VrOne
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ON-LINE REFERENCE DOCUMENTATION CARDINAL SYSTEMS, LLC 386-439-2525 www.cardinalsystems.net |
A SAMPLE BUILD IT YOURSELF COMPUTER – EKit875 - AGP
Description
The following computer example is a single processed, hyper-threaded computer with an 800Mhz Front Side Bus with Dual Channel memory. This computer is well suited for all Vr Mapping applications including stereo roaming. A computer to be used for stereo compilation should have at least one gigabyte of memory and a computer to be used for image processing and orthophoto production should have two or more gigabytes of memory.
Below is listed the major components of several computer that we have built at Cardinal Systems and use for software development and demonstration. Also listed in blue italics is the authors’ opinion of that component. Items such as disk drive data cables are not listed here. Please read the manufacturers specifications for more information about each component.
NOTE: The data listed below is for information purposes. Cardinal Systems does not guarantee or endorse any of the products listed. Cardinal Systems does not guarantee this information to be correct and the opinions listed are from our experience and may not reflect your experience with these products. The user assumes all responsibility and liability for the use of this information.
Date: September 1st 2003
Revised: September 23rd 2004
Photos of Computer
Component List
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Component |
Manufacturer Web page Part # |
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Motherboard
Asus P4C800 Deluxe i875P P4 Intel 875P Chipset - 800
MHz FSB - Dual-Channel DDR400 Memory
- Intel Hyper-Threading
Technology - AGP
Pro/8X slot - 3COM
Gigabit LAN Opinion: This seems to be a
great motherboard with many on board features. The 800 MHz Front Side Bus combined with
Dual Channel memory and an 8X AGP graphics slot makes for great graphics
performance. Since manufacturers sell
more single processed motherboards than duals. These boards seem to be more
reliable and bug free than their dual processed brothers. |
ZipZoomFly 240311 |
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Processor
Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 Processor Northwood 3GHz, 800MHz
FSB, Socket 478 The new Intel® Pentium® 4 processor at 3 GHz with an
advanced 800 MHz system bus offers higher levels of performance, creativity
and productivity. Based on Intel® NetBurst™ micro architecture and built with
Intel's 0.13-micron technology. The Pentium 4 processor at 3 GHz –
3.2 GHz with an advanced 800 MHz system bus also supports Hyper-Threading
Technology, enabling you to multitask more efficiently when you run demanding
applications at the same time. Opinion: Hyper-threading =
WOW! This feature makes it possible to
perform almost like a dual-processed computer with a single processor. Why the 3.0GHz processor instead of the
3.4Ghz? For graphics processing the
computer is normally bound by bus and memory speed. Although the ASUS P4C800 motherboard keeps
the processor busy, the speed increase of the 3.4GHz processor is not worth
extra price. If you have the money buy
the 3.4GHz version or some speed in between.
If you want to save some money go with the 2.8 or 2.4 Ghz processor. You won’t see a huge performance
difference. Just make sure it supports
Hyper-threading. |
ZipZoomFly 80646-800 |
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Memory
Kingston HyperX memory is designed based on the latest DDR
specifications available, and is 100% tested at Opinion: Although the ASUS
motherboard supports several memory speeds, try to use 400Mhz memory. Be very careful when configuring 2GB of
memory in 4 SIMMS. Although the
Kingston HyperX memory is not listed on the ASUS web page as memory tested
with Asus P4C800. We have used the
memory listed here in 2GB (4 SIMM) configurations without problems. Notice that we configure memory in multiple
SIMMS. This allows dual-channel memory
access. |
ZipZoomFly 80097-8 |
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Memory
WINBOND
(W942508CH-5), 512MB DDR DIMM 184pin, PC3200 400MHz, non-ECC, CL2.5, 6 Layer
(OEM With Manufacturer Lifetime Warranty) Opinion: Although the ASUS
motherboard supports several memory speeds, try to use 400Mhz memory. Be very careful when configuring 2GB of
memory in 4 SIMMS. Check the ASUS web
page to find the memory chips that have been tested with the Asus
P4C800. We have used the memory listed
here in 2GB (4 SIMM) configurations without problems. Notice that we configure memory in multiple
SIMMS. This allows dual-channel memory
access. |
KTIUSA WB-DDR400512 |
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Case
Antec
Performance Plus Series Plus1080AMG Power
Supply: 430W True430 - TruePower power supply installed ATX12V, for AMD and
Intel systems including P4 - quieter, more stable, more powerful - Front
mounted USB & IEEE1394 (FireWire) ports - Washable Air filter on the
front - Side panel fans (installed) for maximum cooling of video card - Lockable swing out side panel with a
handle - Quick release drive bays with release lever- Snap-in fan mounts-
Drive rails for 5.25" devices - Easy installation: Swing-out side panel,
quick release drive cage, snap in fan mounts Opinion: Roomy and easy to work with. No need for an operating manual to open the
case like some. Comes with a 430 Watt
Power Supply. It’s a large and heavy
case and is bulky to carry and ship. |
ZipZoomFly 140108 |
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Case
Game hard. Travel easy.
