Triggered by How many players would this VPS be able to take?: Are questions that essentially ask this accepted?
I am looking at x hardware ([specs]), and I'd like to know how well it does ([clearly defined task]) at [some load]. How many [tasks] could it handle at one time?
On one hand, it's not exactly asking for a recommendation. On the other, it does ask for information to help make a purchase decision.
Thoughts?
Disclosure: I provided an example on the linked question
I think this straddles the line of "pre-purchase" information. This question has already purchased the hardware and is really asking a configuration question: How many players can the hardware support.
However, the question could easily be adjusted to something like: "I want to support X players, what hardware do I need?" This would lead to the same answer I provided and would very clearly be a pre-purchase question.
Regarding the comment by ArtOfCode on where the line should be drawn, I think that depends on the requirements of the question and if it is truly a request for information about a possible purchase. If the question is getting into configuration, such as
Then it is headed off topic. These are clearly not related to the hardware or performance of the system.
The line, to me, is at the point where the user is tweaking a setting to get better performance.
