How to get the most use out of an old Dell Workstation

[unc92sax]

I have a Precision 410 with a Pentium II/400 that I got from goodwill for $45. I have plenty of drive space (30G), RAM (384M) and peripherals. I actually bought a second PII/400 CPU for $16 online. I also bought a PII 450 for a few of bucks at Goodwill.

Now, with just these CPUs to choose from what would be the best way to get max speed. Should I use the two 400s (the board will hold two), Should I use the 450 alone, or should I overclock the two 400s to 450?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. And please don't say buy a newer PC, because I literally can't afford it until I finish my career change (from band teacher to IT).

 

[franklin97355]

Getting more out of using the two processors together will depend on what OS and software you run. I'm not sure you will notice much difference between the 400 and 450 but if you plan to run a single processor the choice is the 450. What do you plan to do with this computer?

 

[unc92sax]

I have XP and Server 2003 on it. Both work fine but V E R Y S L O W L Y. I have been a MAC user for years and will continue to be (for musical reasons), but in a PC world and going into an IT career, I am now a full-blown PC user as well. I am using Server 2003 for MCSA classes and XP for online and software practice exams.

Of course, if I ever decide to move my music hobby to the PC side I will need a much stronger machine, but that's an issue for a richer day.

BTW, I am NET+ certified and will be going for A+, MCSA, and CCNA within the next year or so, before I launch my new career.

 

[Wishdiak]

unc92sax,

Since you mention that you'll be persuing MCSA certification, it would be a good use of this hardware to set up a small Windows Network.

MCSA practice exercises usually require one (or more) Domain Controller(s) and one (or more) client machine(s). From what you say above, I presume that you'll have a Windows Server 2003 Domain Controller and a Windows XP client.

Even if they run these OS's slowly, they will help you to do the practice exercises, thus gaining hands-on experience of how things work.

You don't mention the type or ammount of RAM in any of these computers, but increasing your RAM, especially in the computer that you plan to use as a server, will increase it's ability to process data.

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA: Security 2003

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[unc92sax]

This is one machine with both OS's (dual boot). I have 384MB of RAM.

I actually may consider what you are saying as far as setting up another machine. I have another Dell shell. I just don't know if I can convince my wife to let me put a third computer in a house packed out with three kids.

 

[garebo]

If i had to be concerned with my wife being concerned about having x amount of computers around, then i would simply use ide removables, that way you could put an os on each one and even different configurations of the same os on separate hard drives and just pop in the one you want to work on.
You could buy more hard drives by selling at least one of the computers, or selling the parts.



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