Author: Frank Wies
Date: 10:45:06 10/05/05
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James, I suggest that you consider the following: How strong do you want the computer to be and how much money do you have to spend? Here are some guidelines to help make the tradeoffs with respect to pricing: 1. AMD 64 X2 4800 is the fastest and most expensive of the dual core solutions. The level 2 cache memory is 1MB so it will run any chess program, dual core very efficiently. It is also less expensive than the single core FX57. If possible don't compromise here, since this coupled with the PC 3200 DDR 400 memory will yield the best results. (BTW, don't use Intel for any reason!) 2. Buy only PC 3200 DDR 400 main memory, if you can afford it, go to 2GBytes. This will make your system state of the art for the next several years. If you have to compromise here, just go back to 1G, don't go to a slower speed. 3. High End Graphics cards actually improve the overall system performance, so if you can afford a NVIDA based 7800 or 6800 you will keep the CPU much less involved in the graphics calculations, and therefore it will use the additional cycles to go a bit deeper into a position. If you compromise here, make sure that the graphics card has at least 128M of memory, regardless of vendor. 4. Hard drive, I suggest that you get one that has at least 7200 RPM and an 8M cache. This is important in the end game where the tablebases are accessed the closer you get to the 6 pieces on the board situation. The best of class will be the Western Digital Raptor which holds 74G and spins at 10K RPM with an 8M cache. 5. I agree with the previous post on the flat panel. Dell is selling a 24" for over $1K, but you can get a great 19" for under $500, Samsung is probably the best overall at this size. As you can tell, I am relatively knowledgable on the topic of hardware as it relates to chess. I always try to have the latest and greatest hardware for my chess hobby. My preference is to buy workstations with dual cpu's, which are primarily for chess. You can get a custom built workstation with the latest and greatest for somewhere around $6K if your budget can handle it. One last recommendation, stay away from the 64 bit OS from Microsoft. It is OK but I have run into problems with stability when running chess programs on the playchess server, which I never had on the 32 bit OS. There is also NO anti virus program available, so if you get attacked ... that investment may go right down the drain. Let me know if you have any questions, or if I can help in any way. Regards, Frank
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