It has taken 28 years...

[Edwin]

I started in computing in 1982, and finally I have a machine that does everything I want it to "instantly"! I just finished building a new PC with a fast processor and an SSD drive as the main HDD. Loaded with Windows 7, it launches everything I try instantly*, from Word and Excel to Pegasus Mail and the various browsers.

*Probably less than 1 second, certainly too short to be worth timing...

It will be interesting to see how long it takes Windows to build up crud over time until this is no longer the case - my experience with all pre-7 versions of Windows is that they will gradually slow and slow for no real reason.

BTW, if you haven't upgraded for a few years and you're thinking about it, I really recommend it. My previous PC was no slouch (Core 2 Duo E6850 processor and XP with every speed tweak I've discovered over the years) but what a difference 3 years makes!

 

[ScottJ]

What the spec your running now Edwin?
Have been pondering a new box myself this morning.

 

[doodlebug]

What the spec your running now Edwin?
Have been pondering a new box myself this morning.

Somebody who owns xxxxpcs.co.uk should have top of the range already, there's nothing like self promoting

Edwin > nice to hear you're happy but 28 years :shock: Hope it stays fast working for you

 

[Edwin]

A core i7 930 machine with 12GB of RAM and a Crucial C300 SSD drive (plugged into a SATA3 port on the motherboard) as the main drive, plus Windows 64 bit to give access to all the memory. ATI Radeon 5500 graphics card with passive cooling (I don't like loud fans, and I don't game so I don't need anything faster)

 

[Edwin]

Edwin > nice to hear you're happy but 28 years :shock: Hope it stays fast working for you
[/COLOR][/COLOR]

Every upgrade had brought me closer (except back in the day when I went from DOS to Windows!) but as I said it wasn't until the most recent upgrade that I finally felt "I'm there". If it doesn't slow down much over time, I really don't see myself upgrading again until stuff breaks or wears out - there wouldn't be any point...

 

[Darren]

12GB LOL for Microsoft Office, i thought i went overkill with 8GB.

Sounds like a nice machine Edwin.

Darren.

 

[Edwin]

12GB LOL for Microsoft Office, i thought i went overkill with 8GB.

Well, sometimes I run Word and Excel TOGETHER

 

[Darren]

Do you have any pictures of the setup?

 

[Edwin]

Do you have any pictures of the setup?

No, it's just a black box (Antec P183 case) with all the bits in it. Nothing exciting to look at.

 

[Darren]

nice one, thats the same case as mine.

 

[charlie]

i'm not working hard enough
4GB and a low end pentium laptop do me fine, and i normally have visual studio / photoshop and DW open plus a video running in the background!

 

[jasman]

It will be interesting to see how long it takes Windows to build up crud over time until this is no longer the case - my experience with all pre-7 versions of Windows is that they will gradually slow and slow for no real reason.

Many people would have no reason to ever upgrade their computers or buy another version of Windows if their computers remained fast and continued to work without problems. I have a friend who didn't install anything new on his computer for several years and it got slower and slower until it was practically unusable, just from the automatic downloading of windows updates.

I think it's deliberate, to 'force' the unitiatiated who aren't comfortable with reinstalling their system into upgrading, and to psychologically trick people into thinking they have an out-dated, sluggish set up when in fact it should be perfectly adequate but it is being artificially slowed down.

 

[edo]

What did you have in 82...ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro?

 

[Systreg]

it got slower and slower until it was practically unusable, just from the automatic downloading of windows updates.

Would you suggest turning Windows updates off? I normally turn them off completely, but as this is a new laptop, not sure, on my previous laptop, I had them switched on when I first got it, and Microsoft updated with a bad update which they then gave a patch for, but it messed up my restore on the computer

 

[mally]

I started in computing in 1982, and finally I have a machine that does everything I want it to "instantly"! I just finished building a new PC with a fast processor and an SSD drive as the main HDD. Loaded with Windows 7, it launches everything I try instantly*, from Word and Excel to Pegasus Mail and the various browsers.

*Probably less than 1 second, certainly too short to be worth timing...

It will be interesting to see how long it takes Windows to build up crud over time until this is no longer the case - my experience with all pre-7 versions of Windows is that they will gradually slow and slow for no real reason.

BTW, if you haven't upgraded for a few years and you're thinking about it, I really recommend it. My previous PC was no slouch (Core 2 Duo E6850 processor and XP with every speed tweak I've discovered over the years) but what a difference 3 years makes!

Edwin, for anyone of us wanting to recreate "the perfect system" how much would it cost in £ please? I'm looking to upgrade, normally just stick with laptops for ease but may get a desktop this time for my main computer.

 

[accelerator]

I think it's deliberate, to 'force' the unitiatiated who aren't comfortable with reinstalling their system into upgrading, and to psychologically trick people into thinking they have an out-dated, sluggish set up when in fact it should be perfectly adequate but it is being artificially slowed down.

This is an interesting theory.

Rgds

 

[accelerator]

Would you suggest turning Windows updates off? I normally turn them off completely, but as this is a new laptop, not sure, on my previous laptop, I had them switched on when I first got it, and Microsoft updated with a bad update which they then gave a patch for, but it messed up my restore on the computer

I personally have them switched off. This is since one update meant my laptop couldn't start (a long time ago). I don't see the point if they are just going to break my computer. However, I am quite careful over which websites I visit, and I run Malwarebytes as well as NOD32 anti-virus.

Rgds

 

[accelerator]

I started in computing in 1982, and finally I have a machine that does everything I want it to "instantly"! I just finished building a new PC with a fast processor and an SSD drive as the main HDD. Loaded with Windows 7, it launches everything I try instantly*, from Word and Excel to Pegasus Mail and the various browsers.

This sounds pretty cool. I believe SSDs give a great boost in performance so I'll be looking for one in my next laptop. I am very impatient and need a speedy computer. Fortunately my Dell Inspiron with an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 at 2.20GHz and 4GB of RAM does me just fine.

Rgds

 

[stevebrowne]

I did the same recently as well! Less ram (6Gb), 6 core cpu, bigger gfx card, smaller SSD SATA3 (128Gb) + a couple of fast SATA2 drives (2x1Tb). It flies!

I am running the base machine with only a handful of things installed directly. Everything else is being done in VMs on the machine, so that Windows on the host machine doesn't get too buggered up!

Just looking for 3 x thin bezel 24" 1920x1200 (or higher!) screens to finish the build off (within my budget)

Photoshop is up in under a second!

 

[droid]

Would you suggest turning Windows updates off? I normally turn them off completely, but as this is a new laptop, not sure, on my previous laptop, I had them switched on when I first got it, and Microsoft updated with a bad update which they then gave a patch for, but it messed up my restore on the computer

As I am online a lot it is a bit too risky and I would never turn them off.
That said, other than with Vista updates I have never had a problem, XP was ok and Windows 7 seems much better.

Gary