09-14-2004, 12:49 AM
But they get a discount (10%, IIRC) through their work if they buy a Dell. Still, my prices undershot Dell, and even with their discount, my price was barely above, and certainly got them a better deal. Then again, that was BEFORE they decided to up the RAM, etc. By that point, I was beating Dell by about a grand, instead of only a couple hundred. ;) I personally would never buy a PC-in-a-box.
Something this powerful, while not remaining top of the line, will be FAR from obsolete by 2006. 2007 it may start to show its age, but even that's a stretch. As for when they'll have to actually replace it? 2009 or later, barring massive hardware failure. You'd be surprised how long a system can last when treated properly (and when using QUALITY components). You'd also be surprised at how long a top-of-the-line system stays useful - MANY years beyond where it falls off the top of the food chain. My current system was not top dog when I got it, but it was very good for its time. It's showing its age in some respects now, and has had an upgrade or three over time, but even so, it'll last me a good two years before I truly need to replace in. The only thing pushing me to replace it is heavy-duty gaming that's come out as of late. It could easily run Doom 3, I'm sure, especially if I replaced the dated video card (the only thing on there that really lags behind). I can play lots of older games QUITE easily, and will still be able to enjoy the latest games for a good year or more. That's 3 - 4 years of very useful life for the latest in gaming, with minimal monetary investment in that time (less than $300 - system cost ~$800 when I got it). Their system, which has all the latest components to come out within the last 6 months, will far outlast my system in terms of long-term viability. When my becomes totally obsolete for the latest games, theirs will still be going very strong, probably even stronger than mine is now.
No Intel stock that I'm aware of. Don't know why the father insisted on no AMDs, but he's not one to argue with. ;) Besides, like I said, I like Intels myself, and their latest platform looks to shake AMD off its high-horse once again. My only problem with Intel is their insistence on not supporting DDR2-667 currently. There's NO reason not to, but they insist on waiting. Mayhap by Christmas, or Q1 next year, they'll have changed their tune. I HATE when Intel drags its heels. :P
I always go dual-optical drives. It was their insistence on the exact setup - one solely for reading, one solely for burning. I just gave them what they asked for. :)
It's funny. Money IS an object, especially right now. But they had this planned out for awhile, methinks, and have been budgeting it for some time. They're not rich, by ANY means - they just budget their money VERY tightly. You can't even get a haircut in that family unless it's in the budget. Myself, I have great budgeting skills, but I don't hold them that tight. I like more flexibility. ;)
Their absolute cap was $5,000. Less would be better, but that was their ultimate limit. As for using Linux, Windows XP was a REQUIREMENT for her father's business work. I was going to give them Windows 2000, as I like it 10x better, but her father's company stated Windows XP was a requirement for him to work from home (Lord only knows why; I'm assuming built-in Remote Desktop). Besides, they have minimal to no Linux practice, and since they all run Windows PCs, switching to Linux would not have been an option anyway. No point, either - they need this for business first, schooling second. Linux doesn't fit into either of those categories AT ALL. Even for me, Linux is nothing more than a hobby OS, not a prime candidate for my main system. That won't change for home users for a LONG time, and it will still be a long while before businesses truly adopt Linux as the main platform, too.
The graphics card was also their insistence - I would have waited for the 6800 Ultra, which blows the X800 away in most respects. But, the 6800 Ultra isn't out, and they wanted top-of-the-line, for digital photography (both personal and school related), and I have a hunch eventually digital video. But we'll see. The whole family loves photography, especially the father and two daughters. Mother is amateur at best, mostly sticking to point-and-shoots. :) The system is NOT designed for gaming (oddly enough, given the specs). I'd be surprised if ANY games make their way onto there.
Like I said before, it's not being rich, it's planning months in advance and budgeting money for it. And while they both work in the computer industry, they don't follow the hardware NEARLY as religously as I do. More along the lines of water-cooler chat than real hardware savvy. Which is why I'm building it - that, and because the father does NOT want to deal with building a machine. ;) It's a joy for me, and it's what I'm going to be basing my future business around, so I need all the experience and clientele I can get. :D I've already got them, a friend, and a co-worker lined up for new systems. Just a matter of the other two scraping together the cash. I expect to build their systems post-Christmas. By then, the money-drain season will be over, and we'll be richer from our massive retail holiday hours boost. :D
Looks to ship out tomorrow, so parts should get here by Tuesday or Wednesday. The earlier, the better, especially since almost ALL of this is new to me - Windows XP I have minimal experience with, SATA and RAID absolutely NO experience with, and of course the new graphics / CPU interfaces. Gonna be a blast setting it all up though. ;)
Quote:well, it'll be out of date mid 2005, obsolete end of 2006. (moore's? law - yes, I know it's intended for processors, but it tends to hold reasonably for lots of other components.) It might still be ok for things by 2007, but it will be far from top of line line, assume that things don't break down from wear & tear before then. Buying something decent now, and then something else in 2 years time wold probably have been a better solution, they could also have saved money by keeping the monitor, optical drives, keyboard/mouse from one bought now. Then, replacing those with cheap components have a second computer in 2 years time as well.