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ZipZoomFly 140109 |
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Mitsumi DW-7801TE DVD+R/+ The
internal drive burns DVD +RW/+R as well as CD-R / CD-RW discs. With 4X write
speed and 4.72 gigabytes of storage capacity on a blank DVD, Mitsumi makes it
easy to backup up your important data as well as share home movies with
friends and family*. The DW-7801TE can also burns CD-R and CD-RW's up to 16X
speed, allowing you to make custom music CDs to play at home or on the road.
The DW-7801TE also supports Rewritable DVD and CD formats. Opinion: Who knows? This one was well priced
and seems to work. There are a million
choices for CD/DVD drives out there.
Be careful; there are two DVD formats, a plus (+) and a minus
(-). We try to stick with the plus
format. |
ZipZoomFly 174300 |
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Keyboard
Microsoft Basic Keyboard OEM Opinion: This is a small,
light keyboard. There are a million
choices. Some have the necessary
buttons and others have too many buttons and take over your desk. Do I really
need a single button on my keyboard to check e-mail? |
ZipZoomFly 211212 |
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Mouse
Microsoft WheelMouse Optical USB/PS2 Experience
the precision of optical technology. Microsoft’s® new Wheel Mouse Optical
brings the precision and accuracy of Microsoft® IntelliEye® optics to a more
affordable mouse. Accelerated scrolling reacts to how quickly the wheel is
rolled, saving time and effort. The three buttons-including the wheel
button-can be reprogrammed easily to perform popular commands with a single
touch. Opinion: Optical is the ONLY way to go. More accurate than the old trackball
kind. There are no moving parts except
the buttons and wheel. No more
cleaning everyone else’s hair out of the trackball. |
ZipZoomFly 200404 |
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Western Digital's WD Caviar 7200 RPM EIDE hard drives are
the performance champions for advanced desktop personal computers. The latest
drives achieve world-class densities and a wide range of drive capacities
ideal for storing Internet downloads, music and video files. WD Caviar 7200
RPM drives offer an Ultra ATA/100 interface, low seek times and up to 100
MB/s data transfer rates, all of which add up to a fast data delivery system. Opinion: Western Digital, Hitachi
(IBM), Maxtor and Seagate all make great disk drives. Just make sure to get at least 7200 RPM
drives. The 8Mb or greater buffer size
is nice should be a requirement.
Notice these are ATA drives which perform well. If you want more speed and want to spend
more money for less storage you may use SCSI (Small Computer Systems
Interface) drives. With the ATA drives
we are almost to the one-dollar per Gigabyte price for disk drives. The ASUS P4C800 motherboard supports ATA
Serial Drives, which will be a nice feature for the future. NOTE: Disk drives
are a fast moving technology and the information above may be dated. There are 250Gb drives available. Just make sure they are at least 7200 RPM
and try to get 8Mb or greater buffer size. The next technology
in disk drives should be the Serial ATA drives. These drives should be as fast or faster
than the Ultra ATA drives but interfacing is easier and they have to ability
to be hot-swapped when configured in a drive sled. Our testing shows you should feel
comfortable trying the new Serial ATA. |
ZipZoomFly 101203 |
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Floppy Disk Drive
Mitsumi MTM43W 1.44MB 3.5in Floppy Disk Drive Opinion: Do we really use these anymore?
