|
The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition
|
|
|
|
AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
|
22. January 2011 @ 17:37 |
Link to this message
|
|
Difference is, WDs you risk DOA, Samsungs you risk failure at 6 months once all your data's on them. I know what I'd rather choose.
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
22. January 2011 @ 17:57 |
Link to this message
|
No joke. I'd rather get a lemon right off the bat, then have a drive quit prematurely. And quite frankly, if I haven't had problems with WD, why should I switch? If it ain't broke, don't fix it ;) I mean no offense to your Samsung suggestion russ. Western digital definitely specializes in HDD's. Samsung dabbles in everything. Much like $ony. Western digital has it's focuses directed on the question at hand. Surely people are doing things wrong. I'm not very lucky, and I haven't had trouble with WD. Other than a used Raptor drive, and PROBABLY a bad cable with the last Velociraptor. I never will know :(
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 14:12 |
Link to this message
|
I just optimized a Vista Laptop for somebody. I'm giving them a few recommendations. And one of the recommendations just got me thinking. Will it have a problem detecting and using a Solid State Disk? I've only handled laptops a couple times. I realize in essence, a laptop is just a miniature computer. They operate identically to towers and desktops. I guess the real question lies in the bios, as to whether it can handle one.
HP Pavilion dv6226us.
Any thoughts and recommendations on this matter, are of course greatly appreciated ;)
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
Moderator
|
24. January 2011 @ 14:16 |
Link to this message
|
|
I optimise a few Vista machines every now and then, all i do is replace it, a fresh install of Win7 :). Not one complaint but many comments along the lines of "how come it's so much faster now, how much do i owe you for adding RAM" etc etc, only to be pleased when the reply is "told you all that was needed was to ditch that crap OS off there".
Can't answer the SSD question though, however it's just a disk at the end of the day, even for that woeful joke that is Vista, i'd have thought it should just work, might be wrong though.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. January 2011 @ 14:17
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 14:37 |
Link to this message
|
Yah well, I need their permission, and 100+ Dollars for windows 7 :p It's running a great deal better now. Norton appeared to be hogging resources, as well as some HP utilities. I removed multiple things from the startup, deleted some unused files in the recycle bin, and prefetch. It only has 1Gb of ram. I told them this is why Vista runs so slow. I highly recommend the laptops max(2Gb) and an installation of windows 7. Heck just with that, they may not need the SSD ;)
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
|
ddp
Moderator
|
24. January 2011 @ 14:46 |
Link to this message
|
|
don't go with a ssd drive on a laptop. replace the norton with another anti-virus\spyware program. if want to put on win7 then make certain the bit version of win7 will work with that cpu as have found out twice now that 64bit win7 wouldn't install on a 32bit dual core.
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 14:54 |
Link to this message
|
I recommended an SSD because it will reduce the heat(Pretty warm drive currently), and increase the battery life. These are logical recommendations. I did however inform them that it is an expensive upgrade(100-200USD). I will now put in the text document that Windows 7 and 2Gb of ram would really be all she/he needs. LOL! I haven't even met these people. A friend of theirs brought me their laptop.
The way it's running now, an SSD would be nice, but not REALLY necessary. Windows 7 would sure kick it in the but though ;) From what I've seen, they appear to be a casual user. Just a web browser, with very light gaming(minesweeper).
The startup alone appears to gobble up ram LOL! It's a dual core pentium. I would have researched it before installing 64Bit windows 7. Though with a max of 2Gb, there'd really be no benefit to 64bit OS. Thanks guys.
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
Senior Member
|
24. January 2011 @ 15:14 |
Link to this message
|
|
SSD'd help a laptops battery life I've read. But if it came with vista, it might be too old with SATA-I interface to truly see a huge difference.
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 15:15 |
Link to this message
|
|
That's certainly true. Thanks for reminding me Deadrum.
