What is MP3 June 1998.

Are there any real benefits in moving to a PCI based soundcard? Yes, you will get more bandwidth with the PCI bus, but is that really needed for a soundcard? It's like moving the modem from the ISA bus to the PCI bus. The fastest modem today is 56K; even the old ISA slot has more than bandwidth to handle a mere 56K datastream

But with a PCI soundcard, the issue is a bit more complicated; it's not merely a question of more bandwidth, but you have to factor in processor utilization, 3D playback, DirectSound features, and DOS games compatibility (which may be a moot point with the release of Windows 98).

One of the biggest benefit of having a PCI based soundcard is lower CPU utilization. Most PCI devices are busmastering capable. So moving a 44kHz audio datastream to the PCI bus requires less processing time. This may not be too important if your system is a Pentium II/400, but when you're playing a high-end 3D first person shooter game on a mainstream Pentium system, every CPU cycle counts. You wouldn't want the framerate to drop just because of sound.

The major player of PCI audio chipset today is ESS Technology and Ensoniq. Here's an interesting chart (taken from Diamond's Sonic Impact [which utilizes the ESS Maestro PCI audio chip] ad in the May 26, 1998 issue of PC Magazine) comparing the various soundcards.
 

As you can clearly see, the biggest advantage a PCI soundcard have is the data throughput, which jumped 12.5 times from ISA's 8MB/sec to PCI's 100MB/sec.
 

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If you're a casual user who uses the Internet for work and play, then you'd wish that website would load just a bit faster. And if you're a hardcore user who basically spents eight or more hours per day on the net, then you can never have enough bandwidth! New technologies on the horizon promise to alleviate the bandwidth bottleneck for consumers. The bad news is, they are not widely available yet. Here's a quick rundown on each of them (starting with the slowest):

POTS Modems - POTS stands for plain old telephone system; most households today probably have two or more phone lines. Modem technology have increased dramatically over the past few years. Consumers have witnessed the increase from 14.4K to 28.8K to 33.6K to today's standard of 56K. Today's copper phone wires are limited to 53K due to an existing FCC regulation. This is about as fast as you can push it with POTS modems. And even with 56K technology, depending on where you are, your speed may vary from 38K - 52K. Even with these limitations, a POTS modem is still the most cost-effective solution for the majority.
 

• Multilink - So if you have two phone lines at home, wouldn't it be great if you can somehow link those together and double your bandwidth with POTS modem? You can with the multilink feature that's available in Windows 98. Multilink allows you to bond two (or more) modems to create a single data channel. For example, if you have two 56K modems and your connection speed for each is 44K, then your overall bandwidth is 88K. A few things to keep in mind though. You'll need two different phone lines, and your Internet Service Provider (ISP) also have to support multilink. And most ISPs will charge you double for using this feature. Also, keep in mind that multilink will use the slowest speed of the modem. It doesn't make sense to multilink two 14.4K modems (for a total of 28.8K), when you can use a single 56K modem instead.
   
• ISDN - Integrated Service Digital Network never really caught on for a few reasons. ISDN's bandwidth is 128Kbps using two 64K D channels. ISDN is still not widely available; the setup cost and usage of ISDN is relatively high compared to POTS modems.
   
• Satellite - Satellite's bandwidth is around 400Kbps. This is more than enough for most users. But the setup fee of a satellite connection is high, and this technology isn't widely available yet. But if you need the speed and can afford it, then it's a good alternative to POTS modems.
   
• ADSL - Asymmetrical Digital Subscribe Lines is one of the technology to watch for in coming years. The downstream bandwidth is 8Mbps. Both Intel and Microsoft have recently jumped on the ADSL bandwagon. The monthly fee isn't very high, but ADSL's availability is very limited right now.
   
• Cable Modems - The Holy Grail for all home Internet users today. Cable modem's downstream is an incredible 30Mbps. The monthly cost is around $40 for unlimited usage. (You must have cable for TV in order to use cable modem; so the $40 charge is in addition to your monthly TV cable bill.) Consider yourself lucky if your neighborhood offers cable modem today. It is being deployed in some major metropolitan US cities.

  To give you an idea how fast cable modem is, most businesses are running with fractional T1 (from 256K to 1.5Mbps) or a full 1.5Mbps T1 line. 1.5Mbps is for the entire office consisting of, depending on the size of the business, perhaps 30-40 users. Larger corporations with a DS3 or T3 connection have a bandwidth of 45Mbps.

  Of course, cable modem's 30Mbps bandwidth is only achieveable if you're the only person using it. Most often this is not the case, as the entire neighborhood shares the 30Mbps bandwidth. But even if it delivers only 1.5Mbps, it's still more than enough for a single user.
   

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Check the Registry - Make sure your Windows 95 registry is not corrupted in any way. Windows 98 will use the 95 registry as a reference when upgrading. So it's best to make sure the registry is OK before bringing it to 98.

• Check Device Manager - Check the Device Manager listing; make sure there are no yellow or red exclaimation points. Again, 98 will attempt to migrate all your existing devices to 98. (Actually, because Windows 98 automatically recognizes many new devices, upgrading to 98 may remove some yellow exclaimation mark devices for you.)
   
• Close All Apps First - Before launching Windows 98's SETUP.EXE from within the 95 desktop, make sure all background apps and tasks are closed. These includes virus scanners, uninstall helpers, diagnostics utilities, fax monitors, etc.
   
• Make a Backup of 95 - When upgrading from 95 to 98, halfway through the procedure, 98 will ask if you wish to make a backup of your 95 system files. Say YES to this question! It may take up ~40MB hard drive space, but it's worth it in case 98 corrupts your entire system somehow.
   
• Make An Emergency Disk - When 98 asks if you wish to create an emergency boot disk, answer yes. Then store that disk in a safe place; you'll never know when you'll need it.
   
• Converting To FAT32 - If your system was partitioned using FAT16, you can convert it to FAT32 after 98 is successfully installed. Depending on what type of files you have on your HDD, converting to FAT32 may reclaim up to 30% of storage space. The conversion program is located in Programs / Accessories / System Tools/ Drive Converter (FAT32).
   

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