[liljj323]

I have been inactive for quite some time now b/c i have had both my laptop and my desktop completly crash (hardware malfunction on both) within two weeks of each other. But i'm glad to say that the final peice for my new computer has come!
i decide to build my own computer, and withe the help of my friend Steven the dream has finally arrived. So what do i have under the hood? :
-2gigs of ram (DDR2)
-Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz
-Western Digital 150Gb 10,000rpm HDD
-NVidia GeForce 8600GT 512mb 16mb cache
all for only $960.00USD, if you were to make a similar system from Dell it would run you a good $1500.

And the big question is, am i running XP or Vista? I had no choice, gotta go w/ XP, Vista is just too crappy, plus, vista consumes 40% of you resourses automatically i.e. processor, ram...etc

Glad to be Back!

[j sotelo]

good to have you back JJ

[water]

[quote=liljj323;179921]I have been inactive for quite some time now b/c i have had both my laptop and my desktop completly crash (hardware malfunction on both) within two weeks of each other. But i'm glad to say that the final peice for my new computer has come!
i decide to build my own computer, and withe the help of my friend Steven the dream has finally arrived. So what do i have under the hood? :
-2gigs of ram (DDR2)
-Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33GHz
-Western Digital 150Gb 10,000rpm HDD
-NVidia GeForce 8600GT 512mb 16mb cache
all for only $960.00USD, if you were to make a similar system from Dell it would run you a good $1500.

And the big question is, am i running XP or Vista? I had no choice, gotta go w/ XP, Vista is just too crappy, plus, vista consumes 40% of you resourses automatically i.e. processor, ram...etc

Hi,this confuses me.You say Vista grabs 40% of resources but 40% of what?.If you have 100Gb Hard Drive does it use 40Gb?.200Gb Hard Drive,does it use 80Gb?.Surely Vista 'needs' X amount to operate and thats it?.I am very much a dummy where these things are concerned but something re that 40% figure seems 'not right' to my simple mind.
The reason I ask is because I now have access to CS3 but have to get a new computer to allow it to work 'properly'.It is a Windows copy of CS3 so it looks like a computer running Vista for me,and this issue may affect the specs/price I need to pay.I don't need the latest and greatest I don't think,don't do gaming etc.Basically photoshop/surf the web and thats about it.I am running,just,CS2 on an XP 256Ram/40Gb hard Drive machine at present!!!

[liljj323]

wat i mean about the 40% is mainly the processor and ram, i.e 40% of your processor speed is automatically taken up by vista alon, not the programs you might also be running, same thing w/ ram.

and about the CS3, xp can run it, but i would advice getting an external hard drive b/c pictures will eat up a 40 gig HD in a matter of weeks. and maybe upgradine your ram to a gig, this is pretty cheap probably $50-$60USD, go here and scan your computer, it will tell you which kind of ram to get and how much it will cost.

[silkstone]

150GB doesn't sound all that much for a hard drive these days - you can get 500GB or more quite cheaply.

As for Vista or XP, the consensus seems to be that Vista can slow things down and is a PITA with DRM issues, but we'll have to get used to it I suppose, because XP won't be supported for too much longer.

[Dave]

Good to have you back sir

[Sonsey]

Good to have you back.

Originally Posted by liljj323

wat i mean about the 40% is mainly the processor and ram, i.e 40% of your processor speed is automatically taken up by vista alon, not the programs you might also be running, same thing w/ ram.

Sorry but this is untrue. Vista uses more ram than XP yes, there is after all a good bit more to Vista than XP but processor wise mine is barely used when idle (1-2%) and only gets going when I start to run programs.

[_MB_]

Originally Posted by silkstone

150GB doesn't sound all that much for a hard drive these days - you can get 500GB or more quite cheaply.

Not if you want to use raptors

[slipstream]

Recently bought a Dell Inspiron laptop with XP Pro. I am steering clear of vista for the moment due to conflicting reports on compatibility, both hardware and software.

[Chris H]

I've been running Vista Ultimate 64bit since August last year and for most things it's fine.

However and unfortunately it's a big However

I couldn't find a 64bit driver for my flatbed, Canon doesn't support CS2 veiwers for 64bit even though they do a 32bit plugin. I even had to contact Epson for the latest software for my R300 for which they wanted paying Shame on them. It does use a lot more resourses but with 4 gigs of ram and an AMD athlon dual core 4800+ it sings.

