When is my computer going to be outdated?

[chengbin]

chance's are with programs that you want to run, you will not max out the cores at 100% or even close to that. Unless you like running prime 95 16 hours out of the day. And as long as you keep temps down all should be well.

I've heard about prime 95. On my computer, running 2 encoding will get the CPU to about 95% average, but if I run 3, CPU will always stay at 100%. Is that as "bad" as prime 95?

 

[Cache]

Can you explain how building my own computer is cheaper?

The estimate that I did before showed that I would have paid more if I bought the parts myself.

Primarily, you pick the components. Need a high-end graphics card? Choose the one that suits you, not one of three they offer you. You choose the case to match your aesthetics. Your motherboard--assuming you buy well--allows you to overclock components and essentially buy a lower-cost chip that performs better than many high-end ones.

Granted, it all depends on what parts you were selecting for yourself--but figure that I could have spent almost $1800 on a Dell for my wife's PC, and instead spent only $1100. Plus it's running a 30% overclock. Plus she has the case she wanted, the after-market CPU cooler, etc. Takes a couple hours to put together, load the OS, and transfer her old files over, but then it's done. If she wants a new graphics card a year from now? No problem--we bought a power supply that will allow for a lot of overhead, so there's no worries. She wants a new chip? Easily replaced. She wants to set up more than 2 hard drives? Easy to accommodate because the case she owns has the space and power to support it. Because I know every part that went in, I know what those parts can do, and how they should perform. Over time, I will make wiser component selections when something needs to be replaced--only replacing the system when I find a need to, not because one part of it no longer meets my needs.

Maybe you should list the parts you're looking at? Also, where you were looking?

 

[medjohnson77]

I've heard about prime 95. On my computer, running 2 encoding will get the CPU to about 95% average, but if I run 3, CPU will always stay at 100%. Is that as "bad" as prime 95?

You are taking this rating with only a stock 2.44 with the Q6600 right? If overclocked I am sure the core use % will go down and as long as you have proper temps, I would not worry about how hard the processor is working. But you will have problems if your air flow in the case is not good, and you will have problems if your running a stock heat sink on it. Hence the upgrading you need to do, that you can not do by buying a dell. My phenom II on water cooling and with NZXT tempest case I never see temps above 48C regardless of what I throw at it, and I have never been able to max out the cores overclocked a 3.6 ghz yet.

 

[chengbin]

You are taking this rating with only a stock 2.44 with the Q6600 right? If overclocked I am sure the core use % will go down and as long as you have proper temps, I would not worry about how hard the processor is working. But you will have problems if your air flow in the case is not good, and you will have problems if your running a stock heat sink on it. Hence the upgrading you need to do, that you can not do by buying a dell. My phenom II on water cooling and with NZXT tempest case I never see temps above 48C regardless of what I throw at it, and I have never been able to max out the cores overclocked a 3.6 ghz yet.

x264 will eat as much CPU, and as many cores you have, easily. There are people out there using 16 core rigs running x264!

 

[Xenonvector927]

When you build your own computer you gain a wealth of knowledge in the process and make new friends. You can't put a pricetag on that. Oh, and I'm with you on the homework overloading. I go to a $15,000 per year school (Australian dollars). No pressure to get good test scores, that's for sure (begins sweating). Good thing it's the school holidays over here. 😀

 

[bcohen2009]

Any computer is "outdated" before it even leaves the factory. No matter how much you spend, there's always something better coming out soon.

However, just because a computer is "outdated" doesn't mean it's no longer useful and relevant. Most people are still using Pentium 4's and they still work just fine. Heck, I know some people that are still using Pentium III class systems, and they're still chugging along.

 

[cletus_slackjawd]

I have an equivalent system (Gateway FX) with Q6600, 4gig ram, and two 9600GT, Vista 64, 22" monitor. Honestly, I can't find a reason to upgrade at this moment. Buying extras like a couple big external HDD, new games, 5.1 headphones. This is just me speaking, but I think I wouldn't be able to tell a difference upgrading my graphics or overclocking. Would be a waste of time and money unless I could get something for my old hardware. I don't see any slow downs (world in Conflict, Call of Juarez, FarCry 2, etc). I also encode movies with no problems. Maybe if I ever hook up to my 60" Sharp Aquos I may get a newer card, but on my current monitor I don't think the time has come where new hardware is necesary.

