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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!raven.eva.net!bighorn.accessnv.com!jca From: jca@bighorn.accessnv.com (J.C. Archambeau) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: NEED: The Best PC for FreeBS (Advice is asked) Date: 8 Dec 1996 20:31:13 GMT Organization: Access Nevada Inc. Lines: 50 Message-ID: <58f8ih$pdb@raven.eva.net> References: <5882ep$amr@vixen.cso.uiuc.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: bighorn.accessnv.com Cc: igor@students.uiuc.edu X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] igor vladimirovich roshchin (igor@students.uiuc.edu) wrote: : I need to make a decision in a couple days: : Need to find the best - in sense of quality (reliability+support by : FreeBSD) + : performance, PC: : Motherboard - ? Just about any of the major motherboard manufacturers will work. You might as well go with a Pentium box. If you want to go with SCSI on the motherboard, look into Quicktech/Iwill boards. They have an imbedded 2940U(W) motherboard. You'll end up saving about $200 by getting SCSI on the motherboard. The only reason I wouldn't go with this option is if you need a twin channel SCSI card. By having SCSI imbedded on the motherboard you do lose a PCI slot. : SCSI card - ? Buslogic BT-958 or Adaptec 2940UW. If you anticipate you may need more than 7 devices, go for the twin channel model, the 3940UW. I don't know if Buslogic has a twin channel card as of yet. : Ethernet card - ? (3COM ? 3C509 ???) PCI. There's no reason to go ISA unless you want to set up a diskless FreeBSD box. According to the FAQ, only a few ISA cards support diskless FreeBSD boxes. You can't get 100 base ISA cards since they don't have the throughput to handle 100 base effectively. I have been given recommendations on using PCI cards with the DEC PCI chipset (i.e. the 'de' driver) with good results. There are quite a few cards on the market which are compatable with the 'de' driver. : Did anybody have any experience of using E2 or/and E8 with SCSI : with a FreeBSD box ? Sorry, I have no experience with this. : And, a lame question: Is there any reason to have a "system" disk for : a FreeBSD box (PC) with IDE interface as opposed to SCSI ? Only if you like headaches. :) SCSI support is much better with FreeBSD than with (E)IDE. -- /* ** Internet: jca@accessnv.com | Don't blame me, I didn't vote for Clinton. ** jca@anv.net | Intel is the word for 'errata.' *************************************************************************** ** Note: Please direct all unsolicited commercial e-mail (Spam) to the ** special account postmaster@accessnv.com. Thank you. *************************************************************************** */