I am going to upgrade my development PC. I was thinking about a Athlon - GeForce - Win2K combination. I will be using it for DirectX development. Anyone any experience with this setup, recommends? I really want a stable environment. How does well Win2k handle bad DirectX code (which I am bound to produce from time to time hehe), does it fall over much? (I know win2k is fairly reliable, I have a server that runs it and it rarely gives problems). --- Rob See other worlds at http://www.silverfrost.com

I have a friend who bought an HP with an Athlon processor. He''s been having a bunch of stupid problems. He claims it''s the Athlon but I think it''s the brand of computer. (It does make sense, however, that it is the Athlon) I''ve read good and bad things about Athlon processors. Personally I''d wait until Athlons proves itself better than Intel. Other than that it souldn''t matter. Oh ya, there have been some driver problems with Windows 2000. If I were you I also wouldn''t put the version of Windows that is out now on your computer. Main reason for this is it''s not made for development or gameing. It''s targeted for office use. Wait a little bit more until they come out with Windows Millenium (or whatever it''s called).

Well I heard that Windows Millenium is basically Windows 98 Third Edition, they just gave it a fancy name, but Julio''s right, Win2k is definetly not for developnment, as far as a good platform its either win98, winNT (carmack uses this) or Some linux machine...

I''ve got two friends with Athlons, and for playing games they are King!. although I don''t know how the GeForce would compare, cos I;''ve got a Voodoo 3 2000 (low on cash) and my friends have got TNT2 ultra''s and V2''s...

Although with video cards I''d tend to go for a Voodoo brand because its got the added advantage of having Glide, and also being able to run DirectX, OpenGL and the likes so it makes the most compatible video card out there...

Sorry if this is too much rambling...

Dæmin
(Dominik Grabiec)
sdgrab@eisa.net.au

CyberPunk RPG
http://www.eisa.net.au/~sdgrab/index.html

quote:Original post by Dæmin

Win2k is definetly not for developnment, as far as a good platform its either win98, winNT (carmack uses this) or Some linux machine...

hmm...get some good facts before you say something as stupid as this!
I''ve been using W2k for developing since it was released, and I must say it beats the crap out of both Win98 and WinNT 4.
Well, then why does it beat Win98?
Answer : Stability and more solid multitasking etc. I''m sick and tired of having to reboot 10 times each developing session, just because Win98 sucks (Do you even know you can dual-boot W2k and Win98, if you feel you have to test your code in 98?).
The reason why it beats WinNT 4 is quite obvious, as W2k is actually WinNT 5.

ehh? Linux machine? Why the hell would he want to use Linux to develop DirectX programs? (You know DirectX is for Windows only, do you??)

quote:Original post by Dæmin
Although with video cards I''d tend to go for a Voodoo brand because its got the added advantage of having Glide, and also being able to run DirectX, OpenGL and the likes so it makes the most compatible video card out there...

I wouldn''t go for the Voodoo products (except for maybe the new Voodoo 4 & 5). The lack of features makes them a terrible choice for development. I would go for a GeForce/GF2 GTS instead, since it has more features than every other board out there (correct me if I''m wrong).
Once again, KillerApp said he was going to use the computer for DirectX development, so why care about Glide? (why care about Glide at all? It''s just so damn lame)


Regards,
Laarz

Hi Laarz

Good to hear you have positive things to say about Win2k development. I currently have a Voodoo 3 running Win95 and plan to have that as a backup machine so I can solve Win9x problems that way. The bods on the DirectXDev group all reackon win2k is the way to go for stability. Have you many system lockups because of DirectX or can you get out of them easier than Win9x?

Julio: Windows Millenium is Win 98 + a few bits (or even minus a few bits).

Dæmin: Linux is out because it has to be a windows platform. Win Nt (4) is out because it cannot run DirectX 7 (or 6).


---
Rob

See other worlds at http://www.silverfrost.com

I haven''t had a single lockup in almost 6 months, not because of DirectX errors, and not because of anythin else.

The only bad experience I have ever had with W2k is that Visual Studio crashes sometimes (but you can just restart it, not as in Win9x, where you have to reboot)


Regards,
Laarz

1) I mean linux as an alternative for general Linux developnemnt duh, noone is that stupid! sheesh what do you take me for...

2) As far as I have read the some of the drivers don''t work well with win2k and its more of a business platform. Plus if you were making games wouldn''t you make them for 98/95?

3) Of course I mean the voodoo 5+ I''ve got a v3 and its still good, but of course the newer ones are better? I guess you jsut assumed that I was talking about a voodoo 2 when the guy said that he wanted a geForce? Sheesh again...

AFAIK Geforce and Athlons conflict a little so you better take a check on that first.

-------------------------
-Now Working on Pokemon like Engine!

1.) Athlon and geForce1 had many compatability problems (because of Mobos, but thats probably fixed now)

2.) All versions of Windows form now forth(excluding WinMe) are based on the Win2000(NT) kernal. If you stick with Win9X, your going to be lacking a lot (especially if you plan to do multiplayer)

3.) Ignore irrelevant information. If your planning on doing games in D3D, Glide support relly shouldnt be an issue (how many games support Glide exclusively?). Why the hell would you develop Windows games on a Linux machine? That would be like studying Physics for a Math exam.

4.) WinNT (which Win2000 in fact is) was DESIGNED for networking and DEVELOPMENT. You can easily get a breakdown of all system resources in use in more detail than you want. Debug is easier too. Microsoft is really pushing Win2000 as the OS of choice, and if you plan on developing for XBox, Id say there really is no reason not to use it.

5.) I havent rebooted my Win2000 machine at work (except for when I installed the Retail build) since I had a beta version of it (something like six months ago). There are many things on WinNT to prevent crashing (most noticably in the form of DocWatson to prevent BSOD)

6.) Driver support isnt a problem for NEW hardware, which is what it seems that you are buying (the nVidia Detonator drivers for Win2000 work very well).

If you can though, you might want to wait for 64 bit Win2000, which should be better for obvious reasons.

What is a man without goals? A dead man.