Thoughts' User PC's - How Fast Are They??? [Archive]

jd4science

03-02-2003, 05:19 AM

Steve, I'd restructure the less and greater-than signs... I have a 2GHz P4, but the first option implies less than 1.5GHz, which I suspect is not what you're intending.

Back on the topic: I love my home machine. :) I rebuilt it from scratch recently -- not only does it have a 2GHz P4, it has 768MB of RAM, a 15,000 RPM Ultra160 SCSI hard drive as well as a standard 7200RPM IDE disk, a 40 X Plextor CD-RW, a GF4Ti4400 (will eventually upgrade that, but it suits for now), and the 20" ViewSonic VP201m LCD screen that I keep on raving about. Machine is extremely fast and stable as a rock.

--janak

Simply put:wow.
Mine is a 2.1 ghz P4. 512 ddr sdram, 60 gig 10,000 rpm HDD. Other normal stuff. :)

vincentsiaw

03-02-2003, 05:37 AM

seeing from the poll result, seems most of this site visitor have more than 1.5 gigahertz pc :lol:

Tom W.M.

03-02-2003, 06:40 AM

Main PC:
Athlon 1.2 Ghz. w/512 MB RAM, 20x Yamaha CD-RW Drive, 32MB ATI Rage 128 All-in-Wonder graphics, RAID Capable mobo, Firewire card
HDD: Using a Trios HDD selector, meaning that the 3 drives are mechanically seperated and cannot access one another. 1x 40GB IBM, 2x 80GB IBM - 200GB total storage.
OSs: Win2000, Win98, Mandrake Linux 8.2, BeOS 5 Personal Edition (http://www.bebits.com/app/2680)

Secondary PC:
300Mhz. Celeron w/192(?) RAM, CD-ROM drive, 32MB(?) ATI Radeon 7000, 1x 8GB HDD, 1x 10GB HDD: 18GB total storage.
OSs: Win98, BeOS 5 Personal Edition (http://www.bebits.com/app/2680), MenuetOS (http://www.menuetos.org)

Also have a 900Mhz. Duron machine, but it won't recognize any graphics card, so I can't really use it.

Eitel

03-02-2003, 07:33 AM

I have an AMD Athlon 800 with 512mb RAM, DVD drive, SuperDisk 120MB drive, GeForce2 GTS and a Live! card.

I keep trying to find a reason to get a 2.0G Athlon, but my 800 works just fine.

Shadowcat

03-02-2003, 07:35 AM

Mine's a 1.80 GHz laptop with 256 MB RAM, a 16 MB Mobility Radeon, a 30 GB hard drive, and your typical low-speed internal (but removable) DVD/CD-RW drive.

platinum

03-02-2003, 07:44 AM

I've got an athlon XP1800+ with 1GB of DDR ram, with all the usual stuff, CDR, DVD, 64mb vid. card, etc :)

It's over a year old now, i'm thinking of getting something else soon :)

Rirath

03-02-2003, 07:53 AM

I'm using an AMD XP 2000+ at the moment.

Why is the top tier > 1.5ghz? I mean, that's pretty old by today's standards. It's still fast as heck, but it's at least a year and a half old. The top should at least be > 3ghz with a 2.0-3.0 range or 2.5 split.

And erm... attach pics? Of what? I doubt many folks around here are going to be water-cooling and using custom modded cases with cold cathodes. :wink: Heck, I have enough trouble convining folks of the joys of Pocket Hack Master. I'd snap a pic of the inside of mine, but you'd see nothing but a heavy cloud of dust. ;) Prove me wrong folks, send in some |33+ setups. :)

brntcrsp

03-02-2003, 08:19 AM

I keep saying that I'm going to buy a fly home machine, but then I end up spending all my extra dough on the 4 low end boxes, and playing network admin at home. The top end these days is a 1G htz Vaio laptop, with too little RAM. The rest of the collection is a P3 733 that is acting as the fileserver, web, and SQL server. After that is the Celeron 333 that i'm in the middle of rebuilding as a Linux desktop, and finally we come to the P180 which is the firewall. Maybe one day I'll get the itch to build another top end system, but not for a while yet.

dud

03-02-2003, 12:53 PM

Thought that you goy's might like to know what i'm running.......

Main PC

2200 Atherlon XP
1 GB RAM
80 Gb Hard Disk
GF 4 4600

16 x DVD ROM
32 x CD RW
Zip, MS, CF, SM, MD, Floppy and many more removeable formats. :)

21" Sony VEGA Monitor
Wireless lan and bluetooth

VAIO Laptop

P3 1000
256 Mb RAM
30 GB Hard Disk

8 x DVD ROM
16 x CD RW

Wireless lan and bluetooth

I don't know about you guy's in the US but these are fastly becomming basic specs for PC's in the UK. As i've had mine for about 9 months. Even thinking of putting another Gb of RAM and an extra 80 Gb hArd disk to keep up..... :)

Hope this helps, all the best.

Guy

sonicyoof

03-02-2003, 12:54 PM

main machine: my main machine is a laptop.. 2.53ghz P4 (not the mobile P4, a desktop chip), 512mb DDR 2100 RAM, 64mb ATI Radeon Mobility 9000, 15" UXGA LCD (1600 x 1200), 40gb 5400rpm HDD, DVD-ROM/CDRW combo

server: second machine is my mail/ftp/web server: mini-itx based machine - Via C3 933mhz proc, 512mb DDR 2100 RAM. See www.netbox.co.uk for pics - it's sweet

jojo

03-02-2003, 01:22 PM

umm.. lemme see, mine is a P2-300, I'm sure someone out there can beat me to a slower workable machine.

Things not working: DVD Rom, Zip drive and RAID controller. I think that says a lot and mean that I really should get a new computer :wink:

paris

03-02-2003, 01:57 PM

CPU 2.4 Ghz
RAM 512Mb
HDD 80+20 GB
19'' monitor
wireless kb/mouse
printer/scanner
WiFi WAP router
DVD-ROM
CD-RW 40x40x16

my only problem now is my Graphics card which is 3 years old but i am planning to replace it soon.

jsanfordii

03-02-2003, 02:16 PM

Just got it in this week:

Dell 8250 3.06 Ghz
512 Meg RAM
120GB Ultra ATA/100 Harddrive
19in Flat Panel Display
Soundblaster Audigy2 THX Sound Card w/ DVD Audio
128mb ddr Radeon TX w/ TV-out and DVI
16x DVD-ROM
4X DVD+R/RW CD-RW

Also have the new Linksys 'G' wireless Router. So far it's backwards compatible with everything EXCEPT my iPaq 5455. The speed upgrade in my Latitude has been excellent. I'm still tethered on my 8250, but I have the card for the wireless (just haven't bit the bullet yet)...

james

Bill Harrison

03-02-2003, 02:21 PM

Main PC:

Dual Athlon 2600+ CPU's on Asus A7M266D Motherboard
512mb Crucial Registered PC2100
2x 100 GB WD 8mb SE drives
DVD Rom
CDRW
RADEON AIW 8500DV
Windows XP Professional

Kinda makes me sad anytime I have to use someone elses computer... This bad boy makes everything seem a little slow....

