I just recently purchased 5000a & Need Computer

Chris Tucker

A Flex 5000A with second receiver and tuner is being shipped to me. I want to buy a dedicated computer for it. Will a Core 3 or Core 5 processor be enough with 8 mb memory and a 128 mb Solid State Drive.  Any tips for me ? 

Bill -VA3WTB

A core 3 or 5 would be good, how ever I would increase the mem more than 8 mb

Chris Tucker

How about something like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Desktop-Computer-Tower-Core-i3-3-4GHz-8GB-256GB-SSD-HD-DVD-Wifi-Windows-10-PC/283834409132?hash=item4215d960ac:g:H4oAAOSw6N9ehLVZ
Are integrated graphic cards enough, or do you need a stand alone card ?

Al K0VM

The 5000a will require a Firewire interface be added to the PC.  Make sure it has an expansion slot available.

AL, K0VM

JohnK2CIB

I have run mine on an older but upscale HP i5 laptop successfully.  The laptop has an internal FireWire port and I have also used its PCMCIA slot for a firewire card with better results.  More recently I am using an older Dell i7 tower with a PCI 2-port FireWire card.  I am not sure that an i3 will be enough computing power when you want to run other programs simultaneously, such as a logging program and N1MM, FLDigi or WSJT-X.  8GB is a minimum amount of RAM.  An SSD is nice but not required.

JohnK2CIB

Today Gigaparts sent me an ad with this: Refurbished Lenovo ThinkPad T450S 14" Notebook PC - Intel Core i5-5300U 2.1GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, and 30 Day DOA Warranty.
I looked up the specs and it has an integrated Firewire port.  Here is the ad: https://tinyurl.com/yd4rp9f3

IU4IVR

I'm using an I7 with 16GB RAM and honestly..it's way too performant for powersdr in my opinion..but keep in mind when you deal with hardware interfaces you need rely on fast and reliable interrupt chain..with a powerfull pc even if you run just 7% of cpu (as in my setup) you get a more stable system..anyway stability is something that is related to OS too...
Powersdr running in default config demands 130MB of RAM in Win7.
The most important upgrade in my opinion is a good firewire internal pc card with a pretty good firewired cable ( good shield )!!!

Chris Tucker

A friend suggested I look at what are called Gaming Computers.
Here is one locally for cheap, it has a decent graphics card, it looks like

Gaming (Starter) PC Computer entry or perfect first computer (NEW BUILD)..
-MidTower Beautiful Cream/Aqua Corsair case
-EVGA GeForce 8400 1Gb Graphics Card HDMI-DVI EVGA Precision X1 installed (BRAND NEW) 53.00$ on Amazon
-Intel 2.8Ghz, 6Gb, 500Gb
-400Watt White power supply (BRAND NEW)
-80mm case fan (BRAND NEW)
-Built in wireless card (BRAND NEW)
-Internal DVD/RW
-Windows 10 (New install)
-Keyboard/Mouse Logitech MK120 (BRAND NEW in BOX NEVER TOUCHED)
-Spotless inside and out.............
-Connect to your wireless and monitor and your good to go.....
This computer was just built Two weeks ago and is perfect for a first computer or young gamer. If you have Internet at home and a monitor your set....
Looks overall brand new, and runs clean and quiet.. This would be perfect for a late grade school or Early Teen..

IU4IVR

check motherboard for a free slot for firewire card ..besides this,a good power supply might help to reject rfi from pc, the same applies for the case..motherboard is a bet..might be good or not..but if the pc is game focused should be ok!

WX7Y

yes about any computer from I3 and up with WIN 7 32 bit 4 GB RAM will run it A-OK of course the faster the better and especially running digital programs, VAC, VSP, DDUTIL and what ever else at the same time takes up memory and resources. 
BUT the most important thing is to find a FireWire card that will work with the FLEX.