Something this powerful, while not remaining top of the line, will be FAR from obsolete by 2006. 2007 it may start to show its age, but even that's a stretch. As for when they'll have to actually replace it? 2009 or later, barring massive hardware failure. You'd be surprised how long a system can last when treated properly (and when using QUALITY components). You'd also be surprised at how long a top-of-the-line system stays useful - MANY years beyond where it falls off the top of the food chain. My current system was not top dog when I got it, but it was very good for its time. It's showing its age in some respects now, and has had an upgrade or three over time, but even so, it'll last me a good two years before I truly need to replace in. The only thing pushing me to replace it is heavy-duty gaming that's come out as of late. It could easily run Doom 3, I'm sure, especially if I replaced the dated video card (the only thing on there that really lags behind). I can play lots of older games QUITE easily, and will still be able to enjoy the latest games for a good year or more. That's 3 - 4 years of very useful life for the latest in gaming, with minimal monetary investment in that time (less than $300 - system cost ~$800 when I got it). Their system, which has all the latest components to come out within the last 6 months, will far outlast my system in terms of long-term viability. When my becomes totally obsolete for the latest games, theirs will still be going very strong, probably even stronger than mine is now.
Quote:Remind me to report you to the /. crowd ;-)... is it worth getting the lounge /.ed again?
Do they have Intel stock?
No Intel stock that I'm aware of. Don't know why the father insisted on no AMDs, but he's not one to argue with. ;) Besides, like I said, I like Intels myself, and their latest platform looks to shake AMD off its high-horse once again. My only problem with Intel is their insistence on not supporting DDR2-667 currently. There's NO reason not to, but they insist on waiting. Mayhap by Christmas, or Q1 next year, they'll have changed their tune. I HATE when Intel drags its heels. :P
Quote:Good decision, both for that reason and because the computer doesn't become entirely unusable if one dies. When I get around to building my new one I've be going dual optical, a DVD & a CDRW.
I always go dual-optical drives. It was their insistence on the exact setup - one solely for reading, one solely for burning. I just gave them what they asked for. :)
Quote:Since money seems to have been no object, you could have gone with a dual processor system (does windows XP share stuff out beween them automatically?) or just use Linux and the GIMP instead of photoshop. Linux would also allow them to squeeze every last drop of performance out of, XP is evil in it's system demands. My dad's PC is a P4 2.2GHz with XP, mine is a Duron 1.3GHz with W98. Mine runs faster (ok, I've got more RAM, but still, XP is a beast).
It's funny. Money IS an object, especially right now. But they had this planned out for awhile, methinks, and have been budgeting it for some time. They're not rich, by ANY means - they just budget their money VERY tightly. You can't even get a haircut in that family unless it's in the budget. Myself, I have great budgeting skills, but I don't hold them that tight. I like more flexibility. ;)
Their absolute cap was $5,000. Less would be better, but that was their ultimate limit. As for using Linux, Windows XP was a REQUIREMENT for her father's business work. I was going to give them Windows 2000, as I like it 10x better, but her father's company stated Windows XP was a requirement for him to work from home (Lord only knows why; I'm assuming built-in Remote Desktop). Besides, they have minimal to no Linux practice, and since they all run Windows PCs, switching to Linux would not have been an option anyway. No point, either - they need this for business first, schooling second. Linux doesn't fit into either of those categories AT ALL. Even for me, Linux is nothing more than a hobby OS, not a prime candidate for my main system. That won't change for home users for a LONG time, and it will still be a long while before businesses truly adopt Linux as the main platform, too.
Quote:So what's the $520 graphics card in aid of? by the time anything comes out that's able to fully exploit it, it'll likely be obsolete anyway
Well, their/your choice, arguing with g/f's parents about anything is a surefire method of somethingorother. If they can say $5k budget, then I suppose they either have more money than computer-market sense (no offence intended to anyone), or really do want a dream PC (except the Intel processor)
The graphics card was also their insistence - I would have waited for the 6800 Ultra, which blows the X800 away in most respects. But, the 6800 Ultra isn't out, and they wanted top-of-the-line, for digital photography (both personal and school related), and I have a hunch eventually digital video. But we'll see. The whole family loves photography, especially the father and two daughters. Mother is amateur at best, mostly sticking to point-and-shoots. :) The system is NOT designed for gaming (oddly enough, given the specs). I'd be surprised if ANY games make their way onto there.
Like I said before, it's not being rich, it's planning months in advance and budgeting money for it. And while they both work in the computer industry, they don't follow the hardware NEARLY as religously as I do. More along the lines of water-cooler chat than real hardware savvy. Which is why I'm building it - that, and because the father does NOT want to deal with building a machine. ;) It's a joy for me, and it's what I'm going to be basing my future business around, so I need all the experience and clientele I can get. :D I've already got them, a friend, and a co-worker lined up for new systems. Just a matter of the other two scraping together the cash. I expect to build their systems post-Christmas. By then, the money-drain season will be over, and we'll be richer from our massive retail holiday hours boost. :D
Looks to ship out tomorrow, so parts should get here by Tuesday or Wednesday. The earlier, the better, especially since almost ALL of this is new to me - Windows XP I have minimal experience with, SATA and RAID absolutely NO experience with, and of course the new graphics / CPU interfaces. Gonna be a blast setting it all up though. ;)
Roland *The Gunslinger*