Opinion wanted from A64 X2 owners

[NightshadowUK]

I don't believe a dual core is needed. The PC is gonna be used for the following:

General Internet use - those web pages aren't gonna load any quicker with an X2.

Office use - Word processing / spreadsheets / databases do not utilize dual core, at all, not a sausage.

Some games i.e. Sims 2 - I maybe wrong here, but for him to mention the Sims 2 as a game he plays would suggest he doesn't really play anything more taxing, and even *IF* he does (which I doubt), only UT2007 (as far as I know) is planning to take full advantage of dual core, and even then I'm expecting my 3700+ to handle it. Sure, they come in if you're running a crap load of programs at once, but I'm pretty sure a 3200+ can handle average use... with ease. People say dual cores improve even standard games, maybe they do, but only where benchmarking is concerned. A dual core maybe able to run CS:S 'better' than my system, but 'better' isn't needed when I'm able to max everything out and still bounce off the FPS limit set by Vertical Sync.

Media playing - this would go off RAM more than the CPU, again, I suggest you save the money and get 2GB RAM, although, I'd like to note that even a Socket A system with 256MB RAM can play MP3s and videos...

There's no way a dual core is for standard use, a single core will suffice, spend the money saved on extra RAM, a large TFT and some lovely surround sound speakers.

[billythewiz]

I agree with NightshadowUK.

I know when I plan to spend a load of money on some fancy new toy, my mates will often say "What do you need that for ?". My reply is always "What's NEED got to do with it ? I WANT one ".

If you go for an X2 your friends will be happy with their super fast PC, there's no doubt about it. (20" wide screen + antec P180 )

But if you have any concerns about cost and value for money then NightshadowUK's advice is spot on. The extra cash is better spent on more/faster RAM, HDD, etc.

Have you thought about giving them a striped raid array ?

[MSIC]

Am concerned about RAID in terms of reliability, again given that it needs to still be reliable 4 years down the line without upgrades or them popping in to 'PC World' .
The other thing about money is that i gather they will be paying for it through the 'Home Computing Initiative', which i'd always assumed meant that you had to get some HP machine and pay for over the next 3 years getting ripped off in the process. Apparently it applies to self-builds also (i havent verified this myself). The upshot of this is, my friend will end up paying £800 for a £1200 machine after tax savings... hence the desire to get a decent spec now.

although, I'd like to note that even a Socket A system with 256MB RAM can play MP3s and videos...

I know, i know. What can i say .... not my decision!

But if the family's a heavy user,

I had a look at their current machine last night for the first time. The kids (11 and 14 i think) have added lots of "wonderful things" like pop-up blockers (that add spyware), "amusing" moving icons so the mouse is some Irish leprechaun, and there's about 15 different applications running from boot-up such as Kodak easyshare for a camera that is no longer in use. Trust me, although they arn't 'heavy users' in my sense of the terms, they will be pushing a machine to it's limits!!!

[NightshadowUK]

I know when I plan to spend a load of money on some fancy new toy, my mates will often say "What do you need that for ?". My reply is always "What's NEED got to do with it ? I WANT one "

Too right, I'd love an X2 system but if I'm being honest with myself it'd just be spank fodder!

Am concerned about RAID in terms of reliability, again given that it needs to still be reliable 4 years down the line without upgrades or them popping in to 'PC World'.

Budget depending, you could always get a Raptor for Windows and system applications, and keep aside a standard large capacity SATA drive for storage.

[NightshadowUK]

I know when I plan to spend a load of money on some fancy new toy, my mates will often say "What do you need that for ?". My reply is always "What's NEED got to do with it ? I WANT one "

Too right, I'd love an X2 system but if I'm being honest with myself it'd just be spank fodder!

Am concerned about RAID in terms of reliability, again given that it needs to still be reliable 4 years down the line without upgrades or them popping in to 'PC World'.

Budget depending, you could always get a Raptor for Windows and system applications, and keep aside a standard large capacity SATA drive for storage.

[project187]

tbh your gunna have probs with any pc at some point whther it be a virus from downloaded music or just a common falut that average users wont be able to fix, i dont even think that there is an issu bout the cpu
if they dont know much bout pcs im sure that a 3700 will blow them away they arnt gunna think mmm if only we got that 3800 we would have been able to do this this that and that slightly easier, like what they dot know wont hurt them and forgive me if im wrong but family pcs arnt performance hugry monsters usually cue dell bas models do the job fine prob even run sims and how much oh rite 500 quid.
just get em a 3700. and a gig of ram and a normal hardrive why do they need raid?