There would be difference though. SSD's have incredible latency ;)
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. January 2011 @ 15:16
|
Moderator
|
24. January 2011 @ 15:37 |
Link to this message
|
Also, it's always worth seeing if there are XP drivers available, it might be a cheaper alternative, plus no need to buy extra RAM. I can never remember the minimum RAM that Win7 runs on as i put XP on far more machines than Win7 - we've had a few instances where Win7 refuses to join domains (just gives a temporary profile over and over), it's far less hassle in those instances to just use XP as the suggested fixes for corrupt profiles never work.
We're always rebuilding machines at work, we just put the most appropriate OS on, even if that means XP. There's one golden rule we stick to, that's that if a Vista machine comes in, it absolutely will not have Vista put back on it.
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 15:43 |
Link to this message
|
|
I agree with you, I really do. But it's not my place to overhaul his/her system without his/her knowledge first. I placed a text document on her desktop telling her to read it immediately. I informed her as best I could(Laymans terms) of what I can do for her at little or no charge ;) The ball is in his/her court. I prefer not rollback to xp if I can help it. That would be a completely different user experience. For all I know, they've never used XP. There are significant differences between the OS's. Windows 7 however is highly similar to Vista ;)
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 15:47 |
Link to this message
|
|
XP
256MB - will run, very poor performance
512MB - recommended minimum
1GB - adequate
2GB - preferred
Vista
1GB - will run, very poor performance
2GB - recommended minimum
4GB - adequate
8GB - preferred
Win7
512MB - will run, very poor performance
1GB - recommended minimum
2GB - adequate
4GB - preferred
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 15:49 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by sammorris:
XP
256MB - will run, very poor performance
512MB - recommended minimum
1GB - adequate
2GB - preferred
Vista
1GB - will run, very poor performance
2GB - recommended minimum
4GB - adequate
8GB - preferred
Win7
512MB - will run, very poor performance
1GB - recommended minimum
2GB - adequate
4GB - preferred
LOL! Agreed. Though it is running agreeable with 1Gb(for now). Start running multiple things and it will bog down of course.
I ran 1Gb on an old system of windows 7. Aero could not run, but the overall experience was adequate. Probably comparable to the vista laptop...
HP should not have sold it with less than 2Gb!!!
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. January 2011 @ 15:50
|
Moderator
|
24. January 2011 @ 15:56 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by omegaman7:
I agree with you, I really do. But it's not my place to overhaul his/her system without his/her knowledge first. I placed a text document on her desktop telling her to read it immediately. I informed her as best I could(Laymans terms) of what I can do for her at little or no charge ;) The ball is in his/her court. I prefer not rollback to xp if I can help it. That would be a completely different user experience. For all I know, they've never used XP. There are significant differences between the OS's. Windows 7 however is highly similar to Vista ;)
I hear you, on the permission thing and the user experience. In our case, we ask permission (only regarding anything that might cost if it's someone's personal machine; if it's a work machine the hardware gets costed to whichever budget or branch), make a recommendation and all that's left is to find out what existing data needs keeping/ and or transferring. The user experience, while noted, is moot to us though, most people who need their computers rebuilding or fixing have no idea how to use the things, hence why our recommendation actually translates into what they end up with, and hardware changes are only made if actually necessary. Plus we're I.T. so what we say goes, we're the people who have to support them. Don't get me wrong, i understand where you're coming from, but when there's an endless stream of rebuilds (usually from people who break their machines in ever increasing, bizarre ways) you learn to set it up how you think it should be done, and not how they want it. And if machines come back again (i've had re-rebuilds with 70+ nasties on) i politely request they stop going on dodgy websites or they face my good-mannered sarcasm a second time (insert relevant Monty Python quote here) :) :)
We always aim to have a minimum of 1GB in XP machines, any more is always a bonus but is rarely necessary. Win7 as i say, is't installed that often so can never remember the minimum - however any Vista machines that come in usually have 2 or 3GB of RAM, as the vendors would tend to put 3GB of RAM in just because it's Vista. I did have a 1GB Vista machine the other week, it was so painful to even work on it, made sure to work harder on getting permission to just wipe it and start again as opposed to investigate it. In fact i cloned the hard drive and managed to pull off a Vista->Win7 upgrade, it took a few hours longer than a fresh install but it was worth it to not mess about in Control panel just looking for what was installed prior to even saving data/rebuilding, and the transformation when running in Win7 was amazing, still under that same 1GB. The person whose laptop it was was more than happy to pay for another stick of RAM (and we always have spare bits of kit so sometimes give spares away) but i'm a necessities only kind of guy, even if it's cheap it doesn't have to be bought if it doesn't actually need to be bought. I thrive on people's smiles and thanks when stuff works again, i'd be a crap businessman :)
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. January 2011 @ 16:14
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 16:02 |
Link to this message
|
|
LOL! You're awesome creaky!
