Thread: Dakotahnok's computer project.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

I've been thinking about building a low-power machine for my mom, possibly inside the chassis and using the power supply of the 2004 Dell I handed down to her. Does anyone have thoughts on whether there would be any compatibility issues between an older power supply and a newer board? I don't think any of those connection standards have changed, but I was never that familiar with them to begin with. On the one hand I could just add a new PSU to the budget, but the current one has been such a workhorse for 8 frigging years that I'm tempted to let it ride.

I'm looking at a build with one of AMD's combined CPU + GPU processors on a micro ATX board with all modern interface standards and a smaller SSD. As long as it's not starved for RAM, it should be more than enough machine for her Facebook games, browsing, and occasional streaming.

I would keep in the old one, I've always found psu's the most reliable part of the computer. Good choice on the AMD cpu, don't really see the point in the ssd, you always want at least 40gb for the OS partition and such a large ssd would only be a waste of money if you are using it for facebook games.

Originally Posted by dakotahnok

Just so you guys know I am still working on this. I just need a couple hundred more dollars and I will start buying what I need.

I think I am getting a laptop for Christmas. Will a intel core5 with turbo boost be strong enough to power photoshop and games? Personally I would say yes, but I would like your opinions.

In general yes, my old cpu and radeon saphire 4870 are still playing modded skyrim at 35 fps and photoshop without any lag so no problem there.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

I would keep in the old one, I've always found psu's the most reliable part of the computer. Good choice on the AMD cpu, don't really see the point in the ssd, you always want at least 40gb for the OS partition and such a large ssd would only be a waste of money if you are using it for facebook games.

Well, I'm thinking the build will be SSD-only and wanted to leave some headroom. My mom doesn't really download or install much of anything, but with anything smaller than 64GB it would only take one or two large applications (say my sister or I wanted to install a real PC game while we were visiting) to run up against the ceiling. Still, most of the games I'd put on there are classics like SMAC or HoMM3 which don't take up much space... It just depends what my budget looks like when it comes build time. There's not that huge of a price difference between the really small SSDs and something around 100GB.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

Well, I'm thinking the build will be SSD-only and wanted to leave some headroom. My mom doesn't really download or install much of anything, but with anything smaller than 64GB it would only take one or two large applications (say my sister or I wanted to install a real PC game while we were visiting) to run up against the ceiling. Still, most of the games I'd put on there are classics like SMAC or HoMM3 which don't take up much space... It just depends what my budget looks like when it comes build time. There's not that huge of a price difference between the really small SSDs and something around 100GB.

There is little use in having an ssd for general applications other than a quick startup speed, there is however a great hard drive by seagate, part ssd and part hdd Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive
Roughly the same price as a ssd but with 500gb extra space. I personally don't see the point in getting a ssd only build as it really has little advantage over a normal build.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

There is little use in having an ssd for general applications other than a quick startup speed,

Which is a huge advantage in terms of user experience. Depending on the application, you'll see a lot of "loading" time eliminated after startup, too. You absolutely want your browser and most played games on SSD, for instance. There are also noise and power considerations vs. HDD. For someone with modest storage needs, there's no real reason to drop a HDD into the mix, except maybe as a backup drive. The only advantage of HDD is $/GB, which becomes less relevant as fewer $s and GBs are involved.

That hybrid drive is basically just a marked-up HDD with a 4GB thumb drive strapped on. Hopefully the software is a little more sophisticated than Windows Ready Boost, but it's the same basic principle.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

Which is a huge advantage in terms of user experience. Depending on the application, you'll see a lot of "loading" time eliminated after startup, too. You absolutely want your browser and most played games on SSD, for instance. There are also noise and power considerations vs. HDD. For someone with modest storage needs, there's no real reason to drop a HDD into the mix, except maybe as a backup drive. The only advantage of HDD is $/GB, which becomes less relevant as fewer $s and GBs are involved.

That hybrid drive is basically just a marked-up HDD with a 4GB thumb drive strapped on. Hopefully the software is a little more sophisticated than Windows Ready Boost, but it's the same basic principle.

Whatever you want man, if you don't need the space then the ssd will do fine, probably better for the environment anyways.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

Whatever you want man, if you don't need the space then the ssd will do fine, probably better for the environment anyways.

If you meet the ceiling with an SSD, it's easy to buy an HDD and tuck in there for more storage.

Originally Posted by khh

If you meet the ceiling with an SSD, it's easy to buy an HDD and tuck in there for more storage.

Yep, or I could hand down one of the HDDs I've outgrown. But again, my mom never installs or downloads anything, so even a 64GB SSD would probably be adequate. I'd just rather spend the $20 to $50 and not have to worry about it. I saw a 120GB SSD for $80 on Newegg yesterday, and almost pulled the trigger on a 256GB one @$150 for myself.