Let the debates - Sun, Sony CPUs, cooler? 2004-06-23 - By Kris Krieger
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At 12:04 AM 20-06-04, Roman Ormandy wrote:
>It would be easy to dismiss graphics CPU's as "special purpose" processors
>were it not for the general purpose parallel CPU's from IBM (which displaced
>Pentium in XBox2) Sun's Niagara CPU's with 64 cores and now Sony Cell
>processor with possibly even higher level of parallelism.
I know that if I go buy an Athlon CPU and assemble a system around it, it
will run Windows (meaning, all of my programs, incl. tS3.X thru 6.X) (yeah,
I keep 'em all around =:-o ) and also whatever hardware (well,
Athlon-integrated h.w. such as the correct RAM etc.) I want to put in.
But what about the Sun and Sony? Are they "standard" CPUs? Would they
require odd work-arounds? Would they work well with NVidia? Should I just
stick with what I know (i.e., Athlon)?
More General Q.:
My big concern is with the actual core of the system - sooo....
What would be an optimal trueSpace/3D CPU/MB/RAM-brand setup? I
know that Athlon and Intel require different *types* of RAM, I'm mainly
wondering which manufacturers/types are most reliable. I am thinking
Athlon CPU (whatever the max/best currently is) and prob. MSI MB.
Also, if I'm goign to bother with a new system, I want to max out the RAM
because that'd be the reason to upgrade at all (my current graphics machine
is a 1GB Athlon with 1 MB RAM - 1.5 actually but Win98, you know....). So
another Q. which I have not seen an answer to is: can WindowsXP handle the
current 3 GB RAM capability of the newer MBs, or is it just "future potential"?
Actually, tho', I guess cases are another point of contention. What is
thermally the coolest, since I assume Athlons still run hot and the
stronger power systems also prob. generate more heat, while also being
highly reliable?
((Peripherals are easier, and a matter of personal working style, which is
why I'm not asking about those.))
I do have one more Q. which is a bit odd. I have a new computer desk, but
the area where the actual computer goes only has 2 3" holes. I have a
small fan pulling air out the back but it causes "display jitter"
(electromagnetic interference with the CPU and/or screen). I was thinking
of getting the strongest actual computer fan I could find - but is there
any way to hook one of those up to an external (i.e., non-computer) power
source? They all have connectors that are meant to plug into the MB, and I
have not yet found (if any exist) and adapter to route it to any sort of
power adapter.
Thank You in Advance :) !
- Kris
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