Brian The Dog on 11/2/2010 at 23:10
Quote Posted by Sulphur
The other thing is that even if you have just the 4 GB of RAM, 32-bit versions of Windows won't let you use all of it. It'll show as 2.99 or 3.25 or 3.5 GB usable, depending on your BIOS settings and which 32-bit version of Windows you're using.
Yes, it's 4Gb of Total RAM, i.e. including graphics memory and page file (I think this is correct). This is why it varies a bit between different people's PC's, but either way, Windows won't see anything like 4Gb of RAM.
One thing I learnt recently was that there is still the 4Gb of RAM limit in Windows x64 since the WOW64 emulator emulates so well it even emulates the 4Gb limit... :laff: You are still limited to 4Gb of x86 code, but as much x64 code as you have room for. Of course, with the Windows code mostly being x64 then this does still give you a lot more room to play with than you had previously.
I guess the moral of this story is that, unless you're a programmer targeting x64 apps, there is no reason to go for above 6Gb of RAM since it will never get used. Not until people start using lots of x64 code, anyway!
Renzatic on 11/2/2010 at 23:27
Hell, that's how I work with computers. I don't use screwdrivers, I just bash them on the floor like an otter with a clam until they pop open.
And weirdly enough, I have seen Vista 32 address a full 4GB of ram, even with a 1GB graphics card installed on the machine. I'm not too sure what the guy did, or even if he did anything at all. But upon opening his system properties, I found it registering every bit of his ram. First and only time I've ever seen that happen.
edit
How close to native performance can these drivers give me? Now I like Windows 7 quite a bit, but apparently I've become a hardcore dork these last few months, and have actually started preferring Linux a little more due to it's flexibility. The only reason I don't spend more time over on my Ubuntu partition is because the vast majority of my programs, Modo and Photoshop in particular, don't run there. No go through Wine, and VMs are way, way, way too slow to support something as complex Modo. If it can come close to native performance, I might almost consider a switch.
Kuuso on 19/2/2010 at 14:41
Hello again! I visited the shop I got my last computer from and I got one prebuilt and one of their own builds. They can, of course, make one from my own chosen components. Here's the specs though:
The better one:
CAMP Power i7-860
Prosessori: Intel® Core™ i7-860 2.8 GHz,
L2 Cache 8192 Kt, S1156
Motherboard: Intel DP55WG Micro-ATX 4xDDR3-1066/1333/1600 MHz
(max. 16 Gb), 1xPCI-E 16x, 1xPCI-E 4x, 2xPCI-E 1x, 2XPCI,
6xSATA, Intel 10-Ch High Definiton Audio, S/PDIF, 10/100/1000 LAN, 8xUSB2.0, 2xFirewire, RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
RAM: 8192 (4x2048) Mt DDR3-1066 MHz
Hard drives: Kingston 64 Gb SSD ja 1000 gb 7200 rpm SATA
Disc drive: DVD±RW 16x Dual Layer-asema
Gfx card: Asus GeForce GTS250 1 Gb VGA/DVI/HDMI
Interwebs card: Integroitu Intel 10/100/1000 RJ45 Ethernet
OS: MS Windows 7 Home Premium
Case: Nexus Clodius ATX-kotelo, (musta)
4x5,25", 1/7x3,5", USB, Audio In/Out,
Power supply: Nexus Silent 530W 82+
Warranty: CAMP takuu 24 months
Logitech näppäimistö + Logitech optinen hiiri
The other one:
ACER ASM5300
Prosessori: AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0 GHz, cache 2mt
RAM: 8192 Mt DDR3-1066 MHz max. 8 Gt
Hard drive:1000 Mb 7200 rpm SATA
Disc drive: Bluray Reader/ DVD-Burner (not specified)
Gfx card: nVidia GeForce GT240 2048Mt muisti, DVI, VGA, HDMI
Audio: Realtek High-definition 7.1-Ch integrated sound card
Liitännät Multi-in-1 muistikortinlukija, 8 x USB2.0,1x FireWire, 1x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 2x PCI
Net card: Integrated 10/100/1000 RJ45 Ethernet
OS: MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Case: ATX-case, 37.0 x 18.3 x 45.5 cm
warrant: 12 months
Have to dig up the motherboard on that one (not on the net or my papers).
The Intel machine is 1190€ whereas the AMD one falls somewhere around 820€.
I would deffo drop the SSD drive from the Intel machine, don't think it's necessary and the price would drop to 1000€ or so. The bluray reader on the cheaper option is nice, wondering how much the price would increase, if I had one for the pricier option.
Brian The Dog on 19/2/2010 at 16:17
Hmm, the Solid-State hard-drive is a bit fancy and will be very quick, but it is very small for a modern PC - Windows 7 will take up about a third of it! So you'd only have 40Gb for all your programs, games and photos/music etc. I'd definitely recommend switching it for a 500Gb or 1Tb "standard" SATA hard drive.
Make sure they include the 64-bit version of Windows 7, otherwise you can only see about half of the memory in your PC. Otherwise either PC looks fine. You may want to ask for a slightly higher-power Power Supply as 530W won't leave you with much room to spare with such a computer (unless it is a high-efficiency PSU).
Edit - just seen that you'll have the SS hard drive along with a standard 1Tb SATA drive. In which case it's fine, just put Windows on the SS drive and your PC will see an impressive speed difference.
steo on 23/2/2010 at 09:50
Surprised to see a micro-ATX board on a high-end PC - they're usually reserved for budget mainboards. A good board is essential for overclocking, so probably not something to skimp on. Googling intel DP55WG shows an ATX board though :erg:
Also, what's performance like on the GTS250/240? For a gaming machine I'd be looking to fork out a considerable amount of dosh for the graphics card - no point having an i7 you can overclock to hell and back when you're bottlenecked by the graphics card.
Kuuso on 26/2/2010 at 16:06
For 1159€ this looks better than the earlier 1190€ machine I posted here (Need to get OS for this machine though, pushing the price unless I pirate):
Processor: AMD Phenom II 955, cooler Noctua U9B
Motherboard: AMD 790FX, CrossFire
Gfx card: Ati Radeon 4890 1GB
RAM: 8GB DDR2 800MHz
Hard drive: 1000GB Sata II
Case: NZXT Hush
Power: Corsair HX 650W
I think I'll talk about getting a better gfx card for the earlier option, with googling it does seem a bit underwhelming.
Also, for 1179:
Processor: Intel Core i7 Quad 920 2.66GHz
Gfx card:Asus Ati Radeon 5850 1GB DX 11
motherboard: Asus P6T SE Intel X58
RAM: Kingston HyperX 6GB 1600MHz DDR 3
Hard Drive: 1000Gb Sata
Blu-Ray/DVD-asema
Antec Sonata 3
(need to dig out, why there isn't a power supply here and if it's included in price, but just left out)
