Please recommend a desktop system for me, a programmer, for < $1k
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From: RayLopez99 on 11 Aug 2010 15:18 On Aug 11, 7:18 pm, Paul <nos...(a)needed.com> wrote: > RayLopez99 wrote: > If you wanted an SSD, you'd probably buy that after-market and > install it yourself. Find an SSD drive with a SandForce controller > on it, and read some comparison reviews before you buy. My internet connection at the moment here in Greece is very very slow (slower than a dial up modem). Summer fires is the typical reason given this time of year. Can you recommend a SSD Drive? Can I just Google it or on eBay buy one? Why do I need to read comparison reviews? Are some of these SSD drives defective? > There are > differences between the controller chips inside the SSD, as to how > many IOP it can manage. Don't go entirely by claims of transfer > rate (MB/sec). That is important, if the SSD is a pathetic one. > But for lots of small transactions, it might be nice to have > a higher IOP rate. That is something you'd look for in the review > of a Sandforce based drive. OK what IOP is recommended? I don't know what that acronym stands for, perhaps IO Processor? But you're using it as a verb. > > As for the rest of it, virtually anything you buy today, is going > to be faster than your Pentium II. Part of the speed will be > consumed by the OS. When you do a software build though, the GUI will be > idle, so the compute power will be applied to doing your build. Right. Ideally I'd like the chip to be faster than a Core 2 duo from a few years ago, and probably the Celeron variant in my OP is indeed slightly faster. I hope Windows 7 is not too mP intensive. Vista was tolerable but a bit CPU cycle hoggish. > > Your main issues will be pragmatic ones. > > 1) What country will you be living in, when you need a warranty repair ? > Greece or Mexico, no need for a warranty. > 2) Does your current country of residence have any currency laws ? At > least one country makes it easy to buy a computer, and then you > can't get a refund if you want one later. And that is due to the > currency laws (they don't want you using your credit card as a > money laundering service). Right. I will not be returning any machine. > > 3) Does your current country of residence have VAT, customs and excise > or the like ? Will they fall for the customs declaration of "gift" > written on the outside of the box ? What is the penalty for a false > declaration ? > Yes, "GIFT" written on the box works fine, and no penalties last I checked, though GR is cracking down on tax cheats so who knows. I think however I can slip one by them, if my friends mail me components in several boxes rather than one big box. RL
From: geoff on 11 Aug 2010 16:01 One place to check is Dell's scratch and dent section. You can save a lot and it changes quickly, ie something you want may not be there at 1 pm but is there at 3 pm. --g
From: John Doe on 11 Aug 2010 18:07 RayLopez99 <raylopez88(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Requirements: I code in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and 2010, I use Visual C++ NET 2003 for my voice-activated scripting utility. Extremely fast on my quad core, maybe because the program is very small. > Right now I'm actually coding successfully using a Pentium II > running Windows XP Pro, albeit build times can be slow on > complex projects. Windows XP SP3 here. > I assume you have to always back up a SSD drive Probably no more than a conventional hard drive. Maybe less, since it is not subject to shock damage when removed. Do keep in mind that in SDD can be a tricky installation, but hopefully less so nowadays. Being a programmer, you probably will have no problem with it. > but I do that anyway now with Acronis on an external USB HD so > no big deal. Maybe I will put a traditional HD in tandem with > it, but perhaps not since the SSD drive will run slower, no? If you mean on the same motherboard, that should not affect SDD performance. You put them on different SATA connectors. If you can afford it, the setup SDD as primary and conventional HDD as secondary is the way to go, at least for now. Also works great for quick backup of important files from one to the other. I also have a flash drive hanging from the connector, for a third source of easy backup. > No need for RAID IMO unless somebody has a good reason--can you > put two SSD drives in a RAID? As an efficiency aficionado, I do not mess with RAID. > What chip? My other PC (not this one) has a Core2 Duo from a > few years ago (forget the model number) and it seems fast, > albeit on Vista it's slower than it should be. Windows 7 > supposedly has ironed out the Vista kinks. I would ask those using Visual Studio 2008 and 2010 whether quad core is much better than dual core. Good luck and have fun.
From: RayLopez99 on 12 Aug 2010 05:02 On Aug 12, 1:07 am, John Doe <j...(a)usenetlove.invalid> wrote: > RayLopez99 <raylope...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > Requirements: I code in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and 2010, > > I use Visual C++ NET 2003 for my voice-activated scripting > utility. Extremely fast on my quad core, maybe because the program > is very small. True VS compiles are very fast, even on my old hardware. Surprised you have not upgraded to a later VS. All VS editions can coexist happily I've found (I have .NET 2002 VS on my HD, along with VS 2010). Takes a few hours sometimes to upgrade however, if you have install bugs even longer. > > Do keep in mind that in SDD can be a tricky installation, but > hopefully less so nowadays. Being a programmer, you probably will > have no problem with it. Yeah, right! ;-) > > > but I do that anyway now with Acronis on an external USB HD so > > no big deal. Maybe I will put a traditional HD in tandem with > > it, but perhaps not since the SSD drive will run slower, no? > > If you mean on the same motherboard, that should not affect SDD > performance. You put them on different SATA connectors. If you can > afford it, the setup SDD as primary and conventional HDD as > secondary is the way to go, at least for now. Also works great for > quick backup of important files from one to the other. I also have > a flash drive hanging from the connector, for a third source of > easy backup. OK, I'll make a note of that: SATA connections for each drive, makes sense. > > > No need for RAID IMO unless somebody has a good reason--can you > > put two SSD drives in a RAID? > > As an efficiency aficionado, I do not mess with RAID. OK, agreed. RAID is for enterprises that need to hot swap I've concluded. RL
From: RayLopez99 on 12 Aug 2010 05:09 On Aug 12, 1:52 am, Paul <nos...(a)needed.com> wrote: > > SSD drives still don't reduce execution times to zero, so prepare > to be underwhelmed. Depending on how many header files you have > or the like though, you might end up pleasantly surprised. > > And you really should be reading your own reviews. Compare them > carefully, as this is "early adopter" technology still. You > should not buy these devices "blindly", like you would with > an ordinary hard drive. > > http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/corsair-ssd-roundup_... > > http://www.anandtech.com/show/3661/understanding-sandforces-sf1200-sf... > > http://www.anandtech.com/show/2899/1 > > Paul Excellent links, thanks Paul. After reviewing these links, I've concluded that for me, SSDs at the present is not worth the price: SSD drives are about 3x faster than traditional hard drives in real-world tests, but given the price difference and capacity limits it's not worth it for me for now. I'll stick to traditional HDs for this new machine. Thanks again. RL
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