I set up a OLD HP XEON server I got surplus that used to run E911 control server point, this thing only had 2 Gig Ram running Windows Server 2000 this was not going to cut it so I bought some Ram jamend 8 GB in it  updated the OLD 250GB hard drives with some new 1TB SSD's and loaded WIN10 64Bit this thing runs like a champ BUT no Sound card and no firewire card so I bought some good brand name cards (Sound Blaster sound card) FireWire that had the TI chipset and the FLEX drivers would not find the card though the computer found it just fine, being limited on the type of cards available for the Expansion ports on the Mother board I almost gave up hope BUT then I came across some SIIG Firewire cards and it came to life. 
Anyway this has ran fine now for about three weeks 24/7 on this server and is set up as a RCFORB remote base which has been active for MANY MANY years using other computers and Radios, It's also is running a couple server type utilities for our repeater system with plenty of resources left. 

SO the moral of the story is check out the minimal hardware requirement for PowerSDR and double that and make sure your mother board buss has ports for the cards that are available out there that work.
A OLD computer may cost you almost as much to bring it up to **** as a New computer and 
even a new computer probably WON'T have the ports you need for the fewer and fewer usable Firewire cards available so if you find one that works buy another one just ion case.

Hope this helps 
Bret
WX7Y

Paul - K6HR

Hello Chris, I suggest you look for an Intel i7 machine w/ 16GB RAM.  Something like an i7 K875 cpu, should be very affordable these days and has the horsepower you will need. Especially if you have any desire to run WSJT and/or any other 'cpu load intensive' software alongside your Flex. You will be disappointed that you didn't spend a few dollars more (or maybe even less!) to get an i7 cpu. I speak from experience. Unfortunately an i5, (and most certainly an i3) will be very disappointing later on. You'll also have a better experience using a decent video card as opposed to onboard graphics. They're are plenty of secondhand i7 machines out there. Keep looking until you find the right deal. And, as others have mentioned, make sure whatever you get has an available slot for the Firewire card. An i7 cpu will give you enough 'headroom' to run the Flex and a whole lot more. If you only want to run the Flex, and nothing else, an i5 will probably be ok.

Chris Tucker

Yes, it will be a dedicated computer

Chris Tucker

The guy who sold me the Flex 5000A is including a Firewire Card. 
Someone suggested I look at Gaming Computers, since most of them have stand alone graphic cards, etc, etc.

Clay N9IO

You might want to ask if the fire wire card is for the old IDE slots on the motherboard or the new current eIDE. Only reason I mention this is I picked up an HP I7 machine and it only had the newer eIDE slots so had to purchase a 4 come port card for eIDE. I have a bunch of 4 com port cards for IDE that are useless to me. I imagine you can probably find a motherboard with both just I have not seen óne. Just a consideration when you make the PC purchase. 73 de Clay N9IO

Chris Tucker

Thanks !

WX7Y

Remember 32Bit Windows can only access approx 3.5Mb of RAM so be sure you get a 64Bit version of Windows even if you put 32Gb in the computer the 32 bit OS will only find approx 3.5Mb. 

Clay N9IO

Yes Chris definitely want 64 bit, the HP I7 I picked up is 64 bit Win 10Pro, 16GB ram.

Plenty of overhead.

Chris Tucker

Thanks, this is good to know !

Chris Tucker

What about the hard drive ? 
The computer will be a dedicated Flex only computer, so would I be able to get by with only a 128 GB Solid State Drive ? 

Bill -VA3WTB

Yes your good to go,, the flex software does not use much space, and it leaves you with lots of room for any 3rd party software you need. The most space is used by windows.

David Fee

Chris, 128 Gb will be plenty.
I strongly advise not to put any other software on this system, as you say make it dedicated.
This will stop Windows from slowing down running background tasks from other programs and slowing down the radio.
I'd make an i5 with at least 8Gb ram the minimum.
The 5000 is a very, very good radio when teamed with a capable ( dedicated ) computer, I love mine !
Good luck and have fun !
Cheers....dave / VE7SGI.