I have had this plan on the cards for three years now (with specs constantly changing, of course) so I thought I would show it to some here to see what you think. I’ve recently changed some devices to be compatible with Haiku!
CPU: AMD Phenom II 545 (3GHz)
MB: Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3
RAM: 3GB, 240-pin DIMM, DDR3, PC3-8500
VC: ATI Radeon X800 XT 256MB
SC: Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
HD: 40GB SATA (quality or model not priority)
Case: Antec TX635 (Beige)
And here’s the stuff I’m saving from old PC:
DVD/CD Drive
3.5" Floppy Drives (2!)
And here’s the stuff I’ll plug in to the PC.
Monitor: NEC Multisync LCD175VXM+ (Beige) or Cornerstone P1460
Keyboard: Ceratech Accuratus 260
Mouse: Ceratech Accuratus 1320
Mat: Haiku Mousepad
Speakers: Creative Gigaworks T20 Series II
Only one final thing: the PSU. I have no idea what kind of PSU Wattage I’m looking for because many of the items (even if I search thoroughly) don’t have the wattage rating on the specifications. I think I’m goin’ for a 750W.
I believe 350W will make you happy all the time. I don’t no where you will buy it, but if you do in a good shop, they will replace it by another for you sure. Just ask them before.
What do you do with two floppy drives? I believe its quite cool to have a DOS install without the use of a harddrive, but I never had the joy
Seeing as I have two spare floppy drives, there are two exposed 3.5" bays on the case, and there is a floppy connector on the board, why not use them?
40GB hard drive because Haiku requirements are rediculously low.
SB Audigy 2 ZS is supported by creative (emuxki) audio driver in Haiku. Motherboard has HDA audio which may work with Haiku’s hda driver. Hold off buying audio card until you try hda out first.
Why Radeon X800 graphics card? Haiku has Radeon driver that should support upto X800 but the Geforce driver gets better attention. Geforce 7 series (7950) and older cards work with the Nvidia driver.
You don’t need 750 watts for that system. 400 watts (upto 450) should be very good for upgrading later on to high end system. This system will use around 250 watts max. You could also get away using 350 watt PSU right now.
Edit:
I have not used a floppy disk in years and think same for most others too. Add in a memory card reader (likely 5.25" size) and switch to using SD cards or usb keys. floppies are dead except for installing DOS or Windows 3.1 (makes system look old having floppy drive).
Audigy 2 ZS is infact coming from an old system which is about to be replaced in about a week. Either that or it is upgrading the SB live in my current Haiku machine first.
VD: On the lookout for a better option.
The fact is, if I have floppy drives, why not use them?
Sure, if you use your floppy drive you can install it but 1) it will make your computer look outdated (not sleek) 2) only hold 1.44MB of data per disk 3) disks less reliable over time 4) slower speed.
Today most are using usb keys or memory cards (like SD). Not to say you cannot use these plus floppies but why would you?
Around 10 years back, I stopped using floppy disks and switched to 100MB Zip disks. Back then I thought Zip drives would replace the floppy because faster speed and 70x more disk space.
Many tech people in North America see floppy drives as ancient (very old) technology. Similar to serial & parallel ports and people moving towards usb devices.
The floppy drives won’t be actually used, they will just be there if I need them. Not got much use for them in storage, so there. I’m not too worried about the machine looking old as it’s the monitor, keyboard and mouse that get most attention.
Speaking of card reader, that mention just reminds me. Both my card readers I accidentally broke (one tarring apart the cable, the other the CF slot went bust). Would be nice if I had some sort of internal card reader in there (if Haiku supports it, of course).
I have considered using Zip in my new PC previously, but the expense of the drives and disks made me wonder if I’m actually going to use it or not. USB sticks are fine for now.
Very sure Haiku supports card reader. My laptop’s internal card reader works. They are connected by USB. So, should work the same as plugging in a USB key.
I stopped using Zip disks about 6 to 7 years back. Back 10 years ago it made sense but today Zip drive does not because of USB keys & memory cards.
I’ve got an update. In some ways I’ve upgraded and some ways I’ve downgraded, but the specs are quite similar. I’ll forget the two floppy drives as they are designed for systems with a front bezel … that will make the system look even worse! I’ve put in links as well.
