Windows Hardware for Authoring
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 22:06:26 -0800
From: David Miller
Subject: Summary: Real world hardware configs for Windows authoring
This message is a summary of replies I received regarding my
question on hardware setups that folks use in Windows authoring.
Coming from a Mac/Unix background I found this very helpful,
so I thought I'd post to the list. Thanks to everyone who replied.
Any info here should not be construed as an endorsement etc.
#include <stddisclaimers.h>
David Unruh (dunruh@halcyon.com) writes:
With director, bigger and faster is definitely better. We have machines
ranging from 486-66's up to a Pentium 90. On one project, I don't think we
would have finished in time without the Pentium.
The most important considerations in my mind in buying a PC for Director
development:
- 16 MB Ram - there is big difference in performance between 8 and 16
Fast Video Card - I'm really happy with my Stealth 64
- 17 inch monitor
- Fast CPU
- Fast Hard Disk.
Our top machine is a Micron PowerStation Plus 90Mhz Pentium. With a 1GB HD,
16MB RAM, 17 inch monitor, Quad Speed CD-ROM drive, and Microsoft Office
Professional it was $3800 about 4 months ago.
I haven't had any trouble with this machine at all. What you want to make
sure about on a Pentium motherboard is that it has PCI slots, and has an
Intel chip set on it. I haven't run into anyone yet who has a Micron
machine who has anything negative to say about it.
Typical 486-66 has 16MB RAM, 500MB-1GB HD, LocalBus Video card and 15 "
monitor. Most of these machines are of the build it yourself variety and
have been very reliable. There is a very noticable speed difference
between the 486-66's and the Pentium 90.
I've also seen some ads from Dell, for a Pentium 75 at pretty good prices.
I've had a number of clients with good experiences from Dell also.
Phillip Kerman (phillip@teleport.com) wrote:
Well, I get by on my machine.. but I go over to the mac often.. then come
back. Which is quite a new thing for me... now that Director can handle it.
I've got P60, 8 Megs RAM, ATI Mach 32 Video (works well with director--but
not authorware), SB 16.... I guess that's the critical stuff.
8 [Megs RAM] really doesn't hack it....
CB Cooke (glyph@panix.com) wrote:
Just a thought in this area...
We have a Packard Bell 486/66 8mgRAM 420HD for use in exactly the same
way [you describe] and have had several problems and conflicts with it:
- The sound card died - i really wish we had a true sound blaster instead
of a clone
- The floppy drive is erratic at best
- The video board has some known Quicktime incapatabilities (see Apple's
readme) with Quicktime and totally did not work with our Beta of 2.0
- An Adaptec SCSI Card would not work at the same time our Farralon
Ethernet card was in the computer
One other thought:
if you are developing for mass consumption it is good to know the
problems that will be encountered by the general public.
I'd recommend a Dell or other similar name brand
Val Todorov (vtodorov@astro.ocis.temple.edu) wrote:
I have a Pentium 60 PCI workstation, 8MB RAM, 256KB fast cache,
420MB hard drive, 15" MAG monitor. I bought it from Quantex
(800-787-8686) for $1,900 in October. Probably, it's cheaper now.
I upgraded it with: Sigma Designs ReelMagic MPEG video card,
Sony CDU-33A CD-ROM drive, Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro video
capturing board.
I'm pretty happy with the system. Quantex's tech support is very
difficult to reach, but I never had any problems with their machine,
so I didn't need them. What was most important for me, they had the
lowest prices around.
My advice, though, is to buy a machine with more RAM. 16MB or even 32MB.
And if you deal with a lot of video, you need a bigger hard drive.
If you want something really good, I'd recommend Micron's P90 PCI
powerstation. It's Pentium 90MHz, 32MB RAM, 1GB hard drive,
2X CD-ROM drive, 17" monitor. It's $3,899 now.
Their tel: 800-400-6596. I've heard it's very powerful and
nice configuration. I have experience with Micron (my last PC was theirs),
they have excellent tech support.