Author Topic: Robust PC building question (Read 464 times)

-lynx- · « **on:** February 12, 2002, 11:32:47 AM »

I need to build a PC for my folks. They are in Russia - I'm in the Uk hence it's gotta be the most robust system one can imagine. It doesn't have to be fast - they'll be using it for internet mostly (no gaming abilities required;)). It needs to be cheap though. I was thinking along the lines of P200MMX with max memory I can get into the mobo and W2K Pro as the OS.

Anyone has any experience in building something like this?

rounder · « **Reply #1 on:** February 13, 2002, 10:48:41 AM »

I have built a few inexpensive boxes like you mentioned, first off I would go for a pentium 2 333 mhz or better. A pentium 200 will dog running win2k even with alot of ram. Plus alot of the old pentium boards can't take a whole lot of ram, be suprised if you could find a orig pentium board that takes more than 256 of ram(they made high end boards back then but gl finding them) You can get p2's dirst cheap nowadays and most of the p2 boards max at 192-512 megs of ram which should be plenty for your parents needs. I use boxes like this to build in cheap redundency to networks( they also make excellent linux boxes for anyone looking into playin with an alternate OS), anyways I hope this helps

qts · « **Reply #2 on:** February 13, 2002, 02:39:29 PM »

First off, you need to get clued up on the rules for exporting technology with the Dept of Trade & Industry. You should be ok, but it's best to be sure.

W2000 is an excellent way to go, but you'll need 256 MB, and if you can get an old SMP machine (eg a dual Pentium Pro), so much the better. See who locally is upgrading their servers.

-lynx- · « **Reply #3 on:** February 14, 2002, 05:08:02 AM »

Uh-oh - thanks guys

I think I'll try to write off a PII400 Dell box at work;) It's flat (easy to transport, it's got a modem and on board sound - this should do:). I'll check with the DTI as well. Thanks again:D

Fishu · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2002, 07:00:25 AM »

One thing.. make sure power supply isn't going to cause problems.
Im sure they don't use same watts in russia as in UK.
Maybe even different power plug.

-lynx- · « **Reply #5 on:** February 14, 2002, 07:20:06 AM »

Nah the voltage is the same - 220V mains in Russia, 240V in the UK but the plugs...

No-one has a plug as our plug:D I guess you can kill a man with a small sized UK plug. Archeologists of the future will be finding them as the only serviving artifacts of the British civilization

In this age of miniaturization one can buy an appliance where the plug is actually bigger than the thing itself

:D

Charon · « **Reply #6 on:** February 14, 2002, 10:44:24 AM »

If, by chance, you end up with a pentium 1 system 64 mb is usually the max effective ram IIRC. You can put more on the MB, but it typically will slow the system down. Also, pentium 1 technology is actually more expensive now in many ways, and replacement parts and upgrades will become progressivley hard to find. I would recommend a solid Micro ATX or flex ATX solution with everything (lan/modem/video/sound) on the motherboard and a cheap celeron processor. Smaller, easier to ship but not really that upgradable. Of course, it will do what they need it to do for quite some time. Also, splurge on some form of capable power conditioning beyond a powerstrip.

Good luck

Charon

qts · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2002, 04:37:45 PM »

Charon, this depends upon the chipset used: if you use a HX chipset mb, you're ok up to 512 MB.

Boroda · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2002, 12:45:30 PM »

Lynx, tell them to go to a nearby computer store and buy a power cord with standard European plug. It's no more then $3. BTW, your plugs were invented by a very weird person

I once bought a British Laserjet IV, the most fascinating thing was a 10 Amper fuse in a plug

If your relatives were in Moscow I could help them maintain the system... I already help my friend's family while he is in the US.

BTW, my Mother lives in Australia, and I have some problems helping her with P and Internet...

Some advises: don't buy an "all-in-one" system, get a standard ATX box. They'll always find a guy who'll repair it for some little money, or a cheap "basement" firm. Buy them a cheap old internal Courier modem and upgrade it with the latest Russian SDL from http://www.usrsupport.ru Don't even think of sending them a display - it's much cheaper to buy it in Russia. They can get a Cyrrillic keyboard in Russia too. Windows 2000 is the only OS to choose from. Try to get a Russian version, maybe even from eDonkey2000 (http://www.edonkey2000.com), or contact me by mail.

-lynx- · « **Reply #9 on:** February 17, 2002, 05:39:46 AM »

Uh-oh - curently looking at Dells PII-350 on eBay - there's a dutch auction finishing tonight for 20 boxed fully loaded PC going for ~£150 each. Dells are total crap for games but as an office machine I'd stake my life on one of those - they rarely ask any questions. And they come in a slimcase - easy to transport:)

As a modem I can give them my own Hayes Accura hardware modem - on ISDN now myself. Keyboard and power cord - probably... but it's just as easy to mark russian keyboard layout on a side of keys with a CD marker.

Monitor - depends... It's difficult to talk to them in terms of "it's just $XXX" since everything gets mentally converted into roubles, then divided into months of pension...

I'm paying for everything but they do it anyway - had it with a fax machine, own phone line etc. All in all I would want them to be able to come home (they are in Archangelsk btw - thank for the offer though:)), take the stuff out of the packaging, plug it all in and start using it without fishing for bits they have very little knowledge about.