Replacement computer options/ideas?

[gk]

>    4. Replacement computer options/ideas? (joe at actionline.com)


It all depends on what you NEED the box to do.

If all you want to do is ssh into a NAS get a netbook or even the Asus  
desktop that mounts behind a monitor and a NAS. IF you want the biggest  
baddest multimedia streaming center around. You're going to need to pay  
for a good MOBO, do you need RAID Super Micro makes some killer server  
boards? Do you want to go to 64 bit which is quite fun I might add, and  
then you can do some serious number crunching, or video editing, etc? So  
it's really back in your court as to your needs.


I know "green" is the watchword of the day in power consumption and  
recycling. But if your "meltdown" caused instability in power supply area.  
I would not trust any piece of hardware in the box. That may sound  
extreme. But imagine getting your beloved new baby ready after 2 weeks and  
the hdd fails, or a cd rom fails, or the PSU fails and blows out your  
capacitors on your "new" board because the overheat taxed it too much. You  
laugh, but it's happened. Most likely your hdd's are IDE, and SATA is the  
new standard. There are faster, much larger, more energy efficient hdds  
out there, or maybe you want to do a setup like I did and get a 32 GB SSD  
just for the OS and a 750GB hdd for the /home /data areas. I purchased  
Mini ATX boards instead of micro since most perphials are USB. I bought an  
external DVD burner because I've learned it's just a waste sitting there  
if you don't use it and I have 3 machines -- 2 netbooks that I carry  
around and size plus wgt limitations work out great. The same thing with a  
22-1 flash card reader that plugs into a USB slot. I'm not wanting on  
"legacy" machines for how I carry my data around.
As far as boards I still am in the 90s I guess with Asus and Tyan being  
the best. Although I thing Biostar is up there now too.


The possibilities are endless. The checkbook isn't. So have fun.



gk
-- 
Remember, it's not that we have something to hide; it's that we have  
nothing to show.

--Keep tunneling.