New feature - owner hardware search and compare database

[Tifosi]

Just an idea to create a feature where you can compare user setups against one another and search them for components. This is helped by the fact Hexus already captures people's systems when they chose to capture them in their profile.

Frequently people want to:
- get an idea of popular components
- see what do other people used with component X

It would be nice to have a compare function, maybe something along the lines of the idea used a dpreview.com.
You could get some interesting real word stats and graphs out of the data as well, admittedly they would likely be biased but nevetheless within the community they could be rather interesting/insightful.

e.g.
average system age (based on system build date)
number of people with new components in the last x months
comparative splits
Intel v AMD v ARM etc.
Linux v OSX v Windows etc.
population distribution of RAM sizes
population distribution of CPU speeds
etc.

My use cause:
- I want to see what real world users use in their systems (not corporate based benchmark reviews, or affiliated adverts/articles)
- So I come to Hexus and use the owner system search & comparison tool
- I come to Hexus since I generally trust and value user opinions, selections and advice made here
- I could search show me all users' systems using an i5 3750, or show me servers, or show me media centers etc.

The site would return a side by side list of peoples systems, ranked in some way maybe by build date, user name, benchmark, cost etc.
I could then filter them down using further criteria e.g. those running linux, or those using nvidia graphics

This produces a list of setups using components I'm interested in, to see how other have mixed and matched items.
I can then search further or refine my ideas.

Data quality is heavily user reliant and could be a bit iffy initially but I'd image this could be quite popular, you could add in options for people to include benchmark scores as well. I'd imagine including benchmark data would encourage people to populate their profiles knowing the performance/price competitive nature of many 'tech heads'.

[dave87]

Have a look at the Valve hardware surveys, pretty much the same thing...

[Tifosi]

link?

[Tifosi]

over at steam? hmm I'd value the systems of Hexites more so. mainly since they're not all geared for gaming.

I'd also be keen to view complete discrete systems i.e.what works with what - rather than a population of consolidated and segmented or cohorted data(which is what I've seen at steam).

[KeyboardDemon]

link?

I'm assuming you have this already, but for those that haven't searched for it, here's the Steam Hardware & Software Survey

over at steam? hmm I'd value the systems of Hexites more so. mainly since they're not all geared for gaming.

I'd also be keen to view complete discrete systems i.e.what works with what - rather than a population of consolidated and segmented or cohorted data(which is what I've seen at steam).

You make a good point, but in terms of the data it provides this might not just be helpful for us as members it might also prove to be a valuable tool in terms of marketing strength for Hexus. For example if enough members were users of a particular product or brand then Hexus might be able to persuade that brand to open a Hexus forum which in turn could help grow the sites membership and attract more people to the forums, bringing in more advertising revenue for Hexus which could be used to make the boards and site even more awesome then they already are.