Somehow this thought of how to stuff 2 arm processors in my PPC pops into my head.... ! To hell with battery life!

2nd pc

Commodore Amiga 2000
Motorola 68k @ 7.14mhz
Integrated Graphics/sound
60mb harddrive
Amigo OS 2.01

Ok, so the Amiga is currently collecting dust... lol, but she was a dream machine in the late 80's, so i just don't have the heart to put her out to pasture!

Thoughtful Guy

03-02-2003, 02:27 PM

Desktop (self-built): AMD 1700+ (overclocked to 1800+), 512 PC2100 DDR (overclocked), two WD 40 gig HD (RAID 0), Geforce3 Ti200 (overclocked), CDRW, DVD, and hooked to a Viewsonic P815 21".

Laptop: Dell x200 - P3M 800 Mhz, 384 RAM, 40 gig HD 4200 RPM, and 12" LCD. Light as a feather and silent!

And don't forget my Audiovox Maestro! :twisted:

I think we need more options in the poll. Perhaps have the range go up to 3 Ghz+ and break it down in 500 Mhz segments?

Daimaou

03-02-2003, 02:45 PM

P4 2Go 512 Ram 110 Go HDD DVD-R/RW and DVD-ROM
P3 1.2Go 512 Ram 120 Go HDD DVD-R/RW/RAM and DVD-ROM
P3 800 256 Ram 20Go (Laptop) Wifi
P2 256 192 Ram 10Go (Laptop) Wifi
G4 450 320 Ram (Cube) 20 Go DVD-ROM Wifi

WiFi Router

My question is now How fast is your ADSL Connection ?

Right now I am at 12 Mbps in Japan and plan to move in 4 month (When they will cover my area in Tokyo) to 100 Mbps (optical Fiber)

What about you in US or Europe ?

acronym

03-02-2003, 03:19 PM

aw, heck - might as well join in this sausage hang

2800+ amd/ms xp pro /768meg ddr 333/soyo dragon platinum/nvidia 4600 ref/2 @ 120 striped ibm deskstars/pioneer dvd-r /plextor cd-rw
watercooled koolance case (cpu, northbridge & vid card)
cornerstone 21 monitor

apple g4 733/os x/superdrive/apple LCD studio display

dual p-3 1ghz/ms win 2k server/sony dds-4 tape backup/ati 7500 all in wonder/.75 terabyte storage for data and divx rips connected to tv from downstairs with ati rf remote control

apple powerbook ti 1ghz/os X/superdrive
this compaq 1700 p3 1ghz laptop/rh 8/win xp pro/40gig ibm 5400 rpm

all networked from cable into a symantec firewall/vpn to 16 port switch into 2 wireless access points (hardware addressed/128bit encrypt).

oh - and rirath,
cold lights! blue to make the water lines glow and red to warm the insides.

I'm undecided on my next computer, either a shuttle based P4 mini system or a completely clear acrylic case (hmm.. those burled redwood cases look pretty good also)

frostrambler

03-02-2003, 03:31 PM

Mine is, Athlon XP 2100+, ECS K7S5A board with USB 2.0 :) . 512 megs of ddr 2700 ram.

Now for the old stuff inside it which im upgrading in 3 weeks,
Geforce 2 mx400 = im upgrading to gf4 ti4200 128 ddr, which is good enough for me.

Sb 123pci= Upgrading to sb live standard for like 50 bucks, or maybe going with audigy 2, for 100 if i can get a cheap one.

NEC MultiSync XV17+ 17 inch monitor, made in Jan 1997, old thing, still suits me, has a nice screen, but time to upgrade to a 19 inch flat screen, or 17 inch flat panel, with dot resolution of atleast .26 but more like .25.

And the ppc I have connected in the cradle to my pc is an audiovox maestro. Got it in July, one of the best purchases i ever made.

rfischer

03-02-2003, 03:50 PM

These are my main PC specs:
Asus P4PE Motherboard
Pentium 4 2.53GHZ w533 FSB
512MB PC2700 RAM
NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4600
40GB Maxtor 7200RPM Drive
80GB Western Digital 7200RPM drive w/8MB Cache
SoundBlaster Audigy Gamer 5.1
CenDyne 48x CD-RW
8X Mitsumi DVD Drive
10/100/1000 LAN, Serial ATA, RAID, USB & Firewire ports
All-aluminum Lian-Li case with a 400w Power Supply

This PC is FAST, FAST, FAST! :-)

Here are Pics:

http://home.attbi.com/~rjfischerjr/Images/MyPC1.jpg

http://home.attbi.com/~rjfischerjr/Images/MyPC2.jpg

Secondary PC:
Soyo 7VBA133U Motherboard
Pentium III 1GHZ w133 FSB
768MB PC133 RAM
Matrox G400 Dual-Head video card
13GB Maxtor 7200RPM Drive
Yamaha Sound Card
HP 10x CD-RW

Ed Hansberry

03-02-2003, 03:52 PM

1.2GHz laptop does everything I need for now, including running Train Simulator at full screen, maximum scenery details and resolution. What more could I want?

Ben909

03-02-2003, 04:05 PM

rfischer

03-02-2003, 04:15 PM

rfischer.. you have nice taste in cases :wink:

To answer the original question.. Athlon XP2000/GeForce4 4400/512Mb/etc

Apologies for the dodgy quality picture.. took it using my 7650 phone.

I like the lights, Ben. I wanted to put some in mine but they would just be shining out the window due to my office setup. What is the contraption in the second 5-1/2" bay? I assume that's for audio. I don't think I've seen that one.

Steven Cedrone

03-02-2003, 04:17 PM

I'm using an AMD XP 2000+ at the moment.

Why is the top tier > 1.5ghz? I mean, that's pretty old by today's standards. It's still fast as heck, but it's at least a year and a half old. The top should at least be > 3ghz with a 2.0-3.0 range or 2.5 split.

Well, you can do a poll about the high end devices if you want to...

I'm interested in seeing how many people have not bought new machines. Although more then 50% of the answers are the "greater than 1.5GHz", there are quite a few who seem to think their old machines are adequate...

