Mach 3 G540 Pci card.

[Torchhead]

The only thing listed that is different is the Video. The Dells have internal video (that can be turned off and a PCI video card installed) BUT the video on the Dell does not use shared RAM with the CPU and does not cause problems. We are running a shop full of GX260, GX270 and GX280 Dells P4 from 2.4G to 3G and they all work great for running MACH. I even use one from my MACH development computer. XP is stable and efficient and just about any card you might elect to add later will have tried and tested XP drivers.

[ger21]

MACH will NOT run in Windows 64 bit version.

Actually, Mach3 will run in a 64 bit windows. But, you CAN NOT use the parallel port. You'd need to use a Smoothstepper or other external motion device.

[Ezra]

It's your money, but for about $125.00 you can get a refurbished Dell with 3GHZ .............

Ebay auction ID # 170532955611

Then you can buy your whiz-bang 64 bit, killer PC to do your CAD and CAM work on (or not and save several hundred bucks!)

MACH will NOT run in Windows 64 bit version.

TOM caudle
www.CandCNC.com

Torchhead,
for some reason i cant send PM's on here so i will say it publicly...........thanks for your post, i did buy the above mentioned computer and just finished installing windows xp.........the $200 bucks i saved is now being routed to the steppers and Gecko

again, thanks

[Torchhead]

Torchhead,
for some reason i cant send PM's on here so i will say it publicly...........thanks for your post, i did buy the above mentioned computer and just finished installing windows xp.........the $200 bucks i saved is now being routed to the steppers and Gecko

again, thanks

You are more than welcome. Sometimes we lose perspective of what the role of the PC is with MACH and a machine. If you pretend that it's a Controller rather than a PC and should be dedicated and optimized for a single task then it's easier to not get bogged down in things like missing ports or OS compatibility issues. A lot of embedded industrial computers in controllers don't use the latest fast processor or even Windows as an OS.

We are playing with a tiny processor card that we are working to load Linux and EMC2 (From SD Chip). It will have a parallel port but to soothe the hand-wringers we will call it a "High Speed CNC bus". The whole thing will fit into a space smaller than a shoe box.

TOM caudle
www.CandCNC.com

[Ezra]

The only thing listed that is different is the Video. The Dells have internal video (that can be turned off and a PCI video card installed) BUT the video on the Dell does not use shared RAM with the CPU and does not cause problems. We are running a shop full of GX260, GX270 and GX280 Dells P4 from 2.4G to 3G and they all work great for running MACH. I even use one from my MACH development computer. XP is stable and efficient and just about any card you might elect to add later will have tried and tested XP drivers.

Hi Torchhead,

Ok, so am I correct when I say I need to next purchase a PCI video card?

When I install it, will the Dell's internal video card be automatically turned off?

Do you have a good source to purchase the above mentioned PCI card?

After buying the PCI card, will I then be all set to operate my Joe's 2006?

FedEx tracking number says it arrives tommorow

Thank You