It's Almost Time To Build A New Computer
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I may have to do things incrementally, as I can afford them, but it's time. Thanks to previous guidance from CP members, I've decided on a i5 CPU, rather than wasting cash on the i7 series, and I'm looking at motherboards other than SuperMicro for the first time. The price tag on those has gotten so out of whack with the rest of the market, I'm not sure they really want to remain in business. Servers maybe, but they obviously have no interest in being competitive in the desktop market. GigaByte and Asus are now in the running, though I haven't made up my mind. A question that still remains is, if I select Windows 7 64-bit for the OS, what software can I expect to stop working? All of it, some of it, or just Visual Studio? :)
Will Rogers never met me.
Roger Wright wrote:
I've decided on a i5 CPU, rather than wasting cash on the i7 series
I am just curious why people don't go for AMD processors. I have checked the CPU benchmarks and AMD processors take most of the top positions in 'Best Value' (price-performance) CPU's. I bought an AMD-ASUS combo 5 years back and have no problems with it till date (I have heard a lot about CPU getting heated up very quickly). Just bought another AMD processor a week back. The installation stuff is still remaining. Will complete it today or tomorrow. And I am quite hopeful about the performance.
..Go Green..
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Roger Wright wrote:
if I select Windows 7 64-bit for the OS
I have had no problems with the 64bit version, I don't have any old peripherals so there were no driver incompatibilities to worry about. Mind you I bought a reasonable HP desktop as my machine of choice, I really don't get a buzz out of building the dammed things so I go for a named brand and get the beastiest machine I feel comfortable paying for. It's quiet, has HDMI so I can use 2 monitors out of the box and is dramatically faster than the office machine.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
There are a lot of advantages to buying an off-the-shelf machine, foremost being the ability to make one phone call for warranty service. But I like building things, so I continue out of long habit. I have to admit that I have a long-standing bias against HP, though. I used to work in a military environment, which required absolute configuration control. When the HP suits arrived - they all wore the exact same blue suits then - to service a machine, we had to de-commision it and recertify it, because they would automatically upgrade it to the newest configuration without any documentation of the changes made. Their helpful "service calls" cost the American taxpayers many millions of dollars...
Will Rogers never met me.
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Roger Wright wrote:
I've decided on a i5 CPU, rather than wasting cash on the i7 series
I am just curious why people don't go for AMD processors. I have checked the CPU benchmarks and AMD processors take most of the top positions in 'Best Value' (price-performance) CPU's. I bought an AMD-ASUS combo 5 years back and have no problems with it till date (I have heard a lot about CPU getting heated up very quickly). Just bought another AMD processor a week back. The installation stuff is still remaining. Will complete it today or tomorrow. And I am quite hopeful about the performance.
..Go Green..
I really don't know why, but I feel very uncomfortable with trying an AMD CPU; it would be like switching to Linux for me. I know they make good processors, and lots of people love them, but I just can't make the switch. Many years ago, possibly before you were active in the industry, AMD created a bastard that was full of errors - the K5 series, IIRC - and I've never been able to shake that memory.
Will Rogers never met me.
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There are a lot of advantages to buying an off-the-shelf machine, foremost being the ability to make one phone call for warranty service. But I like building things, so I continue out of long habit. I have to admit that I have a long-standing bias against HP, though. I used to work in a military environment, which required absolute configuration control. When the HP suits arrived - they all wore the exact same blue suits then - to service a machine, we had to de-commision it and recertify it, because they would automatically upgrade it to the newest configuration without any documentation of the changes made. Their helpful "service calls" cost the American taxpayers many millions of dollars...
Will Rogers never met me.
Be thankful you weren't using Dell, they don't guarantee the configuration of any of their servers will be the same, even in the same batch/order. They just use the most convenient part! I haven't built a machine since the early 90s, I don't even know what inside them these days. I won't even go for a white box after the last one sounded like a landing zone.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
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Roger Wright wrote:
I've decided on a i5 CPU, rather than wasting cash on the i7 series
I am just curious why people don't go for AMD processors. I have checked the CPU benchmarks and AMD processors take most of the top positions in 'Best Value' (price-performance) CPU's. I bought an AMD-ASUS combo 5 years back and have no problems with it till date (I have heard a lot about CPU getting heated up very quickly). Just bought another AMD processor a week back. The installation stuff is still remaining. Will complete it today or tomorrow. And I am quite hopeful about the performance.