And erm... attach pics? Of what? ... Prove me wrong folks!

You're wrong... 8)

What makes you think people have to do heavy mods to be proud of the work they have done on their boxes...

Steve

Ben909

03-02-2003, 04:24 PM

What is the contraption in the second 5-1/2" bay?

It's a NewQ 3379.. http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/product.php?view=4033&PHPSESSID=e9df54a86da465655e24585261ebe63d

Only got it 2 days ago. EQ, 'room' effects, FM radio, and pretty lights :) It sounds very nice. It connects between your soundcard and your speakers, but also accepts aux input too.

Pony99CA

03-02-2003, 04:27 PM

Why is the top tier > 1.5ghz? I mean, that's pretty old by today's standards. It's still fast as heck, but it's at least a year and a half old. The top should at least be > 3ghz with a 2.0-3.0 range or 2.5 split.

Well, you can do a poll about the high end devices if you want to...

I'm interested in seeing how many people have not bought new machines. Although more then 50% of the answers are the "greater than 1.5GHz", there are quite a few who seem to think their old machines are adequate...

I'm using a 750 MHz Pentium III laptop still. Even so, I'd like to have seen the poll showing 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 GHz ranges, too. You could still see the low-end, but you'd also get a better feel for how many people were high-end.

It's probably too late now, though....

Steve

surur

03-02-2003, 04:30 PM

As a minor aside... all those 3Ghz processor fans must be causing quite a racket.

My PC is in the living room, and has to compete with the DVD. My focus for the last 18 months has been on getting it as quite as reasonably possible.

Im running with an athalon xp 1700, 512 Mb DDR ram, 64Mb G2 graphics card, 2 HD, 20 and 80 GB (WD 2Mb cache, 7200 rpm), CDRW , DVDRx16, 19 inch monitor, bluetooth wireless networh, wireless keyboard and mouse, ADSL card

But to make it livable Im using http://www.quietpc.com/uk/psu.php Quite power supply, http://www.quietpc.com/uk/cpucool2.php Zalman passive flower cooler, and instead of going for a G4 video card I went for a slower card that was more than adeqaute for my needs (I dont play games) but that used a passive heatsink.

So no more jets taking of, the only think I need to add is possibly some hard drive enclosures, but I am concerned about the trapped heat killing them....

So.. fast enough, and quiter than my notebook (which has a horribly whiny variable speed fan :( )

Surur

RWlodarczyk

03-02-2003, 04:35 PM

3GHz!!! With HyperThreading on!

Here's my main workstation setup:
Dell Precision Workstation 350
Intel Pentium 4 3.06GHz with HyperThreading ON
512Mb RDRAM 1066
2x40Gb ATA100 Drives
ATI Fire GL E1 64Mb
2xNEC FP950 19" Aperture Grille CRTs
Pioneer A04 DVD-R

:D :D :D :D :D

bigkingfun

03-02-2003, 05:12 PM

Ever since I was bit by the Pocket PC bug, my main system has remained an Athlon 800. I've upgraded Pocket PCs, on the other hand, every 6 months or so. It seems to have taken over my previous computer upgrading habits :D

The 800 has been fine for over two years now, but I just recently got a Sony DVD burner, so I'm finally starting to see a need to upgrade. Capturing DV video on an 800 is not ideal - too many dropped frames.

ledowning

03-02-2003, 05:13 PM

Lots of nice pc's out there. I'm still clogging along on an old Sony VAIO notebook running a Pll-300 MHZ processor and 14" screen. I had upgraded last summer to a Dell Inspiron 8100 notebook, but it was needed at my office, so the company bought it off me. Just haven't got around to getting a new notebook. This old clunker is hooked up to ADSL and works fine for now.

The price of notebooks with more features keeps coming down, so I'll be buying a new one later this year. 8) 8)

rlngstrt

03-02-2003, 05:15 PM

Well, my main PC is a Toshiba Satellite 5205-S703 Laptop:

P4m - 2.0GHz
15" 1600x1200 UXGA screen
512MB RAM standard
60gig HD
GeForce4 460Go w/64MB DDR
SmartMedia slot
Wifi
DVD-R/RW
Harmon Kardon speakers with subwoofer
Dolby Digital AC-3 port
Cpad

etc......

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/images/ui2/satellite5105s607_350x350.gif[/img]

Steven Cedrone

03-02-2003, 05:20 PM

It's probably too late now, though....

Yup... :wink:

Steve

Rirath

03-02-2003, 05:30 PM

Well, you can do a poll about the high end devices if you want to...

Simply suggested.

Kati Compton

03-02-2003, 05:41 PM

My PC is in the living room, and has to compete with the DVD. My focus for the last 18 months has been on getting it as quite as reasonably possible.

FYI - eventually when you want a new PC, look at the Dells to see if they're still quiet. My 2GHz machine is much much quieter than my Athlon 1.2GHz that I had previously. At first I was having trouble telling when it was on, just because I was used to a lot more noise.

Steven Cedrone

03-02-2003, 05:43 PM

Hey Rirath, stop editing your comments!!! :wink: Here I had a reply posted only to find you had deleted the part I was attacking... :lol:

Steve

Steven Cedrone

03-02-2003, 05:59 PM

FYI - eventually when you want a new PC, look at the Dells to see if they're still quiet. My 2GHz machine is much much quieter than my Athlon 1.2GHz that I had previously. At first I was having trouble telling when it was on, just because I was used to a lot more noise.

Were you really able to notice the difference in speed between the two machines for most tasks???

At what point does the speed of the CPU become moot? I use my PC (most of the time) for either web or word. There is no difference(noticable) between 1GHz and 2GHz. Why does anyone upgrade? I mean, is it just a matter of being able to say "I have the fastest machine available"(that's why I do it :wink:)?

Just curious, this isn't an attack... :wink:

Steve

bigkingfun

03-02-2003, 06:04 PM

Jellyguy

03-02-2003, 06:06 PM

Athlon 2600+ overclocked to 2800+
512 Mb PC3500 memory clocked @ 200MHz DDR (=400MHz)
ATI 9700 AIW Pro
Asus A7N8X Deluxe w/ built-in 5.1 audio and dual Ethernet
D-Vine Home Theater chassis (looks like a high-end stereo component)
Pioneer DVDROM
60Gb IBM HD
No floppy drive (yeck!)
ADS audiophile stereo setup w/ B&W speakers
Compaq 8020 18.1" LCD on an Ergotron arm
bedroom digital cable viewable in a window on my LCD via the ATI card
Logitech wirless keyboard and Mx700 mouse
Occasionally attached to an iPaq H5450, Sony Ericsson P800 smartphone and iFp195TC mp3 player
all on a DLink DI-614+ wireless router (to access the internet on my Sony C1-MRX Picturebook in the living room)

Future upgrades: DVD writer

Steven Cedrone

03-02-2003, 06:10 PM

D-Vine Home Theater chassis (looks like a high-end stereo component)

Wow, those cases look cool...

http://www.cinefx.com/cases.htm

Which one do you have???

