06.23.02
Computer Hardware – Just Can’t Get Enough?
What are the specs on everyone’s computers, and are you happy/content/dismayed by your present system? Do you plan on upgrading soon?
My main machine (VOYEUR) has a 350 Mghz AMD processor, 512 MB of PC133 ram, CD-R/RW, 16 gigs of storage on two 8 gig 5400 rpm drives, 56k modem, running Windows XP, MOBO graphics, SBLIVE PLatnum soundcard, with a 19″ monitor.
I have a 500 Mghz Intel Celeron laptop (SPITFIRE), 128 MB of ram, DVD drive, 10 gigs of storage, running Windows XP, and an ethernet card for fast access when I’m sitting in class. When I swap files between this and my main machine I use a parallel port connection – slow but it gets the job done and costs just the amount of the cable to set up.
A third machine – a Pentium 133 Mghz with 24 MB of ram is currently collecting dust. Has anyone found a good use for these things yet? You’d think you’d be able to link 5 or 6 of them together by now and have a decent (and cheap) machine.
First thing to upgrade is definately my MOBO and processor. I have gotten to the point where I can’t even create more complex pieces of mutednoise music on it because the processor is so overwhelmed. Earlier this year I was trying to do some Quake III level design, and the tools ran so slow on the main machine that I resorted to my laptop (whose smaller screen makes detailed development over long periods painful). Second thing is probably storage – a couple of 40 Gig 7200 rpm drives aught to do it. Someday I loved to get a DVD-R/RW, but that’s awhile yet, a luxury item. Same with a flat panel monitor.
Anyone else?
Milkman said,
June 24, 2002 at 12:15 pm
Main Gaming PC called “milkman”
Win98SE
AMD 1.9+ on asus A7V333 w/o raid MB
512 Corsair 2400 XMS DDR
60 GB 7200 RPM Maxtor HD
Lite-On DVD Drive
GF3 Ti200 64meg (Winfast)
SB Live Value
10/100 3Com 3c905c
Altec Lansing 305 speakers
Gravis Exterminator Dual Control joystick
Logitec Wingman Force feedback wheel
19″ Short depth Viewsonic PS790
Storage/server/secondary gaming PC (milkman2000/Blacky)
Dual boot w2kpro/win98
Intel PIII 850 on Asus P3B-F (100 MHz)
384 Corsair 133 CAS2 SDRAM
Promise ATA66 Controler card (need for all the hard drives…)
40 GB 7200RPM Maxtor HD
17.8 GB 7200RPM IBM HD
20 GB 5400RPM Seagate HD
13.5 GB 5400 RPM Western Digial HD
100MB Zip drive
Generic 40x CD-ROM
TNT2 Ultra 32meg ram (Creative)
Mostersound 200?? (aureal based)
10/100 3Com 3c905c
Altec Lansing ATP speakers
19″ Viewsonic Black monitor
Liz’s Machine “lilfishy”
Intel Celeron 500 on a LX based MB (don’t remember brand)
128 Corsair PC100 SDRAM
13 GB 5400 RPM Western Digital HD
Generic 44x CD-ROM
SIS 8meg crap video card
Voodoo2 12meg 3d card
SB 16 ISA sound card
10/100 Kingston network card
15″ mag monitor with intergrated side bessle speakers
These are all running on a 10/100 network comprising of a 512 cable modem running to a linksys DSL/router. Then to a 8port 10/100 linksys hub and then again to a 12 port 10/100 cisco hub. This gives me plenty of room for working on PC’s and for our little gaming lans in my basement.
My new 1.9+ system is not running well. Is very unstable and have already had to replace a fryed bios. I am slowing replacing things to isolate the problem and i might end up returning the MB as defective. After i get this up and going my next upgrade will be a CD or maybe DVD burner.
libel_vox said,
June 24, 2002 at 12:23 pm
*drool*
Well, I am officially ashamed of my specs.
How ‘up to spec’ do you find yourself when it comes to playing games? I know on GameSpy some players have been bemoaning the pretty steep minimum PC requirements on several of the new games coming out (WarCraft III had really steep specs, if I remember right). Can your system run pretty much run anything and everything out there well?
Milkman said,
June 24, 2002 at 1:19 pm
So far both of my PC’s can run anything out there.. however that won’t be the case soon. Games coming out this fall/winter maybe be more than “Blacky” can handle. Reason being is most new games are going to really start to use some of the newer graphic technologys that are coming out.
I know for a fact that “Star Wars Galaxies” will require a card capable of hardware T&L to handle the masive polygon counts reqired to make the game look “cool”. The TNT series cards do not support that, so i will need a new video card if i want to play that game. Also know that older ATI, voodoo, kyro, and matrox cards do not support T&L either. Alot of people who “dude got a dell” with a substandard video card are going to find out there new 1.5 GHz machine can’t play new computer games.
