[clue-tech] Need new hardware (was two monitors)

[erik at ezolan.com]

> The deed is done and running over there in the corner.  They only had 1
> SATA
> 3 drive, I have to wait until Monday for the other three.  Thanks for your
> interest and encouragement - for the sake of others going through the same
> process:

Ha! That was quick. And illustrates another benefit of building your own.
Reusing parts and having a new PC built to your specifications the day you
decide to buy it.

> For now, 1 WD 160GB
> SATA drive.  (the board will take a dual core chip, but I held off)

Understandable. The AMD dual core is a bit pricey. However, there's good
news. AMD is migrating away from the 939 to their new AM2 connection.
Eventually they'll stop making the 939 compatible chips, and stores will
want to get rid of their inventory. You should be able to get a great deal
then if you feel like upgrading.

> rats old 300W power supply power connector doesn't fit - back to the
> store.
> Back with a 480W.
> The case, CDRom and floppy are recycled - everything else is new.  I could
> have bought a new case w/ power supply for what I paid for the power
> supply, but I don't WANT neon lights.

Power supplies is one area you don't want to skimp on. There seems to be
two types of power supply companies. One that makes them to pass the
minimum specs as cheaply as possible. And those that are in the business
of making premium power supplies.

The quality power supplies start at around 60$ at Newegg. Unless you're
buying a name brand case, the ones that come with cheap cases are, well,
I'm amazed they work at all.

> Seek time is very important for the indexed access typical of the OLTP
> world.  In the DSS world (where I live), you tend to boil the ocean, grab
> large datasets and mash them against other large datasets in memory.  So
> lots of memory and good transfer rate are key.  I'm kind of kicking myself
> for not getting more memory - ah well, there are two more slots.  I'll let
> you know how the RAID works out (or doesn't).

Originally I had chosen one of the new AM2 motherboards when I was specing
out a database server. Almost all of them can do 8GB. Unfortunately, AM2
isn't supported in Linux yet.

It's great to see you're up and running already. :-)

Erik Z