Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: Jim_V on October 06, 2010, 09:19:53 PM

Title: What Do You Think?
Post by: Jim_V on October 06, 2010, 09:19:53 PM
I'm looking for a dedicated computer to run Mach3 and my Shopmaster Patriot setup.  This won't be hooked up to the internet or anything, all my design work is done on my house computer.  My first stop was at Best Buy, and when I told them I needed an RS232 port on the computer, they said they couldn't do it and that I would need to go to a computer store that could custom build a setup for my needs.  So my next stop was to a local computer store, and after I gave them the mach3 requirements and told them what I'm using it for, this is what they came up with:

Celeron 430 1.8GHZ 800FSB
Asus P5g41-M LE LGA775
DIMM DDR2 1GB 800MHZ
Case MATX FX-638M 350W
DVD Liteon black sata
I/O Lava PCI serial card
VGA PNY Geforce GT 220 1GB
HDD Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM Sata
SW Windows 7 Home Prem 32-bit
Keyboard black PS/2
Mouse LGT Optical black (OEM)
1 Year parts and labor warranty

Price including tax is $563.82

Does anybody see any problems with or have any suggestions for this setup?

Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: JHChoppers on October 06, 2010, 10:32:52 PM
That will work !  You could also buy a used PC for less 100 of ebay that would work also and save 400 plus for other stuff. 

Windows 7 might be an issue too (not sure)

JH
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: Jim_V on October 06, 2010, 11:08:30 PM
I was told that I'll need more ram, because Windows 7 takes almost a gig by itself.  I was also told that the graphics card they suggested is overkill.  I'm still looking around town to see if anybody still has windows xp.  If I can find it, would this be better to go with?
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: giannis121 on October 07, 2010, 05:56:33 AM
Windows 7 work very good with Mach on my machine!
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: Jim_V on October 07, 2010, 06:01:53 AM
That's good to hear, what are the specs on the computer you're running it on?

Also, would I be better off with the setup in my first post or something like this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/eMachines+-+Desktop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Celeron%26%23174%3B+Processor+/+2GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive/9974267.p?id=1218204533255&skuId=9974267&AID=10597222&PID=3430108&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bestbuy.com%2Fsite%2FeMachines%2B-%2BDesktop%2B%2F%2BIntel%2526%2523174%253B%2BCeleron%2526%2523174%253B%2BProcessor%2B%2F%2B2GB%2BMemory%2B%2F%2B500GB%2BHard%2BDrive%2F9974267.p%3Fid%3D1218204533255%26skuId%3D9974267&ref=39&loc=01

And then just adding the graphics card myself along with a pci serial card for the rs232 port.  The specs on this computer are better than the one in my first post, but I'm not sure if it's junk or not.
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: RICH on October 07, 2010, 06:55:29 AM
JIM V,
Just looking at the link text i noticed that its for an emachine from Best buy. Be very aware that you won't get a cd of the operating system. If they say yes, ask to see if it's a serial numbered official Microscoft CD, you only get a repair cd. That can turn out to be a real PITA later. Just a heads up ......
BTW, you will  go in circles with Best and Microsoft over who is repsonsible for supplying the cd, and 4 weeks later maybe you'll get one! Same goes
for other suppliers in that retail market.
RICH
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: Jim_V on October 07, 2010, 07:23:54 AM
Probably a dumb question, but whats the importance of having a cd of the operating system instead of the machine coming with it already installed?
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: Hood on October 07, 2010, 07:29:18 AM
Probably a dumb question, but whats the importance of having a cd of the operating system instead of the machine coming with it already installed?

If things go wrong with your hard drive or similar you wont have the OS to reinstall unless you already have a CD.
Hood
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: TramAlot on October 07, 2010, 10:50:59 AM
I use tiger direct bare bones kits. 250 . os I get from ebay
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: JHChoppers on October 07, 2010, 11:37:13 AM
Here is the PC that I am running my BP412 VMC (HP/Compaq D530),  less than 100 bucks on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-Compaq-D530-SFF-P4-2-66-1024-40-DVD-/320600526080?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item4aa547cd00#ht_859wt_998

(http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=13365.0;attach=22762;image)

JH
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: TramAlot on October 07, 2010, 11:54:25 AM
sweet, I love the roooooooooom  :)
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: Jim_V on October 13, 2010, 02:04:27 AM
Alright, now that I got the main computer figured out, I need a pci parallel port card that will work.  A lot of the threads on here have dead links to what people use.  I did find this one in a post however: http://www.rogersmachine.net/PCIport.html  will this one work?  If not, any links to ones that are proven to work would be appreciated, thanks.
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: JHChoppers on October 13, 2010, 11:41:17 AM
What PC did you choose ?  The HP D530 has a parallel port in it.

Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: Jim_V on October 13, 2010, 11:58:58 AM
I ended up getting a PC from my brother in law.  2.5 GHZ, 1 gig ram, 320 gig hard drive.  It has an rs232 port which is what I thought I needed, but not a parallel port.
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: Jim_V on October 13, 2010, 12:46:45 PM
I'm also running windows 7 32 bit if that makes any difference.
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: TramAlot on October 14, 2010, 10:22:54 AM
 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959294&CatId=1422 serial

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4624354&CatId=512

both work well.
Title: Re: What Do You Think?
Post by: Jim_V on October 14, 2010, 12:43:55 PM
Will they work with windows 7? 

Also, so you have to do anything special with settings or anything so the card works in EPP mode or whatever is needed, or just install it with the right drivers and call it good?