[elky] Re: Building a PC
- From: "Jim" <jdos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <elky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 08:41:17 -0600
Winter is a really good time to build a new PC..
Have fun !
JD
-----Original Message-----
From: elky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:elky-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Ray Buck
Sent: Monday, November 30, 2009 8:12 PM
To: elky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [elky] Re: Building a PC
I've been considering the same thing: building a new desktop. The
one I'm using now is ok, but it's starting to get disk-bound. I've
got 4TB internal and 2 TB external Firewire drives. I'm running XP
Pro on a 3 ghz 2 core Intel chip with 2 gb memory...the max I can run on XP.
I bought this one pre-assembled with the XP install and 1 TB of disk
and the 2GB of RAM. It's pretty good, but the 360 watt power supply
is probably maxed out. The existing cooling fans are woefully
inadequate, so I have a 24" boxer fan blowing into the open
side. I've been running a program called Active SMART to monitor the
temperatures of the disk drives. If I don't use that big old
ventilation fan, the temps hit 50C pretty quick and alarms start to
go off. I've been looking into "case modding" on the web and I think
I found the cooling fan solution. It's in the attached photo.
http://bored-bored.com/cool/pc-case-mod-made-with-coolers/
I figgered that if I was gonna build one, I'd do it up big. A full
tower enclosure rather than a mid-tower like I have now and I'd add a
lotta stuff like those shown on this site:
http://www.neatorama.com/case-mod/
I'd wanna add the light show stuff and transparent case panels sorta
like this one:
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2004/06/09/orac3_part5/1
I'm not sure what motherboard I'd go with, but I'd want something
that could take a buncha RAM and run Windoze 7 on it to allow the use
of maybe 6gb. I'd also like to use a solid-state disk for memory
cache, or maybe install the OS to SSD (ok, Frank you can go nutz
about the acronyms...they're code words that will eventually reveal
the secrets of the universe, life and everything.) so that booting up
wouldn't require any physical disk access to load up. I'd think that
an 80 gb SSD would work pretty well for the OS, swap file space,
temporary files, etc. Those run about $350. I'd also want a 4-core
processor like Robert mentioned overclocked to 4ghz and that would
probably require a water-cooling system (I'm not kidding.)
The 3ghz AMD Phenom II X4 940 quad core chip seems to be priced
around $150, which, when compared to what I paid for a Pentium I at
90mhz 15 years ago is just about the same.
I haven't done any pricing yet, but $1000 seems like a reasonable
guesstimate. Ohh...I'd also need a real big power supply...maybe 1kw.
I guess I could kill some time and do up a spreadsheet of items and costs.
If ya got some suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em.
Ray
At 03:52 PM 11/30/2009, you wrote:
>I decided I needed a laptop, to be able to work around the house -
>keep an eye on the boys, etc. As I shopped I came to realize there
>are two classes of laptops: $300 Walmart specials or $1000+ fully
>featured laptops. Since a computer is a vital part of my business I
>need a workhorse, so as I shopped looking for power and light weight I
>found myself deep in the $1000 to $2000 range. The Sony Vaio Z series
>and Lenovo T400s were at the top of my list.
>
>As we've discussed before a laptop is a compromise, out of necessity
>to fit in such a small form factor. So I'm now thinking I'd rather
>build a powerful PC and buy a cheap, small laptop. Not a netbook, but
>a little larger - around 3lbs.
>
>I also like the ability to troubleshoot a PC... I can swap parts out
>if I have a hardware issue (which is rare in my experience with a PC).
>
>Build versus buy: there is no doubt I can buy a prebuilt PC that will
>do all I need, but these typically use the cheapest components. My
>Shuttle PC was a barebones built with quality components (I bought it
>built and upgraded parts along the way). My Shuttle has been very
>reliable - it's been on for almost the entire 4 years I've owned it.
>I will be building a full size PC, or possibly a mini ATX, but I doubt
>I'll do small form factor again - I just don't need the portability.
>
>I was impressed with my RMA experience with Corsair so I'm looking at
>Corsair ram and a little reading indicates Corsair is also one of the
>best manufacturers of power supplies. I'm thinking about the new i7
>processors and Windows 7 Pro.
>
>I use a PC for spreadsheets, Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, etc and the
>backend for my website, among other tasks... I usually have several
>programs going at once. I don't game but I'm going to get a decent
>graphics card.
>
>I'd be interested to know your opinions about other components... my
>focus is reliability first. Thanks!
>
>--
>Chris Lindh
>http://www.PartsForSpeed.com
>
>
>Rules: Please play nicely with others.
>
>-List members page (text & pic links):
>http://www.myelcamino.net/eclist.htm
>-List members page (all pics):
>http://www.myelcamino.net/ec_list.htm
Rules: Please play nicely with others.
-List members page (text & pic links):
http://www.myelcamino.net/eclist.htm
-List members page (all pics):
http://www.myelcamino.net/ec_list.htm
Other related posts:
