TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: System Requirements From:"Sandy Harris" <sharris -at- dkl -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Wed, 10 May 2000 10:20:25 -0400
Bonita White wrote:
>
> Good morning all,
>
> I need hardware requirement information, please. I need to go give my
> boss the specification for my new system. Since this is the first time
> anyone has ever asked me what I actually need, of course I have no idea
> what to say. :-) What I do know is the software that I will need
> installed on my system. I will be running PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro,
> Acobat, FrameMaker, RoboHelp, Microsoft Office Professional, Micorsoft
> Publisher, and my internet system. I have asked for a CD writer, sound
> card, etc. So, what should I ask for as far as system requirements are
> concerned? I want to know what you think for memory, disk space, the
> whole nine yards.
You don't specify a CPU architecture or an OS. Can you consider a Mac G4 or are
you stuck with a PC? I'll assume PC, though if I got to buy a tech writer system
(and was forced to use commercial software, rather than Linux), my first choice
would be a G4 and the big flat screen.
It is nearly impossible to have too much glass. If you're getting a new monitor
with the system, consider something like Viewsonic ps790 19" or, if the budget
is generous, a 21". Hitachi's 21" is gorgeous. 17" is absolute minimum.
To go with that, get a good video card. As someone says elsewhere in the thread,
Matrox are one good possibility. Likely there are others. An extra $100 spent on
a faster video card will bring much more real benefit than an extra $100 of CPU.
Get enough memory. Start with 128 megs; this is the largest readily available
size of DIMM. It is likely enough for the software you list. If not, it is easy
to add more later.
One very simple diagnostic for memory is to listen for swap activity. Many systems
use virtual memory, using disk to emulate additional memory when they run out of
the physical stuff. If you hear a lot of disk activity when you are not saving
files, the virtual memory is in heavy use and you urgently need to add more RAM.
Access speed of RAM is measured in nanoseconds, of disk in milliseconds.
The payoff from this can be huge.
Aside:
"Memory is like orgasm. You can fake it, but its better if you don't have to."
I've seen this attributed to Seymour Cray. Can anyone verify the attribution?
Why are you getting a CD writer? If you need it to make CDs for distribution,
fine. On the other hand, a Zip drive is better for backups, or some larger
removable media drive if you have masses of data. Consider adding such a drive
even if you have the CD writer.
On the budget end of the system scale, consider Intel Celeron or AMD K6-II or III processors. For high-end, Intel P-III or AMD
Athlon. In either range, the AMD
product has higher performance at the same clock speed, especially on graphics
applications which take advantage of its 3D-Now extra features.
For P-III, Celeron and Athlon, all the cache is built into the CPU. For K6, there
is additional cache on the motherboard. If you are buying a K6 system, you should
strongly prefer a large motherboard cache. e.g. I have a Tyan board with 2 megs.
Look for memory speed. Going from PC-100 to 133 RAM speed has a substantial
effect on performance. Newer technologies like RAMbus or RDRAM perform even
better, but cost too much last I looked. See if this has changed.
