How many of you guys using the latest in pc technology?

[ogey boogey]

Yes this is thailand so it's not surprising in fact common to see ppl still using windows xp with some lord knows single core pentium type cpu with maybe 1 GB or lesser of ram that probably slows down just opening up the internet browser.

You guys definitely are not like that so do you have SATA 3 SSDs along with at least a sandybridge type cpu with ddr3 rams along with say a 7970 amd graphics card or something similar on nvidia, a HD sized pc screen so it's at least 1920 x 1080p and a blu ray type of drive. I didn't even factor in 3D monitors or glasses or multiple screens. Think i got most of it covered and mind you some of these stuff aren't new like blu ray drives are a few years old.

[ogey boogey]

Don't forget the USB 3.0 hdds. Actually SATA 3 ssds are still rather expensive i must say.

I actually think this is all guy's stuff. A female regardless of a thai or a farang would just rather get the latest iphone.

[ignis]

Don t know about latest technology, but have AMD 8 core CPU, 8 GB Ram DDR3, No SSD, but 4 x SATA HDDs, + a 1 TB USB 3 HDD, old Graphics card but was top one in it day, and still works fine after 6 years nvidia 9800 GTX, but would have replaced that with the Gigabyte R9 270x because it has 3 fans or the 7870 if needed.. Windows 8, Monitor via HDMI and 32" so yes in HD. also replaced my 10 year old RAM Drive with a new Samsung drive, just a cheap one as rarely ever use CD/DVD these days.

Is this classed as keeping up ??

As for a mobile phone yes have one, and a new one on 3G, [the old 18 month old !! phone gave up last week] it is a phone and use it only as a phone, so No internet, No cam or any of the other stuff I never use, screen is far to small..

[FiftyTwo]

Single core, fine for internet browsing, downloading, playing music and videos.

I have dual core Intel 2.8, about 5 years old and winXP, great for almost everything.

High end tech and latest OS only required for playing the latest games.

Edited November 10, 2013 by FiftyTwo

[ignis]

Single core, fine for internet browsing, downloading, playing music and videos.

I have dual core Intel 2.8, about 5 years old and winXP, great for almost everything.

High end tech and latest OS only required for playing the latest games.

Yes, but when something major fails, would you get/build something better ? would you still put XP on a new PC or say your motherboard had to be replaced ?

Guess also depends on what you use a computer for and how often

[chris2004]

Single core, fine for internet browsing, downloading, playing music and videos.

I have dual core Intel 2.8, about 5 years old and winXP, great for almost everything.

High end tech and latest OS only required for playing the latest games.

Agreed 95% of what most of use computers for is covered by this sort of spec. If my pc packed in i'd buy an i3 + 4gb ram, cost 13,000 baht. No need to spend any more.

[Richard-BKK]

Is the Intel Sandybridge not a bit old to be in the group of the latest technology?

[FiftyTwo]

Single core, fine for internet browsing, downloading, playing music and videos.

I have dual core Intel 2.8, about 5 years old and winXP, great for almost everything.

High end tech and latest OS only required for playing the latest games.

Agreed 95% of what most of use computers for is covered by this sort of spec. If my pc packed in i'd buy an i3 + 4gb ram, cost 13,000 baht. No need to spend any more.

To answer Ignis, same for me, probably with Win7

[Pib]

The latest technology is always big time overkill for the real need of the masses. Buy hey, manufacturers' and stores' advertising have always made it sound like it's durn near a necessity to have the latest model and a there are many people who "just gotta have the latest stuff" because some benchmark shows a 10% percent speed gain which usually equates to much less little real world use speed gain. Plus, if you are not using the latest technology then you must be a social recluse. My 7 year Pentium Core Duo laptop now running Win 7 recently broke, got it repaired (motherboard) for Bt3000 in 2 days, hopefully good for X more years, it's now sending you this post.

[manarak]

"latest technology" only means something in terms of performance if one buys the mid to high end products.

Because a lot of devices using the "latest technology" available are designed for cost-effectiveness and energy-saving, not performance.

I'm not an early adopter of new technologies, I usually wait until the new devices go into mass production before buying, because once the hype has calmed down, so do the prices. Also, the risk of buying a defective product is lower.

