Customized computer?

[Animeniax]

don't act like a freaking dumbass, USA's economic enviroment =/= any random EU country's economy. Just because you happen to have 500$ in spending power does not mean that spending power is equal to only $350 in any of the 27 different countries.
When it comes to electronics €=$. Now go troll somewhere else.

But since €=/=$, your claims of equivalency are faulty. And if you wanted to get specific about which of the 27 countries we're talking about, you already know Archangel is from Portugal so what's the use of you saying "€=$" if that doesn't help him price a PC build in his country?? When someone corrects you, it's not trolling. Don't take it so hard, you're not always right, and sometimes even you need help clearing things up.

[Buffalobiian]

Can anyone recommend a full-sized, pleasantly illuminated (read: not orage/red - preferably white or near-white blue), silent (or near so), wired keyboard - preferably with media keys?

Currently looking at the Logitech Illuminated Keyboard (wired version of the K800). My brother's got the K800, and the PerfectStroke build works well enough to be silent and have a nice touch. Illumination is nice too. Only real thing I dislike about it is that the media keys require pressing the Fn key to access instead of being truly One-Touch.


edit: and I'm really close to buying the Intel 510 250GB SSD now. The store that I've been looking at has just dropped the price by 40$.

[Animeniax]

Wow, good looking keyboard. When I was researching new keyboards a month ago, I decided against the K800 variants because of their laptop style keys. I prefer desktop full key type for better tactile response when playing video games.

I got this case:

cl_proto3_16.jpg

[Kraco]

If that's the front of the case, it must be one big muthafucka, if you pardon my language. Twice the width of a normal case.

[Animeniax]

If that's the front of the case, it must be one big muthafucka, if you pardon my language. Twice the width of a normal case.

It's not as big as it looks. It's about the size of 2 mid towers put together. Details can be found here, if you want to order one of your own: www.overclock.net/caselabs, though shipping to Europe would be prohibitively expensive.

[Buffalobiian]

I decided against the K800 variants because of their laptop style keys. I prefer desktop full key type for better tactile response when playing video games.

I probably would have too if I didn't get to try one out first hand.

The touch and silence of that one is pretty good. I liked it. Better than my K200 atm.

[Buffalobiian]

David, are you, or did you have any problems with your OCZ Vertex 2?

[Animeniax]

Let me go ahead and post that getting an SSD for your system drive is the single best upgrade you can do for your personal computing experience, if you already have 4GB RAM and a decent video card.

I have the OWC Mercury Electra 6G 120GB. Best $220 I've spent on my PC besides the HD69(70).

Everyone should buy Nvidia though.

[Buffalobiian]

Let me go ahead and post that getting an SSD for your system drive is the single best upgrade you can do for your personal computing experience, if you already have 4GB RAM and a decent video card.

I have the OWC Mercury Electra 6G 120GB. Best $220 I've spent on my PC besides the HD69(70).

Everyone should buy Nvidia though.

Will my experience differ if I sleep instead of turn off my computer all the time and keep all my usual windows up? They extended the ETA for my SSD so I still haven't gotten it yet.

[Animeniax]

No, I sleep my PC all the time too. Everything runs faster on SSD. Programs load faster, videos run like you've got them set to fast forward, and all music sounds like its being sung by Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.

[David75]

I've had no problem with OZC other than the world wide teft they organized by replacing the nand flash modules in their top range without changing anything in the part number/name of the product.

However, it seems from a large french reseller that their failure rate is higher, 4% against 0.2% for intel SSDs.

Thing is, you should always have good backups and choose your SSD brand depending on their return policy too.

From memory, Intel has a worldwide free shipping policy in case of RMA.

I know It sound like I work for intel, but those facts can be checked for each brand

Regarding the SSD accelerating everything, it's true for any disk bound task.
For example, lots of game loading need CPU processing, so the gain you get with a SSD is minimal in those games.

Some other games constantly refresh heaps of textures in real time causing jitter or other view glitches... it's not fluid on screen although the FPS number is good. In that case it might be that a conventionnal HDD can't cope with the multiple random accesses, where a SSD will just do it easily.

Another point to consider, a great part of the SSD acceleration feels totally normal. You take it for granted in a matter of minutes.
That means that you might wonder if it really was a great choice spending on such expensive hardware.