Steve

Kati Compton

03-02-2003, 06:39 PM

Were you really able to notice the difference in speed between the two machines for most tasks???

Depends on for what tasks you mean by "most". Browser/MS Office/etc? Not really. Games? Yes. Not so much that I'd consider my old machine unplayable....

My old machine was also just getting too quirky, even with a fresh OS install.

At what point does the speed of the CPU become moot? I use my PC (most of the time) for either web or word. There is no difference(noticable) between 1GHz and 2GHz.

Keep in mind that clock speed doesn't always equal real speed.

So basically inside a processor instructions take actually multiple clock cycles, executing part of the instruction every clock cycle, but there's overlapping between instructions (pipelining). So while instruction 1 is in its 3rd clock cycle of execution, instruction 2 is in its 2nd cycle, and instruction 3 is in its 1st. The idea is by making that pipeline deeper (ie, smaller bits computed at each clock cycle), the clock can run faster, and because the instructions overlap, it LOOKS like one instruction is executed per clock cycle, making the system faster over long sequences of instructions.

This is ideal case, though. In reality, there's some overhead to make this model work, so at some point no matter how small the pieces of computation, the overhead of dividing them up limits the speed. Plus, there's the issue of how certain instructions execute. For example, jump instructions. "If x then do y, else do z" involves testing if x is true, and based on the result, jumping to the y instructions or z instructions.

The problem here is that in order to keep that pipeline full of instructions, the processor actually has to guess if you'll be going to y or z, and start executing instructions from there before it knows if that's the correct decision. Otherwise, it doesn't maintain the expected throughput while it takes however many clock cycles to decide where to branch to. If it isn't a correct decision, it has to throw away all that work and start over at the other section of code, which slows it down. The deeper the pipeline, the heavier penalty this is.

Processor design can be a complex tradeoff analysis. The overriding rule is basically make the common case fast, and hopefully the uncommon case penalties won't overwhelm everything. (If you think about memory caches, that's how they operate as well)

So I didn't really answer your original question, but hopefully some of this makes sense to explain why some machines that seem to spec faster than others aren't actually. There's other reasons (specialized instructions, etc), but I thought some basic processor design theory might help.

Steven Cedrone

03-02-2003, 07:09 PM

Depends...<snip><snip><snippity><snip>...help.

Ummm... O.K... :wink:

What, are you lookin for a teachin' position? :wink: You practicin' on me??? :wink:

Steve

Too bad that was post 1001, would have made a great 1000th post :way to go:

ThomasC22

03-02-2003, 07:09 PM

I traded speed for volume :)

My main System is:

P4 2.5Ghz, 512MB SDRAM, Geforce Ti4200, 60GB (10,000RPM)HD, Audigy MP3, 4xDVD-RW, (2) 19" Monitors

My notebook is:

Celeron 1.6Ghz, 20GB HD, CDRW, 15" Screen, 32MB Geforce2Go, etc...

My Server is:

(2) PIII 700, (2) 80GB U2W SCSI (10,000RPM), 512MB RAM, lousy built in junk

My Test Systems are:

1Ghz Ath., 20GB (7,200RPM), 256MB RAM, TNT2, SBLive

800Mhz Celeron, 20GB (7,200RPM), 128MB RAM, Trident 9680, OptiPlex Sound

My living room PC (cause who wants to walk up stairs) is:

Celeron 500Mhz, 256MB RAM, 10GB HD, cheezy other stuff (it stays under the table and I just have the logitech wireless keyboard, mouse, and the 15" LCD Monitor visible).

Finally, my currently under construction Video Editing Machine (I picked up Jason's book and figured I'd give it a try) I've got a P4 2.4Ghz and a 10,000 RPM Cheetah Drive but am still searching for other components (suggestions welcome) :)

As you can imagine, my office sounds like a jets taking off with all the fans!

Janak Parekh

03-02-2003, 07:17 PM

Ummm... O.K... :wink:
Be careful of what you ask for, you might get it. Especially from CS/CE PhD's. Everything she said makes perfect sense to me... ;)

Seriously, here's an explanation one level higher: the problem with just pumping up the clock is that a processor instruction is not one "simple step" -- the processor has to do a number of processing substeps, some of which may act as bottlenecks and slow down the process. As a result, modern processors do all sorts of interesting tricks to try and keep the instructions flowing at the greater clock speed.

Intel, AMD & co. have done amazing engineering in keeping increased clock speeds relevant--in processor-intensive applications, like simulation/modeling or games, you still notice a substantial difference. However, we're starting to bump up against what traditional engineering can do; ergo inventions like hyperthreading.

It's also worth pointing out that with faster processors you usually get other side benefits: faster memory, faster disk subsystem (like Ultra/133), USB2, etc... so a 2GHz P4 may not feel faster from a processor standpoint, but the overall speedup is noticeable.

Too bad that was post 1001, would have made a great 1000th post :way to go:
Yep! Congrats on hitting the 1000-post mark. (And a belated one to Rirath, who hit it some time ago.)

--janak

Sheynk

03-02-2003, 07:19 PM

my monster machine (ok not really) is:

PIII: 650
512 PC133 SDRAM
GeForce 3 Ti 200 w/ 128mb ddr
13.5 GB HD (oh yeah!)
Linksys Cable Modem
8x DVD-ROM
8/4/24 CDRW (speed demon right here)
Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers
MSFT SideWinder Pro
15' monitor
belkin USB hub
Canon N 650U scaner
HP 5550 printer

See...I told you monster machine...... :roll:

yvilla

03-02-2003, 07:34 PM

P4 1.8

Well, I'm just happy to be in the majority in a Thoughts poll for once! (Both the "sex" and "age" polls had me in the almost nonexistent category. :lol:)

