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Topic: What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home? (Read 12171 times) previous topic - next topic
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What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Hello from Mexico...

I wonder what kind of computer do you run people, 'cause I want to buy a new computer and I want to install a unix system and windows 2k or xp. Unix will be to play & learn

I will like to build a personal site to run, and I like to burn music cds for personal use.

what do you recommend? which features do you like to run a personal computer like a server?

pentium 4?
hard disk
ram
cdrom, dvdrom?
burners
etc.

thanks in advance!!
rodolfo from mexico
"don't gimme no lip" - pearl jam

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #1 –
oh man forget it, i better not suggest things
just, be sure to have an SDSL line .. ADSL is what i have and it sucks of course, because the uploading speeds are about 18 times lower than downloading speeds. with SDSL the upload speed is nearly like download speed.

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #2 –
I'd definately get the new p4 3.0ghz that includes hyper-threading (sort of a poor-mans multiprocessing built-in), and the new intel chipset mobo that supports it.  It might be expensive now, but wait a little while if you aren't in a big rush.

As for the rest: western digital makes very good 7200 rpm HDs, but stay away from IBM.  They have horrible support history.  Burners: get a cheap liteon cdrw, or spend some more and buy a pioneer a04 dvd burner.  ram: now isn't the best time to buy alot of ram - high prices - buy I would recommend at least 384 if you are running win2k/xp.  And buy the fastest ram your motherboard supports - i think the new intel ones support ddr3200 but maybe only 2700...  video card: i would buy a cheap geforce4mx 440 and use it until nvidia releases there next-gen card.

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #3 –
May I suggest that whatever you buy, do yourself a  favor and buy the individual components instead of being a tool for dell or gateway or some other setup.  Besides the better options, it's a whole lot cheaper...

-Jeff

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #4 –
A word about DSL:

Virtually everyone running DSL is really running ADSL. If the up/down speeds match it is still ADSL. DSL lite (as called by Qwest) however is not much faster than a dial up modem.

Xenno
No one can be told what Ogg Vorbis is...you have to hear it for yourself
- Morpheus

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #5 –
The Pentium4 Northwood2 2.4GHz is cheap and fast and nice.

Now get a mainboard with an Intel chipset for the CPU. Do not buy a board with SIS, ALI or whatever chipset. Intel chipsets will cause you less pain. I currently have (mistake) a SIS chipset and it is not fun at all.

Hard disk - Seagate Barraduca is silent. That is rather nice. If you want high performance, go for a SCSI disk. But expensive and noisy.

RAM: Never buy noname

cdrom, dvdrom, burners
Plextor - they make proper drives.

Now get a graphics with passive cooling, a special LOW noise CPU cooler + PSU cooler. Then you have a silent computer.

If you want to run a linux/*bsd server, then get compatible hardware!

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #6 –
Quote
A word about DSL:

Virtually everyone running DSL is really running ADSL. If the up/down speeds match it is still ADSL. DSL lite (as called by Qwest) however is not much faster than a dial up modem.

Xenno

Nope.
There are about 5 types of DSL.
You can learn more at DSL Reports.com.
SDSL is not like ADSL. And lite ADSL stinks .

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #7 –
Quote
oh man forget it, i better not suggest things
just, be sure to have an SDSL line .. ADSL is what i have and it sucks of course, because the uploading speeds are about 18 times lower than downloading speeds. with SDSL the upload speed is nearly like download speed.

Your DSL Internet connection will never be better than:

- The quality of your cobber line
- The DSL hardware at your end
- The DSL hardware at the other end
- The Internet Service Provider
- Your Internet Service Provider's access points to the rest of the Internet

My DSL connection is very stable. My ISP has plenty of bandwidth, so I always get 1 Mbit downstream or 512k upstream. The hardware actually supports full-duplex and I get full-duplex a few times at night, when my ISP is in a good mood.

Talk with friends that have DSL before getting one yourself.

