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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.


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