Update to dreddnott's computers page!!!


Yeah...it's been a few years. Let's see what's changed and what *hasn't* since the last update.

I now have three computers, with actual names. Pheonix, Suffering and Dreddo are the three current computers, with two carcasses both potentially named Pain in the garage right now. All three computers are connected to an ETHER H8TX hub (one of the first 100-megabit hubs!) with a potential hook-up for a fourth computer in the Music Room.


Phoenix

This guy runs Windows 2000 SP4.

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ CPU

Abit NF-7 nForce2 motherboard @ 333MHz FSB (might go to 400)

(1) 512MB Kingston PC3200 DIMM @ 333MHz

VisionTek GeForce 3 64MB AGP

Some sort of modem

Sound Blaster Audigy PCI

(6) USB ports

No floppy disk drive

16x10x40x CDRW drive

12x DVD-ROM drive

IBM/Hitachi Deskstar 120GB 7200RPM ATA100 hard drive

21" Nokia .24dp flatscreen monitor, max. refresh 180Hz, max. resolution 2048x1536, currently 1600x1200 @ 85Hz

40-watt Realistic Stereo Amplifier with 8-track recorder (no, it has not changed!)

An odd little microphone with a clip

Logitech Wingman Digital Extreme 3D joystick (busted twist-axis)

Dexxa optical four-button USB mouse with scroll wheel

Micro Innovations 104-key keyboard

Hewlett-Packard 722C DeskJet printer (this printer has not kept up with the times, but it fails to malfunction!)

Microtek Scanmaker 5900 4800x2400 @ 48-bit scanner

Using a nice-looking medium-tower ATX case with a nasty method of holding the add-in peripheral cards in (they don't screw in individually)...it sits where the Other computer used to be.


Suffering

Back when we had the first three-computer setup (1GHz, 1.4GHz, and K6-III), we decided to name them Dreddo, Suffering, and Pain (we gave the K6-2 400, the Good computer, to Grandma, to replace the 486 DX4/100 she had previously), respectively. Suffering has the full tower case that originally housed the Athlon 700 and then the T-bird 1.4GHz.

This monster also runs Windows 2000 SP4.

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ CPU

Abit KV-7 KT600 motherboard @ 333MHz FSB (might go to 400MHz)

(3) 256MB generic PC2100 DIMMs @ 266MHz

ATI Radeon 9500 Pro 128MB AGP 8x video card

Integrated LAN card

Integrated 6-channel Audio

No modem (Phoenix has internet connection sharing...very cruel on dial-up!)

Unused Serial ATA on motherboard

3.5" floppy disk drive

250MB EIDE Zip Drive

10x DVD-ROM drive

Western Digital 40GB 5400RPM ATA66 (FAT32)

Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM ATA133 (NTFS)

21" Nokia .24dp flatscreen monitor, max. refresh 180Hz, max. resolution 2048x1536, currently 1600x1200 @ 85Hz (they were on sale!)

Onkyo TX-DS595 Surround receiver hooked up to medium-end Sony floor, center, and surround speakers, and a high-end Velodyne 10" subwoofer in the corner.

Logitech Wingman Attack 2 joystick

IBM 3-button optical mouse with amazing glowing scroll-wheel

Logitech cordless keyboard

The old full-tower case we bought with the Athlon 700.


Dreddo

When we had just the AMD 700MHz and 1GHz, I took the 1GHz to college in Sunnyvale (many of the components in the 700 were superior, like the 19" monitor) until I came back the next year. I picked up a lot of interesting things up there on the cable modem...

This computer dual-boots Windows 2000 SP4 and Red Hat Linux 7.2.

1GHz AMD Athlon CPU

Amptron ALi chipset motherboard @ 266MHz

(1) 256MB PC133 SDRAM DIMM

3Dfx Voodoo3 3000 AGP video card

Integrated modem (disabled)

Linksys LNE100TX LAN card

Integrated sound card

3.5" floppy disk drive

8x4x32x CDRW drive

Western Digital 60GB 5400RPM ATA100 hard drive

Maxtor 40GB 5400RPM ATA66 hard drive

15" KDS .25dp aperture grille monitor, max. refresh 640x480@120Hz, max. res 1280x1024@60Hz with Trinitron tube and digital controls (yep, still using it!)

Speakers from the 486

Cheapo two-button FlightStick with throttle (yep, the sorta-busted one!)

Logitech two-button PS/2 scroll wheel mouse

104-key IBM PS/2 keyboard

This is in a medium ATX tower case that was bought with the motherboard.


dreddnott's OLD computers


I have two computers. One is colloquially known as the "good computer", whereas the other one is known as the "other computer".

Both of these computers run Windows 95 OSR2 and RedHat Linux 6.0 in a dual-boot situation.


