new computer w/AMD CPU-again

[Fire-medic]

I just had my local independent shop which built my AMD-64 bit CPU-based computer about 8 years ago rip-out the guts and replace them w/a new power supply, ASUS F1 A-55-M LX Plus R2.0 motherboard, 4 GB RAM, another AMD (A6 3670, 2.7GHz, 4.0 total cache), Samsung 120 GB SSD hard drive (solid-state!) and Samsung DVD read/write device. I also upgraded to a 64-bit O.S., Microsoft 7 w/M.S. Office Suite. I don't have much-need for excessive amounts of storage, so I didn't need to go any-higher on the hard-drive capacity. In 8 years, I probably hadn't used 1/4 of the 160GB it was originally built with (two 80 GB Seagates in a RAID O configuration)

My old system had begun to work erratically, and I decided to replace it before it quit completely.

Man, this thing rips! It boots up in about 1/3 the time and opening another internet session, the site 'hits' in about 2 seconds. My old system was built when Alien was still independent, and pentium 4 was still the Intel top-of-the-line. I bought the components w/the recommendation of my son who is a U-Miami computer science major, but he was in law school then and I didn't want to bother him to build it for me. Anyway, it's an ATX case w/neon, clear cutouts, and it was the closest thing I could find that resembled an Alien case w/o paying $2K+ for the system. So now, it's like one of those vintage hot-rods w/completely modern running gear. Or like going from a 1969 KO CB750 to a VMax.

I just picked-it up tonight and am still checking it out, but the speed it has is just such a great improvement. :clapping:Very happy w/the investment.

I have an Apple desktop at work and an Apple laptop for work out of the office, besides an iPad, all about a year-old, so I am used to the speed you can get w/a good system. I'm just glad to see the home 'granny-box' get updated. I'm itching to find something to upload so I can see if the uploads to sites occur any more-quickly. I know that's more a function of your ISP speed. Anyway, quite a difference from what served me so-well for so-long.

 

[Redbone]

I am running a Dell M6600 Precision laptop, 17" LCD/ touchscreen, Intel 4 core 64 bit i-7 2.2 GHz, 8GB DDR-3, 256 SSD Sata (Read 400 MB/c, Write 300 MB/s), AND Fire Pro M8900/ 2 GB GDDR5, Bluray rewritable drive, running W-7 Pro 64 bit, M Office Pro 2010, and run dual 22" monitors off a docking station. It's my work computer that I use at home as well. I use the laptop screen/ 22" monitor at home. I hook it up to my 50" Plasma TV to watch F1, Moto GP, and some football games that I can't get with my basic cable.

 

[Fire-medic]

Yeah, my wife wanted me to get a laptop to replace the tower, but I wanted to re-use the tower box w/new internals. Yours is well set-up for watching Vettel and Hamilton duke it out. Is your "84" bit a typo? I asked about getting a Blue-Ray drive and the owner told me that I could if I wanted but that it wasn't really necessary, and I agree w/him. I don't rent many videos, it's all 'streaming' now. I don't really have a need for the dual monitors but could set another up if I got the desire to. It is pretty-flashy to wipe the contents of one to the other & to open another session or doc, or whatever. For you it helps to keep track of your avatars, eh?:rofl_200:

 

[mr.maxx]

i just recently built a pc for my man cave with a SSD drive.....they rockunk:

 

[Redbone]

Yeah, my wife wanted me to get a laptop to replace the tower, but I wanted to re-use the tower box w/new internals. Yours is well set-up for watching Vettel and Hamilton duke it out. Is your "84" bit a typo? I asked about getting a Blue-Ray drive and the owner told me that I could if I wanted but that it wasn't really necessary, and I agree w/him. I don't rent many videos, it's all 'streaming' now. I don't really have a need for the dual monitors but could set another up if I got the desire to. It is pretty-flashy to wipe the contents of one to the other & to open another session or doc, or whatever. For you it helps to keep track of your avatars, eh?:rofl_200:

Yeah, that was a typo. :biglaugh: My director added it on after I had speced it out, he wanted to bing as close to $4000 for whatever reason and this was all he added! I really enjoy the screen real estate, especially working with remote desktops/ servers and the like.

 

[ZackDaniels]

SSD is the only way to go for laptops anymore IMO. They're more power efficient and super fast. Most of the problem with laptops has always been them being crippled with some crap 5400 RPM drive because 7200 RPM got too hot and drew too much power for most manufacturers to want to use stock.

That part there is going to be the biggest part of why the new computer feels so much faster than the old. The boot times, the apps loading, etc. That and Windows 7 is actually quite a lot faster than XP on anything but the oldest of old hardware.

 

[ninjaneer]

I'm pretty much over building rigs. It's not as rewarding as modding and riding the Max, nor as captivating as my new found interest, photography. Here's a slideshow and video of the water-cooled box I built 6 years ago. The radiator has since been replaced with "silent" fans and heatsinks galore.

The 2011 version has a different mobo (I forget which), hosting a new overclocked AMD processor (I forget which), and dual SLI-bridged video cards (I forget which). Hard drives have been upgraded to a set of two RAIDed 1-terabyte drives and two 500-gigabyte drives (I forget which and RPMs). The front panel now no longer has the card reader/floppy drive, light controller, and of course the radiator. To be quite honest, it's been a few months since I've been on Misfit because I've been dedicating my time on the family laptop and tablet, and so I'm not rightly sure of what the front panel consists of now. I am, however, pretty sure it now holds a 120mm intake fan. I think I still have the hard drive fan.

With all the fans blowing it's got a somewhat gentle hum, but because my "office" is in my master bedroom, I have it sitting on a sliding platform that slides into the bottom drawer of my desk. To pull out the heat from the drawer when the door's closed, I've got a couple of fans in a push-pull, temperature-controlled setup that draws in the cool air from the floor and evacuates the hot air out the top.
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The mobo has RAID 5 and 10 capability, so Misfit will probably turn into a NAS one of these days.

 

[Fire-medic]

My MS wireless mouse/keyboard gave up the ghost after I plugged it into the new rebuild, it worked for a day, then the keyboard took a permanent holiday & the mouse got herky-jerky. Multiple attempts at re-booting & re-loading the software did nothing except waste time. Gonna recycle it, bought a MS 2000 wireless mouse/keyboard on-sale, same setup, but encrypted, it works much smoother! $36 out the door @ Office Max. Miami is the home of TigerDirect but the closest CompUSA (same owner) is much further away than the O.Max.

So, I like the new speed & the better interface.

 

[RaWarrior]

It's funny to go get a computer from the thrift store that's like 20 years old with a yellowed trashy case then build a nice rig inside it.

Equivalent of a PC "sleeper".


I'm on year 4 of my Sager laptop. When built it was totally top shelf, 320gb 7200 drive, 4gb ram, 9800, 2.5ghz core 2 duo, GeForce 9800 graphics, and a 1920x1200 hi def screen.

It's aged pretty well. Upgraded to win7 64 bit since then, everything still works good. The battery is pretty pathetic, 30 min tops but it was only maybe 90 when new. The one surprising thing is the screen is still "stiff"...usually old laptops get a floppy wobbly screen that bounces as you type, this one still feels brand new. It spends 99% of it's life parked on a desk plugged in, so I don't care that it weighs like 15 lbs. Still plays all the latest videogames also, albeit not maxed out anymore like it used to.