bringing my computer into the 21st century

[scottprive at earthlink.net (Scott Prive)]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Seth Gordon" <sethg at ropine.com>
To: <discuss at blu.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 1:05 PM
Subject: bringing my computer into the 21st century


> I have a P-II 350 MHz computer sitting in my office, and I want to spiff
> it up, within the limits of my budget, before everything that's
> compatible with its motherboard becomes "legacy hardware".
>
> In particular, I want to put in a SCSI controller and a few drives, so I
> can set up a RAID system.

"so" you can setup a RAID system? FYI you don't need SCSI for RAID... IDE
RAID works better than many will give it credit for.

Which isn't to discourage you from SCSI RAID... but if you've "got by" on a
non-raid IDE system, and we're still talking "home or office" PC, and you
are not billing the parts to someone else... then IDE RAID is the way to go
IMO.

>  However, the prospect of going to
> pricewatch.com and just ordering a few refurbished drives is
> intimidating me, because:
>
> (a) There appears to be an alphabet soup of competing SCSI versions, and
> I'm not sure in advance what drives are compatible with what
> controllers.
>
> (b) My motherboard only has a 100 MHz bus, and I don't want to waste
> money on drives that are pumping out data faster than the bus can
> handle.
>
> What should I be looking for?
>
> Also, what other CPUs will fit into the same slot as the Pentium II
> (with the same proviso regarding bus speed)?

Don't write off the cost of a new motherboard as too expensive. If you're
looking to avoid "legacy hardware" and you are upgrading your CPU... then
dump that motherboard.

A motherboard and CPU "combo" typically adds $50-$100 over the cost of the
CPU alone. At $50, you get last-year's third-place medium performer.. but
it's almost a given it will outperform what you have given the same CPU. I'm
assuming this is an expense you would consider, especially if you are
considering SCSI RAID.

"Balance" for your budget... removing bottlenecks is what you want. I think
you'll get a lot more targeted advice if you state the intended purpose of
your system, and what you are willing to spend.


>
> -- 
> "We thought we discovered something subversive when we affirmed that the
> body, sports and fashion were political. We have only precipitated their
> indifferentiation into an analytical and ideological fog."
>   --Jean Baudrillard, "Fatal Strategies"
> // seth gordon // sethg at ropine.com // http://ropine.com/sethg/cv.html //
>
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