[-tai-]

*cough* The mac G5 handles 8 gigs of ram... maybe more.

The heavy duty high end systems are made by BOXX. Don't know much to say about os's, not like there are alot of good choices. If you only have to reinstall the OS, why not just try updating the os from one version to another, then swapping it back the next year, and doing it again? I don't think you'd have to reformat, or reinstall apps., and it should fix all system file problems. (or lookup on Microsuck for information on cleaning bad system files that windows archives that you're not able to find or see.)

[B0b]

*cough* 8GB is nothing compaired to some PC's

[Lunatique]

I have a question:

The last time I got a 200 GB harddrive, Win2000 couldn't recognize all of it--so I had to put it on RAID 0 for all 200 GB to be recognized. So, if I want to add another 200 GB harddrive as an external backup, I would have to set it to RAID again?

[Tomasis]

Lunatique, I think you need a registry to enable 48bits LBA support to allow show over 137gb drives.

you can find necessary utilities at your drive manufacter homepage

if you have maxtor, so send me a email then I can send the file

[B0b]

r u running SP4?

[Lunatique]

I always keep up to date with sevice packs and updates. What does sp4 do for large harddrives?

[B0b]

i would have thought M$ addressed the large drive format problems.. i'll go have a look on the M$ help

[B0b]

just shoping for my new system

Dual Opteron 1.6Ghz with 2GB RAM to begin with but room on the Motherboard for 16Gigs

i was going for a Xeon - but after looking @ reviews i've decided that 64Bit CPU that also allows 32Bit apps to run and gives a dual 2.8GHz Xeon a run for its money running in 32Bit mode - i can't wait for 64Bit

[Sukhoi]

Bob, could you post some links to the hardware you're talking about. Mainboards specifically. I'm on a friends xeon right now, doing 3d (doh) and it's not terribly impressive. I know xeons are a lot better doing 2d but still I'd like to tjeck out some alternatives.

[B0b]

ok here's the mobo

http://www.tyan.com/products/html/thunderk8w.html


CPU
http://www.tyan.com/products/assets/images/s2885.gif

and takes standard RAM just lots of it

oh and the benchmark


Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Filter Test
(Lower times mean better performance)
DUAL CPU

AMD Opteron 246 (2.0 GHz) 66.3

AMD Opteron 244 (1.8 GHz) 71.2

AMD Opteron 242 (1.6 GHz) 79.6

Intel Xeon 3.06 GHz / 1MB 74.1

Intel Xeon 3.06 GHz 89.8

Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz 94.4

Intel Xeon 2.66 GHz 99.4

Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz 104.8

Intel Xeon 2.0 GHz 122.2

AMD Athlon MP 2800+ (2.13 GHz) 106.1

AMD Athlon MP 2600+ (2.13 GHz) 121.6

AMD Athlon MP 2400+ (2.0 GHz) 127.5

AMD Athlon MP 2200+ (1.8 GHz) 135.9

AMD Opteron System Configuration

Processor(s) 2 x AMD Opteron 246 - 2.0 GHz Clock - 128 kB L1, 1024 kB L2 Cache - 2.0 GHz FSB
2 x AMD Opteron 244 - 1.8 GHz Clock - 128 kB L1, 1024 kB L2 Cache - 1.8 GHz FSB
2 x AMD Opteron 242 - 1.6 GHz Clock - 128 kB L1, 1024 kB L2 Cache - 1.6 GHz FSB
Memory 4 x Samsung DDR-333 ECC Registered (PC-2700) Memory - 1 GB Total
Motherboards Tyan Thunder K8S - AMD 8000-Series Chipset
AMD 8000-Series AMD Mini-port Driver 8.5.0.1 Installed
Graphics Card Onboard ATI Rage XL - 8MB Memory - Windows XP Native Driver
Hard Disk Seagate Barracuda IV 60GB - 7200 RPM - 2MB Buffer - ATA/100
Operating System Windows XP Professional Edition - Default Install
Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Direct X 9.0b Installed

Intel Xeon System Configurations

Processor(s) 2 x Intel Xeon 3.06 GHz/1MB - 8 kB L1, 512 kB L2, 1024 kB L3 Cache - 533 MHz FSB
2 x Intel Xeon 3.06 GHz - 8 kB L1, 512 kB L2 Cache - 533 MHz FSB
2 x Intel Xeon 2.80 GHz - 8 kB L1, 512 kB L2 Cache - 533 MHz FSB
2 x Intel Xeon 2.6 GHz - 8 kB L1, 512 kB L2 Cache - 533 MHz FSB
2 x Intel Xeon 2.4 GHz - 8 kB L1, 512 kB L2 Cache - 533 MHz FSB
2 x Intel Xeon 2.0 GHz - 8 kB 1L, 512 kB L2 Cache - 400 MHz FSB
Memory 2 x Samsung DDR-400 (PC-3200) Memory - 1 GB Total Clocked at DDR-333 (CAS 2.5/3/3) for Intel 875P Testing
Clocked at DDR-266 (CAS 2.5/3/3) for Intel E7505 Testing
Motherboards Asus PC-DL Deluxe - Intel 875P Chipset (For Xeon 3.06 GHz/1MB)
Supermicro X5DAL-G - Intel E7505 Chipset (For Xeon 3.06 GHz and Lower)
Intel Chipset Driver 5.0 Installed
Graphics Card ATI Radeon 9800 Pro - 128MB DDR
ATI Catalyst 3.6 Driver Installed
Hard Disk Seagate Barracuda IV 60GB - 7200 RPM - 2MB Buffer - ATA/100
Operating System Windows XP Professional Edition - Default Install
Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Direct X 9.0b Installed

AMD Athlon MP System Configurations

Processor(s) 2 x AMD Athlon MP 2800+ - 2.13 GHz Clock - 128 kB L1, 512 kB L2 Cache - 266 MHz FSB
2 x AMD Athlon MP 2600+ - 2.13 GHz Clock - 128 kB L1, 256 kB L2 Cache - 266 MHz FSB
2 x AMD Athlon MP 2400+ - 2.00 GHz Clock - 128 kB L1, 256 kB L2 Cache - 266 MHz FSB
2 x AMD Athlon MP 2600+ - 1.80 GHz Clock - 128 kB L1, 256 kB L2 Cache - 266 MHz FSB
Memory 2 x Samsung DDR-266 (PC-2100) Memory - 1 GB Total
Motherboards MSI K7D Master-L - AMD 760MPX Chipset
AMD 1.30 Driver Pack Installed
Graphics Card ATI Radeon 9800 Pro - 128MB DDR
ATI Catalyst 3.6 Driver Installed
Hard Disk Seagate Barracuda IV 60GB - 7200 RPM - 2MB Buffer - ATA/100
Operating System Windows XP Professional Edition - Default Install
Windows XP Service Pack 1 and Direct X 9.0b Installed

[B0b]

remember that alot of 3D performance relies on a good 3D card..