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Own a 286 or 386? Make-it a 486! Own a 486? Make-it a 586! Computer Upgrades Made Easy By ROSS TESTER So you’ve decided it’s time to replace or upgrade your computer. It’s not your choice to pension off old faithful but that impressive piece of wizz-bang electronics you purchased only a couple of years ago simply isn’t up to the rigours of today’s computing. A lot of new software, for example, is designed specifically for Windows 95 or Windows NT. Try running that on your slow old 386 and see how far you get! Even though most software has claims that it will work on a 386 system, it’s like asking a Clydesdale to line up for the Melbourne Cup. That old PC simply has to go . . . But go where? The bloke at the store tells you that as a trade-in your 286, 386 or even 486 computer is worth maybe a tenth of what you paid for it – probably less. Then there’s all your existing software and operating system. You’re comfortable with them. And despite what the bloke is telling you about the value of your system, you know that the hard disc(s), CDROMs, floppy drives, the various cards you’ve installed and even the memory chips are perfectly adequate. What a shame to get rid of them for no good reason! There must be another way. Then it dawns on you. Instead of buying 22  Silicon Chip a new computer you could go down the “new motherboard” route. This is a perfectly viable option for many people. Because the vast majority of IBM standard personal computers share just that, a common standard, it is a relatively easy task to change a mother­board. The mounting holes will almost certainly line up, the expansion slots will match with the cut-outs in the case; even the power and other cabling has fairly well standardised connections. Is it really viable? Looking through the pages of Silicon Chip, we see new Pentium motherboards advertised for between about $250 and $1300, depending on the speed and the “optional extras”. Sometimes those “optional extras” include the CPU! If you do need the CPU, it’s going to set you back another $130 to $1100, again depending on the speed required and the brand. So for about six hundred dollars or so and maybe an hour or two’s work, you could replace the motherboard in your computer with a reasonably fast 586 motherboard and processor chip and have effectively a brand new machine, right? Well, the answer is yes . . . and no. We’ve already said that most fittings will be standard. However, the problems start with all those things you didn’t want to change, the very reason you considered buying a motherboard instead of a whole new computer. Take memory, for example. When you bought your computer a couple of years ago, the chances were the memory was either individual chips (probably 41256 ICs) or, alternatively, it might have used SIMMs (single in-line memory modules). SIMMs contain either three or nine chips, which plug vertically into sockets on the motherboard. Unfortunately for you, these days no-one uses individual RAM chips and even SIMMs have changed. Instead of 30-pin SIMMs most new motherboards use 72-pin SIMMs. So your memory will have to be upgraded too. And using the industry “rule of thumb” of about $70 per megabyte, it’s clear that you’re up for much more money than you thought. Next come all those add-on cards. Some will be compatible, some not, because the expansion slots may be different. True, most motherboards still provide a limited number of the old-style 8 or 16-bit slots but there may not be enough. You may have to upgrade disc controllers, video controllers, CD ROM cards, maybe even the I/O card itself. Ah! – the I/O card. Do you have one? Perhaps not: many manufacturers placed the I/O components on the motherboard itself. But you’re replacing the motherboard and . . . As you can see, it is not as simple as might first appear. Of course, it is possible but for the average person, it can be a little daunting. So what is the alternative? Back to buying a new machine? Make-it Chips Enter a lifesaver in the form of a new chip called Make-it from, surprise surprise, the USA. Believe it or not, this chip turns your current 386 (or even a 286) into a 486 computer, with dramatic increases in speed and performance. And there’s even a Make-it 586 chip to turn your 486 computer into a full 586 specification machine! It sounds too good to be true but according to the importers of the chips, Artech Corporation, it is true. We’ve upgraded several of the “386” machines in the Silicon Chip office to prove the point. How Artech came to be the distributors of Make-it chips is an interesting sidelight: their main business is in the supply and installation of point-of- Above: the upgrade is well presented. This is the 80286 package which includes the Make-it 486 “chip”, an alternative carrier