Very logical!
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. January 2011 @ 16:02
|
AfterDawn Addict
|
24. January 2011 @ 16:03 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by omegaman7:
I just optimized a Vista Laptop for somebody. I'm giving them a few recommendations. And one of the recommendations just got me thinking. Will it have a problem detecting and using a Solid State Disk? I've only handled laptops a couple times. I realize in essence, a laptop is just a miniature computer. They operate identically to towers and desktops. I guess the real question lies in the bios, as to whether it can handle one.
HP Pavilion dv6226us.
Any thoughts and recommendations on this matter, are of course greatly appreciated ;)
Oman7,
As long as the Laptop is capable of handling more than one Sata drive, there shouldn't be any problem using an SSD in a laptop! I don't think I would care too much for the idea of replacing a single drive with an SSD though.
Best Regards,
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
 |
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
24. January 2011 @ 16:05 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by theonejrs:
Originally posted by omegaman7:
I just optimized a Vista Laptop for somebody. I'm giving them a few recommendations. And one of the recommendations just got me thinking. Will it have a problem detecting and using a Solid State Disk? I've only handled laptops a couple times. I realize in essence, a laptop is just a miniature computer. They operate identically to towers and desktops. I guess the real question lies in the bios, as to whether it can handle one.
HP Pavilion dv6226us.
Any thoughts and recommendations on this matter, are of course greatly appreciated ;)
Oman7,
As long as the Laptop is capable of handling more than one Sata drive, there shouldn't be any problem using an SSD in a laptop! I don't think I would care too much for the idea of replacing a single drive with an SSD though.
Best Regards,
Russ
Yah, I merely informed them that it would improve their experience, however it's expensive and not necessary ;)
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
Moderator
|
24. January 2011 @ 16:11 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by omegaman7:
LOL! You're awesome creaky!
LOL i have my moments; i was just editing my reply for awesomeness value in fact, LMAO. :p
Originally posted by omegaman7:
Very logical!
I haven't got Spock's ears but i can certainly make my eyebrows pull stunts when people come asking for help :p
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 24. January 2011 @ 16:12
|
|
ddp
Moderator
|
24. January 2011 @ 20:34 |
Link to this message
|
try working on a brand new dell laptop with vista running on 512meg less what the onboard video uses & you see slow. happened a couple of years ago with a customer that when i saw what she had i told her to get more ram which she did with a 1gig which i installed when she got it. she then had 1.25gigs of ram & last year i replaced the 256meg ram with another 1gig for 2gigs minus what the video uses. the customer told me that if she still has issues that she will have me remove the vista & replace it with xp, she hasn't called since.
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
25. January 2011 @ 00:56 |
Link to this message
|
|
512? Damn. That's just plain dumb! Amazing what they'll sell eh? Taking advantage of the little guy. Pretty sick...
If I ever own a shop, i'll never do that to my customers :p I'll give it to um straight!
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
|
25. January 2011 @ 01:41 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by omegaman7:
512? Damn. That's just plain dumb! Amazing what they'll sell eh? Taking advantage of the little guy. Pretty sick...
If I ever own a shop, i'll never do that to my customers :p I'll give it to um straight!
Oman7,
eMachines used to ship desktops with 256DDR2 667MHz memory in them, with Vista! ROFLMSOAO!!!
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
|
AfterDawn Addict
7 product reviews
|
25. January 2011 @ 02:05 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by theonejrs:
Originally posted by omegaman7:
512? Damn. That's just plain dumb! Amazing what they'll sell eh? Taking advantage of the little guy. Pretty sick...
