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?

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

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?

Windows 7 work very good with Mach on my machine!

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.

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

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?

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

I use tiger direct bare bones kits. 250 . os I get from ebay

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



JH