[elky] Re: Building a PC
- From: Robert Adams <ladams21@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: elky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:36:50 -0600
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.
Yup.
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.
A 3lb laptop... Where?
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).
Yup. They are real reliable these days. Not like the old Tandy
286 and 386 that had memory slots go bad and you had to pull memory one at
a time to see which one to leave out for the computer to run...
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.
Get the biggest case you can. Raidmax makes great cases. You
will need the room if you put in a real video card or two.
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.
The i7 is good but overpriced... You need to go with the quad
core than if you aren't going to overclock it then you just wasted your
money. The quad core AMDs are the best bang for the buck right now. Get a
Zelman cooler too.
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.
Ok that's good. No real heavy programs other than Adobe.
It's a resource hog like Quicktime and all that apple crap that is made for
PCs.
I'd be interested to know your opinions about other components... my
focus is reliability first. Thanks!
--
Chris Lindh
http://www.PartsForSpeed.com
Stick with decent stuff and you'll be Ok. Hard to screw up
a desktop build but make sure you get the lowest timing memory you can.
Robert Adams
Rules: Please play nicely with others.
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