socket for those computers using PGA instead of the more normal (for ’286 machines) PLCC sockets, an IC extraction tool and step-by step instructions. The main components are shown enlarged below. Below: three different Make-it 486 packages, for 80286, 80386SX and 80386DX based machines. Not shown is the only-just-released Make-it 586 upgrade. May 1996  23 Left: this is what you should be looking for – a chip with the numbers 286, 386 or 486 somewhere on it (it is often part of a larger alphanumeric code number). In the case of this Intel 386 chip, they make it real easy to identify! In 486 machines, the chip is often camouflaged by a heatsink or even a fan. Below: the same computer about five minutes later, except that it's no longer a 25MHz ’386 – it's now a 50MHz ’486. sale terminals (POS), mainly in retail stores. The difference between the Artech POS terminals and many others is that inside each is a full-blown IBM compatible computer, exactly the same as you and I use (albeit in a different case). Many retailers use their POS terminals after hours for various “normal” computer tasks and were asking about having upgrades for increased performance. Until recently, the only method was the motherboard upgrade method but this meant intolerable downtime during a busy working day. Then Artech’s US counterparts told them about these incredible new chips that enabled a 10-minute upgrade –just long enough to get the top off the machine and plug in the chip! Artech imported some sample chips, tried them out – and they work­ ed! Word of these chips soon spread to dealers and computer suppliers, so Artech suddenly found a new business sideline. There are various models of the Make-it 486 modules, designed to suit the many variations of 386 and 486 chips in use today. These variations include the type of chip, SX or DX, and the speed at which it runs (anywhere from 12MHz up). The Make-it 486 modules use the new 486 SXLC/2 processor from Texas Instruments. With an 8K cache, clock doubling and processing speeds up to 66MHz, the SXL processor family provides up to 97% of the performance of a 486DX2. Also included is an onboard 8K cache, further enhancing the module’s performance. 24  Silicon Chip Before we go too much further, we should point out that not all 386 or even 486 computers can be upgraded. There are some really oddball designs about in which the designers have taken substantial liberties with the “standard”, to the point where they are not standard at all. The Make-it chips and modules simply do not work in these computers. Obviously, you cannot upgrade from a 386 to a 586 model. There is a Make-it module which will upgrade a 6-15MHz 286 to a 33MHz 486 but otherwise you can only go one step: 386 to 486 or 486 to 586. So what CAN you upgrade? Make-it chips and modules are made for the following: • 6, 10, 12 and 16MHz 286 machines (but not 20MHz) using a PLCC, LCC or PGA socket. 16, 20, 25, 33 and 40MHz 386SX machines where the CPU is soldered into the motherboard, as long as the computer was made after June 1991. All models except 33 and 40MHz machines are clock doubled. • 16, 20, 25, 33 and 40MHz 386DX machines where the CPU is fitted into a standard PGA (pin grid array) socket (33 and 40MHz machines are not clock doubled). • 16, 20, 25 and 33MHz 486SX and DX machines where the CPU is fitted into a socket. All of these are clock tripled. In the so-called 2-50 and 2-66 machines which are 25MHz and 33MHz machines clock doubled, the Make-it 586 chip converts them to a full 586 100MHz powerhouse! True 50MHz • Reproduced very close to life size, these are the front and back shots of the Make-it 486 module for 386DX upgrade. 386DX chips use a PGA (pin grid array) socket – 386SX chips, on the other hand, are usually soldered in place on the motherboard. 486 computers are not compatible. Is your PC a candidate? The first thing to determine is the type of CPU in your computer and its operating speed. It’s very easy to determine the type of processor: simply run the diagnostic program MSD from the DOS prompt (it should not be run from within Windows) and it will tell you exactly what you have. Determining the speed is a little more difficult. You might think that MACHINE TYPE those dinky little LED readouts on the front panel will tell you. Most of the time you’d be right but some less than scrupulous dealers have been known to set those LEDs to read just a little higher than they really should (it’s easy to change the indicated speed simply by changing jumpers). So that may be why your 50MHz machine at home doesn’t seem to run as fast as the 33MHz machine at the office! (Of course, there could be other reasons. . .) Refer to your owner’s manual: it might tell you the speed (but more than likely will only indicate a range of speeds the motherboard will handle). If