> > I've been looking into the PIIIs lately... trying to decide whether to opt for a PIII or pay way less and get a good PII. Do you have a reccomendation, o font of knowledge?
> >
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> My big thing with computer purchases is to look for a good future upgrade path, and right now the PIII doesn't offer much of one. All indications are that 550MHz will be the fastest PIII before Intel shrinks the processor core and introduces a new chipset and other features such as Rambus DRAM, AGP 4X and the 133MHz system bus speed. This means that the 550MHz PIII is the last processor that will be usable by today's motherboards, and to get any faster than that, you'll have to replace your processor, motherboard, *and* memory, which is a big ol' whopping expensive upgade. Not ideal.
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> The "sweet spot" right now for price-to-performance ratios, so far as I can tell, is the Celeron PPGA processor paired with a Socket 370 motherboard with a 440BX or 440ZX chipset, and 100MHz SDRAM. The good thing about this setup is that a 440BX or 440ZX chipset will support today's Celerons which use the 66MHz system bus speed, and also future Celerons which use a 100MHz system bus speed, starting at 500MHz. It doesn't seem at all unlikely to me that with a 440BX/440ZX Socket 370 motherboard and 100MHz SDRAM, you could expect to be able to upgrade to a 600MHz Celeron in the future. That's a pretty decent upgrade path, and it also doesn't require the purchase of expensive new Rambus memory technology, not to mention the low price of the Celeron itself. Very good performance plus a good upgrade path at a low price makes this combination a winner in my book.
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> The whole "Super Socket 7" motherboard platform paired with the K6-2 or K6-III processor is pretty analogous to the Celeron setup, I think; it also offers a good, cheap upgrade path and technology that's quite good although not as first-rate as the PIII.
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> I don't think there'll be a "sweet spot" for Pentium III systems until the end of the year, when the new motherboards, memory modules, AGP 4X graphics cards and reduced-core PIII processors have all been out for three or four months and have had a chance to drop in price somewhat. Until then, you can either get a Pentium III system right now which is fast, fairly expensive, and not very upgradeable, or a Pentium III system in July or August which is very fast and very upgradeable but also incredibly pricey.
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> I hit the sweet spot when building my own PC last year, which was a 440BX chipset motherboard, 100MHz SDRAM, and a 233MHz Pentium II processor (which I've overclocked somewhat). With this setup, I can upgrade the system to a 550MHz PIII just by switching out the processors, which will be a very affordable upgrade in another five months or so.
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> Got other, more specific questions? I don't know everything, but I've picked up a pretty good store of layman's knowledge since starting this job a year ago.
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> > Dar "Font of pointless babbling" ien
>
> Iss "font of Times New Roman" achar

What? Huh? Say that in English.
Sorry, I don't know enough about these diabolical machines to ask a question. Fortunately, I have a dozen family members(3 generations) who are qualified to advise me in computer matters. I understand the keyboard and the "on" button and I can adjust the brightness on that thingie that looks like a TV. That's about it. I prefer to invest my brain power in vintage motor scooters, fat-tired single-speed bikes, and antiques that are just a little weird. Speaking of antiques, how many of you can operate an Apple IIE? I can.
Howard