We still put one in for old times sake. |
ZipZoomFly 110403 |
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Operating System
The
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional operating system is the best choice for
businesses of all sizes. Windows XP Professional integrates the strengths of
Windows 2000 Professional—standards-based security, manageability, and
reliability—with the best business features of Windows 98 and Windows Me—Plug
and Play, simplified user interface, and innovative support services—to
create the best desktop operating system for business. Whether your business
deploys Windows XP Professional on a single computer or throughout a
worldwide network, this new operating system increases your computing power
while lowering the total cost of ownership for desktop computers. Opinion: Windows 2000 is a good operating
system. Windows XP is a great
operating system. It’s almost as good
and reliable as UNIX. We recommend Windows
XP and do not recommend Windows 95/98/ME. |
ZipZoomFly 604631 |
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Graphics Card
Wildcat II 5110 The combination of the Wildcat II 5110's
dual-pipeline-powered architecture, increased Wildcat chipset speed, and
highly tuned geometry engine offers the highest graphics performance for the
price. Opinion: This is a good
performing card although it’s an older card and harder to find. VrTwo roams reasonably well with the
5110. Advantage: Can be found cheap
especially on e-Bay (If you don’t want a warranty). It is capable of a 120Hz refresh rate at
1280x1024 resolution. Disadvantages:
Is only an AGP 4X card, which is a slower transfer rate than the newer 8X
cards. Requires an AGP Pro 50 slot
(which is included in the Asus P4C800 Motherboard). |
3Dlabs 5110 |
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Graphics Card
Wildcat III 6110 Complete OpenGL® 1.3 geometry acceleration -- The Wildcat III
6110 uses a highly-tuned T&L engine to accelerate the complete OpenGL 1.3
pipeline, including all geometry operations, triangle setup, texturing, and
pixel operations Opinion: This is a good
performing card and has been proven to be reliable. VrTwo roams well with the 6110 and is about
20% faster than the 5110. Advantage:
Can be found cheap especially on e-Bay (If you don’t want a warranty). It is capable of a 120Hz refresh rate at
1280x1024 resolution. Disadvantages:
Is only an AGP 4X card, which is a slower transfer rate than the newer 8X
cards. Requires an AGP Pro 50 slot
(which is included in the Asus P4C800 Motherboard). |
3Dlabs 6100 |
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Graphics Card
PNY Quadro4 980 XGL AGP 8X 128MB DDR The Quadro®4 8X AGP XGL offers twice the bus bandwidth
between the processor and the graphics card, increasing data throughout for
graphically intense applications. Quadro®4 8X AGP also features NVIDIA's
revolutionary nView multi-display technology offering improved productivity
for every workstation professional. The Quadro®4 980 XGL comes standard with 128MB of on-board
DDR SDRAM graphics memory, nfiniteFX II programmable graphics pipeline,
Lightspeed Memory Architecture II (LMA II) and dual DVI-I outputs. Opinion: This a newer graphics card and is
based in the NVIDIA chipset. A
reliable, professional and well made card.
Keep in mind that NVIDIA has made about a billion cards for the gaming
crowd. Its AGP 8X interface make it excellent for roaming in VrTwo. The Quadro4 roams about 20% faster than the
Wildcat III 6110 and doesn’t require a power hungry AGP Pro 50 slot. The size of this card is about half that of
the Wildcat 5110/6100 cards and uses a standard AGP 8X slot instead of a
power hungry AGP Pro 50 slot.
Advantages: Fast, well thought out and easy to configure. Disadvantages: It is capable of only 100Hz refresh
rate at 1280x1024 resolution. This is not a big issue because we do not
detect flicker at refresh rates of 100 and better. There are more Wildcat cards in production
in photogrammetric mapping than Quadro4s but we expect to see more of these
new cards if NVIDIA continues to produce such excellent cards. |
ZipZoomFly 322969 |
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Monitor
Cornerstone 22IN CRT 2048 x 1536 @85Hz Model - p1750 Black The p1750 is optimized for Cornerstone's highest
resolution levels at 2048 x 1536 at 85Hz. This professional series monitor
uses the Mitsubishi natural flat Ultra Bright Aperture Grille tube delivering
bright and vibrant colors and stunning graphics. This flat glass monitor uses
enhanced anti-glare techniques making this monitor ideal for all lighting
environments. Opinion: A huge, heavy
monitor with great resolution and the ability of 120Hz refresh rate for
stereo viewing. Well priced and almost
as good as a Sony Trinitron. If you’re
going to stare at a stereo screen all day you should have a good monitor. |
Monitors Direct http://www.monitorsdirect.com/ p1750 |
