PowerMac config tweaking help

[Bascule]

Hi,

I'm about to place an order for either a Dual 2 or Dual 2.3 to replace my 15" Powerbook (mainly use it at a desk and plugged into an external monitor and keyboard)

And I just wanted to have your opinion on the following.

I'd like to add a second HD and RAID 0 them.
Q1: Would I just be able to just do this or would it mean a reinstall?
Q2: Anyone have this set up and can comment on the worth whileness?

Going to upgrade to the 9650 256MB gfx as I want to run two LCD's (this is supported isn't it?)

Going to stick 1Gig ram in(from apple) then add some more later

Crutical seem to recommend
DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • UNBUFFERED
Would this be okay? (2x1gb)

How good is the apple wireless keyboard and mouse?
Going to add BT so might go for this as well
My Games box (only reason to run windows, but also has cygwin + distcc installed ) has a BT keyboard and mouse as well, I'm assuming they will place nice together.
Infact thinking aloud now Id probably want to only use the apple one when I was using both machines at once as the logitech is a very nice keyboard.

Also, I'm in no rush sd I'm off on Holiday on the 10th so I might as well wait for

Thoughts?
Advice?

Cheers

 

[deebster]

Yes, you can run dual monitors from either the stock or the upgraded graphics card.

Unless you enjoy throwing cash away do not buy RAM from Apple. The extra you fork out for that !GB might go much of the way towards the second hard drive you want.

If you go through the Crucial computer model selector pages then the RAM you buy is guaranteed to work. There are other options too, like newegg and macsales in the US.

I would do some sums and work out just how much extra you are paying for the BTO options and see if you can get them cheaper elsewhere. Maybe some of them are worth getting at the point of purchase, such as the graphics card, and I haven't really looked at PM specs so don't know the additional costs, but you could end up saving quite a bit by ordering a (mostly) stock model and doing the extras elsewhere.

 

[Bascule]

Yes, you can run dual monitors from either the stock or the upgraded graphics card.

Unless you enjoy throwing cash away do not buy RAM from Apple. The extra you fork out for that !GB might go much of the way towards the second hard drive you want.

If you go through the Crucial computer model selector pages then the RAM you buy is guaranteed to work. There are other options too, like newegg and macsales in the US.

I would do some sums and work out just how much extra you are paying for the BTO options and see if you can get them cheaper elsewhere. Maybe some of them are worth getting at the point of purchase, such as the graphics card, and I haven't really looked at PM specs so don't know the additional costs, but you could end up saving quite a bit by ordering a (mostly) stock model and doing the extras elsewhere.

Hi, thanks for that, think your right about the keyboard I'll have a check.
The ram thing will depend, as the Dual 2 only has the 4 slots and I want at least 2Gig

 

[broken_keyboard]

I have a dual 2.0 with 2 HDs. I have used them as a RAID 0 and just separately. Not much speedup with the RAID, but it works. You do have to reformat to switch from RAID to non-RAID.

Don't waste your money on the wireless kb unless you have a real need to sit far away from the computer. It's just a gimmick...

Overall a real pleasure to use though. Tiger is great on this thing.