I also do some research on "bang for the buck" performance, i.e. how much performance do I get for my money, for this I use VGA performance charts, CPU charts, etc. Often, CPUs that are 2 or 3 years old and cost half or less of the latest technology will deliver performance just as fine. This is true for VGA cards as well.

SSD: hardly a new technology anymore. Their prices have come down by a lot, and the advantage in overall system speed they provide for a mere 100 USD is enormous. In my opinion, anyone buying a new PC without a SSD to install the OS on and the chache/pagefile is missing out big time and doing a mistake.

Edited November 10, 2013 by manarak

[ogey boogey]

Is the Intel Sandybridge not a bit old to be in the group of the latest technology?

Actually it sounds rather old but i put it in cos i suppose the cpu along with the mboard are the ones the last to be replaced and if you want to use haswell cpus you need to get rid of the mboard as well if you are still using sandybridge.

[thailiketoo]

The latest technology is always big time overkill for the real need of the masses. Buy hey, manufacturers' and stores' advertising have always made it sound like it's durn near a necessity to have the latest model and a there are many people who "just gotta have the latest stuff" because some benchmark shows a 10% percent speed gain which usually equates to much less little real world use speed gain. Plus, if you are not using the latest technology then you must be a social recluse. My 7 year Pentium Core Duo laptop now running Win 7 recently broke, got it repaired (motherboard) for Bt3000 in 2 days, hopefully good for X more years, it's now sending you this post.

To use windows 7 backup with a system image you really need a portable HD. Do you have USB3 to run your portable HD?

[Tywais]

I'm still running an i7-2600k 3.4GHz Sandybridge system. Also an OCZ Vertex3 (SATA3) SSD. My graphics card is getting dated as it is a Radeon 4890 overclocked but it has been keeping up with all the high resource hungry games with no problems. Dell 1920x1200 24" monitor. A couple of 2 terabyte USB 3.0 drives and a variety of other drives.

I have seen no need to upgrade anything yet as the system still screams along nicely. The November/December games may require a video card upgrade as I can't run DirectX 11.x

[Chicog]

As it's my job I tend to get the latest technology to try out, but I don't keep much of it.

[Pib]

The latest technology is always big time overkill for the real need of the masses. Buy hey, manufacturers' and stores' advertising have always made it sound like it's durn near a necessity to have the latest model and a there are many people who "just gotta have the latest stuff" because some benchmark shows a 10% percent speed gain which usually equates to much less little real world use speed gain. Plus, if you are not using the latest technology then you must be a social recluse. My 7 year Pentium Core Duo laptop now running Win 7 recently broke, got it repaired (motherboard) for Bt3000 in 2 days, hopefully good for X more years, it's now sending you this post.

To use windows 7 backup with a system image you really need a portable HD. Do you have USB3 to run your portable HD?

Nope...just USB 2.0 to run my external drives....did an image backup using Win 7 just yesterday...no problems at all...no doubt USB 2 is slower than USB 3 but USB 2 works fine with external devices.

[manarak]

I'm still running an i7-2600k 3.4GHz Sandybridge system. Also an OCZ Vertex3 (SATA3) SSD. My graphics card is getting dated as it is a Radeon 4890 overclocked but it has been keeping up with all the high resource hungry games with no problems. Dell 1920x1200 24" monitor. A couple of 2 terabyte USB 3.0 drives and a variety of other drives.

I have seen no need to upgrade anything yet as the system still screams along nicely. The November/December games may require a video card upgrade as I can't run DirectX 11.x

the Radeon 7790 is only 100 USD, difficult to beat that performance/price ratio.

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+7790

Edited November 10, 2013 by manarak

[somchaismith]

There's nothing wrong with using old gear if you find that it still does the job.

[JSixpack]

Often I wish I had some excuse to run the latest, but like most of us, I have no such excuse. Even a computer case--I've built a few computers recently for other people using the latest cases (Zalman, Cooler Master) and they're wonderful--cable management!--but my old aluminum Cooler Master Praetorian, though now cramped, has lasted thru maybe 5 builds, still looks great, and seems ready to last forever. I only needed to replace all the fans a couple of years ago.

It's worth it to pay for quality, but then you may get bored with it!