 

[Shourisha1]

Learn to build your own unit. As others have said about a dozen times so far, you save so much money, and learn so much. I'm in the process of building my own unit, because the last time I bought a PC pre-built, I was sorely dissatisfied. Bought an Acer Aspire desktop. Don't get me wrong, I love Acer, and for anyone completely unwilling to learn to build their own, its awesome. Sadly, the salesman will say anything to get you to buy. Got the unit home, tried to run the game I had hoped to play---Nada, even after having been told that the system would play it. Did my research. Learned a mere month after my purchase that NOTHING was right. Couldn't OC my e4500, a proc that is known to reach 3.0 ghz easily. Had a to-go GPU, meaning I couldn't do anything in the way of gaming. In short, I had paid $500 bucks, for a unit that I couldn't upgrade well, and wouldn't do what I wanted.

I'm building my own now, with an intent on being able to do certain things, certain ways. I get to pick my own case, my own cooler, fans, HDs, everything, and its cheaper than what I'd pay for a unit that can compare. In addition, building a PC is relatively simple. As for warranties, if you buy new, half yours parts COME with warranties of some kind.

Now, if only I could pick my parts XD

 

[LoneWolf_53]

I read the title of this thread and found it amusing.

It should read "My Computer is outdated" because they all already are before they get taken out of the box at home. 😀

 

[chengbin]

Learn to build your own unit. As others have said about a dozen times so far, you save so much money, and learn so much. I'm in the process of building my own unit, because the last time I bought a PC pre-built, I was sorely dissatisfied. Bought an Acer Aspire desktop. Don't get me wrong, I love Acer, and for anyone completely unwilling to learn to build their own, its awesome. Sadly, the salesman will say anything to get you to buy. Got the unit home, tried to run the game I had hoped to play---Nada, even after having been told that the system would play it. Did my research. Learned a mere month after my purchase that NOTHING was right. Couldn't OC my e4500, a proc that is known to reach 3.0 ghz easily. Had a to-go GPU, meaning I couldn't do anything in the way of gaming. In short, I had paid $500 bucks, for a unit that I couldn't upgrade well, and wouldn't do what I wanted.

I'm building my own now, with an intent on being able to do certain things, certain ways. I get to pick my own case, my own cooler, fans, HDs, everything, and its cheaper than what I'd pay for a unit that can compare. In addition, building a PC is relatively simple. As for warranties, if you buy new, half yours parts COME with warranties of some kind.

Now, if only I could pick my parts XD

This might be true in the US, but in Canada, often the prebuilt Dell PCs will cost a lot less than building your own computer, if you can catch a good deal. I saved about $200ish dollars by buying the Dell, but I do lose the ability to overclock.

No actually I take that back. That used to be true, when I bought my computer, but the last year or so Dell has never had a good enough deal to beat the price of building it yourself. Usually the deals are slightly more expensive ($50-100) than DIY for a $1500 rig. Just one more reason why I'm building my own computer next time.

 

[LoneWolf_53]

@ chengbin

I'm in Canada and by the time I factor in the cost of an operating system and all the other components there's no way I can compete with a Dell on price.

On the other hand I feel the parts that I use when I assemble my own are of superior quality so it does become a bit of comparing apples to oranges.

I've purchased a Dell in the past and own a laptop and frankly if I were to purchase ready made again I'd probably still stick with Dell as I have nothing bad to say about their stuff other than it's just not the same as building your own.

Their motherboards are custom made for Dell and items that we take for granted when we buy a board and build our own are omitted such as sensors that I guess they figure no one will miss.

They make a good product for a mom and pop who simply want a PC that works to do email and compose a few letters or play with some pics of the grand kids but for serious enthusiasts their stuff is simply limited and boring.