Author: Jasmine Baer
Date: 10:07:41 03/11/04
I need some real-world advice. I have become addicted to letting my chess engines fight it out on www.playchess.com with other engines. Now, it pains me to stop my PC from playing chess so that I can do real work on it. :-) So... I intend to build a chess-only PC. I would like to build a dual-cpu PC partly because I have never done so before, and partly because those look like the ones that perform the best on the playchess server. Which of the following set-ups would you all recommend for me to build? Keep in mind, I want the system that will be able to hold its own against some of the better PCs out on playchess.com - i.e. Elo's around 2800 on a consistent basis. Also keep in mind that I prefer NOT to spend more than $1,500. System 1: Dual Athlon MP Tyan S2466 Mobo Kingston 512 MB DDR PC2100 RAM 2600+ Athlon MP x 2 Antec 550W EPS 12v PSU Plus the assorted IDE HD, CDRW drive, O/S, floppy, etc. PRICE: $,1,144 System 2: Dual Xeon DP Tyan S2723 Mobo Kingston 512 MB DDR PC 2100 RAM 2.66 GHz Intel Xeon x 2 Antec 550W EPS 12v PSU Plus the assorted IDE HD, CDRW drive, O/S, floppy, etc. PRICE: $1,474 For my purposes (goofing off playing chess online and letting it analyze positions, etc. - basically, all my chess playing needs will be on this system), is the Xeon system really worth $300 more? Will it perform longer? Is it more stable? Will it be "better" on the playchess server? I'm not worried about which one can do MP3s faster or handle game graphics better. I've got a 2.8 Ghz P4 for that kind of stuff. All I am looking for is something that can run about 20 hours/day and play chess on the server and analyze positions. Please provide some good feedback. I value all of your opinions, and I want to get the most for my dollar. Thanks. -Erik
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