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View Full Version : wanted: opinions! hardware related & giving up farm



rofn
04-01-2004, 03:15 AM
aaahm ok...first of all don't be shocked by the topic...this is only something i'm thinking over at the moment...but can't make decisions cause there are to many possibilities i'm considering...

second...i'll suspend my current isp connection (adsl) because its getting worse stable since the last months...and i'm in anyway not very pleased with the product itself which i got...so i'll change over to xdsl (1280/256kbit up/down bandwidth with 15gb per month traffic) dunno if its the same in other countries but adsl is the async dsl and xdsl is the sync dsl (meaning that you can upload & download at full bandwidth at the same time)
this for sure...just as a side note

back to topic then...

i've read a lot of articles over the last weeks about upgrading my main machine at home to something very powerful and i'm considering about giving up my farm for it (selling it & using the money for a new system)

here is a conclusion of what i got on hardware...

desc.: main router (using slackware linux 9.1 with ip_masquerading)
name: core
abit bp6 dual celeron 400 @ 466mhz
256mb ram
geforce 2 (no X11)
30gb ata66 seagate 5400rpm hdd

desc: full cruncher #1 (using slackware linux 9.1)
name: comanche
elitegroup k7s5a (SIS chipset)
some stupid sis graphic card (no X11 either)
amd xp 1600
256mb ram cl2 (infineon with ecc) ;)
40gb ata100 ibm 7200rpm hdd

desc: full cruncher #2 (using latest gentoo linux)
name: daria
EpoX 8K9Ai (Via KT400 chipset)
matrox g450 dual-head (sometimes x11 to test e17 cvs)
amd xp 2000 (locked)
256mb ram pc3200 cl3 (infineon can't oc it)
40gb ata100 segate 5400rpm hdd

desc: main workstation and almost full cruncher #3 (using win2ksp4)
name: jolene
EpoX 8RDA+
amd xp 2200 (a bit oc'd 14x 140mhz) nforce 2 chipset
asus v9520 geforcefx 5200 128mb 8x agp (perhaps damaged currently under testing purpose)
main graphic card:
creative geforce4 ti4200 64mb 4x agp :(
infineon dual channel memory 512mb (2x256mb) pc2100 running totally stable@ 2-2-2-4 :D
samsung sata 80gb
seagate ata100 40gb 7200rpm


ok thats it...

so what i'm considering is to sell 3 systems...which one i dont know exactly yet...but for sure i'll drop the bp6 & the xp1600...one of the two others i'll use again as masquerading router...if i'll drop anything anyway...
anyway thats not so relevant at the moment the main point i'm unclear is what i'll buy then...

since we are almost standing in front of a changeover in form factors (atx to btx) i'm wondering if i should wait for it to come out...i've read that in the beginning of the btx area there will exist these 2 side by side...but i think that mainboard manufacturers won't produce atx then anymore...so if there will come out a new e.g. socket 775, processors for it (intel is in use of a new socket for doing more ghz) pci-express and ddr2...i'll probably have to upgrade to btx...
the question here is...would you wait for btx yet?

if 0 then:
what kind of sys would you upgrade then?

amd opteron/64FX is far to expensive at the moment so for me its not a real solution...
so p4 or athlon 64?
i read that the athlon 64 is better at gaming but they are almost the same @ benchmarks...and yes i do game (not a lot but enough that my tendency is more to the athlon64)
also if windows xp 64 comes out (btw. any release date yet?) will it be a lot faster then as a p4?
when i'll upgrade i'll probably buy some high performance ddr ram (1gb pc3200 corsair with Low Latency) and a geforce fx5700 ultra for it, too
but then when i think about that i'm getting to question #1 again when btx is here then i can put it to garbage cause of pci-express and ddr2 :(

so what are your oppinions...what would you do in my situation?
since i'm confused in answering these for myself...i'll leave that up to you...

also consider..the more time i wait on selling some systems...the less money i'll get for it then...

rofn

the-mk
04-01-2004, 07:28 AM
first: do you really want to downgrade? High power bills? Or other reasons?

second: (I think you knew that a question like this would come :D) what kind of ISP do you have now? And let me guess: the new ISP is Inode? :swear: you can get Inode :spank: I can't :swear: :cry: have to keep AON :cry::cry::cry:

third: which one would I sell: I'd sell the three weakest machines and keep the fastest machine for routing and whatever you want... that's what I would do...

fourth: I don't know when the new BTX-standard will come, either I don't know when M$ releases a 64-bit version of Windows XP... what about beta-releases? what about drivers?

