Comparing My Computers Over Time
As I pointed out last week, I had to build a new computer. I believe in using high-end components so that I don't have to (a) worry about things failing or not working properly and (b) have the unit last for a long time. I decided to update an old post in which I compared the first PC I bought with one that I purchased six years later. Below, I've updated the table to include my current computer, a custom-built system based on an Intel i7-6700 CPU.
| Computer Comparisons | ||||||
| Item | 1982 System | 1993 System | 1999 System | 2003 System | 2010 System | 2016 System |
| Make / Model | Texas Instruments TI-99/4A | Leading Edge WinPro 486e | Custom build | Gateway 700GR | Dell Studio XPS 8100 | Custom build |
| Processor | TI TMS9900 @ 3.0 MHz | AMD 486DX125 (originally 486DX33) | 450 MHz Pentium III | 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 | Intel i7-860 @ 2.8 GHz | Intel i7-6700 @ 3.4 GHz |
| Motherboard | TI custom-built | Daewoo | Intel 100 MHz motherboard | Intel D915GSN | Intel H57 | Asus Z170-Deluxe |
| Motherboard Form Factor | None | LPX w/ motherboard-proprietary connector | ATX | BTX (balanced technology extended) | Micro ATX | ATX |
| Operating System | TI Basic | DOS / Windows 3.1 | Windows 98 (2nd Edition) | Windows XP | Windows 7 / Linux (dual-boot) | Linux |
| Amount RAM | 16 kB originally; later expanded to 48 kB | 32 MB (originally 4 MB of non-parity RAM) | 256 MB | 1 GB | 8 GB | 32 GB |
| Type RAM | 16 kB built on motherboard | 30 pin SIMM - 16.67 MHz Fast Page Mode DRAM | 168 pin DIMM PC100 100-MHz | 184-pin DDR-400 200-MHz | 250-pin DDR2 1066-MHz | 288-pin DDR4 3200 MHz |
| Hard Drive | Are you kidding? | Maxtor 2.7 GB (originally Seagate 214 MB) | IBM 20.7 GB | 250 GB | Two (2) 2.0 TB plus one (1) 1.0 TB | One 500 GB SSD & two (2) 4.0 TB HDDs |
| Expansion Ports | Peripheral Expansion Box (PEB) | 8 ISA ports | 2 ISA 4 PCI 1 AGP |
3 PCI PCIe-1x PCIe-16x |
1 PCI 2 PCIe-1x PCIe-16x |
4 PCIe-1x 3 PCIe-16x |
| Video Card | 16 kB VDP (video display processor) | Western Digital 512K IDE | ATI Rage! 16MB AGP | ATI Radeon X300 128 MB | Nvidia Geforce 210 1 GB | MSI Geforce GTX 970 4 GB |
| Audio Card | Built-in (unknown type) | Soundblaster 16 | Soundblaster Live! 512V | Soundblaster Live! 512V (transferred from 1999 computer) | On-board Intel HD audio | On-board Intel Sunrise Point-H HD Audio |
| Network Connection | External cup-based 300 baud modem | Diamond Express 56K modem (originally 9600 baud modem) | 56K V.90 modem | 56 Kbps PCI internal fax modem | Onboard 10/100/1G Ethernet | 2 Onboard 10/100/1G Ethernet |
| Onboard 10/100 Mbps Ethernet | ||||||
| Optical Drive | Same as "Hard Drive" above. | Unknown make 8X CD-ROM (added later) | Sony 24X CD-RW | 48x CD-ROM | Dell DVD+/-RW GH50N | Dell DVD+/-RW GH50N (carried over from 2010 system) |
| Toshiba 6X DVD-ROM | 12x DVD-RW | |||||
| Removable Storage | Cassette tape | External 100 MB Zip Drive | Internal 250 MB Zip Drive | 8 USB 1.1 connections | 8 USB 2.0 connections (expanded to include 4 USB 3.0) | 1 USB 2.0 3 USB 3.0 5 USB 3.1 1 USB Type-C |
| 5.25" drive in external PEB | 5.25" & 3.5" internal floppy drives | 3.5" internal floppy drive | ||||