Thread: Need a New Computer

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Originally Posted by IC2

New question - a Xmas present to ourselves - an inexpensive ($221) Dell auction Latitude D600 laptop to travel with us - question, what do I need to have to use it occasionally instead of the desktop unit on line - cable, that is one or the other but not both at the same time. Doing a web search has confused me - again

I'm thinking you could wireless network it. I gave my daughter a C600 a couple of years ago and that's what she did.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

I'm thinking you could wireless network it. I gave my daughter a C600 a couple of years ago and that's what she did.

I am considering that but trying to get away without any further $$ outlay as the big desktop has an intermittently ill/crashing MSI motherboard, the replacement (ASUS) that will be ordered tomorrow along with a new and faster (AMD 5200) CPU.

a Network switch and a cat 5 cable is all you need to hook up the D600.. or you could get a second nic for your desktop along with a crossover cat 5 cable and share the internet with that nic connection, but that is a little more complex of a setup, even tho it would be cheaper.. as far as a new board and prosessor. I'm getting the parts for a new computer here soon.. a barebones computer that I can't beat the price on for what it is.. AMD Phenom X3 8450 ( 3x 2.3 ghz ) 1gb ddr2, 256 mb Nvidia video card, and a 3 yr warranty for $250.. that's what I suggest

Originally Posted by Matt167

a Network switch and a cat 5 cable is all you need to hook up the D600.. or you could get a second nic for your desktop along with a crossover cat 5 cable and share the internet with that nic connection, but that is a little more complex of a setup, even tho it would be cheaper.. as far as a new board and prosessor. I'm getting the parts for a new computer here soon.. a barebones computer that I can't beat the price on for what it is.. AMD Phenom X3 8450 ( 3x 2.3 ghz ) 1gb ddr2, 256 mb Nvidia video card, and a 3 yr warranty for $250.. that's what I suggest

Thanks Matt - a note, with the barebones - assume it's 'homebuilt' by someone. Some mobos as well as power supplies are having some problems with a few models of the Phenom according to some of the reviews on Newegg - and the reason that I didn't go that route. (I also didn't need that much computer either)

Originally Posted by DennyW

Hey, it's nice to have a 4 barrel, while your driving on the front 2 barrels. It sure is handy when you need the extra power...

I think I mentioned ASUS, and a Thermeltake power supply ?

In my case it would be FI vs a carb

Yeah, you probably did mention ASUS - except when I built my current desktop there weren't any that had very good reviews. I'm also going to full ATX size instead of the micro that I now have. My Cooler Master case and 500w power supply will physically and electrically handle the upgrades as the new AMD 2.7GHz CPU is only 65w and whatever else that's running sure wont make it work very hard

Originally Posted by IC2

Thanks Matt - a note, with the barebones - assume it's 'homebuilt' by someone. Some mobos as well as power supplies are having some problems with a few models of the Phenom according to some of the reviews on Newegg - and the reason that I didn't go that route. (I also didn't need that much computer either)

It's from www.portatech.com which has good ratings on price watch where I found it.. it's a customizable barebones, so I could choose a better mobo ( which I did ) and a faster or slower prosessor, more ram ect.. they are also tested and burned in for 3 days b4 they are shipped... I could save $20 and get a 64 X2 6000, which might actully be faster being 2.8ghz cores.

Originally Posted by DennyW

It's easier to slap on a bigger carb, than change all them injectors, and tweak the computer...

Well, I don't know about that exactly, can't remember. I do know the Asus board I mentioned, is what I have, and still running. I like the safe over clocking built in also. It's a 2.66, and been over clocked 30% since I put it in. Have been running it at 3.46 all along. And, even though my board and accessories are not using that much power, A 500 is a little light weight I find. This Thermotake, although more expensive, doesn't even blink an eye with a load increase. And sorry, I thought you were using a ATX case (full size). That is another problem. Got to have area so it can circulate, and cool. These I don't want to hear it run types, won't last long. You can hear my cooling fans working. I even have 4 controllable fans from the front dash board, 2x 80mm, and 2x120mm. With 2 thermal controlled ones in the rear. Not knocking anyone's setup, it's just what I've learned over time on what seems to work good, and be reliable.

you don't need controlled fans. just run them full output all the time, sure it's a little noisy but it works.. I have 3 60mm fans ( 2 frt 1 rear ), a front bay hard drive cooler fan that fits in a 5.25 slot, and also a squirl cage pci slot fan stuck at the bottom of my case...

Boy, this is an active thread! Last winter I avoided a "garage head cold" by working on a parallel system in the house so maybe I can work on that again for a month or so until Spring breaks through. First for IC2, my son installed a home wireless network based on a connection to Clearwire which has local towers along I-95 and almost visual sight to our house. Clearwire recently added another tower to our east and that greatly improved the response in rainy/foggy weather, but it does dim under heavy rain. Then my son added a Buffalo repeater unit in the house. We now have three PCs hardwired to the Buffalo repeater unit and my laptop works anywhere in the house. My laptop is an older Toshiba Sattelite which has a built-in wireless connection so I would expect almost all the laptops today have a wireless connection or at least a port for an aftermarket wireless receiver. For us the break through was the Buffalo repeater unit in the house, it is much faster than our previous land line dial up connection. Now regarding motherboards, I cannot keep up with the rapid changes. My parallel system is probably already obsolete with a Main board as a MSI K9NSLI Platinum (game board) and the three satellites are MSI K9N6GM. The satellite motherboards were chosen to be cheap and still host an AMD duocore with 2 GB of memory each but when I went to buy a backup spare I found they are hard to find. I am hoping my next upgrade will be to change the AMD 5800+ in the Main board to a 6000+ or maybe an AMD quadcore. Still I was cautious about the heat the faster CPU generate. As DennyW suggested my satellite boxes have two fans full on and the Main box has a 600 watt power supply with a hefty fan as well as a multifin fan on the CPU and an additional case fan. For me the good/bad news is the rapid changes in hardware. I can easily upgrade the AMD 4200+ CPU in the satellite boxes but at present the choke point in the system is that the Ethernet is limited to 1G and I already have tests to show that the bottleneck is the Ethernet link. The system software for this small parallel system is such that I needed help with the installation so the only sensible upgrade at this point is to ramp up the AMD 5800+ to a faster duocore but then I wonder about the cooling. Thanks for reviving my interest in this stuff. I really would like some recommendations on dyno software since so far I am balking at the cost until I think I have the most accuracy for the dollar. Is DynoSim the best?

Don Shillady
Retred Scientist/teen rodder

I just installed a new ASUS M3A78 motherboard and an AMD 5200+ CPU in my computer this afternoon. What a difference in speed. Makes me wonder what would have happened if I had gone whole hog and got a Phenom and a gaming level mobo - probably would have taken the words right out of my mouth before I could type them in a sentence Now I need to redo my settings as the screen layout has completely changed - but another day - I'm beat

Also - this week, I set my new for me Dell 600 series laptop up with wireless. It isn't completely configured yet but I'll be returning to that project soon. That laptop seems to have been a pretty good buy from the Dell auction. It came set up with XP Pro, an Intel wireless configuration and card as well as a new bag (which our daughter in San Antonio has at present).

One of these days I need to get back to my car and get it to the upholsterer but it has been so cold that my 2 propane heaters barely make a dent