Very Computer

Hi,

I'm putting together specs for my first ever home-built linux box. So far
I have the following:

Mobo    ASUS P5A Super 7
Mem     64 MB CL3 PC100
SCSI    Adaptec 2940AU
Disk    9.19 GB Seagate ST39173
Graph   Matrox G200 8MB AGP

Originally I was thinking of just going with an AMD K6-2 400MHz but it
would be nice to know whether I should shell out the extra for a K6-III.
I heard that the K6-2 suffers in 'business applications' due to it's slow
(100MHz) L2 cache. I'll be using the machine primarily for development
(C/C++/Perl/Shell), image processing (custom software, IPW, ENVI) and
report writing (LaTeX) along with the occasional reboot to Windows (for
games only, naturally).

For these uses is it worth it to get a K6-III? Does anyone have any
benchmarks or experience (preferably under Linux) with the K6-III? The
Matrox card isn't strictly necessary for what I do (but cool for games)
and I don't care much about graphics performance bottlenecks, but I do
need fast I/O (hence the SCSI disk).

Cheers,
Nick

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Quote:>I'm putting together specs for my first ever home-built linux box. So far
>I have the following:

>Mobo    ASUS P5A Super 7
>Mem     64 MB CL3 PC100
>SCSI    Adaptec 2940AU
>Disk    9.19 GB Seagate ST39173
>Graph   Matrox G200 8MB AGP

>Originally I was thinking of just going with an AMD K6-2 400MHz but it
>would be nice to know whether I should shell out the extra for a K6-III.
>I heard that the K6-2 suffers in 'business applications' due to it's slow
>(100MHz) L2 cache. I'll be using the machine primarily for development
>(C/C++/Perl/Shell), image processing (custom software, IPW, ENVI) and
>report writing (LaTeX) along with the occasional reboot to Windows (for
>games only, naturally).

I actually bought a useful Windows program, TurboTax.  Then Intuit put
out a web version, which should have neatly fixed the portability
issue.  Except they check your browser's version string and refuse to
run if you're not using Windows or Mac, which is so evil I can't buy
any more of their products.  So I guess it's only for games.  :->

Quote:>For these uses is it worth it to get a K6-III? Does anyone have any
>benchmarks or experience (preferably under Linux) with the K6-III? The

I did an MP3-encoding comparison with a friend under Linux, my P2 vs.
his K6-2.  The P2 was significantly faster per MHz, presumably due to
L2 cache speed.

The K6-3 is still pricey, especially the 450 MHz version.  Prices should
drop as supply ramps up, but right now I think it's not a great deal.  My
preference is to avoid spending top dollar for the latest processor and
upgrade more often.

Quote:>Matrox card isn't strictly necessary for what I do (but cool for games)

The G200 is a solid 2D card but is not really a great * card.  The
3D is pretty but slow, and the OpenGL ICD is still buggy and incomplete.  
I swapped mine for a TNT.  (If accelerated Linux 3D support comes out
for the G200 and not the TNT, then I'll feel slightly dumb.)

Quote:>and I don't care much about graphics performance bottlenecks, but I do
>need fast I/O (hence the SCSI disk).

If you haven't already, compare the 9 GB SCSI drives at
www.storagereview.com

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Nick;

The answer to this question is pretty simple, if you want to know what "on
die cache" does for chip performance just look at the new Intel
Celerons.     Celerons got a huge performance boost from the on chip cache.

Personally I would be more concerned about making sure the selected hardware
is compatiable and trouble free.    Think long and hard about the Adaptec
2940, I think it would be fair to say that the drivers for this chipset are
settling down.    The 2940 drivers however may require a little tweaking on
your part.

Dave

If you really want to use it, why not install junkbuster or some other
web-proxy that can fake headers? Just a thought...

Cheers
        Dave

--
         Dave Swegen           | Debian 2.0 on Linux i386 2.2.1


----------------------------------------------------------------------

David Ripton napisa3(a) w wiadomo?ci: ...

Quote:>I did an MP3-encoding comparison with a friend under Linux, my P2 vs.
>his K6-2.  The P2 was significantly faster per MHz, presumably due to
>L2 cache speed.

It was due to significantly slower FPU unit in K6-2, I suppose. Not the
cache.

Jakub Chmielewski

Quote:>Mem     64 MB CL3 PC100
>SCSI    Adaptec 2940AU
>Disk    9.19 GB Seagate ST39173
>Graph   Matrox G200 8MB AGP

>Originally I was thinking of just going with an AMD K6-2 400MHz but it
>would be nice to know whether I should shell out the extra for a K6-III.
>I heard that the K6-2 suffers in 'business applications' due to it's slow
>(100MHz) L2 cache. I'll be using the machine primarily for development
>(C/C++/Perl/Shell), image processing (custom software, IPW, ENVI) and
>report writing (LaTeX) along with the occasional reboot to Windows (for
>games only, naturally).

I'd rather go for more RAM than a faster CPU. The P5A has got 128 MB
of cacheable area, so I'd use it (and I do).

Quote:>Mem     64 MB CL3 PC100
>SCSI    Adaptec 2940AU
>Disk    9.19 GB Seagate ST39173
>Graph   Matrox G200 8MB AGP

>Originally I was thinking of just going with an AMD K6-2 400MHz but it
>would be nice to know whether I should shell out the extra for a K6-III.
>I heard that the K6-2 suffers in 'business applications' due to it's slow
>(100MHz) L2 cache. I'll be using the machine primarily for development
>(C/C++/Perl/Shell), image processing (custom software, IPW, ENVI) and
>report writing (LaTeX) along with the occasional reboot to Windows (for
>games only, naturally).

I'd rather go for more RAM than a faster CPU. The P5A has got 128 MB
of cacheable area, so I'd use it (and I do).

Quote:>Mem     64 MB CL3 PC100
>SCSI    Adaptec 2940AU
>Disk    9.19 GB Seagate ST39173
>Graph   Matrox G200 8MB AGP

>Originally I was thinking of just going with an AMD K6-2 400MHz but it
>would be nice to know whether I should shell out the extra for a K6-III.
>I heard that the K6-2 suffers in 'business applications' due to it's slow
>(100MHz) L2 cache. I'll be using the machine primarily for development
>(C/C++/Perl/Shell), image processing (custom software, IPW, ENVI) and
>report writing (LaTeX) along with the occasional reboot to Windows (for
>games only, naturally).

I'd rather go for more RAM than a faster CPU. The P5A has got 128 MB
of cacheable area, so I'd use it (and I do).