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #8 –
All true, that's why i mentioned DSL Reports.
Not only the type of DSL you have matters (obviously..).
But, SDSL is better than ADSL period . ADSL stinks, i have 1.5mbit downstream and 96mbit upstream. Ridiculous... If SDSL would be availible here, i'd definately get it.

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #9 –
Quote
All true, that's why i mentioned DSL Reports.
Not only the type of DSL you have matters (obviously..).
But, SDSL is better than ADSL period . ADSL stinks, i have 1.5mbit downstream and 96mbit upstream. Ridiculous... If SDSL would be availible here, i'd definately get it.

Yes SDSL is better and probably a lot more expensive.

Since my ADSL connection is very stable and only cost one third of a 1MBit SHDSL line, I don't think it suck at all.

PS:
1 Mbit = 1 Mega bit = 1 million bit
1 mbit = 1 milli bit = 1/1000 bit (does not make sense at all, unless it is milli bit per second)

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #10 –
There may be 5 types - but only two are common (ASDL/SDSL)

It may stink in your area (for reasons unknown) but not here. From what I read at that site you linked to, ASDL allows for co-usage as a normal telephone line. SDSL doesn't. ASDL can have much faster download speeds and close to SDSL max upload speeds. The ADSL I'm on now is 640K/640K and is available up 1M/7M (up/down). Like I said, most people do have ADSL and make the assumption that because Up/Down speeds are the same, that it's SDSL (that is, if they care like we do). Stinks?...I don't think so.

Xenno
No one can be told what Ogg Vorbis is...you have to hear it for yourself
- Morpheus

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #11 –
This is what I run myself both as my server and personal computer... It's perfectly stable so there's no reason to use separate computers to different tasks... B)

AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1.53GHz)
ECS K7S5A SiS735
ATi Radeon 8500LE
Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1
Seagate Barracuda IV 80GB
256MB Samsung PC133 SDRAM (need more, and DDR)
Alpha PAL8045T with Enermax UC-8FAB on lowest speed
etc

I suggest you buy something similar for getting a good price/performance ratio... Perhaps the following setup?

AMD Athlon XP 2000+
ASUS A7V333 KT333
ATi Radeon 9700 Pro
Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo III 7.1
Seagate Barracuda V 120GB S-ATA (almost as fast as a 10k RPM SCSI disc because of TCQ, although it won't be released until next year, somewhere around newyear )
512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM (or more)
Alpha PAL8045T or Thermalright AX-7 with Enermax UC-8FAB (or watercooling if you feel like throwing away your money  )

For a P4 system, just change XP 2000+ for Intel P4 1800GHz Nortwood, the motherboard to Gigabyte GA-8IEXP i845E, the memory to PC2100 DDR SDRAM and also a different cooler... Both should have about the same price tag...  (I know this isn't a monster system, but that isn't really necessary in most situations... It should be quite silent though... Enermax UC-8FAB is only 14dB on the lowest speed, which is nice...)

P.S. Plextor really isn't worth the money if you intend to use your burner for burning... Lite-On is cheaper and better for that... 52x from Lite-On is still +50% cheaper than 40x from Plextor...

D.S. I tend to agree on the memory part though... Never buy noname unless you feel like gamble...  That applies for both the AMD system and the Intel system...

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #12 –
My first post, and thought I'd wade right in here with my (probably worthless) opinions.  I *just* did this upgrade to my main PC, and I couldn't be happier with the performance for the price.  I'll list the approximate US Dollars I paid from here in the states (For the most part, from www.googlegear.com)

Antec Case            - 100.00
MSI K-3 Ultra2 MB  - 100.00
AMD Athlon 2200XP - 150.00
Corsair 512 MB RAM - 150.00
Plextor 40/12/40a    - 120.00
IBM Deskstar 80 GXP- 100.00
IBM Deskstar 80 GXP - 100.00  (The MSI MB has built in raid 1 / 0....  )
MSI GeForce 4200    - 200.00
Floppy, Cables,
Heatsinks, etc          - 100.00
Pioneer Slot DVD        - 50.00

For basically 1100 dollars I was able to build a pretty smoking system and didn't have to bow down to the Wintel CPU Gods.  Also, that configuration runs Mandrake 8.1 and 9.0 Distro just fine.  All those parts I consider to be premium, and I must stress - I am *very* happy with the performance of this machine.  If anything, I'll be adding another 512 of Corsair memory.  I'll probably be following a few other folks and going to fanless heatsinks, etc, to quiet it down even further.

