Reviving The Workstation
Well, some of you may know that I'll be doing my pet project again now that I'm free of day job. To do that, I will need a workstation.
For the past year, I was stuck to my trusty laptop for all code/net/entertainment function. It does the job, but just.
I can definitely code small projects on it, I can surf the Internet (now with Google Chrome, everything seems faster!), and I can run Colonization for DOS on it (WTF!?).
I can't run full blown project with TFS + SQL + SPS + VMs. I can't run Google Earth any faster. And I can't run the latest game (such as Fallout 3) on it.
So going back home, I was thinking about reviving my old desktop as a gaming *** working rig. The story of my old desktop went back from my university days... (went flash back)
Being a poor student back then, I can only put the best CPU on my desktop. I can't afford more memory, I can't afford GPU, I can't even afford a new hard drive! So the first inception of the machine was a high end CPU on a low end setup. Below was it:
Intel Pentium 4 3.0E GHz (it's the second best of its class, the one with Hyper Threading technology) + Intel D865PERL (I guess Intel and Intel makes a great combo) + GeForce2 MX 440 (hint: it runs Counter Strike) + 512 Mb of RAM + Maxtor 60Gb (it was Maxtor's age).
It ran Windows XP, VS2003, and Counter Strike. I even had a CS party at the university lab with this rig.
After saving enough money for some upgrade, the desktop finally got a little more juice. GeForce2 is out in favor of newer but low end GeForce FX5200, and I also slapped in 2x512Mb to make it 1.5Gb in total. The HD was failing, so I've made a trade in to Seagate 80Gb (Maxtor was bought by Seagate). I've changed the power supply to ThermalTake 450W since the previous one failed as well.
It ran Windows XP and Windows Vista, VS2005, and still, Counter Strike. Although newer games like Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Company of Heroes runs as well on lowest settings (with occasional graphic glitches).
Afterwards, I went off to Singapore. Add one year plus, before I went back, I bought some more juice to finally put the platform to its ultimate settings... (went back to current time)
The FX5200 is out in favor of ATI Radeon HD3850 (yes, they made this beast chip in AGP flavor!), and I slapped in 2x1Gb to make it 3Gb in total. This is the best value combination for 32 bit system, more than that and it won't be detected and won't make much difference.
It now runs Windows Vista (and Windows Server 2008 in VPC), VS2008, and of course, Fallout 3 (by the time of writing, I've already reached the end)!
Here's a shot of the Windows Vista Experience Index, as you can see, the only component not upgraded (CPU) has the lowest score, while the high end GPU maxxed out Windows Vista index.
Looking back, I've always cherished buying the first setup. It was an aging platform for Intel 865 (Pentium D with Intel 875 was going mainstream), but I got the second best processor available for it. It was still a bit expensive, but not that expensive for such power. And it's expandability is still going strong even until today, five years down the road.
Of course, I won't be bringing this desktop to my next day job. It's too big to bring, so I'll be building up a new one! But that's another post altogether.