Then you boot anybody's comp with no SSD and you get a feeling of what hell on earth might be

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah, I've researched the article about the french reseller (and I've decided to take that as anecdotal evidence only), as well as Intel's return policy (emailed them about this one just to confirm as well, since I was planning on getting that in the US then shipping over here). I ended up ordering the Intel 510 250GB version, and am just waiting for it to come into stock at the supplier, then the retailer, then to me.

I was mainly asking, I guess, to see if you had any operational issues with your Vertex 2. But I've decided on going with Intel's one since they've got a migration tool instead of other manufacturers recommending a fresh install.

[David75]

I'm not in the 4% and do not have any other gripes than having a slower SSD than I should have had... because of the 25nm 64GB die flash nand switch.

Regarding system imaging, I have mixed feelings about it. It's true it might seem convenient, well it is when everything works perfectly after migrating.
But when it doesn't, it a lot more of a hassle than just doing a fresh install and retune your system.

So as usual, prepare good backups and be prepared for a full fresh install just in case.

[Buffalobiian]

Regarding system imaging, I have mixed feelings about it. It's true it might seem convenient, well it is when everything works perfectly after migrating.
But when it doesn't, it a lot more of a hassle than just doing a fresh install and retune your system.

I guess that comes down to how much we trust Intel.

You reminded me that I haven't looked up to see if anybody's been having issues after using Intel's SSD migration tool, so I"ll give that a look-up soon.

[Animeniax]

Intel and OCZ aren't the only players in the game. Might be worth it to give a company like OWC or Patriot a try, since they are releasing products that push performance envelopes and might be cheaper because they aren't big name companies. Bonus, you can contribute to the tech community by figuring out problems with these SSDs that others are stumped on.

[Buffalobiian]

We know that Ani. I've also considered others, but I named those two because I've come down to either:

Vertex II/III - performance, price
Intel 320 / 510 - reliability, support.

I wanted a 300GB Intel 320 model, but I couldn't find a seller in Australia (that was priced decently, if any), so I went for the 510 instead.

[Animeniax]

Nothing wrong with only considering the big names, and nothing to apologize about. It's a safe bet since you're a foreigner and wouldn't want to have to deal with shipping/support from a smaller company in the US.

[David75]

I guess that comes down to how much we trust Intel.

You reminded me that I haven't looked up to see if anybody's been having issues after using Intel's SSD migration tool, so I"ll give that a look-up soon.

My guess is that their imaging software comes from another company (or acquired one). I do not doubt the efficiency of the tool, after all as a buisiness company, intel does not want unnecessary troubles when offering tools.

So why did I react to this?
Well for example, SSDs work better with AHCI. It's a lot easier to turn your sata link to AHCI and then install a fresh OS, than making the changes to an already installed OS like windows 7...
Try searching for tutorials regarding AHCI for windows.

[Buffalobiian]

My guess is that their imaging software comes from another company (or acquired one). I do not doubt the efficiency of the tool, after all as a buisiness company, intel does not want unnecessary troubles when offering tools.

So why did I react to this?
Well for example, SSDs work better with AHCI. It's a lot easier to turn your sata link to AHCI and then install a fresh OS, than making the changes to an already installed OS like windows 7...
Try searching for tutorials regarding AHCI for windows.

I first have to change a registry setting in Windows 7, then change the setting in my BIOS. I've already done this once when I tried turning on AHCI to activate NCQ on my current HDDs. The drivers should be present on my system.

I did mention this because I've read comments regarding people having problems with their Vertex IIs, and were performing Secure Erases like that's what's needed to be done. I admit that I hate reinstalling OSes.

[David75]

Well, I bought that V2 only for my working laptop. The sata link seems to be caped in performance somewhere so I do not stress that much about it.
Those performing HDDerase and secure erase are people who might have some soft/hard configuration trouble they want to solve... or the ones feeling insecure because their SSD is 2 or 3 MB/s slower than what the reviews show

My take on this is:
Install with parameters fit for a SSD
Check if global performance is about what it should be just in case there's something wrong you'd have to deal with
Enjoy and forget about it.

Then, try to avoid any comp that does not have a SSD installed