you have any diagnostic software (Nortons, Checkit, etc) run that –it will not only tell you what it should be running at but what it actually runs at. (One of the machines at SILICON CHIP was supposed to be a 40MHz 386DX. Norton Utilities ‘SI’ told us that it was only running at a measly 30.5MHz!) The other possibility is that you will have to read the type of processor from its label. To do this, you will have to remove the computer cover (see your owner’s manual). Before doing this, though, it is wise to back up your hard disc and also make a copy of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTO-EXEC.BAT files and any drivers or other software which are called by CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT. Of course, before opening the cover NORTON SI (V7.00) CHECK-IT (V3.0) LANDMARK (V2.0) 80286/12MHz CPU 25 OPI 19.7 CPU 2800 DS MATH 55 WS CPU 15.53 80286 with Make-it 486 CPU 30 OPI 23.64 CPU 4700 DS MATH 65 WS CPU 24.49 KEY: 80386SX/25MHz CPU 25.6 OPI 19.7 CPU 6765 DS MATH 76.5 WS CPU 37.53 80386X/25 with Make-it 486 CPU 65.5 OPI 46.2 CPU 16999 DS MATH 197.3 WS CPU 76.47 80386SX/33MHz CPU 23.1 OPI 17 CPU 6254 DS MATH 117.7 WS CPU 41.65 80386SX/33 with Make-it 486 CPU 51.9 OPI 36.1 CPU 13259 DS MATH 252.2 WS CPU 103.27 80386DX/40 CPU 43.2 OPI 30.8 CPU 11049 DS MATH 168.9 WS CPU 62.4 80386DX/40 with Make-it 486 CPU 65.5 OPI 45.6 CPU 17466 DS MATH 254.2 WS CPU 106.4 80486DX/33MHz CPU 72 OPI 50 CPU 16170 DS CPU 111.5 80486DX/33 with Make-it 586 CPU 99 OPI 68.4 CPU 39211 DS CPU 337 CPU – Central Processing Unit speed. Different programs have different ways of measuring this speed, hence the difference results. WS – Whetstones DS – Dhrystones OPI – Overall Performance Index. Takes into account the computer's operation to give one overall figure. MATH – Math performance measured in Whetstones. May 1996  25 you will have turned off the power and removed the power cord from the power point. You also need to beware of electrostatic discharges, especially if working in a carpeted room or on a synthetic (eg Laminex or similar) bench top. It’s a wise move to every so often lay your hand on the shiny metal power supply box to keep yourself at the same potential as the computer. Look for one of the largest chips on the board with the numbers “386” on it, usually as part of a larger number. For example, it might have A80386SX-25 IV printed on it. This would be a 25MHz 80386SX chip. It is usually easy to tell the difference between 386 SX and DX chips. With relatively few exceptions, SX chips are soldered to the board while DX chips are normally socketed. It is possible that either type might be covered by a clip-on heatsink or fan. If so, you will have to carefully remove it to make the identification. Sometimes, one or more expansion boards may restrict your view of the microprocessor and will need to be removed. Before doing so, make a note of which board is in which slot (that could be important). Then remove any cables from any sockets on those expansion boards (both internal and on the backplane of the computer) and remove the single Phillips head screw holding the expansion board in place. Gently rock the expansion board back and forth until it slides out of the motherboard socket. Place the expansion board where it will not be affected by electrostatic charges. Armed with the chip information, you can now determine which Makeit chip/module is the right one for you. The Make-it chips and modules are available from a number of computer stores around Australia but if you have any difficulties, call Artech Corporation on (02) 809 6095; fax (02) 808 3052. it using the adapter clip supplied. Yes, that’s right – you actually leave the existing 386SX chip in place. You then replace any expansion boards previously removed, connect all cables, put the top back on and run the cache-enabling software supplied. If you have a 386DX fitted in a PGA (pin grid array) socket, mark the position of pin one on the motherboard and remove the microprocessor with the rake tool provided. Then insert the Make-it 486 module in its place, reassemble your machine and again run the cache enabling software. If you are upgrading from a 486 to 586 using the Make-it 586 chip, it’s even simpler. Almost invariably, the 486 is socketed, so you pull it out and plug the Make-it 586 chip in its place. Because 486 machines already have the cache enabled, there is no software to run. Just turn it on and the Make-it 586 16K internal cache is operational. Beware the pitfalls! It all sounds so simple, and it is but there are a couple of (expensive) traps for young (or even old) players along the way. Perhaps the most important one is the positive identification of pin one of the chip. It should be easy but in two cases we had real trouble. And as you can install the CPU 90, 180 or 270 