[Wlug] Looking for a new system

[John Stoffel]

>>>>> "Jamie" == Jamie Guinan <guinan at bluebutton.com> writes:

Jamie> I've built a few PCs over the past few years, so I can share
Jamie> some experiences.

Jamie> #3: AMD64 x2, Tyan motherboard with NVidia chipset,
Jamie> Coolermaster Centurion case.  This is my main system these
Jamie> days, it runs quiet, and I'm happy with every part of it.
Jamie> Wattage numbers:

How good is the video?  Do you need the NV proprietary kernel module?
I'm really just interested in great 2-D graphics, with some 3-d, but I
don't play games much at all these days, so I don't care.  Mostly, I'm
looking for clear crisp text.  

The AMDs just rock. 

Jamie> The VIAs are seductive, but when I looked harder at them, they
Jamie> either required small (=noisy) fans,

Jamie>   http://mini-itx.com/news/images/story0386-05L.jpg

Jamie> or ridiculous heatsinking to run fanless,

Jamie>   http://www2.multithread.co.uk/images/en12000e_alt1_large.jpg

Jamie> So I would avoid them.

True, but they are tempting just from the size/power constraint, plus
they usually have a couple of PCI slots and built-in video...

Jamie> For server purposes, it sounds like reusing your existing Dell
Jamie> box is ideal.  I still have my former main desktop (2x Celeron
Jamie> 466) running my internal web server, Postgresql, etc.

I'm starting to think that this is the way to go really.  And I think
I could even stuff the DLT drive into the box, to make it even
smaller.  

Jamie> For the desktop, if I were building a new system today, I would
Jamie> look into the Intel core2/double/duo/whatever, retail packaging
Jamie> for the nice quiet Intel fan, and a mobo with an Intel graphics
Jamie> chipset.  The core/foo's run lower wattage than recent AMDs (I
Jamie> hear), the Intel graphics are decent for 3D stuff, and the GPU
Jamie> drivers are open source.  No dealing with ATI/NVidia driver
Jamie> madness.

I dunno... I like the AMD opterons we have here at work, but it's not
really that big a deal I guess.  Which ever has the best
price/power/cost metric.  

Now the Intel graphics are nice, if only because the specs are
available, and I certainly don't need super-duper graphics.  My Matrox
G450 still does a nice job for what I want it to do.  

Thanks for the hints.  

John