I said this would not be a computer-orientated series, and that's true; but we do need to discuss some related matters here. It would be a bit strange if you could run a CNC system without a computer, and there are some factors which fundamentally affect how we connect the computer to a CNC machine, so let's discuss those now. There are some choices to be made concerning computer systems, governed by the requirements of Mach3, and the issues of the parallel port and the use of Windows XP or Windows 7, as mentioned in Part 1. The computing requirements for running Mach3 are low, and a powerful, fast and expensive computer is not required. In some respects, you will not want the latest all-singing all-dancing computer system because of issues with latency and jitter (see Part 1). The latest generation of computers feature all manner of ECO-friendly power-saving features which tend to wreak havoc with latency and jitter, so don't feel you are missing anything if you run Mach3 with an old computer.
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