I do replace old parts with almost-latest parts when they fail. This is what's most cost effective, not buying something new because it's new--with a caveat. The caveat is if you can sell your old stuff for not much less than you paid. E. g., guy on a forum says he sells his old stuff on Ebay as soon as something new comes out so a new computer costs him little. OK--but to me, that sounds like a lot of bother, besides unnecessary. I don't need cutting edge or really high-end to do anything I want to do.

Turns out people with more money than sense can't really tell the difference with more expensive hardware anyway:

Can a £300 gaming PC compare to a £3,000 one? We pit a cheap gaming PC against a high-end rig

I once made this point in the gaming forum when a member was proposing to waste a fortune on a gaming rig. But I think he'd already made up his mind.

Edited November 10, 2013 by JSixpack

[Pib]

Seen several references to CPU variations, like where Tywais mentioned he has an Intel i7-"2600K" CPU. When it comes to buying a computer I expect most people don't concern themselves with CPU variations in the i7, i5, and i3 family of CPUs (or whatever CPU brand and family they are considering). They probably think there is only one version of the i7, i5, or i3 CPU. So, the only CPU buying decision they need to make is to whether to get a laptop with an I7, i5, or i3...kinda like buying a car with either a 8, 6 or 4 cylinder engine. But these folks are so wrong as there can be major CPU difference/horsepower within the i7, i5, and i3 family of CPUs...the person really needs to check the specifications of the complete CPU number which includes the -XXXX part after the i7-, i5-, i3- part of the CPU number.

Recently I had a pretty good urge to get a new laptop since my 7 year Toshiba laptop had a motherboard failure, but fortunately I got it repaired within 2 days for Bt3000. But during those 2 days and for about a week afterwards I had a strong urge just to buy a new laptop...an urge which has passed for now. I was going to get a i7 powered laptop and from playing with a lot of them running Win 8 I found quite a few that were definitely speedier/more responsive than others in my limited playing around with them in the stores. And in many cases the different brand laptops where identically configured RAM- and hard drive-wise...but some were just faster/more responsive. Sure each laptop's motherboard and GPU would be a key factor but usually when I came back to research each model the main difference seemed to be the particular "variation" of the i7 CPU...a variation identified by the remaining numbers following the i7-.

Example: In comparing a Toshiba and Asus laptop side-by-side in a store, both running Win 8, both with 4GB RAM, both with 750GB SATA 5400RPM hard drive, very close in price, etc., the Toshiba was noticeably faster/snappier when jumping around in opening and closing Win 8 menus and programs, just doing different computer tasks. But each laptop had a different variation i7 CPU....the Toshiba had a i7-3632QM CPU and the Asus a i7-3537U CPU....and oh what a significant difference those variation numbers follows the i7- can make. The i7-3632QM is a quad core which can run 8 threads at a time where the i7-3537U is a dual core that could only run 4 threads at a time. The i7-3632QM also had a GPU clock frequency around twice that of the i7-3537U...and there were other significant differences. See more at this CPUBoss Link on the comparison of the two CPUs.

Preaching to the choir for many I know, but when a person decides to get that new 'puter they need to realize all CPUs are not created equal....one i7 may have more horsepower than another i7...same applies for other CPU families such as the i5 and i3...and in some cases there are i5 CPUs that are more powerful than some i7 CPUs. Yeap, when getting a new computer be sure to research CPU specs using the CPU's complete part number.

[KRS1]

The latest technology is always big time overkill for the real need of the masses. Buy hey, manufacturers' and stores' advertising have always made it sound like it's durn near a necessity to have the latest model and a there are many people who "just gotta have the latest stuff" because some benchmark shows a 10% percent speed gain which usually equates to much less little real world use speed gain. Plus, if you are not using the latest technology then you must be a social recluse. My 7 year Pentium Core Duo laptop now running Win 7 recently broke, got it repaired (motherboard) for Bt3000 in 2 days, hopefully good for X more years, it's now sending you this post.

exactly, what are you going to save ? like 1 maybe 2 seconds?

I use photoshop and dreamweaver and my i5 is not any noticeably faster than a regular old pentium.

[Pib]

I use photoshop and dreamweaver and my i5 is not any noticeably faster than a regular old pentium.