Your mileage may vary, of course.  To me, the price I could have paid for a top of the line Intel P4 alone was enough to buy the top of the line AMD, Motherboard and memory.

These are just one nerd's opinions.

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #13 –
Quote
I'd definately get the new p4 3.0ghz that includes hyper-threading (sort of a poor-mans multiprocessing built-in), and the new intel chipset mobo that supports it.  It might be expensive now, but wait a little while if you aren't in a big rush.

Might as well stop waiting for that new technology because it always gets beat.  Wait for the p4 3ghz and you might end up waiting a little longer for AMD's Hammer. 

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #14 –
Quote
Quote
I'd definately get the new p4 3.0ghz that includes hyper-threading (sort of a poor-mans multiprocessing built-in), and the new intel chipset mobo that supports it.  It might be expensive now, but wait a little while if you aren't in a big rush.

Might as well stop waiting for that new technology because it always gets beat.  Wait for the p4 3ghz and you might end up waiting a little longer for AMD's Hammer. 

Yep, the time to buy new computer stuff is always "now."  Waiting makes little sense, because whatever you get then will also be outdated shortly...

B-sides, PC's are fast & powerful enough now that unless you're a dedicated gamer running the most demanding new games, whatever you get will probably be 'powerful' enough for the next couple/three years, at least...

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #15 –
What kind of computer should you run at home?

This depends on many things, including your budget, your needs, and your willingness to get involved with the inner workings of your computer.

You must understand that these people are recommending products that work for THEM, and that you should actively search for products that work for YOU.

Also, keep in mind that when people make blanket statements about a particular product, whether good or bad, there are probably people out there who are making the opposite blanket statements, too!  If I say that XYZ brand components are bad, someone else in the world is saying that XYZ brand is the best brand ever!

I recommend that you take the time to research each component or set of components and make sure that they fit in with what you need.

In order to get the BEST recommendations for YOUR purposes, would you please list your budget, the complete needs of the primary and secondary users of this computer system, and the computer-tech ability of the person(s) who will be maintaining this computer?

I don't believe that any of the previous suggestions have taken any of these factors into account, because you simply haven't provided the information.  Please provide the information so that we can make educated suggestions instead of just throwing out random suggestions that may or may not be good for you.

-Steve

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #16 –
I'm saving up for a Falcon Northwest.  Very clean systems built for you.  Only drawback is you have a limited choice of components, but they are usually top of the line anyway.  But that also takes care of the fact that you don't have to worry much about hardware incompatibilities.

If you go to http://www.falcon-nw.com/ you can build yourself a blazin' Mach V from an AMD template for around 2 Gs.

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #17 –
ADSL max download speed is 9mbps, max upload speed is 1.5mbps.
SDSL max download/upload speed is 2mbps (both directions).

http://condor.depaul.edu/~jkristof/xdsl-faq.txt


Because of the called "ACK compression" effect, if you have an asyncronous link (56K modems, aDSL, Cable Modem, etc) you must never saturate the lower speed side, because the speed of the faster side will degrade as much as the max speed of the lower side.

For this reason, it is imperative that you restrict somehow the up stream bandwidth usage, so as to never exceed, say, 85%. I know how to do this with FreeBSD, and Linux can do it too (with more effort ), most server apps have some method of restraining the bandwidth usage.
She is waiting in the air

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #18 –
Mostly said before, but I think these points are crucial:

-If you buy P4, get an Intel chipset motherboard. The classic stability setup is Intel processor, ASUS mobo with i845xx chipset  I once had a VIA chipset with Pentium processor and had a lot of stability problems. It is said that the SiS chipset with P4 is less stable than is preferable as well.

