Computer Ponderings
So, I've been pondering a new computer, and this has led me to think some about the old ones I've had over the years...
My first... well, my first computer was a Commodore 64. Not much to say there, other than it was one of the best Christmas presents ever. Mostly, I used it for games, but still.
Around the time I went off to college, I was given a laptop (Winbook, I think). It was pretty spiffy for its time, though the LCD screen was not color and showed heavy ghosting in games like Wing Commander Academy. It was good for MUCKing and typing as well.
Then I picked up a Dell desktop. It worked fine, so far as I recall, for games and work.
After that, I wanted a gaming computer. I heard lots of spiffy things about water cooling. So, I built one. This taught me a lot. Building a computer is an awesome experience, but not without its possible pitfalls. I reused a number of things out of the Dell. And one of the biggest lessons I took away from this: water cooling really isn't all that special outside extreme situations. See, all that liquid pumping around is more efficient at moving heat from chips, but it still has to go somewhere. Unless you've got a convenient freezer to pipe things through, that means pumping the water through a radiator that needs fans to cool it. So while you can decide where the fans go, you still have fans running, so that's not much quieter/better on that end.
Coming off what was a loud, but effective, computer, I decided to build one using more conventional components, but geared more toward being quiet. That was a moderate success, but the build was decidedly more difficult than the previous one. I had to send some components back and had some trouble getting things settled, but it ran well and reasonably quietly. That lasted until power problems and failing hard drives.
That led up to my current computer. I was doing research on parts and found that there wasn't actually that much of a premium to getting something built for me. I ended up ordering a "custom" build from ibuypower.com. It wasn't too loud, but isn't super-quiet either. It's not high-end now, but it served well over the last few years. Now, it is being loud, though I think that's one of the fans in particular, and I'll try replacing that.
Current Priorities:
- Game ready. It's got to have a decent video card and processors, and enough memory to keep up. If it's not an upgrade, there's no point.
- Low audible volume. But, of course, powerful hardware that runs new games produces heat, and dissipating heat requires fans. So there's only so much you can do about that.
- SSD, maybe. Solid state drives... are still kinda pricey, but they're getting to the point of being "worth it" to me. I've seen how SSD users load faster, and it's pretty impressive. Maybe a drive in the 120-256 GB range would be affordable and enough to be effective for a while.
I've been looking at some quiet/silent pc build sites. Running through a configurator often pushes me up to around the $2000 mark, which is... higher than I would like. I might have to make some component compromises. I'm not sure I want to take on the challenge myself again, though, even if components might be a little cheaper. We'll see...
Edit: A quick test of desirable components comes out to about $2025 built or $1850 for parts. While the difference isn't nothing, a 10% premium for not having do deal with putting it all together myself seems worth it to me.
My first... well, my first computer was a Commodore 64. Not much to say there, other than it was one of the best Christmas presents ever. Mostly, I used it for games, but still.
Around the time I went off to college, I was given a laptop (Winbook, I think). It was pretty spiffy for its time, though the LCD screen was not color and showed heavy ghosting in games like Wing Commander Academy. It was good for MUCKing and typing as well.
Then I picked up a Dell desktop. It worked fine, so far as I recall, for games and work.
After that, I wanted a gaming computer. I heard lots of spiffy things about water cooling. So, I built one. This taught me a lot. Building a computer is an awesome experience, but not without its possible pitfalls. I reused a number of things out of the Dell. And one of the biggest lessons I took away from this: water cooling really isn't all that special outside extreme situations. See, all that liquid pumping around is more efficient at moving heat from chips, but it still has to go somewhere. Unless you've got a convenient freezer to pipe things through, that means pumping the water through a radiator that needs fans to cool it. So while you can decide where the fans go, you still have fans running, so that's not much quieter/better on that end.
Coming off what was a loud, but effective, computer, I decided to build one using more conventional components, but geared more toward being quiet. That was a moderate success, but the build was decidedly more difficult than the previous one. I had to send some components back and had some trouble getting things settled, but it ran well and reasonably quietly. That lasted until power problems and failing hard drives.
That led up to my current computer. I was doing research on parts and found that there wasn't actually that much of a premium to getting something built for me. I ended up ordering a "custom" build from ibuypower.com. It wasn't too loud, but isn't super-quiet either. It's not high-end now, but it served well over the last few years. Now, it is being loud, though I think that's one of the fans in particular, and I'll try replacing that.
Current Priorities:
- Game ready. It's got to have a decent video card and processors, and enough memory to keep up. If it's not an upgrade, there's no point.
- Low audible volume. But, of course, powerful hardware that runs new games produces heat, and dissipating heat requires fans. So there's only so much you can do about that.
- SSD, maybe. Solid state drives... are still kinda pricey, but they're getting to the point of being "worth it" to me. I've seen how SSD users load faster, and it's pretty impressive. Maybe a drive in the 120-256 GB range would be affordable and enough to be effective for a while.
I've been looking at some quiet/silent pc build sites. Running through a configurator often pushes me up to around the $2000 mark, which is... higher than I would like. I might have to make some component compromises. I'm not sure I want to take on the challenge myself again, though, even if components might be a little cheaper. We'll see...
Edit: A quick test of desirable components comes out to about $2025 built or $1850 for parts. While the difference isn't nothing, a 10% premium for not having do deal with putting it all together myself seems worth it to me.
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