On 19 Oct 2001, at 7:43, Ryel, Raymond L NWP wrote:

> could you offer opinion and/or advice on getting a new computer
> work station for CADD and survey application. I have been told to
> select from Gateway or Dell because of government spending
> requirements so I am not allowed to build one but I find very
> little information on the web selection pages.

  I have not purchased machines from Gateway, but the process with
Dell is fairly straightforward.  On their web site, you can select a
basic model, customize selections like CPU speed, amount of RAM and
so on, and get a quote which you can then order against or forward to
your purchasing agent.

  For CADD use, I would look at their "Precision" line of
"workstation" configurations.

> I called the local Gateway shop and they said they could set me up
> with a Raid 0 but would have to order the board and extra hard
> drive separately and then assemble and configure them after the
> order arrived.

  The Dell unit will at least, I believe, come pre-assembled.  You
may have to finalize the configuration of the RAID array (in
software) when it arrives.

> Is the DDR system really better then the SDRAM and what should I
> look at for a graphics card and CD writer?

  DDR stands for "Doubled Data Rate".  One of the issues that we've
seen over the Pentium -> Pentium IV span of about seven years is that
while CPU speeds have gone from 66 MHz to 2 GHz, a span of about 30x,
SDRAM speeds have gone from 66 MHz to 133 MHz, or doubled.  (The
number of clock cycles per memory cycle has also improved a bit, so
it's not quite that bad, but doubling the memory rate to 266 MHz
really should help.)

  For CADD stuff, resolution rules.  You'll probably want the biggest
monitor and the most video RAM possible.  The Dell Precision is
likely to offer a mid-range built-in video option, and one or two add-
on options, and I'd go with one of the add-ons.  (Probably one will
offer enhanced 3-D performance, and it's not clear whether you need
that.  Check with the makers of your CADD and survey software to see
if they take advantage of such a feature.)
  Personally, I still prefer SCSI for CD writing, but odds are that
Dell only supports one or two choices -- anything else, you'll have
to install and support yourself.

> thanks
> Raymond

  I hope this helps.

Dave Gillett

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