Tricky situation... because I can't really recommend you what kind of system you should build... new standards coming and don't want to wait too long for selling the old systems :rolleyes:

Probably you should really wait and keep the old pharm for a while... but that's just my opinion... do what ever you want, my son :D :cheers:

rofn
04-01-2004, 08:09 AM
Originally posted by the-mk
fourth: I don't know when the new BTX-standard will come, either I don't know when M$ releases a 64-bit version of Windows XP... what about beta-releases? what about drivers?

there is already a beta of windows xp 64 which you can download or order on cd...
there are also already nvidia drivers for xp 64 bit platform...

i think winxp 64bit will come out when btx hits the stores, too
and i guess that this will happen this summer...although i never read anything about a release date...

rofn

rofn
04-01-2004, 11:59 AM
@ the-mk

no not high power bills...i have them anyway *rofl*
i'm just thinking over about the use of my farm at home...dunno why maybe its just because spring is here...and i want something new and i thought perhaps i should dump my farm instead of my girlfriend...:rotfl: no, just kidding ;)

i got aon freetime right now...and yes i'll get inode xdsl 1280/256 and italk private 1000 (voice over ip)...i ordered it today and it'll take probably 3 - 4 weeks from now on...aon is already quited per 1.5.2004

in vienna almost all lines are entbündelt (dunno the english word) now...
so its no problem here any more... :bouncy:

rofn

rofn
04-02-2004, 03:13 AM
cat opinions >> /dev/rofn

the-mk
04-02-2004, 04:39 AM
Originally posted by rofn
@ the-mk

no not high power bills...i have them anyway *rofl*
i'm just thinking over about the use of my farm at home...dunno why maybe its just because spring is here...and i want something new and i thought perhaps i should dump my farm instead of my girlfriend...:rotfl: no, just kidding ;)

i got aon freetime right now...and yes i'll get inode xdsl 1280/256 and italk private 1000 (voice over ip)...i ordered it today and it'll take probably 3 - 4 weeks from now on...aon is already quited per 1.5.2004

in vienna almost all lines are entbündelt (dunno the english word) now...
so its no problem here any more... :bouncy:

rofn

What kind of pay-scale did you have before aon freetime?

A little help for my friend: entbündeln (http://dict.leo.org/?p=1ZRX..&search=entb%FCndeln) is to unbundle... http://dict.leo.org/ is great for simple word translations from German to English and vice versa :D

BTW: I hate you! You are able to get Inode XDSL :swear:
message me, when you are able to surf the web with your XDSL-connection :)
wanna know how long that takes until you're able to :D

rofn
04-21-2004, 06:56 AM
first line was a 14.4 on compuserve then 28.8 then teleweb/chello...but i got busted there because i used some company internal knowledge for doing some funny things with my cable modem *rofl*...anyway...so i'm probably banned for lifetime there (dunno, never tried to get a line there since then)....then i got aon speed 4gb...now freetime and soon inode xdsl...

the new line will be here by 11.05.04....i ordered on 14.04.04 (was a bit unsure about it first)...it looks like inode got a full timetable these times...but they say 3 to 4 weeks is normal.... :bang:

i'll probably have to quit aon by 01.05 for a 11 day downtime of the net at home i think...dunno yet...have to call aon if have to pay the full month fee when i quit it on 05.05.04 (after 6days then the line would be down 5 + 6 = 11)

and i'm finally giving up my farm at home...2/4 boxen will be gone 2 will stay here
production will fall as soon my boxen are sold...first one should be gone this week (xp 2000)

and i'll upgrade my main box with 1gb dual channel ddr400 oz or mushkin ram...a xp 3000 fsb 400mhz & geforce fx 5700 ultra is already in...UT2004 & far cry r0x now :)

my second box will be my current/old one...epox 8rda+ xp2200 512mb and will be my linux workstation...
the money thats left then will be saved until btx...or new socket type for the 64bit platform...

rofn