Boxster S

03-02-2003, 07:41 PM

Pentium 4 2.4B overclocked to 2.8GHz on the 155MHz bus
Gigabyte GA-8SQ800 Dual-Channel DDR motherboard
1GB PC2700 DDR Memory (512MB stick Crucial, 512MB stick Samsung)
FIC Radeon 9700 Pro overclocked to 340/330
Planar 18.1" LCD w/DVI
Seagate Barracuda V 80GB 7200 RPM hard drive (ultra quiet)
Pioneer DVR-104 DVD-RW
Polaroid 32/10/32 CD-RW
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Best Data 56k Mach 2 PCI
D-Link DFE-530TX+ 10/100 NIC
4-port USB 2.0 Hub
Hauppage WinTV Model 401
Altec Lansing AL 251 5.1 Speakers
HP Scanjet 3300C Scanner
Epson Stylus C60 Printer
Microsoft Optical Wheel Mouse
Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro
Saitek X45 HOTAS
Sandisk 6-in-1 USB 2.0 Media Reader

dacs29

03-02-2003, 07:42 PM

My main and only machine here at college is a Dell Insprion 8200 laptop. Here are the specs:

2.0 GHz Mobile Pentium 4
1600x1200 15' UltraSharp UXGA+ TFT screen
512 MB DDR SDRAM
GeForce 4 440 Go with 64 MB RAM
40 GB 5400 RPM HD
8x Fixed DVD drive
24x CD-RW modular drive
JBL Multimedia System 2000 speakers
40 GB external Firewire/USB 2.0 HD
Win XP Pro
Linksys WAP11 WAP
Linksys EZXS55W 5 port switch
Printer - None (Use roommates: HP Deskjet 920C)

Also, how fast is everyone's internet connection? Mine is blazing fast since our school has one OC3 line (actually two, but one is Internet2 and is only useful for downloading Linux ISOs at 5-6 mbps) and a T3 line for backup. Right now www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/ gives me a download speed of "2.6 megabits per second."

David

Sheynk

03-02-2003, 08:15 PM

thats what my cable gives me...2.6 mbps ... on average...

Master O'Mayhem

03-02-2003, 08:19 PM

Ok... Here is my main laptop setup:

Ibm Think PAD A31P 2 Ghz 1GB ram 2-60GB drives Altec Lansing 5.1 speakers ...very boring... but thats just my desktop.

As for my laptops that I carry... It depends on the day.

mainly
Motion M1200 Tablet
Toshiba 3500 Tablet
Sony Vaio SRX41P

Home Laptop IBM A30P 1.7GHZ 1gB RAM 80gb HDD

boring stuff.... not as cool as the cooled machines

Pony99CA

03-02-2003, 08:31 PM

At what point does the speed of the CPU become moot? I use my PC (most of the time) for either web or word. There is no difference(noticable) between 1GHz and 2GHz. Why does anyone upgrade? I mean, is it just a matter of being able to say "I have the fastest machine available"(that's why I do it :wink:)?

Other than gamers and power users, I think most people upgrade to get newer devices -- bigger hard drives, better audio, FireWire or USB 2.0, etc. I bet some people even upgrade to get a new OS.

While you can add those features to a desktop, if your main PC is a laptop, upgrading is more difficult. USB and FireWire have helped, though. On my laptop's USB chain, I've got a wireless trackball, a USB photo printer and, of course, my iPAQ 3870. On my FireWire chain, I've got a Sony CD-RW and a Maxtor 80GB hard disk. Even so, I would like a larger internal disk; I've only got 2.5 GB left on my 20 GB drive.

When I get my next PC, I'm torn whether I'll get a desktop to replace my old 333 MHz Pentium II that I almost never use or a new laptop to replace my main one. (Both would be nice, of course. :-D)

Steve

samw5

03-02-2003, 08:32 PM

Hehe, nice poll.

Got a OCed XP2400+ watercooled running at 2.24Ghz (160Mhz FSB). Soyo KT400 Dragon motherboard, 512MB of DDR 433 (Corsair XMS), OCed Radeon 9700 Pro (325/325), 2 Maxtor 40G 7200 RPM in RAID 0, 1 Maxtor 80G, 52X24X52 burner, 16XDVD, onboard 5.1 sound, ethernet. Dual monitor setup (19" and 17" CRT), and lotz of accessories: scanner, printer, MSFT Sidewinder, Logitech Wireless Comfort Pro keyboard and mouse, BT adapter, LCD... and the list goes on...

Now I also got an old IBM Thinkpad running a PII 366 that I dumped Red Hat on, and I've got an Acer Tablet PC with an 800Mhz PIII-M. Can't do extreme stuff with those but it's nice to have.

Here is a a little picture for those interested.

http://www.samw5.com/Computer/Pictures/new%20pix/PDRM0054.JPG

More here:
http://www.samw5.com/Computer/index.htm

Sam

jbctech

03-02-2003, 08:37 PM

Main PC:

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (2.13GHz)
512MB DDR SDRAM
2x 120GB 7200RPM drives (240GB total)
OSes: Windows XP Home, Windows XP Pro, Windows Server 2003 build 3765, Red Hat Linux 8.0

I use Windows XP Pro most of the time...

ExtremeSIMS

03-02-2003, 09:13 PM

Just curious about how "cutting edge" we all are...

How fast is your main PC???

Feel free to open 'em up and attach pics as well...

Steve

Hard for me to define "main" PC. I have a laptop upon which I do most of my work, and it's a Powerbook G4-800. I have a desktop gaming machine which is a 2.2Ghz. I have a Mac desktop which I do my movies on which is a G4-500DP. I have three PIII-500s which are my *nix workstations and home servers. I have a G3-300 running IMAP/SMTP mail services. I have two 1.2 Ghz AMD Athlons for when my friends come over to game. Then I have the machines my wife uses.

I tell my wife all the time - "I need all of these machines." So, they are all my main machines. ;)

Pony99CA

03-02-2003, 09:17 PM

Also, how fast is everyone's internet connection? Mine is blazing fast since our school has one OC3 line (actually two, but one is Internet2 and is only useful for downloading Linux ISOs at 5-6 mbps) and a T3 line for backup. Right now www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/ gives me a download speed of "2.6 megabits per second."

NO!!!!! Bandwidth is not really related to what somebody's main computer is.

If we're going to discuss bandwidth, let's have another poll. :-) I would have sworn there already was one, but I couldn't find it, so I created my own bandwidth poll (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9526).

Steve

Christian

03-02-2003, 10:18 PM

(Self built)
Asus P4T-E
P4 Northwood 1.6 GHz
1 GB RDRAM
GeForce 256 64 MB (yes, as in the original... waiting on the FX)
SB Augigy Platinum
120 GB Western Digital HD
8x/4x/32x CDRW
12x DVD
Viewsonic VX900 (pride and joy) :D

ctmagnus

03-02-2003, 11:05 PM

Consider yourself warned:

Main machine: 200MHz. I'm quite proud of the fact that my 3670 has a faster processor (MHz for MHz) than the desktop.

I also have a 850MHZ T-bird that I don't use much cuz it's too loud. I really enjoy peace and quiet.