Would I get Vista again well yes and no

I would get Vista Ultimate BUT I'd get 32bit

There's a lot to be said FOR Vista but to be honest as yet a few too many things to be said against.

Shame Epson and Canon don't really take Vista on board properly

[water]

Originally Posted by C-Man

I've been running Vista Ultimate 64bit since August last year and for most things it's fine.

However and unfortunately it's a big However

I couldn't find a 64bit driver for my flatbed, Canon doesn't support CS2 veiwers for 64bit even though they do a 32bit plugin. I even had to contact Epson for the latest software for my R300 for which they wanted paying Shame on them. It does use a lot more resourses but with 4 gigs of ram and an AMD athlon dual core 4800+ it sings.

Would I get Vista again well yes and no

I would get Vista Ultimate BUT I'd get 32bit

There's a lot to be said FOR Vista but to be honest as yet a few too many things to be said against.

Shame Epson and Canon don't really take Vista on board properly

Well,the computers I'm looking at are around the £500/£600 mark and they have Vista Home Premium and I have no idea what 'Bit' this is.1GB/2GB Ram and anywhere from 120-360Gb hard drive seems to be the order of the day at this price point.Compared to my present computer this is a vast leap in Ram and hard drive so surely I will see a big improvement? [I am quite orderly in making CD's of my Raw and Tiff files so I dont clog up the hard drive with loads of photos.In fact I will probably get an external hard drive to store copies as well as the CD copies] .I have been putting off buying a new computer in the hope that there would have been a Service Pack for Vista announced.

[AQ]

Originally Posted by liljj323

I

-Western Digital 150Gb 10,000rpm HDD

XP is better than vista. Especially as MS are bring out Service Pack 3 this year.

Only 1 hard drive ? and and 150GB sounds quite small nowdays especially if you use PS for image processing and store the .psd files.

What are you doing for backups ?? You do not mention a DVD drive but I assume that you must have one.

For backups you cannot be too paranoid !!!!!!.

[Chris H]

XP is better than vista. Especially as MS are bring out Service Pack 3 this year.

Not having a go here but WHY is XP better than Vista, and service pack three is purely a joined up Service pack one and two and nothong else. Service pack three just gets rid of the 90+ updates you need to install after running in XP Sp2.

As I say I ain't having a pop but I've asked this on other forums and as yet nobody can give me a conclusive answer.

XP uses less resources than Vista, but Windows 98 uses a whole bunch less than XP and DOS even less.

We have to be able to swallow the upgrade if we ever want to move on and unfortunately XP will come to it's end of life before too long.

I've been running Vista for quite a while now and will admit it lacks in some departments but there is a SP1 in Beta test at the moment. What it cures I have no idea.

As for 64 bit versions I should have learnt my lesson with the truly abysmal XP 64bit that virtually nobody supported.

So

Why is Vista Pants and XP so great ??

As for machine Spec the box I put together in August last year has

Abit mainboard
4 gigs DDR800 high speed memory
512mb ATI X1650 video
250gb Sata2 hard drive
AMD Dual core 64+ 4800+ processor
450w PSU
3 fans all speed controlled

and a load of other garbage

Including Vista Ultimate 64bit it came to about £450 or about $900

[AQ]

No offence taken at all. Glad you did not mention Windows ME in your list. With your PC I am surprised that you only have 1 hard drive.

I have "only" 2 GB ram and an Athlon dual core 3000 but with three hard drives internally and one external (me paranoid about backups never )

When I tried Vista on a similar spec. machine it just seemed much slower all round. I know several people who have un-installed vista and gone back to XP.

Re service pack 3. After a quick look I see some www pages say it will be nothing much more than SP1 and SP2 others hint at more to come. Guess we have to wait and see. But if SP3 is not out until August 2008 XP itself will be around for at least 18 months before MS stops the updates. Some web pages say Vista itself will be replaced in 2009 which seems a bit early but I think I will just skip Vista and see what comes along in 2009 or 2101

I guess the bottom line is for what I do. Games and Photoshop mainly I do not need Vista. It may not be pants but XP works fine. I just have no need to continually upgrade and line MS pockets. I must admit I do like MS Office 2007 though.

I do stand by my original comment to the original poster though that one 150 GB hard drive is not enough