By 1993, the Intel 486 was entrenched into the market. Also, people were used to the traditional 80×86 naming scheme. Intel was busy working on its next generation of processor. It was not to be called the 80586, though. There were some legal issues surrounding the ability for Intel to trademark the numbers 80586. So, instead, Intel changed the name of the...

Installing a video card is pretty simple. You can do it yourself easily. All you need is a screwdriver and your video card installation instructions. You may want to also create a system disk to rescue your system in case of trouble, although it is unlikely you will get into trouble. Removal Instructions (for upgrades):If you are upgrading, it is usually a...

Installing an internal modem can be real easy or your biggest nightmare. Either way, being an internal card, it is harder to install than an external modem.Turn the power off, unplug it, and take the case cover off. Now choose a motherboard slot for your modem. Many newer modems use PCI slots, although ISA modems are still available. Remove the corresponding...

For quite a while, Intel held the 3D throne because their processors were the most powerful and their FPU performance was adequate for good 3D performance. Both AMD and Cyrix took the role as providers of business processors. For long, AMD was trying to get itself into the high performance ring and to get a reputation as a provider of high performance...

Let’s discuss all the Intel chipsets for fifth generation processors. There are many, and it can be confusing. 430LX, “Mercury” An ancient chipset that supported the old 60-66MHz Pentiums. It did support PCI, but it didn’t support EDO memory. It only supported 128MB of memory. It was puny and it was forgotten quickly when Intel dropped...

Okay…so maybe you have a bad power supply. You want to put a new one in. First, you need to know what kind to get. One consideration in buying a power supply is its wattage. The more gizmos you have on your computer, the more powerful power supply it will need. The old computers, like the XT, work fine on a 130 watt...

Removing Floppy DrivesTurn the computer off, take the case off, and remove any diskettes from the drive. Locate the disk drive. This should be pretty easy for most of us. Now go about disconnecting the drive. Remove the screws that fasten the drive to the support casing, then unplug the power source from the...

The popularity of SCSI is increasing rapidly, but I believe this is due to a misunderstanding. It is often thought that SCSI automatically blows IDE away when it comes to performance. While SCSI does offer a faster throughput, one’s activities on the machine affect just how much this performance will really matter. ...

The 6×86, released in 1995, was Cyrix’s sixth generation processor, also nicknamed the M1. This chip was reasonably fast for the time and was a smart way to get decent speed without the hefty price tag. It was, though, an entry-level processor. Cyrix, by this time, was a major player in the alternative processor market. They...

The history of the processor is an interesting one, full of fierce competition and advanced technology, yet short in the terms of years. At the point where I will begin addressing this history, we are beginning with a 5 MHz 8086 processor, and today we are routinely seeing 1.8 GHz to up over 2 GHz. What a difference 20-some years can make. Let us start. In the...

Ever wondered what the processor is like on the inside? Ever wondered how some of the internal structures of the processor translate into some of the arcane specs you hear about in tech circles? This is the article to read. In this article, I will cover some of the basics on how a processor works and define some of the terms which you no doubt will see in your...

DDR-DRAM is basically SDRAM which has been modified so as to make it more advanced, and ultimately faster. Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory is the complete wording of the product, but DDR-DRAM is much easier to deal with. To dive you an idea of why it is called this, one must consider the design of SDRAM. On SDRAM, data, along with...

There has been a lot of talk lately about the advances in DVD. Many claim it to be the next step beyond the CD-ROM. But, before jumping right into it, one needs to understand it. In doing so, one will find that it might not be all that it is cracked up to be. At least not yet. The DVD acronym is a little vague. Some call it Digital Video Disk while other call it...

The floppy disk drive was invented in 1967 at IBM by Alan Shugart. The very first disks were 8″ in size. This evolved into the old ones which are 5-1/4′s. These 5.25″ drives are big and ugly. The disks that are used on these drives are compsed of a recordable medium surrounded by a flexible plastic envelope. These disks are bendable. The...

The toughest part of upgrading to a newer hard drive is the task of transferring all of your files and configurations over to the new drive. Yes, you can re-install Windows, re-install all of your programs, re-download all of your shareware, copy over all of your documents, then try to reconfigure it to the way you like it. But, why? There are much easier ways....