RE: Reliability (was : In praise of Overclockers.co.uk)

["Keith Doxey" <ukha@xxxxxxx>]

Tim,

I have to start by saying that I have never overclocked a processor in my
life.

I NEVER push anything to or beyond the design limits.

I have repaired far too many sound systems that have been blown up because
they werent powerful enough. Any sound systems that I install are *always*
much bigger than the power actually needed so that it is run with a good
safety margin.

As Phil pointed out, for HA use reliability HAS to be the biggest
consideration. That is the reason many of us use HomeVision so as not to be
at the mercy of a PC which as we all know have a tendancy to fall over now
and again.

The example you quote of where you feel overclocking might be justified is
IMHO an example of where you DEFINATELY shouldnt overclock. You have
specified the type of application that will drive any processor to 100%
useage thereby generating the most heat and placing maximum stress on the
chip. To do that to a processor being driven beyond its design limits is
asking for trouble. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day
something will fail prematurely.

The safest way is to distribute the tasks amongst various machines. ie

1. Fileserver for Jukebox etc
2. Video Capture machine
3. HA Controller/Support machine
4. Desktop machine for normal Game playing/ Office work/Surfing/email etc
5. Other machines/tablets/PDA's in different rooms s per 4 above.

That is what most people on this list seem to be doing, partly as a result
of spare machines becoming available due to upgrades but also to minimse
the
impact of a single machine failure.

Remember the saying is....

*He who dies with the MOST toys Wins.*

NOT

He who dies with the fastest toy Wins.

Just my 0.02 <whatever_currency_we_are_supposed_to_quote> worth

Keith



-----Original Message-----
From: Timothy Morris [mailto:timothy.morris@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 10 February 2002 11:36
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] In praise of Overclockers.co.uk

<SNIP>
The only application that I can think of that is HA related, is editing
all that video that you guys seem to capture :) When you are trying to
edit in real-time you can't have enough power. For general office/web
apps a PIII 1GHz is more than enough.
</SNIP>