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General Mach Discussion / Computer and Operating System Choice

« on: September 11, 2010, 03:18:36 PM »

Soon I will be attempting to use Mach3 to control a Taig CNC mill with a Gecko G540 based controller system. I have a choice of two computers to accomplish this. The first is a Compaq Presario 6300US Desktop PC with a 1.4 GHz Celeron processor and 512MB RAM.  The second I built with an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz processor and 3GB RAM. Both have one motherboard based parallel port. I realize that the Compaq is by far the weaker system but I would prefer to use it if it is adequate as the other system has many other uses.

For an operating system I can choose between Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional. Which is the easiest to set up Mach3 with and which is the most reliable?

Any other tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.