9fans archive / 1995 / 09 / 56 / prev next From: Bill Hogan bhogan@bed... Subject: PC-clone hardware Date: Tue, 5 Sep 1995 07:25:00 -0400 "BM" == Borja Marcos <borjam@we....> writes: >> >> In "What We Use - Last Updated 1-Aug-95", it says: >> > Until recently we've used the AMI Enterprise IV: >> >> What have you been using recently? >> >> I'm thinking of getting a 486DX2-66, with 256K cache, but >> I haven't been able to find any AMI motherboards around here yet. >> >> One store I visited told me "the brand of motherboard is usually >> stated as the brand of CPU on it", which doesn't jive with >> the above document since it lists an SiS chipset on the AMI board. >> >> What's more important to look for, the motherboard or cpu manufacturer? >> >> Intel and AMD seem to be popular in the local stores here, >> which of those two would people recommend? >> >> The variety in PC hardware scares me - sorry if these are basic questions. >> BM> I think the CPU manufacturer is not important. As far as I know BM> they are compatible. The problem arises, however, with the chipset. BM> For example, I wouldn't recommend ALI chipsets. I have had real BM> problems with this chipset. I think the OPTI chipset is a good one. BM> Anyway, there are more important factors such as manufacturing BM> quality. I have found that most of the motherboards currently sold BM> are a piece of junk valid only for running MSDOS and Windows, BM> incapable of running for a period of time without a reboot. BM> The only answer is to test the motherboard you are going to use. BM> Another problem is that most dealers change regularly their motherboards. BM> Borja. >> I agree with this. Also, on the theory that if a PC supports Linux it is a reasonably good bet it will support plan9, I might suggest lurking in places like comp.os.linux.hardware? (I can think of a couple of PC vendors who sell what they claim to be Linux compatible systems but I have never used one so I can't recommend any.) Bill