just get to know and use the one you have. Keep in mind, that most of us do not use all the capability of the machine we have today, let alone, the hottest machine off the assembly line.There are, however, several ways to meet that need for speed. Buy a new machine off the shelf. Upgrade the current machine via one of the methods described above. John Woody is a networking communications consultant specializing in small office, home office networks, training setup, and internet connectivity.
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