-If you wait a few weeks you will be able to get the new dual channel DDR RAM chipset (GB) which uses standard DDR but in a dual channel arrangement.

-Get lots of USB 2 on board, and firewire on board, and RAID with Serial ATA on board, and LAN on board. If you bought all these as PCI cards, they would cost a fortune.

-Wait until you can get the hyper threading P4. When doing intensive FPOs (ie mp3, mpc, ogg encoding) it will be fantastic to have HT ability. I think the new (November 14?) P4 3.06GHz will have this. The current price sweet spot thogh is the 2.4 GHz P4.

-Seagate Barracuda IV is awefully silent.

-Plextor CDRW is quality machinery and close to best at ripping protected CDs.

-Get a quiet power supply from Antec or Enermax (?) or Quiet PC. Some ASUS mobs (ASUS P4PE) have Q-fan which adjusts CPU fan speed depending on workload to cut fan noise. Use quiet case fans.
Ruse
____________________________
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around,
Go out and make a joyful sound.

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #19 –
About 3 years ago, when I was at Uni.  We were looking into the future of the internet.  and what might become of DSL.  VDSL, was supposed to be the next best future technology.  I dont know if its available yet, but check out the stats:

52 Mbps downstream
16 Mbps upsteam

You should have a look HERE if you're interested.

For anyone who wants to see a comparison chart, comparing some DSLs, have a look HERE


I think I should add that, if you want to increase the overall performance of your computer, you should look into SCSI harddrives (U320)

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #20 –
just thought i'd mention that

1) i have an SiS motherboard, and it works fine for me (overclocked and all). by no means does this imply that they are stable in general, or that it will work at all for you, but .. yeah. maybe i just like it 'cause the dell computer i had before was really annoying...

2) ibm makes great hdds for the price (last i checked --> ~2 months ago). they made a really bad mistake with their 75gxp and 60gxp lines, and so they're paying for it with low prices on their newer lines and skeptical consumers. most resellers seem to think that ibm's are the most reliable brand in general, though (based on the return rate). wd makes the best drives, though they might cost a smidgen more. seagate makes far and away the quietest drives on the market, though they're relatively slow. i'd stay away from maxtor if i were you...

since i'm mostly full of shite, though, i would suggest going to either the anandtech or hardocp forums for advice, since they sort of specialize in that sort of thing...

i was wondering why everyone uses their burner for ripping since burners cost ~3x as much as dvd drives and ~5x as much as cd drives? personally i try to wear out my cheaper belongings first (all else being equal), but maybe i'm just retarded or something.

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #21 –
Im not saying go and get this PC, just look at it!  The black case  CLICK HERE!

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #22 –
Abit BP-6 (She's lovely)
2x 466c@466(-700MHz)
384MB SDRAM (1x 128MiB 100MHz CAS3, 1x 256MiB 133MHz CAS2.5)
(128stick = eeevil, gotta replace it)
Quantum Fireball CX20.4A 20GiB HDD (borrow)
Matsushita CDRW CW-7586
SBLive! (1st version)
Coresma Cablemodem giving me free internet & keeping me unknown
~1.5/.4Mbit

Running XP SMP. *duh*

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #23 –
i dont think windows xp is recommended as a server operating system.  you will be better off with windows 2k, windows xp 64 (you will need a very powerful pc for xp64, its minimum system requirements for ram are 1Gb!).

What Kind Of Computer To Run At Home?

Reply #24 –
Quote
i dont think windows xp is recommended as a server operating system.  you will be better off with windows 2k, windows xp 64 (you will need a very powerful pc for xp64, its minimum system requirements for ram are 1Gb!).

hehe..
it's preferred you use 64-bit CPUs also