There's a Dell 4300 1.8Ghz down the hall that I sneak in and use once in a while, but I find that office apps on it run slower than on my 200MHz machine :confused totally:

Since I discovered mobile computing, that's the way to go for me. No being tied down to a desktop if at all possible. Unfortunately, it'll be a while before I can afford a decent (read: top specs in all categories) Dell or Toshiba notebook.

I'd consider using a desktop for an entertainment PC, but for office apps, email, web browsing, network diagnosis, ... ( I am not a gamer) mobile is the only way to go.

Kati Compton

03-02-2003, 11:15 PM

What, are you lookin for a teachin' position? :wink: You practicin' on me??? :wink:

Yes, and No. :) I just know that a lot of people think that MHz is all there is to it, or if they do understand that isn't the case, have no idea why. I guess I over-explained it, so go with Janak's version. ;) Too hard I guess to summarize in detail a whole computer architecture course in a single post and have it be readable for those who didn't take the prereq's. ;)

Too bad that was post 1001, would have made a great 1000th post :way to go:

Ah - thanks! I've been a bit slow lately (out of town). And will continue to be. I'm out for a full week next week for job interviewing...

Steven Cedrone

03-02-2003, 11:22 PM

Ah - thanks! I've been a bit slow lately (out of town). And will continue to be. I'm out for a full week next week for job interviewing...

Actually, I took another look and that was your 1000th post...

Good one... :wink:

Too hard I guess to summarize in detail a whole computer architecture course in a single post and have it be readable for those who didn't take the prereq's.

I couldn't wait to be done with Arc I & II, you just brought back some nasty flashbacks... :wink:

Steve

wiz

03-03-2003, 12:03 AM

IBM Thinkpad T30 Laptop - P4 2.4Ghz - 512Mb RAM, 60GB HDD, ATI Radeon 7500 - 14" screen 1400x1050 - WiFi - Bluetooth - CDRW/DVD combo

Weyoun6

03-03-2003, 12:15 AM

I'm Running a Fujitsu 700mhz P3 Mobile laptop. w/ 256mb RAM & 10Gb Harddrive.
Its a good little computer, that fits almost all of my needs.
(The 3D is Awful & no DVD)

WxOKC

03-03-2003, 01:11 AM

Main: Dell 8200 desktop 2.0GHz 512MB RAM 100GB HD

Others:

- Just ordered the Dell Inspiron 2650 notebook for $640 ($150 off online purchase + 15% off Dell small business)! 1.6GHz, 256MB RAM 20GB HD 64MB Video

- IBM PC 300GL = 400MHz, 128MB RAM, 40GB HD

hvlien

03-03-2003, 01:38 AM

main machine: p2 266 with 384mb ram, 80gb hd, 8x cdrw, 15"lcd on geforce 2 32mb, and 19" crt on a nvidia tnt2 32mb

laptop: p3 900 with 384mb ram, 20gb hd, 40gb external firewire drive, and 4x cdrw

my desktop isn't the greatest thing in the world, but it does what i ask it to do. i don't do a lot of heavy gaming, so the processor speed doesn't matter too much. the dual monitor setup is sweet though...i can get a lot of work done without having to switch windows. it's also great for internet surfing and chats. browsers on my crt and chat windows on the lcd. :lol:

i would get a better machine..........once i find a real job first...or i stop spending my money on new cell phones and pdas....hmmm, on second thought, finding a job sounds more reasonable. :)

gliscameria

03-03-2003, 02:30 AM

Main PC
2gig P4, Uata133 60Gb HD (and raid/133 to use it =) )
Geforce3 ti200(overpriced crap)
512Mb ram

So-so performance. I haven't had much luck with abit boards (capacitors exploding, DOA... etc) wierd problems with IDE controller on this one (glad it had RAID).

Leehro

03-03-2003, 03:04 AM

Here are the specs on mine :). I've been impressed by a lot of people's rigs

AMD Athlon XP 1800+
Onboard 6channel audio with coax/optical I/O, ethernet
512MB PC2100 DDR RAM
Plextor PlexWriter 12/4/32 SCSI CD-RW
Sony DRU-500A DVD+-RW
40GB 7200RPM WD Caviar
40GB 5400RPM Maxtor
160GB RAID0 (2x 80GBMaxtor DiamondMax 7200RPM)
Firewire (I do a lot of video editing)
19" CRT Monitor

Dell Dimension Pentium II-400MHz
(file server and a place to put extra drives/cards that won't fit in the big boy)
16.8GB IBM DeskStar
60GB Maxtor DiamondMax 7200RPM

Plus a linksys 4 port router/wireless AP, and a handful of gadgets :)

Kirkaiya

03-03-2003, 05:02 AM

My "main" machine is:

Compaq Evo N610c (Notebook)
Pentium 4 (Mobile) at 1.8 GHz
512 MB DDR-RAM (266 MHz)
400 MHz FSB (Front-Side Bus)
ATI Radeon 7500 video card with 32 MB vRAM
30 GB "SMART" HD
14.1" TFT Screen
802.11b WLAN (via Socket CF card in PC-Card Adapter)
SmartCard reader (for authentication to VPN into Microsoft's network)
Microsoft Trackball Explorer for my carpal-tunnel right-hand!! ;-)

My backup laptop is:
HP Omnibook 6000
Pentium III-M at 600 MHz
384 MB SDRAM (pc133)
ATI video-card, 16 MB vRAM
20 GB HD
14.1" TFT
802.11b WLAN via Orinoco Gold PCMCIA card
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer

My desktop is pretty much just a "print-server" now, but anyway:

White-box components (bought myself and assembled, installed OS)
AMD Athlon 650 MHz
256 MB SDRAM (pc133)
ATI Video-card, 32 MB vRAM
20 GB 7200-RPM IDE HD
17" Nec CRT Monitor
HP Scanner
HP Deskjet 872c Inkjet printer
802.11b WLAN via USB-WLAN adapter

So bascially, I think I have about as much computing power (not counting my iPaq and Palm Vx) as all of Nasa did in 1980 or so... lol
I'll never go back to a desktop though.. My backup laptop is my old one, my Evo is my new one, and probably by this time next year, I will upgrade the HD in this one to a new 10k RPM laptop harddrives that are becoming available.

Craig Horlacher

03-03-2003, 05:10 AM

This is cool to see what everyone has.

Mine is a very custom box I built to run more than one operating system at a time using VMWare. A dual-cpu system would have been a good idea but I got a great deal on the motherboard and cpu with some ram used. This system can run, for example I can easily run Solaris 8, redhat, debian, dos 6.22, and windows 98 at the same time. My disk subsystem does a great job of eliviating disk contention.