degrees out of the correct position, that matters! Normally, you would expect to see a dot (painted or moulded) nearest pin one, or the corner adjacent to pin one chamfered slightly. On one CPU, the 386DX25, we couldn’t see any dot but thought we had identified the chamfer using a loupe (magnifying glass). We plugged in the chip and . . . nothing. Not even the front panel Upgrading Reading the manuals supplied with the chips, it would appear the actual upgrade is the simplest part of the process – up to a point, dear Harry, up to a point! If you have a 386SX, it’s simply a matter of working out which is pin 1 of the existing 386 processor, then slipping the Make-it 486 module over 26  Silicon Chip Believe it or not, we have had Windows 95 running on an upgraded 286 machine. This is considered virtually impossible on a standard 286 machine. LEDs came on – a sure sign that the power supply was not working and a vital clue that something was wrong. On closer examination with the loupe, we found that the chip had not one but four chamfers, one on each corner. Then sure enough, we found a dot, almost impossible to see. We were lucky that time; removing and installing the Make-it module in the right position proved 100% successful. We were probably lucky because of a second problem: we found that we hadn’t inserted the chip all the way in the first time ’round. We were worried about placing too much pressure on the chip and thereby fracturing the motherboard. It was that hard to push in. So the pins had not properly mated with their holes in the socket. Had they done so, when power was applied we would have almost certainly “cooked” the Make-it chip. The second time around, we supported the motherboard from underneath and then gently tapped the PGA chip in place with the head of a screwdriver. Then we heard another story about a completely incorrect silk screen printed on a motherboard – showing pin 1 actually 90° out from where it should have been marked. When the Make-it chip was installed on this motherboard, unfortunately according to the silk screen and not to the location of the original CPU, it did shuffle off its mortal coil. The manual makes a very strong point about identification of pin one. We couldn’t agree more. But it can be difficult to do, especially when the "REAL WORLD" TESTS Machine: 80486DX/33MHz BEFORE UPGRADE (s) AFTER UPGRADE (s) 1: LOADING WINDOWS 3.11 48 33 2: LOADING COREL DRAW 5 65 46 3: LOADING PAGEMAKER 5 40 35 4: LOADING PHOTOSHOP 2.5 30 17 5: RESIZING "ZOOM" COVER 21 6: 14 CONVERSION RGB TIFF SCAN TO CMYK TIFF 110 18 7:   SEARCH AND REPLACE IN   WORDPERFECT 6 FILE 14 7.5 8:   ARCHIVE LARGE PM5 FILE USING LHA 334 288 chip is covered by a heatsink or fan. Our advice is to persevere: if you get it wrong, it could be a costly mistake! And while Artech offers a 14 day money back guarantee on the chips, they are certainly not covered against destruction by internal fire! So how does it perform? Benchmarks are one thing, the real world is another. As any politician (or computer technician) will tell you, there are lies, damned lies and statistics. Even any salesperson half worth his or her pay packet can make a computer lie through its teeth when it comes to running evaluation software. That aside, we put each of the computers modified through three “benchmark” tests which are relatively industry standard. The first of these is “Sysinfo”, part of the Norton Utilities suite (we used SI V7.0). The second is “Check-It”, a very handy program which tells you a great deal about your computer (we used V3.0). Finally, there was the old faithful, Landmark (V2.00). As you can see in the separate table, each of these programs gives wildly different figures, even when measuring much the same function. The important thing to note is the relative change before and after modification. Pretty impressive, huh? We also put some of the computers through various “real world” functions both before and after installing Makeit upgrades. These mostly involved graphics manipulation, because this is very demanding of machine “grunt”. Our yardstick was a large file containing the front cover of our new sister publication, “Zoom”. This was produced using Corel Draw 6 from two high resolution colour scans, retouched using Adobe Photoshop. What we wanted to know was how fast this page would rewrite to the screen when an amendment was made. On a standard 486DX-33 it took 21 seconds. On a Pentium 133, as expected it took much less – just 9 seconds. On the “Make-it 586” (modified 486), it took 14 seconds. That’s a very good figure for the Make-it version, bearing in mind that the task is mostly processing power (any disc activity is identical). It does tend to reinforce the manufacturer’s claims about these chips. We also noted that Windows 3.11 also took significantly less