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Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!foxhound.dsto.gov.au!fang.dsto.gov.au!yoyo.aarnet.edu.au!news.adelaide.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msuinfo!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!ulowell!swlvx2!rayssd!galaxia!dave From: dave@galaxia.network23.com (David H. Brierley) Subject: Will this configuration work OK? Message-ID: <CpFv2u.Mvs@galaxia.network23.com> Organization: Galaxia Computer Systems Date: Sat, 7 May 1994 15:29:45 GMT Lines: 43 I am putting togethor a new system and I wanted to get some feedback on it before I spent all my hard earned money. I am relatively new to the PC compatible market, although I have been working with large systems and Sun workstations for about 20 years. Because of my previous experience, I want to run some form of BSD UNIX on the machine. Right now I am leaning towards FreeBSD but I have not ruled out NetBSD. Based on the reading that I have done and conversations with other people, the following is the configuration that I am looking at right now: 486 DX/40 with 256K cache ISA with VLB motherboard 16 meg of memory Adaptec 1542CF SCSI controller large SCSI disk (greater than 1 GB) Orchid F1280+ video card (S3 chipset) 17 inch monitor (Idek 8617 or MAG DX17) I am somewhat concerned about overall system performance but my highest priorities are making sure everything will work togethor and getting the system at a low enough price that my wife wont have a fit. I decided to go with the SCSI controller because I already have the disk and I have access to a SCSI tape drive and SCSI CD player. The questions I have are as follows: 1. Will the system boot from the SCSI disk or do I need an IDE disk to boot? 2. Is the Adaptec card good? I read of some problem with an Adaptec card in a system with 16 meg of memory. I have also seen a lot of people talking about the Bus Logic cards. Are the Bus Logic cards better than the Adaptec cards, and if so which card should I get? 3. Is 16 meg of memory enough? I plan on using XFree86. 4. Should I spend the extra money to get the EISA bus? Will the EISA bus make a *noticeable* difference in system performance? 5. If the Orchid F1280 a good video card? I would like to run the monitor in 1280x1024 mode so I need a card that will support that mode, and obviously I need a card that is supported under XFree86. -- David H. Brierley Work: dhb@ssd.ray.com 3B1 Hacker Extraordinaire Home: dave@galaxia.network23.com