a curious question about consoles and PC standardization

[Tassadar500]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


shes 13, going into 8th grade in September.

Remember, this wouldnt be a laptop in addition to a desktop for her. To recap. Currently we have one desktop, hereinafter called the dinosaur (its a P2 266 - dont laugh - someday you'll be old and weak too) We are (I hope) about to buy a second desktop - lets say a P4 2.6 something like that. Spikey and I have a longrunning good natured argument going over what that should be (in terms of vid card, etc) (Actual purchase has been delayed by Bat Mitzvah expenditures) Now lets say we get the P4. POTM then gets the dino machine - which is essentially inadequate, and getting more so every day. So the question becomes - in say 6 to 10 months do we replace the dino with ANOTHER desktop, or with a laptop (keeping the dino for ancient games, if i can justify the use of space - not everyone in the DC area has such a big house, young jedi)

POTM has a friend in 8th grade who has a laptop, and I think this gave QOTM the idea. Also to get POTM away from writing essays out in longhand, which QOTM thinks is making things harder for her (shes in the GT program, the homework is massive, and its been a challenge, to say the least)

I'd perfer a laptop if I were her, if she was allowed to bring laptops into class.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by lord of the mark


shes 13, going into 8th grade in September.

Remember, this wouldnt be a laptop in addition to a desktop for her. To recap. Currently we have one desktop, hereinafter called the dinosaur (its a P2 266 - dont laugh - someday you'll be old and weak too) We are (I hope) about to buy a second desktop - lets say a P4 2.6 something like that. Spikey and I have a longrunning good natured argument going over what that should be (in terms of vid card, etc) (Actual purchase has been delayed by Bat Mitzvah expenditures) Now lets say we get the P4. POTM then gets the dino machine - which is essentially inadequate, and getting more so every day. So the question becomes - in say 6 to 10 months do we replace the dino with ANOTHER desktop, or with a laptop (keeping the dino for ancient games, if i can justify the use of space - not everyone in the DC area has such a big house, young jedi)

POTM has a friend in 8th grade who has a laptop, and I think this gave QOTM the idea. Also to get POTM away from writing essays out in longhand, which QOTM thinks is making things harder for her (shes in the GT program, the homework is massive, and its been a challenge, to say the least)

My advice is: don't spoil POTM, spoil LOTM instead.

[Qilue]

Originally posted by snoopy369
Oh - and to show my stupdity, what's an eggtimer in the sense it was used above? I've never heard that word used in a computer sense before ...

I was making a snide rant over mobo manufacturers adding all sorts of unnessesary crap onto them.

All-in-one != better.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Qilue
I was making a snide rant over mobo manufacturers adding all sorts of unnessesary crap onto them.

All-in-one != better.

Most of these features are a function of the chipset.

Some boards now have 1000baseT LAN and 5.1 sound. So the only thing you really need to improve is the graphics.

[child of Thor]

Originally posted by lord of the mark

edit......

To recap. Currently we have one desktop, hereinafter called the dinosaur (its a P2 266 - dont laugh - someday you'll be old and weak too)..........[snip together].........POTM then gets the dino machine - which is essentially inadequate, and getting more so every day.

edit....

a sad, sad day..........i cant even read the rest of the thread, i'm too upset.
LOTM have you really fallen to the lure of the great GHZ machine in the sky?!

[DrSpike]

Join ussssss.

[Standup]

Having just gone for a high end P4 i'm now almost regretting it because of the heat and noise when the fans kick in.

Just something else to bear in mind when joining the Ghz arms race....

[lord of the mark]

"lets say a P4 2.6 something like that."

if you guys think 2.6 ghz is some kinda arms racey machine, you guys arent that close to the market. I mean thats the kind of machine that tends to come with - OMG!!!!! - integrated graphics. The machines with the discrete vid cards tend to be 2.93 Ghz or above. Even the build it yourself shop, in their listed specials, has IG on all the "low" ghz machines. I mean I suppose I COULD ask them to put together a machine with a quality motherboard, a vid card, and the cheapest CPU chip theyve got - but im not sure even THAT wouldlnt look "racey" I mean id have to go buy a used machine to get say, 1.8 Ghz and a discrete vid card.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Standup
Having just gone for a high end P4 i'm now almost regretting it because of the heat and noise when the fans kick in.

Just something else to bear in mind when joining the Ghz arms race....

I got an AMD 64 3000+ with an Antec Sonata "silent" case and I barely hear it. And it would be even more silent if I'd bought a Zalman fan to go with that.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by nostromo
I got an AMD 64 3000+ with an Antec Sonata "silent" case and I barely hear it. And it would be even more silent if I'd bought a Zalman fan to go with that.

That's because the clockspeed of the CPU isn't all that high.

[Nostromo]

A friend of mine has an AMD64 2800, but with a standard case, and he complains all the time about the noise. If I had a more powerful CPU, I guess I would have to get myself a Zalman fan.

[Standup]

A friend of mine has an AMD64 2800, but with a standard case, and he complains all the time about the noise. If I had a more powerful CPU, I guess I would have to get myself a Zalman fan.

I haven't got around to opening it up yet (well other than upgrading the gfx and sound card but that doesn't count !) but there seem to be fans and fans. When i have time i guess i'll need to upgrade the fan - a first for me.

Also some of the P4 range seems to be infamous for the amount of heat generated and different boxes have different approaches. Certainly at work the inability to run for 24 hours was one of the reasons for us changing manufacturers.

LOTM, I agree, I think you'll struggle to find anything below 2.8 Gig unless you have a custom build. Most of the big suppliers seem to be enaged in an arms race. Certainly in the corporate market its the only time i can remember we haven't worried about processor speed.

I'd say as much ram as possible (1Gb if pos), PCI express gfx slot and i;m not a fan of the on board sound either. Things like HDD its as much as possible although nowadays its pretty easy to add an external drive.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by nostromo
A friend of mine has an AMD64 2800, but with a standard case, and he complains all the time about the noise. If I had a more powerful CPU, I guess I would have to get myself a Zalman fan.

See if your friend forgot to turn on Cool n' Quiet.