- Athlon 1800+ (1530MHz)
- 1GB PC2100 DDR RAM
- Adaptec 2400A ATA RAID controller with 128MB of SDRAM (112 for cache)
- four 120GB Western Digital 7200 RPM drives with 8MB of cache each configured in a RAID 5 array (formatted with NTFS this gives 335GB)
- GeForce2 GTS 32MB (yeah, I know, it was used and very cheap)
- Pioneer 16X DVD-ROM
- Sony DRU500a dvd burner, 4x dvd+-r (with firmware update to do +r at 4x), 2x dvd-rw, 2.4x dvd+rw, also has good 24x cdr and 10x cdrw burning
- Creative Labs SB Audigy 2 Platinum - great card, front mounted i/o, ir remote control!!! Got it for the front mounted connections!
- 6 usb 1.1 (two front mounted)
- 4 usb 2.0 (pci card)
- 2 firewire via audigy - one front mounted
- ata zip 250
- UMAX Astra 3400 USB 1.1 scanner
- Logitech QuickCam Web
- USB 1.1 flash media reader (Cf, Cf II, SD, MM, MS, SM)
- black lian-li aluminum case (65B I think) with window :)
- front mounted switch to turn cold cathode lights in case on/off
- front mounted switch kit (bay bus) to control cooling fans (low high off)
- Also have a nifty external 5.25 drive enclosure. It's usb 1.1/2.0 or firewier and it will take hard drives as well as cd/dvd drives. I have an old 3GB disk in it right now. I got it to get data off some old disks and it worked great for that. Now I have a good capacity, high compatilbility drive to move files around when the system I'm going to doesn't have a dvd drive.

I have the following operating systems installed:
Windows 2000 (primary OS from which I run VMWare)
Debain Linux
Redhat Linux
DOS 6.22
Windows 98
Solaris 8
Solaris 9 (new!)
ReactOS (wanted to try it, a freeware NT clone - nothing for it really now)
lnx-bbc (linux bootable business card - debian dist that's under 45MB)

I can simulate a pretty cool linux and solaris network with one box. Each OS thinks its running on it's own box since all hardware is effectivly virtualized. Different MAC's for the NIC's, etc. I also have xfree86 installed under windows 2000 so I can display almost any app from almost any os back to my windows 2000 box with the other VM minimized! Anyway, it's fun stuff if you're into operating systems. I built this system in October. It's been great, extreamly stable and very fast.

VMWare is Awesome! If you like operating systems it's worth the $300.00

Traveller

03-03-2003, 05:23 AM

If you really want cutting edge, my main PC is hp Compaq's TC 1000 Tablet PC. 8)
And yes, my iPaq can co-exist with my Tablet.

Kirkaiya

03-03-2003, 02:11 PM

grohl

03-03-2003, 02:57 PM

Best part about my system is my 21 inch Sony F520 monitor. When I want to do some serious photo editing this thing can do over 2000 lines at 75 MHz, usually I run 1600 x 1200 at 100 MHz.

Ok, the rest:

1 GHz Athlon Thunderbird
512 SD-133 RAM
Promise Fasttrak RAID
IBM DESKSTAR 45 GB x 2
Radeon 64 MB VIVO
4x4x24 CD Writer
DVD player
SoundBlaster 5.1

About 2.5 years old, since I'm not much of a gamer anymore it suits me just fine. Now, when DOOM 3 comes out, it may be time for an upgrade...

ux4484

03-03-2003, 04:31 PM

2.0 Ghz P4, 512M PC800, 120G HD, Nvidia GeoForce 2MX/MX400 w/64meg composite/SVHS out, Audigy sound card, DVD+R/RW drive, 19" Samsung CRT.

Does just fine for all my needs. I might not have upgraded, but my old Celeron 500Mhz was choking on Video editing.

Sans video editing, I don't think I would have upgraded as I ditched the company supplied laptop when I got Docs-To-Go on my Visor.

On "mobility"
Now that I have a serial cable and wifi card for my Axim; I don't miss the laptop at all. I can talk to (any age) Router/server/terminal controlled equipment directly with just the Dell. It makes things easier for me, and doesn't give my work the satisfaction of "leashing" me with a laptop to do my job (as they are wont to do).

sometimes less is more, which is what I keep thinking every time I see a clearvue box with neon in it.........NOT that there's anything WRONG with that ;) :lol:

Steven Cedrone

03-03-2003, 04:50 PM

What's really interesting is that so far, a little under half of the users responding have not upgraded their PC's in a long time - as far as CPU goes(under 1.5GHz)...

Steve

ux4484

03-03-2003, 05:01 PM

What's really interesting is that so far, a little under half of the users responding have not upgraded their PC's in a long time - as far as CPU goes(under 1.5GHz)...

Steve

I say it's the same line that seperates the gadget freaks from the power users :D ;)

Doriath22

03-03-2003, 07:03 PM

Ha... My PC started life as a school phone-bulletin board. I rescued it from the trash... When I started it had a 70mhz amd K-5, with 8 megs of ram and a trident video card (black and white with support for 4 colors) the hard drive was 600 mb. The system is now Much improved. I added a 30 gig 7200rpm Western Digital Caviar, 256 megs of RAM (4 64mb SIMMS) a 266mhz Pentium (Believe it is the max speed socket 7 supports) and a 32 Mb PCI graphics card (1024x768 with 24 bit color). This is my main PC and I am still upgrading as I can. I have a laptop with 1.8 ghz P4 and 384 mb ram, with a GeForce 2... However, I find that I don't use it much at home.

Jellyguy

03-03-2003, 07:11 PM

D-Vine Home Theater chassis (looks like a high-end stereo component)

Wow, those cases look cool...

http://www.cinefx.com/cases.htm

Which one do you have???

Steve

Hi Steve,

The first one - Ahanix D.Vine. I wanted something that looked good and made very little noise. My previous case was a monster. With a dozen fans, it sounded like an F-16 on idle.

KDF9511

03-03-2003, 07:11 PM

Processor speed isn't all that you think it is. I have 4 computers that I use on a normal basis and am building a 5th.

Main
P4 2.25 Ghz / 80 gig & 6 gig hard drives / DVD / 48x CDR / 19 in CRT

Laptop
Toshiba 2535CDS / P2 300 Mhz / 4 gig hard drive

Here is the good stuff. I am currently working on moving all my home automation from the Timex and Kaypro to the laptop. I am being transfered to Houston and don't want to have to set up all this stuff again.