time to load. Given that much of the time in loading a program is in reading it from the disc drive, most of our operations software appeared to load noticeably faster. What if it doesn't work? Let's assume the "worst case" scenario: you've upgraded your computer and it doesn't work. Or it does work, but its performance is at best the same as before, perhaps worse. Taking the latter first, by far the most common reason is failure to run the cache software supplied with the Make-it 486 chips. The software is an integral part of the performance increase – if you don't run it, you won't get the benefit of the on-board cache. There really is no other reason for the upgrade not to work properly if it does work. If it doesn’t work at all, there are several things to look for. (1) The most obvious, and most serious, is that you have installed the chip 90° or more out of position. As we said before, this is not only quite likely to destroy the chip, but it could also damage your motherboard. Therefore, get it right the first time! In the event that you have done the unthinkable, remove the chip and replace your original microprocessor in the socket – the right way around! Hopefully, your computer should now function as it did before. If it doesn't, you have probably done some major damage. If it does work, try re-inserting the Make-it chip (the right way around). You have nothing to lose – and you might be lucky. (2) If you are upgrading a 2-50 or 2-66 machine, you may need to disable the machine's own clock doubling (ie, convert your basic machine back to a 25 or 33MHz model). Look in your owner's manual for the correct jumper to change. Almost invariably, it's just a matter of slipping a link off two pins and swapping it to another pair. (4) Check the ‘‘BIOS’’ date on the sign-on screen of your PC. If the date is pre June 1991 for the 386 upgrade, and pre June 1992 for the 486 upgrade, you could have a problem. A later BIOS (suitable for your machine) could solve your problems. (5) If none of the above apply, it looks like your machine should be on the "no go" list. It's time to ask for your money back! HOW MUCH AND WHERE FROM? Make-it 486 (all models, for 286, 386SX and 386DX computers)            $295.00 Make-it 586 (including on-chip fan)       $495.00 All chips include full instructions, removal tools as appropriate, heat­sinks, etc and have a 14-day money-back guarantee in case of non-compatibility. Make-it Chips are available from selected computer specialists, or direct from Artech Corporation Pty Ltd, 12 Rothesay Ave, Ryde NSW 2113. Tel (02) 809 6095, Fax (02) 808 3052 May 1996  27 We used the front cover of our new sister publication, “ZOOM”, for most of the “real world” comparisons. In full colour, this graphic is a real test of a computer's processing power or “grunt”. Other upgrades With all the money you've saved in not replacing your motherboard, it is now time to start thinking of other things you can do to get even better 28  Silicon Chip performance from your new, fast computer. The first upgrade to think seriously about is memory. Modern programs, especially Windows 95 and those based on it, eat memory by the boxfull. The more you give it, the more they'll like it. Before dashing out and buying memory though, read your manual to see what type it takes and in what “chunks” it can be added. It may be that you can only go up 2Mb or 4Mb at a time, for example. You may also need to buy a memory adaptor. Another worthwhile option is a go-fast video card, to minimise the bottleneck caused when the computer is trying to write information to the screen. This can be agonising when working with graphics! Or you might think about a larger (much larger) disc drive. They've come down dramatically in recent times – and you're certainly going to need more space soon! Then there are such things as CDROMS, mass storage media, modems, SCSI devices, and so on virtually ad infinitum. And that's before we even think about new software! What Are The Drawbacks? Remember that old proverb . . . if something sounds too good to be true, it possibly is! We have proved the Make-it upgrades work well, and as intended. But keep in mind they only upgrade the CPU performance. They do not give you increased disc speed, for example. You would have to upgrade the disc drive and possibly the controller for that. Video cards fall into the same category: the Make-it chip will get the information processed much faster, but a good video card is a must! Just remember that if you really do need the power and performance of a full Pentium 133 with all the bells and whistles, that's what you will have to buy! Finally, for a more detailed discussion of the merits of upgrading the various components of your computer, refer to the "Computer Bits" column in the January 1996 issue of SC Silicon Chip.