i hardware

[pctech]

Nice desktop config

Got my eye on a new i7 based system when finance allows

[pdu]

Seriously, do, they are probably the most impressive leap forward I have ever seen in computing, and I began my tech life on a C64 and an 8088 PC.  For a speed comparison, my laptop is a core2duo 2.66ghz with 4gb ram and a 7200rpm laptop disk, waiting for that to respond after getting used to an i7 is like watching paint dry, as a result, I very rarely use it, and if I do, it only ever runs thunderbird and putty, I simply haven't got the patience to run most other apps on it.  I realise that sounds stupid, when I got it, I was perfectly happy, but that's what an i7 does to you.  Although the cost of a decent i7 build is high, the value for money is extremely good.

[Glenn]

I've been trying to justify the following build;

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58
Intel i7 920 D0 Stepping
Patriot Viper Extreme Performance 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 1600MHz Triple Channel Kit
ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card

[Gary]

Seriously, do, they are probably the most impressive leap forward I have ever seen in computing, and I began my tech life on a C64 and an 8088 PC.  For a speed comparison, my laptop is a core2duo 2.66ghz with 4gb ram and a 7200rpm laptop disk, waiting for that to respond after getting used to an i7 is like watching paint dry, as a result, I very rarely use it, and if I do, it only ever runs thunderbird and putty, I simply haven't got the patience to run most other apps on it.  I realise that sounds stupid, when I got it, I was perfectly happy, but that's what an i7 does to you.  Although the cost of a decent i7 build is high, the value for money is extremely good.

I had an i7 Alienware last year I must admit somethings were very fast like scanning my drives, some not so fast, it depends what you are using it for, if you are doing lots of Cad work or serious gaming then they are great,  but for what I do, browsing, email, general surfing I did not notice a vast difference, sadly the machine failed. I ended up with an iMac now, which I love, core 2 duo 3.33ghz 8GB DDR3 Ram and a 1TB HDD, ATI 4670 Graphics card. its fast enough for my usage. The i5's are nice though for a halfway house if you don't need hyperthreading,

[pctech]

Sadly alienware were acquired by Dell and so the quality is bound to suffer.

[zappaDPJ]

That was one of the strangest acquisitions I've ever come across, I don't see how it could benefit either concern.

[pctech]

Well my first and last dealing with Dell was about 4 years ago.

I bought one of their flagship gaming rigs (XPS 600 as it was then) with Pentium D 3.2, dual Nvidia 7900GTX graphics cards etc.

first machine arrived all bashed up and when I started it the fans sounded as though they were going to give out, their own diagnostic package threw up a thermal warning.

Back it went, next two systems didn't reach me as the packaging was damaged when it came off the boat from Ireland.

Best thing was they refunded my credit card quick.

Went to Mesh computers in the end.

[Gary]

Sadly alienware were acquired by Dell and so the quality is bound to suffer.

Alienware have been owned by Dell for a fair few years but Alienware kept thier manufacturing plant in ireland, mine was out of that, but the build quality was awful, you do not expect screws to fall out the case when you open it to see what that rattling was, let alone memory not being put in dual channel, and then the memory produced so many faults on mem test it was sickening  It was a £3000 machine using the then i7 extreme, not long after that Alienware shut down in Ireland, and are now built in Poland. I would not touch Dell or Alienware. The best Windows PC I had was a Voodoo rage, Canadian import but worth every penny.

Looking at the i3 which is kind of a C2D replacement the specs on them are not that much better than C2D, I was most surprised.

[pctech]

Yep the errrr hrrrm I bought was manufacturered in Ireland too.

[pdu]

Self build It's the only way to go

[Simon]

I used to think that, and have built several for myself and for other people, but these days, I just couldn't be arsed, and would prefer to get something built for me to spec, next time I need a new PC.  Unless, of course, I get a Mac.   

[pdu]

And you're far too smart to get a Mac, I'm sure

[Simon]

 

[Gary]

And you're far too smart to get a Mac, I'm sure

So you are saying people who by Macs are not smart? We don't need such big Umbrellas that's for sure 

[Steve]

 

And you're far too smart to get a Mac, I'm sure

[pdu]

So you are saying people who by Macs are not smart?

Lol, well, just look at how much Mac owners get to pay for intel hardware and a mostly open source operating system.

[pctech]

And people thought Bill Gates was bad.

Seriously Steve Jobs has surpassed him by some measure I think.