Hi,
I think I am probably the most qualified to comment on this out of the
group... I work with the University of Arizona, but I am detached and
support a group of U. S. Geological Survey researchers.
The main package we use is ESRI ArcMap/ArcInfo.
The absolute most important item is RAM. Our base is right now 2GB in a
generic system, 3-4GB if we can justify the cost. Second is CPU power.
Dual Core is what we are going with now, but our budget is generally
2499.99, and we must purchase via Dell (I hate it, but the Department of
Interior has a sole source agreement with them).
The next most important item is monitor real estate. We have been going
dual DVI 19" Dell monitors. Another popular option is the 24" wide
screen dell. I don't like it as much as the dual 19", as you lose a lot
of height, and get a little less width.
Video cards help, but only if doing simulations. Any video card with
enough horse power to run dual monitors should be more than enough.
Decent Nvidia or ATI, preferably with dual DVI output. We have been
using X600 based in most of the Dells.
If I was doing a system today for one of my users:
Dell GX620 MiniTower
Intel Pentium D 840 (3.2GHz, Dual Core)
4GB DDR2 533MHz (4 Dimm)
dual 1905FP monitors
ATI Radeon X600 256MB Dual DVI
Firewire card
Dual 250GB SATA HD
1.44 FDD
Smart Card reader USB keyboard
Dell USB 2 button mouse
16x DVD+/-RW and 16X DVD drive
A215 speakers
3 year NBD onsite
Dell Federal keep your hard disk (defective drives are not returned).
Cost is under $2300ish
Harry
On Thu, 2006-03-16 at 14:34 -0400, Thane Sherrington (S) wrote:
> Does anyone know if GIS mapping software (the high-end stuff that
> cities use to map the area and overlay sewer lines, for instance)
> gains anything with a fast video card? From my reading, RAM and CPU
> seem more important.
>
> T
>
