| Author | Message | ||
     Interex2050 |
As of late my primary computer has started to loose its mind. It has decided that it just does not like IDE devices, so one by one it has been eliminating them. First my big data disk Second my smaller data disk Last weekend my cd-rom Even though this machine is not what one would call "new" the specifications are as follows... athlonXP 2800+ asus a8n7x deluxe ati 9800 pro 2.5 gigs ram (1.5 gigs at the bottom of the case, it has refused to use more then 1 gig and only in single channel mode) the only reason it works is because my programs drive is a SATA Anywhom, when it decides that it likes me and works its great, but that is usually not the case. So the here is the real question: Should I repair this one or replace it? repairing would entail power supply and IDE card. Or Get a new one... In this case I would normally just go ahead and build one myself, but I have lost faith in Motherboard manufacturers... As almost all of them focus mostly on looks and speed, not reliability. So I began to ponder buying a workstation (since I mostly do CAD work), something that is certified and it designed to be reliable. I have looked into this and found some candidates: HP XW4400 (top of list as I trust HP, I have one of their laptops and it has never let me down. I also use their calculators) DELL something or other (I have a deeply rooted hatered for them, yet I cannot justify it) they have the most bang for the buck... A little out of my price range but, IBM (but they seem to use older technology and cost more) I would also be tempted by a used workstation that came from a good home... Any input on this situation would be more then welcome. | ||
| Indy_bueller |
I work in the Technology Department of a school district that uses nothing but IBM computers. We recently purchased about 60 IBM/Lenovo 6218 workstations for our two Autocad classrooms, and let me tell you, they work GREAT! We equipped them with Nvidia Quadro FX 3500 video cards, and they run the entire Autodesk 2007 suite with no problems. Don't be afraid of IBM. | ||
| Spiderman |
What motherboard are you running? Have you tracked the problem down to the motherboard and not a programing issue? If it is the motherboard I would just buy a new one. You have all the peripherals and memory you could need. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Motherboards can be had for less than $100. I have the same motherboard as you I think though I am using an "XP2000" CPU. (1.67GHz) You could use this as an excuse to upgrade to an Athlon64 or you could just replace the main board. I think this board would be your cheapest solution: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813185074 Second opinions? | ||
| Reepicheep |
Boot up one of those Linux bootable distros and do some stress testing on components to figure out if it is an OS problem or a hardware problem. If it's a hardware problem, then you can start poking at that (remove IDE devices and see if things suddenly get better) and try and swap a power supply. | ||
| Chasespeed |
Dude, The HP Media Center PC is a smoking deal, IF you find the right one.. Seen one yesterday.. Athalon64x2 200gig HD 1 gig RAM ETC ETC Anyway, was on the shelf for 500, JUST the tower I have a similar set-up, with a Nvidia geForce card, and a few more gig of ram.. Anything from UT04, DOOM3, QUAKE3, Turbo CAD, etc, does NOT phase this set-up.. Chase | ||
| Rasmonis |
I've been working with Dells for a while... The Optiplex systems are pretty reliable and with a Complete Care warranty are a good value. I recently put an XPS workstation together and ran it on a 42" LCD with the NVIDIA 1GB video card and 2 dual core processors. It was an impressive rig. It ran multiple FreeFlyer and MATLAB scenarios simultaneously without skipping a beat. Handled graphics beautifully. I can't remember if I put 2 or 4GB of memory in it. I ran into issues enabling the dual monitor functions, this feature can only be enabled using the new NVIDIA console. The biggest problem I've experienced with Dell systems are the hard drives. It pays to use RAID configs or use disk imaging for disk backup when you have to rebuild a new drive. | ||
| Barker |
buy a mac | ||
| Johnnymossville |
Seems to me that machine's got alot of life left in it, and like all pc's they don't really have any real value to anyone but you after you buy them. I'd be tempted to try and fix the thing. Or, Go get a Mac Pro and run os X and Vista for the best of both worlds. | ||
| Interex2050 |