The Good Computer

350MHz AMD K6-2 CPU, 2.4v AHX core (overclocked to 400MHz)

Shuttle Hot 591P MVP3 mainboard: 100MHz, AGP, 512K cache, simultaneous SIMMs/DIMMs (two slots of each)

(1) 64MB PC100 6ns SDRAM DIMM

(1) 16MB PC66 60ns DRAM DIMM

Guillemot Maxi Gamer Phoenix Voodoo Banshee PCI (overclocked to 166MHz clock/core)

Zoom Dual-Mode ISA Faxmodem (not a WinModem)

SN-3200 PCI network card

Creative Sound Blaster AWE 32 Legacy ISA non-PnP (will likely never be upgraded)

SIIG IEEE1284-compatible Parallel Port addon card

3.5" floppy disk drive

5.25" floppy disk drive

32x Samsung CD-ROM drive

Maxtor 13.6GB 2MB buffer 5400RPM UDMA4 ATA66 hard drive

15" KDS .25dp aperture grille monitor, max. refresh 640x480@120Hz, max. res 1280x1024@60Hz with Trinitron tube and digital controls (14" viewable)

40-watt Realistic Stereo Amplifier with 8-track recorder (approx. 1974, sounds incredible)

Cheapo Packard Bell microphone (copped off of a busted PB)

Cheapo two-button FlightStick with throttle (busted ratchet, hole in cable, still works though)

No-name PS/2 mouse with third "thumb" button

Cheapo Packard Bell keyboard (copped off of another busted PB)

Hewlett-Packard 722C DeskJet printer (replaced the black ink cartridge for the first time last month, it lasted over a year!)

Panasonic XP-1124 24-pin Dot Matrix printer (B/W, used with Linux)

Umax 1200P parallel scanner (600x1200)

All this resides in a super-extra large tower case (you have to stand up to put a CD in) that's on a medium-sized desk.

The "other" computer is on an identical desk, back-to-back with the "good" computer, for network games.


The Other Computer

400MHz K6-III CPU, 2.4v AHX core (overclocked to 450MHz)

FIC VIA 503+ mainboard: 100MHz, AGP, 1MB cache, non-simultaneous SIMMs and DIMMs (four SIMM slots, two DIMM slots)

(2) 8MB 60ns SIMMs (VERY temporary)

Diamond Stealth 3D 2000 Pro Turbo S3 ViRGE DX 2MB crap card

Zoom 33.6 Upgradable PnP faxmodem (unconfirmed WinModem)

SN-3200 PCI network card

ESS AudioDrive 1868 ISA PnP

CSA CMD-6520 caching SCSI-2 controller (16MB non-ECC cache installed)

3.5" floppy disk drive

QIC-120 tape drive (uses floppy cable, holds 120MB, rarely used)

24x BCD UDMA EIDE CD-ROM drive

1GB 5.25" DOUBLE-height HP SCSI-2 drive (takes fully 20 seconds to spin up)

520MB IBM SCSI-2 drive

500MB Conner EIDE drive

800MB unknown EIDE (crashed permanently, been meaning to take out)

14" Mirage .28dp monitor, max. refresh 640x480@72Hz, max res. 1024x768@87Hz (interlaced), I run it at 800x600@60Hz. Manufactured September 1989, hasn't skipped a beat.

Cheapo Packard Bell speakers (formerly attached to a crappy PB 0.35dp monitor)

Broken Cheapo two-button FlightStick (the right X and bottom Y axes are busted)

Logitech PS/2 Scrolling Mouse

Old keyboard (came w/486)

No self-run printer (good computer shares its own over the network)

All this resides in a medium-size case.

Currently Planned Upgrades (in order of date)

32MB DIMM: it will replace the 64MB DIMM in the good computer, and I'll put that in the other computer, and move the two 8MB SIMMs to the good computer, so they'll both have 64 megs each (extra L2 and L3 cache and SCSI controller cache on the other computer notwithstanding). This upgrade should be accomplished within a couple days.

DVD-ROM drive: We've been wanting one of these for a while. I'll probably get a 6x, replace the 32x in the good computer, and move that to the other computer, freeing up the 24x for Grandma's computer. This one is for Christmas.

Logitech Digital Wingman Extreme: Something to replace the aging FlightStick, which I'll put on the other computer, bringing us one step closer to XWA network games. If I can, I'll get the budget version of this joystick as well, giving both comps new sticks. Another Christmas upgrade.

Voodoo5 5000: I don't quite have the budget for the V5 5500 AGP ($299), so I'll replace the Banshee in the good computer with a V5 5000 PCI ($229). The Banshee will then find its way to the other computer, allowing me to finally play XWA on the mini-LAN. We will, of course, have to wait until March for this beast.

Athlon: by the time we do upgrade from our current CPUs/motherboards, we'll be getting an Athlon. Probably a 600 or a 650. We're talking 4-6 months from now, so we may get an enhanced K6-III 533 instead.