Thanks for that last statement...it helped to further suppress my recent urge to upgrade from my 7 year old Pentium Core Duo laptop to a i7 laptop...fortunately that urge is passing after playing with a lot of i7 and i5 powered laptops over the last week or so...and as expected, not noticing a major difference in basic computer tasks. Plus, I couldn't find a laptop that really pleased me....found some laptops I liked but just didn't fall in love with one enough to take it home. For me, all of my computering is pretty basic stuff such as browsing, youtubing, emailing, word processing, spreadsheeting, viewing photos, occasionally scanning some documents...not doing anything heavy duty like playing games or video converting.

[manarak]

The latest technology is always big time overkill for the real need of the masses. Buy hey, manufacturers' and stores' advertising have always made it sound like it's durn near a necessity to have the latest model and a there are many people who "just gotta have the latest stuff" because some benchmark shows a 10% percent speed gain which usually equates to much less little real world use speed gain. Plus, if you are not using the latest technology then you must be a social recluse. My 7 year Pentium Core Duo laptop now running Win 7 recently broke, got it repaired (motherboard) for Bt3000 in 2 days, hopefully good for X more years, it's now sending you this post.

exactly, what are you going to save ? like 1 maybe 2 seconds?

I use photoshop and dreamweaver and my i5 is not any noticeably faster than a regular old pentium.

are you using the same old 32 bit OS with both?

the i5 on a 64 bit system with enough RAM should be very very much faster than, say, a P90 running 32 bit XP for processes like filtering, HDR processing, etc.

[manarak]

Example: In comparing a Toshiba and Asus laptop side-by-side in a store, both running Win 8, both with 4GB RAM, both with 750GB SATA 5400RPM hard drive, very close in price, etc., the Toshiba was noticeably faster/snappier when jumping around in opening and closing Win 8 menus and programs, just doing different computer tasks. But each laptop had a different variation i7 CPU....the Toshiba had a i7-3632QM CPU and the Asus a i7-3537U CPU....and oh what a significant difference those variation numbers follows the i7- can make. The i7-3632QM is a quad core which can run 8 threads at a time where the i7-3537U is a dual core that could only run 4 threads at a time. The i7-3632QM also had a GPU clock frequency around twice that of the i7-3537U...and there were other significant differences. See more at this CPUBoss Link on the comparison of the two CPUs.

This illustrates my earlier point about new technologies often having other focuses than performance quite well.

More horsepower isn't always desirable. In your example, the i7-3537U has a much reduced power consumption compared to the other CPU (almost 50%), which makes it a winner if your focus with the laptop is running processes that aren't too CPU intensive and want to maximize battery life.

[justsumhelp]

Im rolling like this the guy until the Internet speed picks up..

[getnial wrats]

many top of the cream linux gurus are lambing along at at least 6 months behind on real threat of being murdered so if you get the latest equipment you have to be content with it not being fully supported when you buy it. fortunately linux is so intrinsically better it doesnt need the latest equipment to out perform that other crap.

Edited November 11, 2013 by getnial wrats

[Fookhaht]

The best way to move to the newest technology is to dump your PC and pick up a Mac.

From a former PC owner for 33 years. Why, in god's name, did I wait so long?

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Edited November 11, 2013 by Fookhaht

[Pib]

The best way to move to the newest technology is to dump your PC and pick up a Mac. From a former PC owner for 33 years. Why, in god's name, did I wait so long? Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Don't you just love those folks who drive by, scream "buy Apple" out the window, then speed away.

[ignis]

The best way to move to the newest technology is to dump your PC and pick up a Mac. From a former PC owner for 33 years. Why, in god's name, did I wait so long? Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Don't you just love those folks who drive by, scream "buy Apple" out the window, then speed away.

They do say you get what you pay for ???

No idea is a 100 - 133,000 baht Mac PC that much better than a 20 - 28,000 Windows PC or even cheaper with AMD and running Linux ??

