FYI, I've been using the computer described below for 18 months with my Flex-3000, with no problems. It was a $300 machine in May 2009 when I bought it at overstock.com and also ordered my Flex-3000. This is with 1.18.x; I'm currently using 1.18.5. Note that it didn't work well at all with the PowerSDR demo. But when I plugged in a real Flex-3000, it worked fine.
I'm also wondering if my computer will work with 2.0.x - but it works fine with 1.18.x. More is always better with computers. But the 3000 is less demanding than the 5000 e.g., 96K max rate instead of 192. So the "minimum requirements" may be less than you think. Your machine may be OK, at least as a stopgap until you get to replace it. Only way to tell for sure is to try. When I was in your situation, I decided to go for it and I'm glad I did. 73, /Jack de K3FIV Flex: Flex-3000 PSDR: 1.8.1 Config: 96K/sec sample, 512 buffers Modes: SSB, PSK31, CW, AM, RTTY, Olivia, Domino, etc. Computer: Dell GX620, 3Ghz single-core, 2GB ram, clean new O/S install, dedicated to radio use, unneeded software removed (see tweakhound.com) Firewire: BYTECC 2+1 Ports PCIe Firewire 1394a Card Model BT-PE1394 w/standard Flex-supplied cable O/S: Windows XP Pro (automatic updates disabled - "Just Say No") Virus S/W: none (behind a NAT firewall, and not used for email etc.) Amp: None Tuner: MFJ 927 Mike: Heil Proset Plus Antenna: Carolina Windom, 135' @ 40' Station Software: HRD or DXLabs Suite (logging, digital:PSK31, callsign lookup, DX spots); VAC; com0com; VSPManager; N1MM for contesting; WSPR Other Software: Firefox browser Other connections: wired Ethernet to Internet Notes: CPU usage about 30% in typical use. Higher if many filters/EQs enabled (but these are normally not needed) Contact: [email protected] Location: CM88eu On Fri, 2010-11-12 at 08:26 +0000, Ian Wade G3NRW wrote: > I've been playing with 2.0.16 in demo mode, and really like it. So much > so that I am now looking (again!) at buying a 3000. The question now is, > is my PC good enough? I've read the KB article "What kind of computer > should I buy ...", and have come to the conclusion that my PC is below > the minimum requirements. > > However, before I discard it completely for Flex use, here are some of > its capabilities: > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Dell 8300 > Pentium 4A, 2533 MHz (4.75 x 533) > L2=512KB > Motherboard chipset: Intel Canterwood i875P > 1GB Dual DDR SDRAM 333MHz > Video: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB > Win XP Pro 32-bit > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > DPC Latency: > With no apps running: about 5uS > With 2.0.16 running: mostly 15-50uS, peaking very occasionally to > 150uS max > > 2.0.16 CPU utilization (demo mode, no Flex hardware, 192kHz audio): > Mostly around 45-50% > With NB enabled: up to 90% > > Bottom line: With no other apps running, is there any chance that this > will fly, if only as a stop-gap until I get a more suitable machine? Or > am I simply wasting my time? > _______________________________________________ Flexedge mailing list [email protected] http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexedge_flex-radio.biz This is the FlexRadio Systems e-mail Reflector called FlexEdge. It is used for posting topics related to SDR software development and experimentalist who are using beta versions of the software.
