Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Tue, 16 May 2000 14:49:38 -0500 (CDT)
From:      Craig Johnston <caj@lfn.org>
To:        freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org
Subject:   trailing edge system recs
Message-ID:  <Pine.GSO.3.96.1000516143646.5651A-100000@jane.lfn.org>

next in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help

Ok, it has come time for that every-two-years upgrade.

I am quite out of touch with what is going on in PC hardware at
the moment, and would appreciate some recommendations.

The system will be doing lots of FP intensive stuff so I was
considering an Athlon at the sweet price point.  What is the
mobo rec for an Athlon?  Is an Athlon on any mobo actually
recommended at the moment?  Otherwise I was considering a
celeron.  

Sound.  I want 1) flawless functionality and 2) the best sound
quality I can get short of digital output.  Is an AWE64
recommended?  cs4237?  Something else?  I'm going to be playing
mp3's and cds, this will be my stereo as well as my computer.
I am thinking of getting into composing electronic music, also.
Midi support will be nice.

I have always been a die-hard SCSI bigot, but IDE seems to
have come a long way, and I can buy a ton of capacity for
nothing.  Who is good in IDE?  Same people who are good in SCSI?
(IBM, Seagate)

I want to be able to grab cd audio in digital form from cds.  Will
any IDE cdroms do this?   Or should I buy a cheapo SCSI card
(ncr53c810 still made?  still supported) to drive the CD and
maybe a backup device?

What is a good and cheap lan card?  I don't really need fxp type
performance, I'm going to be sitting on the end of a cable modem
or ADSL at best.  I'm sure these days there has to be a $20-$30 winner.

Cases: I always liked Enlight.  Anything you folks might recommend
more?  

Any other helpful hints would be appreciated.  I am strapped for
cash at the moment but really need a system upgrade.  The system
will run almost exclusively FreeBSD, although I may have a smallish
Win98 partition for the first time in years, given that I should
be able to buy 20 gigs of disk for a song now.

Pointers to FAQ info would be great, but it always seems a little
outdated, given the rate at which hardware evolves.  

thanks in advance,
Craig




To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-hardware" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?Pine.GSO.3.96.1000516143646.5651A-100000>