..Go Green..
Ankurm/ wrote:
I am just curious why people don't go for AMD processors.
Perhaps it's because they don't take most of the top positions in 'Best Performance' category?
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Ankurm/ wrote:
I am just curious why people don't go for AMD processors.
Perhaps it's because they don't take most of the top positions in 'Best Performance' category?
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I really don't know why, but I feel very uncomfortable with trying an AMD CPU; it would be like switching to Linux for me. I know they make good processors, and lots of people love them, but I just can't make the switch. Many years ago, possibly before you were active in the industry, AMD created a bastard that was full of errors - the K5 series, IIRC - and I've never been able to shake that memory.
Will Rogers never met me.
Roger Wright wrote:
Many years ago, possibly before you were active in the industry, AMD created a bastard that was full of errors - the K5 series, IIRC - and I've never been able to shake that memory.
I have no idea about this. But believe me, I never had issues with AMD processors. I always prefer them because it gives me the performance I want at a much better price than other(s). I am not a gaming freak so I always find AMD as a better option. I always wonder why people prefer Intel over AMD even if they don't need the "best" performance.
..Go Green..
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But then you should probably go for i7 in the first place, if "top performance" is your top priority (-. When talking about the best bang for your buck, AMD is the way to go.
Trust is a weakness.
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Damn, Dave, the mix of options has changed so much since the last build, I hardly know what I want - or why I should want it. It's only been about 4 years, but everything's changed!
Will Rogers never met me.
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I may have to do things incrementally, as I can afford them, but it's time. Thanks to previous guidance from CP members, I've decided on a i5 CPU, rather than wasting cash on the i7 series, and I'm looking at motherboards other than SuperMicro for the first time. The price tag on those has gotten so out of whack with the rest of the market, I'm not sure they really want to remain in business. Servers maybe, but they obviously have no interest in being competitive in the desktop market. GigaByte and Asus are now in the running, though I haven't made up my mind. A question that still remains is, if I select Windows 7 64-bit for the OS, what software can I expect to stop working? All of it, some of it, or just Visual Studio? :)
Will Rogers never met me.
I have no doubt that a chap of your experience and wisdom will have already thought of this but just in case: Ensure that the new motherboard has USB III, Sata III and triple channel memory.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”
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I may have to do things incrementally, as I can afford them, but it's time. Thanks to previous guidance from CP members, I've decided on a i5 CPU, rather than wasting cash on the i7 series, and I'm looking at motherboards other than SuperMicro for the first time. The price tag on those has gotten so out of whack with the rest of the market, I'm not sure they really want to remain in business. Servers maybe, but they obviously have no interest in being competitive in the desktop market. GigaByte and Asus are now in the running, though I haven't made up my mind. A question that still remains is, if I select Windows 7 64-bit for the OS, what software can I expect to stop working? All of it, some of it, or just Visual Studio? :)
Will Rogers never met me.
Don't go to the dark side... stick with WinXP. :-D
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Roger Wright wrote:
I've decided on a i5 CPU, rather than wasting cash on the i7 series
I am just curious why people don't go for AMD processors. I have checked the CPU benchmarks and AMD processors take most of the top positions in 'Best Value' (price-performance) CPU's. I bought an AMD-ASUS combo 5 years back and have no problems with it till date (I have heard a lot about CPU getting heated up very quickly). Just bought another AMD processor a week back. The installation stuff is still remaining. Will complete it today or tomorrow. And I am quite hopeful about the performance.
..Go Green..
No kidding. I have the Athlon II x4 630 in my system and an nVidia GTS 450 1 GB video card. Pretty much everything I throw at it runs buttery smooth with the exception of GTA 4 which stutters a little. Still looking for some configuration suggestions for it on the GTA Forums site, but the effect is only mildly distracting. For everything else, no problems what-so-ever. :) Flynn