most reliable setup

[RITE1]

Im am looking to build super reliable desktops and am not as brand/product savvy as I would like to be. These need to be super reliable but at the same time value orientated. So, no xeon processors, no scsi drives, etc, unless they can be built for under say 600.

It need to have mild specs – around 2.4 p4 or equivalent, 256-512 mb ram, 40-80 gig hard drives. I want something with on board RAID as it will be used in many of the setups. HT (these will be used as small db servers) and SATA as an option on the mobo would be nice too

Im not talking a nice home system, these will be built for business and are critical machines.

So, what are the most reliable brands/products out there?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SkipCox]

For a business critical machine, come up with a P4 with onboard everything. Try to keep the price as low as possible so you can afford a spare or two. Even a Celeron will work if office work is the main idea here. Shop Dell, Gateway et al...go for the best support.

Skip

http://home.comcast.net/~scox9/index.html

 

[paparazi]

RITE1
I know it's not too specific but I would say:
Intel P4 probably 533fsb (for cheapness, 2.4 or 2.6)retail boxed
Intel chipset motherboard, something with integrated graphics based on either the 845G or newer 865 chipsets (the integrated graphics versions) not exactly sure of the letter prefix.
From one of the main 4-5 motherboard manufactures:
Asus, MSI, Abit, Gigabyte, Soyo
Asus tends to be most peoples favourate.
Very important* good main brand power supply ie: Enermax, Enlight, Antec etc.
All other components main brands.
Stay clear of Celerons (very poor performers) the 2.6 isn't even as fast as the 1.4 Duron.
Martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[pudda]

I usually prefer Dell but the latest incident with my ISP company has me wondering. The 533 fsb machines they ordered ended up going to their in-house personel (phone company) as upgrades instead of IT use. The 7 systems all had the same problem- 5 minute log-ons, longer shutdown times, poor performance. They then ordered the same configured systems from Gateway- startling performance difference! One machine I could see, but seven?

The test continues...

 

[RITE1]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Are there any power supplies that stand out in the crowd as being super reliable.

I was thinking is there were any peices that I would want to spend a little extra on it would be on the power supply...

I have also heard the msi boards are supposed to be a geared more for reliability than preformace, any comments on that?

Any more suggestions?

 

[paparazi]

Rite1
you are correct in pinpointing the power supply as one of the most important considerations for a reliable system, although reading the posts in this and many other forums, that fact unfortunately is not well known, Toms Hardware ran a mass PSU test, so good information can be found there, but I must say with these relatively low end and undemanding systems that you are proposing QUALITY rather than outright power is the order of the day and any top brand 350watt plus PSU will surfice, just keep away from generic units either in the cases you buy or supplied aftermarket.
MSI have got an excellent reputation but no better or worse than the others I mentioned, infact if anything they have a reputation for including many extra features as standard (not always a good thing for reliability) Abit on the other hand are the reverse and often leave there motherboards short on features because the type of uses they actract fit
"seperates" graphics/network etc
But these are generalizations, MSI, Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, Soyo, are all top brands with good track records.
One last word of advice: Motherboards on revision 3 or more are tried and tested and have had all there faults ironed out, whilst buying the very latest chipset on a revision 1.0 board is asking for trouble if you want reliability.
It's like anything, a car at the end of it's production run is better in some ways than the new model replacing it.
Martin


Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.