So.. if upgrading or building a new PC for gaming my suggestions on whats important first is as follows
1. Get new CPU if slower than Intel PIII 800mhz or Athlon 1 Ghz. If CPU already this fast.. focus on other parts first.
2. Upgrade ram!!! Ram is very very important in new games. 128 min.. 256+ perfered.
3. Video card. If you have a Voodoo replace ASAP, it is dead and no new games are supporting them. The older TNT, matrox, and kyro cards are still good for all current games.. but there time is coming to and end. GF4 (not the MX) or Radion are my suggestions. There are newer Matrox and Kyro based cards coming out soon that should be good also. More ram on the video card the better. 64 meg is good 128 is better!
4. If you already have the above but want faster, time to get new mega fast CPU!
Most games are limited by system ram or video card before the CPU causes the bottle neck from my experience… hence my suggestions.
OK.. back to playing around with the forum… speaking of which.. did you buy this software, or is it free download?
nato said,
June 27, 2002 at 8:11 pm
Hey Matt,
Allow me to make you feel better about your computers. Right now all I have is a laptop that I use ~10 hours a day. Microsoft ‘gave’ to me. It is a prototype Dell Insprion 7000 which would have been cool when it came out 4 years ago, but today it just tends to draw jears from my co-workers, and has some bizaar power problems.
Under this bulky black brick exterior I have a 333MHz PII. I have upgraded to 192MB of PC100 ram and a 20GB HDD RPM unknown. It floats a 440BX, quite possibly banister, a product that I did some Sort Product Engineering for back at Intel. Video is handled by an ATI RAGE LT PRO, and sound is handled by an onboard ESS Maestro 2 cuz any sound will do
Right now I am running XP build 2600 SP1 build 1050.
At home I have a docking station for it so I can hook in up to my 21″ monitor, have a decent keyboard and mouse, modem, my Strategic Commander, IOmega Zip disk and card reader for RAS.
Still it is my moble command station with my cerebral jack where I track everything, and despite all of its slow old shortcomings, I have no plans to replace it. That is until the Tablet PC comes out.
ooooooooooohhhhhhhh
Tablet PC 
aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
libel_vox said,
June 27, 2002 at 11:30 pm
:scitzo: :cussing:
21″ monitor huh? Yummy. On my next machine, I think I might go the dual video cards (with one having dual video outs) so I can have a 3 monitor set up. I had one like that back at IBM, and I have a couple of spare monitors lying around. From left to right it’ll be a 15″, 19″, 15″. Ahhhh, Someday I’ll have some real estate. Never have to minimize again.
Milkman said,
June 28, 2002 at 9:36 am
Ya won’t need dual video cards… Matrox’s next product will have 3 monitor support on 1 card.
I just got ahold of warcraft III but havn’t tryed it yet. Anyone else play it?
libel_vox said,
June 28, 2002 at 11:08 am
You just got ahold of it? I didn’t think it was out until July 3rd? Does it come with some decent level editing software? I remember spending quite a bit of time with Blizzard’s starcraft editor….
I don’t think my machines even meet the minimum specs for running Warcraft III.
Besides, I think if I was going to invest in a new Warcraft game, it would probably be the MMORPG Worlds of Warcraft. That looks cool… or City of Heros… grrrr…. never enough time or money. 
Milkman said,
June 28, 2002 at 3:14 pm
Ya.. i doesn’t come out until July 3rd… i guess i have helped enough people “in the loop” that things just “arrive” without me even asking for them. I have yet to even open the CD case yet… but i do think they were planning a very nice editor.
Never fear however, for those anti-Piracy people, i do buy the games i play. Just ask anyone who has seen my shelves in my basement.
Don’t know what the min system specs are.. but you “MIGHT” fall into the min requirements. I hopefully will see how it plays this weekend and find out if i like it or not. I will give my review on it in the game section after it hits the shelves.
libel_vox said,
June 28, 2002 at 3:28 pm
*sniff* We’ll never hear from the milkman again. :borg:
Milkman said,
June 29, 2002 at 8:40 pm
Hahaha i love that borg emot!
Still haven’t gotting to install it.. maybe tomorrow…
libel_vox said,
July 1, 2002 at 12:02 pm
Good GOSH man! Where are your priorities!
Milkman said,
July 1, 2002 at 2:39 pm
Still didn’t look at it.. had to get stuff done around the house… fix a door, unclog a drain.. yada yada yada… Tonight i shall look at it!!!!
mr_redbaron said,
July 1, 2002 at 7:43 pm
Here’s our junkyard:
http://geekhouse.darktech.org/
thebeast is my new baby…
hopefully pics soon….
but it’s a compaq proliant 5500, quad XeonII 450 with 1 meg cache 1 gig ram