[NightshadowUK]

The budget is stupidly big considering what they need it for... would they not happily save some cash or are they intent on spending it?

[project187]

exaclty tbh you could build a pc for that for like 600 quid

why they cant do wat normal familes do and buy like a 600 quid dell i dont know

[billythewiz]

I'd love an X2 system but ... it'd just be spank fodder!

just get em a 3700. and a gig of ram and a normal hardrive

I agree completely.

why do they need raid?

What's need got to do with it ?

The budget is stupidly big considering what they need it for

Absolutely.

Your family is going to have a serious upgrade problem in the next few years anyway. In 1-2 years time, those 11 and 14 year old kids are going to discover Quake5, BF3 and WoW online. For that they're are going to want a kickass PC each.

The "family PC" will only be used by the parents for surfing and office.

[project187]

lol raid smaid

[StormPC]

Am concerned about RAID in terms of reliability, again given that it needs to still be reliable 4 years down the line without upgrades or them popping in to 'PC World' .
The other thing about money is that i gather they will be paying for it through the 'Home Computing Initiative', which i'd always assumed meant that you had to get some HP machine and pay for over the next 3 years getting ripped off in the process. Apparently it applies to self-builds also (i havent verified this myself). The upshot of this is, my friend will end up paying £800 for a £1200 machine after tax savings... hence the desire to get a decent spec now.



I know, i know. What can i say .... not my decision!



I had a look at their current machine last night for the first time. The kids (11 and 14 i think) have added lots of "wonderful things" like pop-up blockers (that add spyware), "amusing" moving icons so the mouse is some Irish leprechaun, and there's about 15 different applications running from boot-up such as Kodak easyshare for a camera that is no longer in use. Trust me, although they arn't 'heavy users' in my sense of the terms, they will be pushing a machine to it's limits!!!

I hope you are not saying they need a dual-core to run spyware better...

Also, it is a myth that dual-cores ALWAYS multitask better than single-cores. They absolutely do not. There are only two cases where a dual-core beats out a single, and overclocking is not one of them. They are:

1) Programs written SPECIFICALLY to take advantage of multiple cores, and...
2) Running multiple CPU INTENSIVE PROGRAMS where CPU utilization is maxxed out. This happens sooner on a single-core in most cases because there is less CPU power.

It should be noted though that I have tested dual-cores, and if you run 2 or more programs that max out both cores you are in the same boat as a single-core, that is, things will be just as jerky (un-smooth). Of course, the more cores you have the less likely it is that this will happen.

If you gamers think multi-cores help, why not get a quad dual-core Opteron system. If we follow your logic about the X2 and gaming then the 8-core Opteron should be a really good gamer.

[kempez]

I have noticed a big diffenece when using my dual core as compared to the other single core systems I've used.

Running 7 or more apps at one time just makes everything easier and smoother

And games have seen an advantage (the Quake 4 patch) when I enable dual core - I've been able to up the AA from 2 x to 4 x AA at 1600 x 1200 (widescreen enabled)

[sawyen]

multi threaded games or not, lets just see what UT2K7 gives. Regardless of what others say, I do feel lots difference when I multitask. This is probably related to the sort of softwares I use tho. I guess people here that want to perform a 6 hour mathematical simulation and STILL want to use the PC will be superly happy (I'm one of them).

I guess if the family's a bunch of uni academics (like me n my mrs), the system would serve them very well. If not, just get a 3200+ and a decent gfx card and be happy with it. I cant recall how terrible is to wait 14+ hours for a database search to complete before I can run another program on my now RIPed 3500+ and spare 3200+.

[MSIC]

Decision time.

why not get a quad dual-core Opteron system

Will do.

Only joking.

A 3700+ (single core) is what i'm going to get. I reckon X2 is overkill, it'd be nice, but not needed, even in a few years time. The husband does know a little about computers ie he will have heard of dual core, but i think on balance 3700+ it is.

And by the way, for all who keep saying "£600 PC is all you need" have you actually tried to build a machine that can blow people away in terms of asthetics for this much money?? If so i'd like to see you spec one up here!! The monitor ALONE is £350, and that's from alot of shopping around (dell sell it for over £500 still).

Cheers for the input from everyone, especially those who have the X2's.

[MSIC]

Actually Dell DON'T sell it for over £500 any more, they did a few days ago but it seems they've just dropped the price to £381!.
Not that absolute cheapest, but only about £30 more, so not bad...

[project187]

well aot of people dnt build pcs to look nice an monitor is not to look nice its for a function and you can get them refurb for 250 if youd like and when someone says building a system normally thats just the tower and yes it isnt a hard feat to build a pc for 600 pounds exluding perhiperals