InfinitusEquitas You Were Right: See Last Post

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

Really? What effect does it have? I have never used a computer with a SSD, but I hear they make one soil one's trousers....

I bought an HP Envy M6 Entertainment PC. It is going well so far. I have until the 24th of January to decide if I like it. Also, if I get more money I can always return I and get a better laptop.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

The best part about the SSDs is that anything your system isn't (as) bound by the slow disk IO of your system. I always found that even in the 7200RPM drives that my computer felt slow because it needed to load data from the hard drive, and that slow IO process in turn affected other parts of the system. IO is always the slowest part of any computer, so whatever you can do to avoid or speed up IO operations will improve system performance. In particular, an SSD has very good random-access performance compared to a hard drive, which is important for your system files, etc. I think it's like 100x better or so when I benchmarked.

On my laptop I keep the SSD for the system and programs, and a separate regular hard drive for media and my swap-file (since SSDs shouldn't have swap files on them, and my laptop is old enough that it can only have 2GB of RAM anyway). Even on my main computer with all the RAM I could need the SSD makes things much snappier. You may not need a swap file, but having a bulk data drive is still nice for movies, music, etc. so you don't run out of room for your programs and games.

I would get something like the Crucial M4 128GB SSD. It's pretty cheap ($100), has a good controller, and has a decent capacity for the price.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

InfinitusEquitas said:

For any kind of gaming IMO you are better off with a dedicated video card, NOT integrated. Skyrim will likely run on low to medium low setting only on that laptop.

I'm a fan of intel/nvidia, having used both. Intel is geared better for the higher end market, but AMD is also fine for low or mid range computers.

The reason I like nvidia more, is they seem to put more effort into drivers and support.

Edit: I've seen better deals for laptops over black friday. Keep your eyes on the slickdeals forums..

Click to expand...

Keep in mind he's suggested a system with an AMD A10 processor. AMD's APUs combine discrete class GPU chips on-die with the processor and blow the pants off of Intel's integrated solutions. It's also more power efficient than a discrete GPU.

I'm not exactly sure about the demands of Skyrim but it will probably run pretty well on that system.

AMD lost the performance crown since the release of theIntel Core2 series, but AMD's APUs are an excellent choice for laptops.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

SSDs have a great data access time - where it takes hardly anytime for reach a specified memory address, but HDDs still have a much faster data streaming rate. So if you need to frequently store, transfer, or view very large files (On the order of hundreds of mb) HDDs are still very relevant.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

MarioMaster said:

Keep in mind he's suggested a system with an AMD A10 processor. AMD's APUs combine discrete class GPU chips on-die with the processor and blow the pants off of Intel's integrated solutions. It's also more power efficient than a discrete GPU.

I'm not exactly sure about the demands of Skyrim but it will probably run pretty well on that system.

AMD lost the performance crown since the release of theIntel Core2 series, but AMD's APUs are an excellent choice for laptops.

Click to expand...

Therein lies the problem, integrated...

A discreet GPU, even a crappy one, will surpass any integrated solution, intel or amd.

In terms of power efficiency, you're right, except that often times you can have the gpu turned off altogether. For internet browsing, the intel intergrated solution from a second gen i5 works just fine.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

I just wanted to throw in my $0.02...

My old HP G60 laptop had some HORRIBLE problems a year or so ago...
The HDD was toast so I put a brand new shiny SSD inside with 8GB RAM and installed Win 7 instead of the shitty Vista that came with my computer when I bought it... and voila! My computer was working better than new.

I do a lot of photo processing (11+MB RAW images to 1+GB panoramas), graphic design, and of course the regular music, homework, and browsing for nudes. I don't play games much except Half-Life 2 and Portal on occasion.
My shitty integrated GPU won't render some of my games like Age of Mythology but that's ok since I'm not much of a gamer.

When I got the SSD, I was able to do stuff I never thought was possible... like running Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, DPP, Firefox, Skype, iTunes all simultaneously... and the best part is that I didn't have to worry about Photoshop crashing while stitching a panorama together!

Now my computer is starting to really show its age and is overdue for a replacement. When I do upgrade, I'll probably get a basic model with a top-of-the-line processor and GPU then add in the extra hardware like RAM and SSD myself. The HP Envy series looks nice to me but I'm not a Techie so I can't say if they really are "good" or not.

Oh, and you can forget about me using Win 8. I don't know what you plan on using your computer for, but if you are like me and want to do actual work, I don't want an OS that acts like a teenager's smart phone. And the horrible minimalistic interface with the tacky color scheme is just fking ridiculous. I'll stick with Win 7 until "they" get their shit together and make something useful for more than sending tweets and checking facebook...

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

Generally, even on laptops, it is not that big of a deal to replace the HDD with an SSD, and even more so with adding ram.

Those same upgrades tend to be VERY pricey when going through a manufacturer though.

I have an SSD I've been meaning to stick into my laptop, but truth is, I haven't touched the laptop since august For the desktop, just got a shiny new 240gb ssd, should give my computer another 2-3 years, although I might need to upgrade video card.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

InfinitusEquitas said:

Therein lies the problem, integrated...

A discreet GPU, even a crappy one, will surpass any integrated solution, intel or amd.

