Re: PCI bus
Mr. Timothy Armstrong; TEC (armstron@umbc.edu)
Mon, 4 Dec 1995 00:54:41 EST
Jeanne,
The main adavantage the PCI bus has over the current bus is speed. To be
honest with you, I'm not sure what the speeds are to give you numbers,
but I believe the PCI is at least 50% faster.
As to whether or not someone buying a new Mac should get the PCI bus,
the person faces the familiar problem of speed vs. cost. Since the
demands for data transfer and video display just keep increasing, it's
obviously advantageous to have the PCI bus. Of course, consideration
must be given to the purpose of the machine and how long the buyer will
keep it. If the computer is used mainly for word processing or if the
user inteneds to keep it for just a couple of years before upgrading,
then the PCI bus is probably not worth the money. If the computer is
going to be a general purpose machine and held for several years, then
PCI is worth the added cost. Unlike memory or hard drive space, the bus is
not something that can easily be upgraded.
Will non-PCI bus machines be obsolete in a few months? No. There are
millions of Macs out there that will be used for years to come.
Hope this helps.
*
Tim Armstrong
Password, Inc.
armstron@umbc7.umbc.edu
On Thu, 30 Nov 1995, Jeanne Klein <jklein2@ocmvm.cnyric.org> wrote:
>Does anyone know what the specific advantages are to making sure a Mac has the
>PCI bus. Should someone buying a mac make sure it has a PCI bus. The computers
>that have it (7000 series and up) are considerably more expensive and I need
>to know if it's worth it. Are the machines without it going to be obsolete in
>the next few months?