New PC soon!

Sep 1, 2010

Yay! My last PC still runs strong, but it's time to upgrade. Socket 775 is finally at that point where it's safe to call it a dead end. Socket LGA1156 and even socket LGA1366 are here to stay. The Core 2 architecture is dated and Intel's i3, i5 and i7 processors are where the real performance is at! The new systems don't even use front side bus anymore. I had no freaking clue. The processors now communicate with memory/graphics directly. The Core i3, which is the most budget-friendly of Intel's current lineup, puts even Core 2 Quad performance to shame! It's built on a 32nm process, runs cool and packs a ton of punch. It has 4mb of L3 cache, it's own integrated memory controller, it's own discreet GPU that runs at 733mhz(!!!), and runs at 2.93ghz (easily overclockable to 3.0ghz and much higher - the i3 chips are downclocked so you won't even need to apply any additional voltage to get to 3.0ghz).

Anyways...I've chosen i3 over i5 and i7. Quite simply - it's cheap, and the performance has been rated and reviewed to be awesome. The price to performance ratio of the i3 makes the i3 an absolutely ideal solution for the budget-minded. It performs as well as i5, is built on a newer manufacturing process than i7, and has built-in support to decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD-MA bit streaming over HDMI...which is EXTREMELY important to me, as I use my machines secondarily as multimedia centers.

I'm rambling now. Anyways, here's what I'm upgrading to (thanks to Trillance [www.trillance.com]...the very awesome photographer who gives me the honor of working for him):

-Cooler Master Elite 335 case
-Raidmax Hybrid 2 530W modular power supply
-EVGA P55V SLI-ready motherboard
-Intel Core i3-530
-4gb Mushkin Silverline DDR3-1333(mhz) (PC3-10666) RAM

I'll be tossing in my 9800GT (1gb, 600mhz, PCIe 2.0), and work on getting a second 9800GT to run in SLI mode.

I can't wait! It's been a year since I put together my last machine.

ATI and NVIDIA

Nov 27, 2009

*UPDATED Jan 1st, 2010*

So, after selling the Quadro FX5800, I went back to my 9500GT. Then I recently upgraded from the GeForce 9500GT to an ATI Radeon HD4650. I did get a decent performance jump - but it left me wanting more. I barely got to raise settings, but the frame rates were better. The main annoyance of the upgrade, though, was the ATI Catalyst system. It's buggy, crashed explorer a few times, and was just "weird". The card was around 73 bucks total. So, I took it back today looking for something better. I found an NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT 1gb PCI-E2.0 that came out to 80 bucks after tax. WOW...what a performance leap! I get to max out settings in Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Oblivion, Bioshock and more, all at 1920x1080, and using DirectX 10!

NVIDIA's drivers are great, and leave nothing to be desired. Seriously, this is why I stick with NVIDIA. The 9800 was the best hardware purchase I've ever made, hands down. Cuda support, PhysX, HDMI, full HD video acceleration, etc. I'm fully satisfied with this card! While it doesn't give the same performance when working with multiple PSD's with files sizes in the gigabyte range and greater, for gaming it's sweet, ESPECIALLY at the price point! Pics of my setup:

The new card itself:










Main PC
-Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium x64 (main OS)/Ubuntu Linux (secondary OS)
-Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 (45nm, 2.8ghz per core, 2mb L2 cache, 800mhz FSB)
-6gb Patriot PC2-6400 800mhz RAM
-PNY NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT xlr8 (PCIe 2.0, 1024mb, SLI-ready)
-Creative X-Fi Platinum sound card (24-bit, 64mb audio XRAM, EAX Advanced HD 7.1/5.1 audio, front panel with hi-z and lo-z mic inputs/outputs, mini MIDI inputs/outputs, S/PDIF optical digital inputs/outputs, coaxial digital inputs/outputs, media remote)
-3.5" Multi card reader drive
-Lite-On DVD+-R/RW CD-R/RW drive
-Seagate 250gb SATAII hard drive (OS, games)
-Seagate 250gb PATA hard drive (pictures)
-WD MyBook 500gb external drive (movies/tv)
-Digital Research 320gb external drive (archive)
-Maxtor OneTouch 250gb external drive (incremental backups)
-Acer 23" LCD monitor (1920x1080, HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs, HDCP compliant)
-HP 17" LCD monitor (1280x1024, DVI and VGA inputs)
-Logitech S510 Wireless Desktop
-Wacom Bamboo tablet
-Ratpadz GS gaming mouse pad
-Canon MP250 printer/copy/scanner

Netbook

-ASUS EeePC
-Ubuntu Linux (main OS)/Windows XP Home (secondary OS)
-Intel Atom processor (1.6ghz)
-1gb DDR2 667mhz RAM
-160gb hard drive
-Intel integrated graphics
-10.1" LED backlit widescreen LCD (1024x600)
-Integrated HD webcam
-WD Passport 80gb external drive (backups)

Sound System
-Panasonic 1000W home theater receiver (Dolby Digital, Pro-Logic, DTS sound decoders, 5.1 channel, composite audio inputs, 2 coaxial digital inputs, 2 S/PDIF optical inputs, external wireless speaker ready.)
-2 Sony full-range center speakers
-Sony front L+R mid-high range bookshelf speakers
-Insignia L+R mid surround speakers
-Panasonic rear L+R satellite surround speakers
-Panasonic subwoofer

All of it connected to an APC Uninterruptable Power Supply

Mac versus PC...my take.

Jun 8, 2009

I just got done arguing with someone on youtube about Mac vs. PC. What people need to understand is that it's not "Mac vs. PC" anymore, because Mac's are just PC hardware now, complete with Intel Inside (pun intended). All Apple is, is an OEM that only puts OSX on their PC hardware. The base Mac Pro is $2500, and the only nice piece of hardware in the box is the Xeon processor. It only has 3gb of RAM and an Nvidia GT120, which is literally a rebranded GeForce 9500GT. I built my latest system with the main specs being a Pentium Dual Core E5200, 4gb of RAM, and a GeForce 9500GT for exactly $370. That price also included the case and a new hard drive. Now, you have to look at that. $370 versus $2500 for specs that are so insanely close that the price difference could NEVER be justified. Sure the Xeon is a nice processor - but the price to performance ratio just isn't worth spending so much extra money on.

So, as I said before, it's not "Mac vs. PC" anymore - that was gone as soon as Apple started using regular PC hardware, years ago. It is now "OSX vs. Windows" - if you want to even say that they are up against each other. Microsoft has over 90% of the operating system market taken, so I think it's clear who is winning here. Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against Apple at ALL. I think their design is amazing, and I have owned a Mac Mini, a Powermac G4, and an iBook. I thought OSX Panther, Tiger and Leopard were all great operating systems. I like them better than XP, in fact. I do, however, like Windows Vista more than OSX. As nice as Apple's design is on average, I find that me being able to customize something the exact way I want it down to my last specification is a lot more pleasing or rewarding.

How's that for an unbiased view? I hate when I see screen names like "mac4tw" or "pc>mac" and other crap. It's like, as soon as you start arguing with me about stuff with regards to operating systems, you automatically lose ANY credibility you may have had in the first place. To me, you're just another whiny little fanbitch, and I automatically don't respect your "argument".