Gawd, it's been a long time since I last posted..... Well anyway, here's the deal:
I kinda went off upgrading, tweaking, overclocking and everything some time ago (couple'a years or so I guess) and as a result I'm utterly out of touch with what's moving these days. Thing is though, I'm thinking of doing a complete (more or less) re-build in a month or three and I badly need some advice from people who have stayed up-to-date.
Basically, what I want is a fairly hefty dual processor machine that I won't have to touch for....oh, another two years I guess. The problem is that I've no idea which way to go processor-wise - AMD or Intel - or what PCI/PCI-X configuration I ought to opt for (there's just too damn many options out there....)? PCI-X or AGP video card? Totally clueless in most respects I'm afraid. As far as boards go I'm thinking Supermicro or Tyan, but I'm open to (almost) anything.
The machine won't actually see a lot of really heavy use, I just want something that won't be fazed by ANYTHING. It'll pretty much be running 24/7/365 and the OS will be Windows 2003 Server, configured as a workstation. I'll need a good video card (my last 3 have all been ATIs, but I'm not a fanboi. That said, I AM very comfy with ATI. Current card is a vanilla 9700 clocked to 9800+), slots for my 3Ware 7810 IDE RAID card (64bit/33MHz PCI) and Adaptec 19160 SCSI card (or built-in SCSI). Probably need room for a SoundBlaster as well, unless server boards have sound these days....? I'd certainly prefer to be able to use unbuffered, non-ECC RAM, so that I can use and expand on my current 4 x 512MB TwinMos PC3200. New PSU or can I still use my trusty Enermax 530W?
I know I could read up on all this all on my lonesome folks, but I'd really, really love a shortcut! So if anybody out there feel like giving me some constructive info and advice, I'd be a very, very happy bunny indeed!
Thanks a bunch in advance!
I kinda went off upgrading, tweaking, overclocking and everything some time ago (couple'a years or so I guess) and as a result I'm utterly out of touch with what's moving these days. Thing is though, I'm thinking of doing a complete (more or less) re-build in a month or three and I badly need some advice from people who have stayed up-to-date.
Basically, what I want is a fairly hefty dual processor machine that I won't have to touch for....oh, another two years I guess. The problem is that I've no idea which way to go processor-wise - AMD or Intel - or what PCI/PCI-X configuration I ought to opt for (there's just too damn many options out there....)? PCI-X or AGP video card? Totally clueless in most respects I'm afraid. As far as boards go I'm thinking Supermicro or Tyan, but I'm open to (almost) anything.
The machine won't actually see a lot of really heavy use, I just want something that won't be fazed by ANYTHING. It'll pretty much be running 24/7/365 and the OS will be Windows 2003 Server, configured as a workstation. I'll need a good video card (my last 3 have all been ATIs, but I'm not a fanboi. That said, I AM very comfy with ATI. Current card is a vanilla 9700 clocked to 9800+), slots for my 3Ware 7810 IDE RAID card (64bit/33MHz PCI) and Adaptec 19160 SCSI card (or built-in SCSI). Probably need room for a SoundBlaster as well, unless server boards have sound these days....? I'd certainly prefer to be able to use unbuffered, non-ECC RAM, so that I can use and expand on my current 4 x 512MB TwinMos PC3200. New PSU or can I still use my trusty Enermax 530W?
I know I could read up on all this all on my lonesome folks, but I'd really, really love a shortcut! So if anybody out there feel like giving me some constructive info and advice, I'd be a very, very happy bunny indeed!
Thanks a bunch in advance!