In terms of power efficiency, you're right, except that often times you can have the gpu turned off altogether. For internet browsing, the intel intergrated solution from a second gen i5 works just fine.

Click to expand...

You might want to take a look again.

An AMD Radeon7660G core (the core integrated with the A10 CPU) achieves a 3dmark11 score of 1144. While not fantastic, my current i7 laptop with a discrete Radeon hd6570M GPU with 1gb of dedicated GDDR5 scores 1216 in 3dmark11.

In comparison, Intel's HD graphics 4000 (comes with the Ivy Bridge i7 CPUs) scores 626 in 3dmark11.
HD3000 (sandy bridge) does not have DX11 capability, but is about 36% slower than the HD4000 on 3dmark06

That means it is in almost the exact same class as my discrete radeon card or an Nvidia GT550M GPU, which uses ~30 watts by itself. The entire TDP for an A10 is 65 watts. Compare to an i7 at 45 watts + 30 watts for GPU.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

What would you guys recommend for a gaming laptop. For crap like BF3?

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

Meatball said:

SSDs have a great data access time - where it takes hardly anytime for reach a specified memory address, but HDDs still have a much faster data streaming rate. So if you need to frequently store, transfer, or view very large files (On the order of hundreds of mb) HDDs are still very relevant.

Click to expand...

That depends actually, and is often untrue. A high-end Velociraptor hard drive, for example, will only be able to beat a middle-of-the-road SSD in sequential writes, and not all that significantly either. For everything else, including reading sequential data, the HDD is beaten--in many cases by orders of magnitude.

Anandtech also chose the Intel 320 because it is middle-of-the-road in terms of SSDs. Other SSDs perform better and SSDs increase in performance the larger they are because they can access more chips in parallel. It's like having more drives in a RAID 0 array.

Also there are few cases where you'll really be pushing data at the full sequential throughput. Most of the times this involves simply transferring files from one point to another, which is infrequent. This does fit into the good use of HDDs these days: large bulk storage. However, for everything else, the SSDs are generally more effective in all respects.

RA_pierce said:

When I got the SSD, I was able to do stuff I never thought was possible... like running Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, DPP, Firefox, Skype, iTunes all simultaneously... and the best part is that I didn't have to worry about Photoshop crashing while stitching a panorama together!

Click to expand...

I know! It made my laptop feel like an entirely new machine, even with its pitiful RAM and old CPU. The SSD is literally the best investment you can make for a laptop. I hold onto such an old laptop because I like the screen, the fact that it's an IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad, and of course: the SSD.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

MarioMaster said:

You might want to take a look again.

An AMD Radeon7660G core (the core integrated with the A10 CPU) achieves a 3dmark11 score of 1144. While not fantastic, my current i7 laptop with a discrete Radeon hd6570M GPU with 1gb of dedicated GDDR5 scores 1216 in 3dmark11.

In comparison, Intel's HD graphics 4000 (comes with the Ivy Bridge i7 CPUs) scores 626 in 3dmark11.
HD3000 (sandy bridge) does not have DX11 capability, but is about 36% slower than the HD4000 on 3dmark06

That means it is in almost the exact same class as my discrete radeon card or an Nvidia GT550M GPU, which uses ~30 watts by itself. The entire TDP for an A10 is 65 watts. Compare to an i7 at 45 watts + 30 watts for GPU.

Click to expand...

Interesting. That is an impressive (and surprising) score for integrated graphics. Since a discrete gpu chip is still used, I would imagine there would be no downside on the processor end. Seems it's definitely worthwhile option for light gaming. It is right on par with the 550M which is what's in my laptop.

Personally I believe gaming should be reserved for proper computers though.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

Kartracer00 said:

What would you guys recommend for a gaming laptop. For crap like BF3?

Click to expand...

Anybody? I feel let down when my questions get skipped :cryyy:

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

wannaburnstuff said:

Hello,

I am currently trying to sell my MacBook Pro, and then with that money I plan to buy either a desktop or a laptop PC. A friend suggested I buy THIS. What do yall think? Also, have any of you used that site before?

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Isaac

Click to expand...

Well most of the specs are good, however, I'd be making my own computer and stay clear of Dell. Their PSUs are known to have big problems and crap out without warning.
Also, I'd have a 256GB or 512GB SSD for the OS to ride on and a second HDD for your file storage.
The best way to go is to roll your own.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

Kartracer00 said:

Anybody? I feel let down when my questions get skipped :cryyy:

Click to expand...

Gaming and laptops just don't really mix much... I'd love to help you with a recommendation, but the true gaming laptops are huge power hogs, with little runtime, and still just entry level performance vs a gaming desktop.

So get a gaming desktop, and a small laptop for internet browsing/etc instead.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

Gaming laptops have improved quite a bit in past years, and can even switch between integrated and discrete cards. Still, I'm with InfinitusEquitas in that I'd rather invest the money into a desktop for gaming and concentrate on portability and runtime for the laptop. Often trying to merge the two leads to something more expensive overall.

Re: Need advice for a new computer please

Thanks IE and BB. +1 to you both With that advise, i think ill just do an overhaul on my desktop. Its a Gateway GM5260. I hope its not too old to do some good upgrading.