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Building budget FTP box (PC133)**edit: parts now ordered**

S

snow patrol

Diamond Member
See title really.

Looking to sort out a dedicated server and FTP machine in my room. I want something nice and stable, and I want to be able to use my current spare parts - namely my 512meg of PC133, my Voodoo 3 etc. I just thought while I'm at it I may as well go for something that can crunch nicely. So what would you guys recommend?

thanks.

P.s mods, sorry if this should be in general hardware - please move it. I wanted some advice from hardcore seti guys. 🙂

edit:

I've ordered the following: Athlon xp1700+, PCchips micro-atx sdr/ddr mobo with integrated sound/video/lan, micro atx case, 52x cd rom drive. Should be arriving by Friday 😀
 
I'd think about looking at a cheap AXP system. From OcUK u can pick up a PC Chips board and XP1700+ for about £150, or they have bundle with Duron 1GHz for about £120, the same as the OcUK Stomp Monster (their crack rack) uses

Confused

BTW, re ot posts, the mods are generally pretty lenient here, so long as it's got stuff to do with DC they generally allow it 🙂
 
We NEVER nef in here. NEVER!!

I would go with an AMD baised solution. AMD tends to like Seti more than Intel does.

CPU: AMD 1800+ $90
Mainboard: ECS K7S5A or PC chips mobo ($55)
Memory 128 of ddr $40
Case / PWS $50
HD $70

Looking at about $305 or so. YOu can get by without the HD if you want to use an old one or a zip drive.
 
thanks guys, looks like AMD then.

I'd quite like something as quiet as possible though. I suppose I can just put a nice 80mm fan on the heatsink or something. Oh yeah, I'll be putting a 60gig maxtor in it.
 
I'd go with an AMD although the solutions mentioned dont account for using your existing PC133 (which is a sizeable amount, so worth taking into account.)

Its up to you, but I'd get an AXP anyway 🙂
 
well, I'll be scanning the second hand boards of some uk forums (ocuk etc) and hoping to find a bargain. I *might* even see if there's a decent P4 1.6A bundle going, but that's probably pushing it. I don't need to spend that much!! In fact, no, I must resist.

DON'T LET ME!!
 
OK - (not letting you argument🙂

Whats the point of going for a P4 when an Athlon XP gives more performance (cough for seti..) per £ without being overclocked?

Whats the problem of overclocking? No guarantee of overclock, need faster (expensive) RAM etc, high FSB problems with HDDs and graphics cards. Overclocking isnt really suitable for an FTP server as I would assume that uptime and reliability is paramount. Argument enough? 😀
 
yes, you're so so right.

XP it is then I reckon. What's the best bang for buck one at the mo 1700+? 1800+? So then I'd just need a case, psu and mobo and I'd be set. I'll get a mobo that supports sdram i think...ddr is quite pricey at the mo, and seeing as I've already got that PC133 lying about...
 
Overclockers.co.uk AMD CPU listings

Seems like the 18, 19 and 2000+ are seperated by £20. Remember that each PR rating is only an increment of 66mhz - hardly woth £20 in my opinion.

I'd go for an 1800+, assuming you arent desperate for more speed - in which sence you should go the whole way and get the fastest you can (otherwise it wont be noticeably faster than an 1800+).

HTH
 
do you think I should go for the PC chips mobo bundle thing then? That seems to be the only one supporting sdram.

I'm just wary of a sis chipset not to mention a company called 'pcchips'... :/
 
I have a thread going on at the offsite forum asking for mobo help for an 1800. One suggestion was the
(ECS K7S5A SiS® 735 SOCKET A MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL) $54
check it out at newegg, it takes SDRAM if i recall.
ECS K7S5A
 
I'm not sure about the PCChips mobo, but I havent heard any major bad press about it. What I will say is that SETI is largely influenced by memory speed - going the SDRAM route may not give your new AXP the room it needs to get the 3 hours-something WU times that we have been seeing... Your mileage may vary.

If you can afford it, spend the extra 40 or so quid on a better motherboard, and get yourself 256 md of DDR memory (unless you REALLY need 512, cause then the difference might not be worth it.)

If you are pushed for cash then I'll throw this joker card in - Why not pair that PCchips mobo up with that old SDRAM and a Duron 1.1Ghz to save some cash? Endless combinations 🙂

Hope this helps (yet another ramble unfortunately)
 
I agree with Spacehead. The ECS K7S5A is a great board for the money and it supports both DDR and SDRAM (but not at the same time of course) with two slots for each. With that in mind it is a great board for future upgrades if you plan on it a few months ahead (Christmas🙂). Also since it supports the XP processor it will really turn out the WUs though you lose performance due to the SDRAM. I have one of these boards and it is feature filled(onboard sound and NIC), realiable, and performs well with the SIS 735(?) chipset.
 
I would think the ecs k7s5a(or pcchips m830(?)) would be an ideal purchase in your situation. it supports both pc and ddr. and is inexpensive. also has nic as an added bonus. so you can get your new system up and running now, then buy ddr later.---also if you decide to build yet another box later you can always take the ddr out of the ecs and put it in the next box and put your pc133 back into the ecs. this board is a godsend if you are making the tansition from pc to ddr. -
-- I would go ecs and an xp then upgrade to ddr when funds allow it. xp1600/1700's are cheap right now, and will crunch a wu about 1 hour quicker.

just my thoughts-

btw-(snowpatrol) I have my k7s5a running at 146 fsb(using cpucool), there are some oc'ing options but not many.

btw2-I switched from ddr(256mb) to pc133(128mb) and it cost me about ~25min a wu.:frown: but I do have a duron 1.0 running @ 6x183.:Q😀 in another mb.(thats where my ddr went)
 
Thanks Marrkks - I'm going to order tonight.

Btw - anyone in the UK know where I can order the ECS (elite?) mobo online? Thanks.
 
What more do you need than the one at the bottom of this page. The only other real alternative for budget would be one of these, especially here in the UK, and i'd rather spend the extra £40 and get the much higher performance of the XP.

For an FTP server it's got onboard LAN, gfx, sound, DDR/SDR support, even got a 56k modem with it! What more do you need other than hard drive! So for about £220 he could have a full Athlon XP FTP server! That's pretty darn good, especially for UK prices! 🙂


BTW guys, UK prices/shops please 😉😛
 
umm Confused, those boards don't have an AGP port. just something to note. it really wouldn't make a difference for a server tho.😉
 
Just tried Scan.co.uk and the cheapest motherboard they had was this one, which looks quite nice: here

EDIT: but I've never heard of the KM266 chipset... anyone know it? If its the KT266 then run a mile, the KT266a is very good though.
 
thanks for all the replies guys.

I've ordered a mini atx case w/ 300w amd/p4 approved PSU from dabs today. I'll probably be ordering the PCchips mobo/xp1700 bundle later (the one with both sdram and DDR slots) this evening.
 
Well, it's all ordered now. For the grand total of £245:

- Athlon XP 1700+
- Tailson cooler
- PC chips Sdram/DDR micro ATX motherboard w/ onboard graphics, sound and LAN
- Liteon 52X Cdrom
- Basic scroll mouse
- Micro ATX case w/300w AMD approved quiet PSU

Finger's crossed I'll have this all up and running by the weekend. What sort of SETI times could I expect? 5 hours maybe (bearing in mind this is going to initially be coupled with 256megs of PC133 cas 2) ?
 
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