Buying a poweful new PC, what do you think of this spec/price?

JasX

I'm still somewhat hesitant, Intel launched their X-25 range earlier last year and yes tho they proved twice the speed of the fastest conventional drive when new were reported to degrade rapidly with fragmentation to as low as 30MBps(w)/60MBps(r) or about 1/4 to 1/2 the speed of a fast conventional drive.

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=669&type=expert&pid=1

Intel released a patch to address this several months later

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9131579/Intel_offers_firmware_upgrade_for_SSD_performance_problem

but still had a few niggles left (tho these were fairly minor)
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=691&type=expert&pid=7


TBH I'm starting to come round to them, Intel seem to have got a jump on the competition regarding long term fragmentation issues as a result of that article pulling their drive to bits, finding problems intel hadn;t identified and getting them fixed.

Would I be happy to pay £200-£300 for a hard drive to make my PC run alot faster? yes.
Would I be happy to spend £200-300 for a hard drive that'll make my PC run alot faster for a few months before starting to slow down to a point worse than a conventional drive? short answer is no.

If they're still holding up in 6-9 months I'll probably get one, and it'll be an intel

But as with all things like this if you wait 3-6 months you'll find out what's working best/whats not working well and both will probably be surpassed by then anyway.

Either way it'll be simple for OP to add an SSD later on if they're so inclined

(and keep the F3 as a 2nd internal drive which is always useful for keeping their SSD uncluttered )



EDIT:

Tho posts like this starting to crop up aren;t filling me with confidence
http://ssd-reviews.com/PNphpBB2-viewtopic-t-31.html#68

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/257688-32-running-slow

Landprofits

pendulum wrote: »

Because they are fast, which was his number one requirement.

Indeed - from the sounds of it though it does appear that the spec I finally decided on will be quick enough.

I find it quite interesting that two knowledgable people have such differing opinions on components....makes you wonder what chance do I have?!

However, I do think Jas has a good point about waiting to see how they perform before lumping in.

The whole thread has been an interesting read and I have learned a lot from it - I'd like to become more knowledgable about all this stuff also so I am going to do some reading.

Landprofits

pendulum wrote: »

But that's why understanding what someone's requirements are is most important before recommending a system. From what he did tell us (not alot)

Lol - yeah sorry about that but I never really quite know how to answer that question........ "what am i using it for? Oh you know....computing type stuff" :rotfl:

It does seem though that the original spec was overkill. You're right in saying that speed was one of my number one requirements. The reason i say this is because I make various financial transactions (trades) for profit, and at a time where you are making one of these trades the last thing you want is the computer grinding to a halt (especially since there is cash involved). That is my main reason for wanting speed, but I also wanted speed just for general stuff. Let's say I have a download going on, and the internet open, some software running at the same time, etc etc - i want to be able to run those processes concurrently yet still have the computer runing fast. I assume since the processor (i7-930) has several cores, this helps with multiple processes.

In my final spec I chose a decent power supply (as recommended by Gonzo), and whilst I was on the phone to cyberpower systems the guy on the phone confirmed that the advice I had received was correct, and that some companies put cheapo power supplies in because they can easily afford to replace them under warranty. He did say that although there is always a risk of a power supply going kerput, getting a decent one minimizes the risk.

The only thing missing was a sound card, but he said that I didn't need one as the motherboard had one, the only way i would see an advantage is if I were spending a good amount of money on a sound card - which I thought was good advice.

Haven't received my PC yet but all in all I am extremely happy with the service so far from cyberpowersystems - the guy really on the phone had a lot of time for me (and I did phone back several times making changes etc).

When I have my new computer set up I am planning to take the old one apart and learn how to slot everything together!

Can I ask, particularly of Jas, Pendulum, Gonzo..... do you work in computer hardware or are you just hobbyists who know a lot of stuff?

gonzo127

i am a hobbyist as you put it

been building systems for myself and friends/family for roughtly 15 years now (scary and feel really old now) and to be honest untill you get into moding your systems a basic system is very easy to put together.

i am glad you have found Cyberpower helpful, i have personnaly never used them (always build my own of course) but have heard good things about them on other websites and forums one of the guys who worked there used to be a active participent on custompc forums before the merged with bit-tech and since then havent seen him as much

can i suggest as well as taking your old one apart once you have your new one have a look into overclocking it (so long as its got reasonable cooling) as that can help you learn even more about the systems and can get you some free performance - well free if you dont class time and sometimes large amounts of frustration as a cost

JasX

Landprofits wrote: »

Can I ask, particularly of Jas, Pendulum, Gonzo..... do you work in computer hardware or are you just hobbyists who know a lot of stuff?

I'm mostly in the amatur/enthuiast camp too, have grown up 'fiddling' with computers since I got hold of a 16k ZX Spectrum at the age of four thru to building my own machines for semi-serious gaming these days. Also seem to have inherited IT support housecall duties for friends, parents, their friends, work colleagues etc as a result which has in return provided me a steady supply of fairly decent bottles wine/whisky over the years

Throw in a few modules in fundamentals of computation & computer architecture as part of my degree and now working as an Engineer on industrial automation systems I tend to dig into the hardware technical details for my hobby as well

pendulum

I did go to Uni to do a - you guessed it - Computer Science degree, after which I worked in a computer shop for a while doing the typical stuff: sales, builds, upgrades, repairs. I'm moving away from that now and trying my hand at freelance website design and development. Still not really sure what I wanna do when I grow up!

Landprofits

pendulum wrote: »

I did go to Uni to do a - you guessed it - Computer Science degree, after which I worked in a computer shop for a while doing the typical stuff: sales, builds, upgrades, repairs. I'm moving away from that now and trying my hand at freelance website design and development. Still not really sure what I wanna do when I grow up!

OK this is going off at a bit off topic here, but out of interest what are the main focuses of a computer science degree? I'm just wondering how in depth it goes into programming - what with so many different languages and all.

I suppose you must do HTML and PHP because you mention web design..... but I have always wondered what a computer science degree covers and where it can take you.

John_Gray

Landprofits wrote: »

I have included for the 8 socket surge protecter, because, quite frankly I need one...

What you actually need for that kit is not a surge protector but an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) - suggest you read up on why this is a Good Thing. See (for example) those from APC.

pendulum

Landprofits wrote: »

OK this is going off at a bit off topic here, but out of interest what are the main focuses of a computer science degree? I'm just wondering how in depth it goes into programming - what with so many different languages and all.

We got an 'introduction' to a lot of languages, like C, Java, JSP, ASP, PHP, JavaScript and HTML. In the 2nd and 3rd years the emphasis was on Java, that's the language we learnt most in depth. During out 'introduction' to the other languages we did not go very deep in to them. We'd maybe spend between 5 and 12 hours physically writing code in the lab for each language and about the same time in lectures, and then we'd get an assignment to do in our own time which involved writing code. I'd been creating websites well before I went to uni so had no problem with the web related modules

It wasn't just about programming; database design, networking, security, operating systems, artificial intelligence, embedded systems etc, depending on which modules you wanted to take.

I finished my degree ~2 years ago and seem to have forgotten most of what I learnt already though