What's Inside Your Case?

[stingx]

Computer case that is...

I was running some benchmarks to see what needs tweaking prior to installing SP1 for Vista on my new PC. It made me curious as to what others have for their main rigs. I usually build my own computers from parts and this new Dell is the first PC I bought from a vendor since my very first one many, many years ago. The last one I built was well over 4 years old and I upgraded it as much as possible before obsolescence made any further upgrading moot. One of the reasons why I also prefer a PC over a Mac is the price to performance ratio. This new Dell, when all said and done, came out well under $1000. In fact, the reason I went with it was I couldn't build it for cheaper. Well...that I am am just getting really lazy in my old age. I average 3-4 years per PC and I figure in upgradeability when I buy. I initially spend between $600-$800 and then maybe another $200-$300 in upgrades over the length of time I keep it before I start anew.

So, if anyone cares to share their specs I'm more than curious. You can test your bandwidth performance at dslreports.com and you can download all kinds of free CPU and GPU benchmark software - just google a bit.

Here are my main stats:

Dell XPS 420 Intel Core 2 Q6600 Quad-Core 2.4ghz
Windows Vista Home Premium
3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
512MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT
Linksys Wireless-G PCI Adapter

Windows Vista Experience Index = 5.5





Hmmmm...this could be a very interesting thread in so far price vs. performance between PCs and Mac.

[Algonquin]

Not sure, but I'll give it a go in a bit. The last PC I bought is a Compaq Presario 3500+ AMD Athlon 64 Proc, with 1 Gig mem, 200 gig HD, with Windows XP Media Cente 2005.

I just wish it had Microsoft Office applications on it, but it doesn't!!! But I have my work Laptop that does, so I haven't gone out and purchased the software. I think it's time for a new laptop though... I've had the Blue Screen of Death, twice in the last couple of months... never a good sign.

[sunvalleylaw]

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz

No idea on Windows Vista experience. I have a licensed copy of Windows XP Pro sitting right here I could install, but never have found a real need to.

My home internet connection is DSL, but is not that fast. I could not tell you how fast but it is fast enough for me. The machine seems plenty fast.

[stingx]

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz

No idea on Windows Vista experience. I have a licensed copy of Windows XP Pro sitting right here I could install, but never have found a real need to.

[IMG]<a href="http://speedtest.dslreports.com"><img border=0 src="http://www.dslreports.com/im/46695647/6246.png"></a>[/IMG]

Here's your speed test result cleaned up:



Thanks for participating. Curiously, Steve, how long ago did you buy your computer and roughly what did you spend on it. How long do you normally keep a computer for until upgrading? You see where I'm going here?

[sunvalleylaw]

I think I do, but I don't measure my computer experience that way necessarily, and even if I did, don't think that result says much by way of real world comparison.

I bought this machine just before the end of the year for $1500. I added a gig of ram. It looks like this, with the big display included: http://www.apple.com/imac/

It is like this one in the cNet review.



Written PCMag review here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2170378,00.asp

See also this: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2207556,00.asp

My home Qwest DSL is slow, and I am regularly kicked off of myspace on this connection. Downloads also take longer at home. Not slow enough though, for me to pay for more bandwidth yet. My work DSL, also Qwest, is a little better, and seems to run faster, bandwidthwise at least, on an old iMac I bought several years ago than this connection. I still use regularly a laptop bought in '01, and am using that old iMac, circa '02 or '03 as my main office machine on my desktop, with my paralegal running a white, new style iMac from 05 or 06 as the main office machine. Doesn't this test measure DSL?

here is a different result
[<a href="http://speedtest.dslreports.com"><img border=0 src="http://www.dslreports.com/im/46696456/1489.png"></a>

I frankly don't understand the speed tests half the time, and unless something is hanging up on me, don't really care that much. My measure is how fast can I get done what I want to get done. Whether it is email, photo editing, my music, recording, etc., I have always done better there on a Mac. Here are some speed results from a Mac performance measuring program I downloaded. I frankly don't understand them. The only thing I perceive or experience as slow connected to this machine right now is the DSL, sometimes.

[marnold***]

My box is really old, hopefully upgrading this year:
Athlon XP 1800+
512M RAM
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra
Creative Labs Audigy
120G HD
Sony CD/DVD Burner
All running Slackware 12.0

[kiteman]

I built all my own computers and I still use my old PII case for everything.

Cases don't wear out, didn't ya know?

Right now I have

AMD AM2 3800+ 2.0 ghz dual core cpu
1 gig DDR2 mem
320 gig drive
ATI Radeon video card
Soundblaster Prodigy card
Win XPpro SP2

[KrisH]

For general use and my "home office," I just bought an Acer7720 laptop, with an Interl Core 2 1.66 mHz processor, 2 gig of RAM, and Vista Home premium with all THOSE bells and whistles. But for my little home studio I have a computer I built/upgraded a couple years ago, with an Athalon 2500+ processor, 1.5 gig RAM, 3 hard drives with 5 partitions and 4 optical drives (CD/DVD combos) and two video cards. It sits in a soundproof closet with its fans. In the room are two monitors, keyboard, mouse, a piano keyborad linked to the coputer via midi and a 200 watt stereo system for playback. My GNX3000 hooks into the computer via USB and acts in that capacity as a 4 channel audio/digital inteface, to provide very low latency recording and tracking. It all runs on Win2K SP4, which is very stable and not as bloated as XP or -- heaven forbid! -- Vista.

[Robert****]

I have an old HP Pavilion with 768 MB Ram and 1.5 ghz CPU. Has worked okay so far, but I soon will have a smooth Macbook Pro, which I am of course looking forward to greatly!

[ted s]

Here is what I got on residential DSL with a Dell Latitude D610 notebook.




With my iMac

[warren0728]

I soon will have a smooth Macbook Pro, which I am of course looking forward to greatly!

you are going to love your new mac....i've got 3 of them and thinking about upgrading my laptop and maybe my tower too....also have a strawberry imac i use as an art piece in my living room that just runs through photos of mine that change every 5 minutes.....onece you go mac you never go back!

ww

[sunvalleylaw]

you are going to love your new mac....i've got 3 of them and thinking about upgrading my laptop and maybe my tower too....also have a strawberry imac i use as an art piece in my living room that just runs through photos of mine that change every 5 minutes.....onece you go mac you never go back!

ww

Hey, good idea for using an old, original iMac. My mother in law has one that may need to be recycled that way. Our grape one was given to a local kindergarten class for use by the kids.