I want to build my own pc for my Davis weather monitor II. what specs should I consider for one to run 24 HRs per day and stay cool.\Thanks
It would be good to tell us exactly what applications you want to run. Personally I would recommend starting with an Intel Atom D525MW motherboard. It’s inexpensive, low power, has no fans, real serial ports, and enough power to run win 7, your weather software, and a bunch of other stuff with ease.
I too have been asking this question for a few weeks.
I would be running only Weather Display software.
Netbooks are available at a low cost but could they handle 24/7/365?
Niko, could you suggest all other components to go with the D525MW board to complete the pc.
Thanks.
I have a mini-ITX box computer with an Intel Atom Motherboard running XP. It is v compact, on the wifi network of the house and the hard-drive is also shared storage for our family users. The box also runs RadarBox Virtual Radar. The weather station had to be placed in the kitchen so the weather station wireless sensors would work so I plugged the computer into the kitchen TV for a screen and bought a Keysonic Mini Wireless Keyboard with touch pad. If I want to see what is going on on the computer from around the house I use remote desktop to the computer.
I bought this box as an ex-demo from e-bay for
I did go for Ubuntu 11.04 on a
MICRO ITX Intel Atom Dual Core 525 2x1.8Ghz 160GB 4GB DDR3 DVDRW dedicated comp
20068284mm
265 EUR here in the Netherlands, very silent cooling and handsome (however still in testfase with WD 8))
I picked up a cheapie desktop computer from Best Buy… Every now and then they sell a Compaq or HP, or Lenovo box for around $300 to get people in the store. I got mine a year ago for $290. I know Best Buy is only in North America, but other places must sell these low cost loss leaders.
It’s really cheap. It has a barebones postage-stamp sized motherboard and there are no slots to add anything. But it does have a 2.2 Ghz dual core Intel Pentium processor, 4 Gigs of RAM, a 500 Gig Hard drive and a DVD/CD Burner. It also came with 64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium installed.
A keyboard and mouse were included, but no monitor. I had a spare monitor so all was good… Now I have two computers on the desk. The main one runs Linux and the other runs Win7 with Wdisplay going full time… A nice bonus is that If I have the need to do something in Windows, I use the cheapie… No need to emulate Windows in Wine or Vbox…
I wounder if the graphics would support GR3 radar program? Also NexStorm?
Mark
I use a Dell Studio Desktop with the monitor off when not actually doing something with the system. The CPU is about 12" x 4" x 8" and fits under a shelf on top of my desk. I have been very happy with it. You can have it lay flat or stand on its side. It was a huge improvement over the huge desktop I had been using before.
I’ve been using a Jetway JBC231C98-52WD micro computer for about a year now and am very happy with it. Running WD and Wxsim with no problem. Power saving are GREAT compared to the IBM ThinkCentre I was using previously.
Cheers
MikeyM
One thing I would definitely look for, is one with a lot of memory. 8 gigs is what I have, but since I have other things running too, memory is something you want to have. Then a honking hard drive, most do, and an external one for storing weather data, you log and data files … then you should be fine.
I have a Gateway DX8460, with 8 Gig of Ram, 1TB hard drive and a very fast DSL connection, 40mbps down and 5mbps up. I also have 3 computers sharing that modem as well as my Iphone, my granddaughters ipod/computer. and 4 IP cameras.
So What I would do as I said, get the best you need, a little more if you can, invest in a good modem and router, and channel the rest of your budget into the internet connection and service.
I think you’ll love it.