[450]

Hey my current Dell 8200 (old I know) with a Pentium 4 2.5 GHz is really flaky now, like if I'm listening to music the sound cuts out if I'm browsing the web and I scroll or something "intensive" like that.

So I think its time for me to get a new computer. 4+ years with this one is enough. I heard the Playstation 3 runs Fedora Core 5 and YDL, so I thought it would easily replace my system of XP/Vista. I saw the benchmarks and they look good enough. Once all the cores are working in 'nix I can only imagine what the user experience will be like.

$500 for a computer isn't bad I think. I wouldn't really need to upgrade for games either because underneath it all, its still a PS3.

So what do you guys think?

 

[Cjattwood]

The PS3's use as a computer is severely hindered by it's lack of RAM (only 256mb). I wouldn't bother right now.

 

[gshan]

450, have you considered reformatting the computer first?

 

[phergus_25]

reformat and add alittle ram and it sould get decent.

 

[oicdn]

my current desktop is a Celeron 1.7 ghz with 256mb of ram and a 140 GB HD...it runs fine. It's all about not having crap you don't need running.

I compile flash and edit movies on it...it works fine, so long as I don't over multitask (run more than a browser, mail client and the editing program. I can use the music, but then it kinda lags a bit.

Reformat, or delete alot...you'de be surprised what you can get by on. Think back to Terminator 2. All those HOLLYWOOD special effects...The computers they used on that weren't even Pentium 2's....you should be fine after a good clean-up...

 

[wafflesomd]

It's a PowerPC based cpu, and they have Linux Fedora Core5 running on it, so yes, it can be used as a desktop pc.

Unless yo can write a multithreaded OS to take advantage of 7 cores, it's not practical.

 

[hempcamp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 450 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hey my current Dell 8200 (old I know) with a Pentium 4 2.5 GHz is really flaky now... So I think its time for me to get a new computer. So what do you guys think?

Is it the Inspiron (notebook) or Dimension (desktop)?

Are you running a flavor of Linux on it now? Sounds like a great computer to me. Something's not right (maybe you need a faster/secondary hard drive?) if you are experiencing "chippering" during scrolling while listening to music.

I wouldn't get a new one -- what you've got is pretty good, especially if you are running/planning to run Linux. I wouldn't waste Linux on a PS3, or a PS3 on desktop computing.

--Chris

 

[JahJahBinks]

i second the idea of reinstall OS on your existing Dell.

 

[cazoo]

or better yet, put ubuntu on there.

 

[wafflesomd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cazoo /img/forum/go_quote.gif or better yet, put ubuntu on there.

Best Idea yet.

 

[450]

Alright... here's the complete-ish specs of my dell...
Dell 8200
2.53 Pentium 4 (thinking about a Pentium 4 3.06 GHz upgrade)
512MB RDRAM (memtest says all is okay)
80gb hdd (os drive) 7200 RPM (8mb cache)
300gb hdd (storage) 7200 RPM (16mb cache)
16x DVDROM
18x DVDRW
Asus 5900 Ultra 256MB
EMU 0404
SoundMAX Integrated

I don't want to buy another 2 256mb sticks of RDRAM because RDRAM is really expensive.

Also, I have reformatted several times and tried a new HDD for the OS. Still extreme stuttering issues. If I try to use 2 apps at once like music and web browsing something will freeze up. At this point my other computers - Pentium 3 933 @ 1.1 GHz / 768mb RAM and Pentium 3 667 / 192mb RAM are more stable. I think the Dell motherboard has some issues.

 

[Edwood]

Not even remotely worth it.

You can get a laptop for the price of the 60gigger.

-Ed

 

[RedLeader]

heck, I've been running kubuntu on an old dell p4 1.8 that I ripped apart and fixed the PSU for a couple months now. The thing was flaky as anything on win (and then the PSU went flaky) but I swapped the HDD and OS and haven't had a single issue. Try kubuntu on it, see how it handles it.

 

[450]

Hmm... I think I found the problem... The PSU cannot deliver enough power for the system. When I start my computer about 1/3 of the time a nVidia message comes up telling me the PSU isn't supplying enough power to the 5900 Ultra.

Also, is possible to get any cheap 20gb or 40gb hdd's? I want a couple as linux os partitions.

 

[euclid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 450 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm... I think I found the problem... The PSU cannot deliver enough power for the system. When I start my computer about 1/3 of the time a nVidia message comes up telling me the PSU isn't supplying enough power to the 5900 Ultra. Also, is possible to get any cheap 20gb or 40gb hdd's? I want a couple as linux os partitions.

you should reformat your OS drive and create multiple partitions for the linux installs, this way you just dual boot from the same drive at startup. 80g should be plenty.