Home automation
Timex Sinclar ZX1000 / 16 k mem backpack / TI Casette drive / 13 in b&w tv monitor 8)

Kaypro II / Z80 processor running CPM / 2 5.25 floppys / 9 in monocrome monitor built in 8)

This is what I am building for my personal music server and to use as a mobile DJ system. Just looking for some good mixing software.
Digital Media Center
AMD K62 300 Mhz / 2 120 gig hard drives / 2 cd-rom drives / 48x burner / custom 19in rack mount case to fit with my amps and signal processors :twisted:

JackyTheBeaver

03-03-2003, 08:19 PM

My main computer's specs are:

P4 2533mhz 533mhz FBS
Asus P4S8x MB
512MB Samsung DDR400 ram (only one stick of RAM, so can't take advantage of duel channel DDR, doh!)
120MB Western Digital harddrive with 8MB of cache
Hercule's Fortissimo II Digital Edition
Logitech MX 700 Mouse / elite keyboard
LG 16X DVD rom
LG 52x24x52 CD-RW
Asus 32mb Geforce2 GTS

Aside from this one, I have 3 real pieces of junk, here goes
P1 200mhz
P1 celeron 466mhz
Duron 700mhz
So it goes without saying that I don't use these ones any more.

bbell98

03-03-2003, 11:18 PM

my "Main" (only) PC: Dell PII 300mhz
my PPC: Jornada 568 - 200mhz

my *younger* sister's PPC: Dell Axim - 400mhz

Does that make her PPC faster than our family's computer?!?!
-Bob

bbarker

03-04-2003, 12:32 AM

My main machine is my laptop, which I use for almost everything. But it's the slowest of my three computers. I use it because it's portable and does what I need most of the time, although it's becoming a little sluggish by now.

Main PC: IBM ThinkPad 600x
650 MHz, 320 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive (upgraded; I use its original 11 GB drive for backups), 4 MB video card. Hot for a laptop when it was new.

Second, and most powerful PC
I built this one. 1.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB 7500 RPM ATA-133 drive, external Maxtor 80 GB 7200 RPM firewire drive, 64 MB GeForce4 video card, 6 USB 2.0 ports, 3 firewire ports. I use this machine for video production but my kids use it most of the time.

Third PC - Gateway
1.0 GHz Athlon, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB 7500 RPM ATA-133 drive, 64 MB GeForce2 video card, 4 USB 1.1 ports, 3 firewire ports. This one is a decent performer as well and I sometimes use it for video production with the external Maxtor drive attached.

Jonathan1

03-04-2003, 12:45 AM

Desktop:
Dell Optiplex GX260
OS: Windows 2K and Red Hat 8.
CPU: Pent 4 1.7Ghz
RAM: 512MB RAM,
Hard Drive: 80GB hard drive (Don't need any more since my server stores all my "stuff")
VCard: GeForce 4
Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy

Nothing blazingly fast but it gets the job done.

Laptop:
Toshiba Satellite 2805-S402
OS: Windows 2K and Red Hat 8
CPU: Pent III 850Mhz
RAM: 384MB
Hard Drive: 40GB
VCard: GeForce 2Go 16MB

[u]Home Server:
[Custom build]
OS: Windows
CPU: Dual 1.5Ghz Pent 4
RAM: 1GB
Hard Drive:
Video (Read Rip of my DVD collection)\Music Storage\Game Patches, Fixes, Mods [H:, I:, J:]:
4x Cheetah 73GB SCSI Ultra160 RAID 5

[Local system drive, F:, G:]
\ other files \ backups from desktop
1x IBM 120GB Deskstar - Not a freaking clue as to the model number.

VCard: ATI Radeon 32MB
Audio Card: Sound Blaster 16 [Go figure but older cards seem to work better when Flasking a DVD.]
Backup: Refurbished Compaq DLT 35/70 Internal drive [$120 off of ebay during X-mas!] :D

I poured a ton of cash, at least it was for me, into my server (With the intention that this will be the last server I get in a dang long time.) over the last year and a half (I only got it finished this fall) however it helped that my uncle works at the local Seagate plant here in MN and got a DAMN good deal for me on the above Cheetah drives. Otherwise I would have never been able to afford it.
Other then the hard drives the only reason I have a dual system is for compiling my DIVX movies.(FlaskMPEG is my friend! :) ) It doesn’t take nearly as long with dual 1.5Ghz CPU’s.

Right now the server is sitting in a closet behind the bedroom. Sort of a makeshift server room that also serves as a place for me tossing computer crap. (I’m a packrat.) The one thing that makes me sweat nights is the thought of one of those drives going bad and having to replace it without a discount (Me not wanting to be an *** and ask him for ANOTHER favor.)
I was originally going to move from hardwired network to wireless for that server and put it in a room off the garage for better ventilation. However I believe that doing this would nullify the performance I’ve gotten off of the drives. I need to set up a wireless connection to my server and do some tests.
Also I’ve been mulling moving from Windows to Linux on the server but I really don’t have enough experience under my belt to deal with RAID or wireless in Linux and at this point the thing has been rock solid for close to 5 months. Why mess with a good thing right?
Another reason I got such a decent system is that sometime this year I want to implement OCR on the thing. Scan all receipts, tax returns, bills, etc into the system, OCR everything, and then import it into a database so in the future if I need to reference anything I can do a search on it. I’ve wanted to implement something like this for years but never had the time to do it until recently. The only problem is that now that I know WHAT I want to do I need to figure out HOW to do it without turning my wallet into a huge void. Hmmm

PS- You may have noticed I don’t even own a CD burner. Never have. Nor have I ever owned a printer in my life. Its one of those things I keep neglecting that I need to fix one of these days. Just keep finding other “stuff” to buy . :?

fantom4

03-04-2003, 12:53 PM

:D

My Main PC is a homebuilt P4 which Cost £678.00

2000mhz Northwood core ( £120.00 )
384MB SDram PC133
Gainward Geforce Ti200 ( Ti450 gainwards name ) Golden Sample 64DDRam TV-out
NEC ND-1000A DVD+RW/+R DVD writer ( £150.00 )
Samsung SW-240B 40*12*40 CD writer
blueyonder Broadband @ 1mb
40GB Western Digital HD
Genius Netscroll+ eye mouse
Midi tower case with side windows 300watts.
Jetway Motherboard
8 USB ports 4*USB1on motherboard, 4*USB2 on PCI card.
Network Card, Built in sound.
ASTVision 5L 15" screen 1280*1024. Second user.
Motorola SB4200 SURFboard cable modem
Windows ME and Knoppix CD based Linux and Mandrake Version 9

Second PC is a 486 DX2 ( cyrix ) 66mhz
4 meg ram
500MB HD
Crap not even a pci slot LOL.