A big thanks to everyone for their advice. I must say the macs are very nice, but they do not have the hardware that I want... (If I was to buy a new machine I would get something with a workstation card, maybe start out with something low end like a Quadro FX560.) Atop of which from what I have gathered Windows is not 100% native on the mac (something about bios emulation), therefore there would some loss in performance. This would prove to be a waste as I dont think that I would use OS X... Well the thing is that the computer works just dandy without my IDE HDs, and the rest of my ram... It is most likely to be a bios issue or a true hardware issue. I am pretty sure of this because it never gets past the bios diagnostic with the extra drives. Which may lead me to believe that either my power supply is getting weaker and doesnt have the juice to run all the disks and the extra ram. If it is not a bios issue it coule be that my north (ram) and south (IDE) bridges are going sour on me. Yesterday I found a fantastic deal from HP... the XW4400 with the following: Core 2 Duo E6400 2GB ddr2-667 ECC Quadro FX560 160GB sata Sata raid capabilities 0,1,0+1 HD audio, with retasking capability (as in I can use it as a probe...) 3 yr warranty AND... 2 HP 19" LCDs all for $1824 which would be nice because the lcds would be much easier on my eyes compared to the two CRTs that I am running now... If I would get a DELL I would be looking at the Precision systems... any experience with those. I still need to dig around on the IBM site and find something that I both can afford and like... | ||
| Interex2050 |
Update Wow... I am very impressed with the new mac pro. They finally have a real workstation, well done. If not for the price and that uncertainty with windows... It might have been a good option. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Power supplies are *cheap*... I just gave away a Quadro card. Running a newer one now in my Sun Ultra 40. A nice little box  (we got a *really* good deal on them at work. Spend a couple million on a data center, and they will cut you a good deal on a high end desktop). The Ultra 40 is fantastic BTW, but would be a hard price to pay at full retail. | ||
| Krassh |
Look at the capacitors on your motherboard are any of them leaking or the tops bulging? | ||
| Interex2050 |
dear oh dear... I have found two options which seem quite appealing, but I have to choose very soon... HP: 3.4Ghz dual xeon 4Gb ram quadro FX3400 Dual 36GB 15K SCSI for about $1000 Or build one based on: intel 975X chipset 2GB ddr2 800 quadro FX3500 intel duo 2 E6300 same price (Message edited by interex2050 on January 12, 2007) | ||
| Reepicheep |
Thats a lot cheaper then I would have expected... Is that a dual core CPU, or really two CPU's? | ||
| Jamesxii |
Try a new power supply. I have the about the same setup in my desktop. Asus A7N8X Deluxe Athlon XP 2500+ overclocked to 2GHz GeForce Ti 4200 2 512M Sticks Corsair DDR RAM Segate 120G IDE (Windows XP System Drive) IBM 120G IDE Western Digital 250G IDE Generic CDROM IDE Segate 120G SATA Western Digital 200G SATA My IDE drives started acting up on 2 separate occasions and both times it was because my power supply was regulating the 5.5 Volt supply at about 5.25 Volts. It has been fine since I stepped up to a 450W power supply. I guess 350W isn't enough for 5 hard drives 5 80mm fans CDROM and 2 fluorescent lights. Check you 5.5V output in the BIOS menu before you start buying new drives. It sucks paying 150 bucks for a new drive to came home and find out it wasn't the problem in the first place. | ||
| Interex2050 |
It is the older one so it actually has two CPUs... What I am thinking is that even if I dont need something so potent and the yes perhaps it would be cheaper to fix my current machine, that may be too good of a deal to pass up. Later today I will check my capacitors and the PSU voltages. | ||
| Interex2050 |
Just did some "testing" and... it turns out that my motherboard is probably alright. The PSU is dying, in fact I am impressed the machine even works the 5.5V line is all the way down at 4.9V... So i guess I will be getting one of those, but I will still try to get that HP. The offer is simply too good to pass up. | ||
| Interex2050 |
power supply replaced... This machine is a beast, I had forgotten how potent it really is. And the music, oh how did i miss that. Once again a big thanks to everyone for their help... and for telling me not to give up on this one! | ||
| Cityxslicker |
I have killed 3 win boxes, get a mac. Or goto one of the new g-whiz phones that do everything. | ||
| Interex2050 |
Yes but the mac boxes do not run solidworks... And from what I know of do not run windows 100% natively to run windows in which one would run the solidworks. But... I must say that the new mac pro desktop line is very promising. |
