Subject: PC configuration for QM

From: "Dale A. Braden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 12:22:03 -0800 (PST)

Dear CCL,

I've looked at the CCL archives for info on this question, but the most
up-to-date advice is important.

I'm going to set up a PC/Linux system for doing quantum chemical
calculations (probably using Q-Chem and Red Hat Linux 5.0), and the
question is, What sort of hardware should I buy?  Rather than ask for
answers to this broad question, I'd like to suggest a system and solicit
criticisms of it. Here goes: 

I plan on getting a dual-cpu PentiumII 333Mhz motherboard (these have the
usual 512K L2 cache), 128Mb SDRAM, and two ultrawide SCSI drives (as large
and as fast as can be supported-- any recommendations here?).  Graphical
capability is less of a concern, because I won't be using graphical
interfaces to the QM software.  Tyan and Supermicro supply the
motherboards, and I'd probably go to Adaptec for the SCSI drives.

A system built around an Alpha chip is also a possibility, but I'm not
sure whether the Alpha is going to be developed any further, and I don't
know about compatibility issues between software, Linux, peripherals, and
the Alpha chip.  Also, I will probably have to install WindowsNT or '98 on
this system in order to use the usual word processing/spreadsheet stuff,
but I don't think this works with the Alpha architecture.

Any pitfalls I should be aware of, or special devices I should consider?
I'll certainly get the proper power supply and cooling fans for the
system.

Best wishes to all,

Dale

Dale Braden
Department of Chemistry
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1253
[email-masked]