[Pib]

Example: In comparing a Toshiba and Asus laptop side-by-side in a store, both running Win 8, both with 4GB RAM, both with 750GB SATA 5400RPM hard drive, very close in price, etc., the Toshiba was noticeably faster/snappier when jumping around in opening and closing Win 8 menus and programs, just doing different computer tasks. But each laptop had a different variation i7 CPU....the Toshiba had a i7-3632QM CPU and the Asus a i7-3537U CPU....and oh what a significant difference those variation numbers follows the i7- can make. The i7-3632QM is a quad core which can run 8 threads at a time where the i7-3537U is a dual core that could only run 4 threads at a time. The i7-3632QM also had a GPU clock frequency around twice that of the i7-3537U...and there were other significant differences. See more at this CPUBoss Link on the comparison of the two CPUs.

This illustrates my earlier point about new technologies often having other focuses than performance quite well.

More horsepower isn't always desirable. In your example, the i7-3537U has a much reduced power consumption compared to the other CPU (almost 50%), which makes it a winner if your focus with the laptop is running processes that aren't too CPU intensive and want to maximize battery life.

Yeap, reduced power was a definite plus for the i7-3537U...would it have resulted in your battery lasting twice as long when the laptop's other power consumers are included like the motherboard, hard drive, screen, etc? I doubt it. But there would be some battery life improvement. "For me," the significantly better benchmarks of the i7-3632QM and the real world speed increase I experience when playing with the two laptops side-by-side would have overshadowed the lower power usage of the i7-3537U since my laptop pretty much spends 95%+ of its time on my dining room table and plugged into the wall....battery life for me is not really an issue as I just want to have computer I can use anywhere in the house and move around easily/quickly when needed. Heck, I wouldn't even take a laptop on a personal trip with me anymore since the advent of smartphone and tablets. But for a person who really needs to go mobile with a laptop at lot the reduced CPU power usage would be a bigger consideration. Maybe an analogy for these two particular CPUs with very similar part numbers (i.e, both having the i7 in there model number) was one was really an 8 cylinder engine with good horsepower where the other one was a 6 cylinder engine with less horsepower but better gas mileage.

[mikewet88]

I had to admit I am sucker for latest and greatest tech in computer. But that is when I decided to purchase a new PC system. Once done, I expect the new pc to last at least 3-5 year without any major upgrade. I setup my own desktop from scratch. Been doing this since my first desktop PC.

My last computer is a Hackintosh (PC hardware run OSX). Yes. I am a Apple fanboy. But I still think iMac is too expensive and rigid in term of customization for geek like me. Therefore the Hackintosh.

When I started build my hackintosh, I picked some of the top tier hardware. i3770, Samsung 830 SSD, Ati6870 (Not top tier but most compatible at that time), Gigabyte Z77P-D3 (not top tier but most compatible (Audio/LAN) for hackintosh), I brought a Korean 27" Monitor and later another Dell 27" monitor, 650Watt PSU, 16GB ram (yea. too much but I'm multitasking freak with 3 browsers,15-20 tabs each, many apps opened and do occasionally ran out of RAM!) and other peripherals.

Why the choose spec? Mainly is most compatible with Hackintosh. Plus, I do dual booting to Windows7 for gaming. I prefer to do my work my work on desktop rather than on my Macbook Pro 13" because of Dual monitor setup.

With this setup, it can at least last 3-4 years. Maybe just upgrade some part down the path. Dont expect to have major change till next big upgrade.

If you are not gaming, Photoshop, video editing, an i3 or i5 dual core are more than sufficient to last you good 3-5 years. 2 important component that you want to upgrade is 1st RAM, get at least 8gb since it is cheap now. 2nd is SSD. You will notice the big different in term of loading time, system responsiveness, large file transfer and multitasking. SSD price had been every decrease. If you hate your current system loading time or lagginess. Get a SSD, immediately you can feel the different.

Dual vs Quad. If you multitask a lot. Quad is better. Can handle multiple load better. Normal browsing, emailing, some wordprocessing, dual is enough.

Moose Law had not play significantly on latest CPU development now. Latest Intel Haswell emphasized on power efficiency. Meaning doing the same task with lesser power. With Haswell energy efficiency, it enable many portable device to last up to 12 hours of "All Day Computing" for example Apple's Macbook Air, Lenovo Tablets/laptop, Asus transformer tablet and etc. "All day Computing" might not be useful for me or most of us who most of time station at 1 place. But for other that work in the field, on the site, biz traveller, it is a godsend feature for them.