Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 10:21:24 +0100 From: "Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com> To: "Hanif Ladha" <hanif@ladha.com>, "FreeBSD Questions" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Some h/w recommendations please... Message-ID: <004e01c16db6$ea29fbe0$0a00000a@atkielski.com> References: <20011115063306.GA12464@ladha.com>
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> CPU: P4's have come down in price: a 1.5Ghz is > around CAD$230. Of course a P3 is much cheaper > and a Celeron is even more so. Unless you are doing aerodynamic simulations, any processor in any new machine will be fine. It will not be the bottleneck in the system. > RAM: I can definitely afford 256Mb and possibly > 512Mb, I think going to a 1Gb would be a stretch. Not necessarily. Spend your money on RAM, not a high-end processor. For general-purpose work, you're more likely to be memory-bound than compute-bound. > Motherboard: not at all sure here: have heard > good things about ASUS You need lots of fast memory, and just about any processor. You also need the fastest possible disk I/O, which means high-speed disks, SCSI, and RAID, to the extent you can afford it. The biggest bottleneck in most operating systems is disk I/O right now. Adding RAM diminishes this problem, but does not eliminate it. Processor power is virtually never an issue. So buy as much RAM as you can, and get the fastest disk setup you can afford. Any supported motherboard that facilitates this is fine. > Video: again not sure here Not an issue unless you will be playing lots of games, in which case compatiblity and speed might be a concern. > Monitor: I have heard good reviews about some > Samsung models ... For CRTs, buy Sony for the best quality. Not sure about flat panels; I have a little Samsung that works fine, but I don't use it for color- or gamma-critical work. As long as the monitor is sharp and clear, it will do, unless you are doing photo retouching or the like, in which case you need a high-end CRT monitor. Sharp and clear is extremely important if you will be spending lots of time in front of the monitor. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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