On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:18:50 -0500, Longfellow wrote:

> ... or is it a tectonic shift? The wife is now more sensitive to her
> computer performance than am I! So now we go hunting for new hardware.
>
> But all that is negotiable. What is not is that it run Slackware 12.x.
> Ergo, that is the benchmark, and why I'm mentioning it here: What are
> you guys using for hardware? What is the most rock solid reasonably
> performing system (actually, components, I suppose) that Slackers have
> found?
>
> Understand that the wife is running my old Tomcat 3 w/ 133MHz Pentium,

Do you mean an original, P5 pentium at 133 MHz? If so, you may be
interested in the upgrades listed below.

> now in its 3rd case using who knows what generation of HD, etc. So
> virtually anything would be a marked improvement, specifically my
> currant Asus CBUX, sporting a faster (1GHz) processor, of course. So
> I'm really talking about what I should get when I hand this system down
> to her...
>
> A dual core Intel would be splendid, but mobo and chipset have to be
> bullet proof under Linux. I know to avoid Invidia graphic stuff, but
> nothing else in particular. I also know I could get reams of
> information elsewhere, but Slackers (bozos?) know best, I suspect; they
> are the least likely to be bullshite artists in any case.
>
> Suggestions, comments, caveats, etc all welcome!
>
> Thanks all,
>
> Longfellow
>
Assuming you don't want virtualization, then this is a lot of bang for the
buck (YMMV):

MB: Gigabyte GA-945GCM-S2C
CPU: Pentium Dual Core E2180
Memory: 2G
Video: (on board) *
LAN: (on board)
HD: (250-500G SATA)
Optical: 20x DVD-RW SATA
Power Supply: 350W is adequate

The next step up is going to be quite a bit more expensive:

MB: Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3R
CPU: Core 2 Duo E6750
Memory: 2G
Video: pick 'em
LAN: (on board)
HD: (250-500G SATA)
Optical: 20x DVD-RW SATA
Power Supply: 400W is most likely adequate

There is a lot of room at the "low end" too. For example,
I am writing this on a system that I got at the local university surplus
property. It is a Dell, Dimension 4100 (circa 2001), sold "AS IS" with no
HD for $20.

MB: ?
CPU: P3 @ 933MHz
Memory: 512M
Video: nVidia Riva TNT2 64M AGP
LAN: 3Com 10/100
HD: 250G PATA
Optical: CD-RW
Sound: Ensoniq ES1371 PCI (separate board)
Power Supply: 200W (probably tight for P3)

This is very usable system for working with the web, open office, etc. I
don't think you will be running any of that software with a P5 @ 133MHz.

* Caveat: with some motherboards with recent intel chipsets, such as
i945gc, make sure you get the most recent X. Probably, wait for Slackware
12.1, or use slackware -current.