If I ever own a shop, i'll never do that to my customers :p I'll give it to um straight!
Oman7,
eMachines used to ship desktops with 256DDR2 667MHz memory in them, with Vista! ROFLMSOAO!!!
Russ
What kind of planet do we live on? Greed...
To delete, or not to delete. THAT is the question! |
AfterDawn Addict
|
25. January 2011 @ 02:24 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by omegaman7:
Originally posted by theonejrs:
Originally posted by omegaman7:
512? Damn. That's just plain dumb! Amazing what they'll sell eh? Taking advantage of the little guy. Pretty sick...
If I ever own a shop, i'll never do that to my customers :p I'll give it to um straight!
Oman7,
eMachines used to ship desktops with 256DDR2 667MHz memory in them, with Vista! ROFLMSOAO!!!
Russ
What kind of planet do we live on? Greed...
Oman7,
You haven't by any chance noticed how far south the sun is setting these days, have you! It just might be greed's end! LOL!!
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
|
Moderator
|
25. January 2011 @ 06:50 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by creaky:
edit- just noticed that our supplier is doing the 2TB Caviar Black for £106, i'm sure they were £160 or so last week.. Bargain..
Another payday, another set of 2TB drives :p. Finally getting around to swapping out the WD5000AAKS boot drive so plumped for a 2TB Caviar Black (still only £106 exc VAT and i don't pay the VAT) along with a 2TB Green as it's external backup. Going to clone the WD5000AAKS using the hardware dock and once i've grown the partition to 2TB hopefully it'll boot as if the drive hadn't changed. Then (at another payday) all that remains is to replace the last internal 500GB drive and i can leave the darn PC alone for a long time
Main PC ~ Intel C2Q Q6600 (G0 Stepping)/Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3/2GB Crucial Ballistix PC2-8500/Zalman CNPS9700/Antec 900/Corsair HX 620W
Network ~ DD-WRT ~ 2node WDS-WPA2/AES ~ Buffalo WHR-G54S. 3node WPA2/AES ~ WRT54GS v6 (inc. WEP BSSID), WRT54G v2, WRT54G2 v1. *** Forum Rules ***
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
AfterDawn Addict
|
25. January 2011 @ 11:53 |
Link to this message
|
Originally posted by creaky:
Originally posted by creaky:
edit- just noticed that our supplier is doing the 2TB Caviar Black for £106, i'm sure they were £160 or so last week.. Bargain..
Another payday, another set of 2TB drives :p. Finally getting around to swapping out the WD5000AAKS boot drive so plumped for a 2TB Caviar Black (still only £106 exc VAT and i don't pay the VAT) along with a 2TB Green as it's external backup. Going to clone the WD5000AAKS using the hardware dock and once i've grown the partition to 2TB hopefully it'll boot as if the drive hadn't changed. Then (at another payday) all that remains is to replace the last internal 500GB drive and i can leave the darn PC alone for a long time
Creaky,
OK, I'll ask. Are you cloning the 500GB drive to a 2TB? If so, how do you get around the drive size differences? I remember a couple of years ago, I cloned my 160GB boot drive to a 250GB drive and wound up with a 250GB drive that only had 160GB of usable space on it???
BTW, I have a WD5000AALS Black, and I like it a lot! It's very quiet, reasonably fast, and runs cool. How well does the AAKS hold up?
Best Regards,
Russ
GigaByte 990FXA-UD5 - AMD FX-8320 @4.0GHz @1.312v - Corsair H-60 liquid CPU Cooler - 4x4 GB GSkill RipJaws DDR3/1866 Cas8, 8-9-9-24 - Corsair 400-R Case - OCZ FATAL1TY 550 watt Modular PSU - Intel 330 120GB SATA III SSD - WD Black 500GB SATA III - WD black 1 TB Sata III - WD Black 500GB SATA II - 2 Asus DRW-24B1ST DVD-Burner - Sony 420W 5.1 PL-II Suround Sound - GigaByte GTX550/1GB 970 Mhz Video - Asus VE247H 23.6" HDMI 1080p Monitor
|
