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Pastimes : Dream Machine ( Build your own PC ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dave Hanson who wrote (673)	5/19/1998 12:09:00 AM
From: Zeuspaul	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 14778

Power Machine Networth's 6 month rule of thumb seems reasonable enough to me on new software. Only other point I'd add is that one should avoid piecemeal upgrades unless one has a substantial reason for doing so--something that's becoming less true as hardware power has zipped ahead of software power in recent years, and 32-bit software platforms have begun to grow stable (esp NT and some non-windows platforms.) I think that dual processors almost never make sense for non-speciality folks. The performance gains are just too modest for the investment and compromises required. Money and tweaking can typically be better spent elsewhere. You have given Networm a well deserved promotion! I am looking for a highly specialized machine. In my case the hardware does not come close to the capability of my software. I work with VERY large files ( 50 to 100 MB and larger if I had the capability) Waiting 20 minutes to save a file or 30 minutes to execute one command takes the wind out of my sails. I prefer a machine that can keep up with my train of thought, not one that puts me to sleep. I prefer to think in terms of milliseconds to execute commands. My DOS application is the fastest I have. Several of my programs run completely in RAM ( 3D viewing ) so paging to a harddrive does not do me any good. My computers max out when I try to process 2 million data points. A typical days work can far exceed that. I would like to process 1000+ times that amount of data. The 3D viewing programs bog down with 50,000 data points. I want to configure the best machine I can. The first priority is DOS! followed by Win95 and then NT. Dual monitors would be a BIG plus. That is why I want Win98. Waiting six months is not necessarily an option as one needs to take opportunities when they present themselves. DUAL processors is down the list of needs but the cost of a second processor would be rather small percentage of the machine I need. I would like a machine with several gigabyte of RAM but do not know if I can get one. The BX chipset supports 1 GB RAM but it must be reserved? RAM. The GX chipset due out in several months supports 2 GB RAM but I do not know what type or what kinds of restrictions there are with 2 GB RAM. I am hoping it will support at least 1 GB of SDRAM. What I want to put together is a DOS/WIN98 machine with dual boot NT option for some of my NT applications. I do not know if the dual processors will give me a problem when I boot back and forth between the different operating systems. I also do not know how a RAID setup will work between multiple operating systems. To speed the system up I think a half dozen or so SCSI drives in a RAID 0 configuration will work. I followed Networm's link to DPL SCSI RAID solutions. Their RAID solutions are operating system independent? At minimum I would guess that I could boot to a 4 GB 10000 RPM drive and then setup a striped RAID solution as the working configuration. What I do not know is if it will work in all three operating systems in a multiboot system. The applications determine the operating systems.....and the applications CANNOT be changed at this point in time. There are many years of custom development in existing applications. New applications are not downward compatible and would require overwhelming re engineering. 512 MB RAM with PII processors have put a lot of pizazz into my DOS applications. I am not a software programmer but I can write macros in my DOS applications. One series of macro commands can save many hours of work. None of the programs that I use that have been migrated into the Windows environment allow macro programming. Even if a 32 bit application is internally more efficient it does me no good if I have to play mouse games for hours when one macro command will do the trick. Zeuspaul ps I agree that it is a good idea to wait on Win98 at least if not more than six months. I used to jump on the latest DOS upgrades with no harm done. IE4.0 killed my Compaq, blue screen, only cure reformat. The only reason I am considering Win98 is the dual monitor capability. The dual monitor cards will not provide enough resolution for my applications.