Here are my nigh mandatory preferences for an upgrade, since my roommate was asking anyway.
Able to take as an airline carry-on
This is my definition of semi-portable. Extended vacations are the primary cause of moves.
Able to connect to my peripherals
Namely, my Dell 2405FPW and Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. Being able to reuse my BFG GeForce7800GT 256MB OC would be a significant plus. As Jonathan stated, this is an indirect negative for laptops since I don't need to pay the overhead for an LCD, keyboard, etc that I'm not going to use.
At least as quiet as my Shuttle SN25P
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll get a quieter system unless I move to a desktop form factor.
* See case: Antec Solo ( silentpcreview | newegg )
-- Note the review is for the 150, which is very similar to the Solo (see pg7), which does NOT come with a power supply unit (PSU)
-- Advantages include built-in elastic drive suspension, dampened walls, cable management, being able to choose a quiet PSU, etc.
* See heatsink: Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme ( anandtech | silentpcreview | newegg )
* See PSU: CMPSU-520HX ( silentpcreview | newegg )
* See 120mm fans: Noctua NF-S12-1200 ( silentpcreview | heatsinkfactory )
* See 92mm fans: Nexus DF1209SL-3 ( silentpcreview | heatsinkfactory | endpcnoise )
* See case fan screws ( endpcnoise )
Playing videos without dropping frames
Hopefully, the new system will continue to do so for at least several years.
Edit: Added my quiet PC notes Edit: Changed 120mm fans to the Noctua, HSF to Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme Edit: Added 92mm fan recommendation and case fan screws
Last edited by VLSmooth on Fri May 25, 2007 10:55 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Jason wrote:One of the guys at work keeps telling me I have to get the 30" Dell monitor.
If you only want to use it for computing, go for it.
However, I've already researched it and am reluctant. The Dell 30" only has a single DVI port. This pretty much limits it to computer use. On the other hand, both the 24" and 27" models have DVI-D, VGA, component, S-Video and composite inputs. Therefore you can hook up two computers, game systems, a DVR, etc. simultaneously. More importantly, if you get a better display, you (or relatives) can still use the LCD without a computer as a generic display/TV.
Remember those Klipsh speakers we bought around the same time Vinny? My front right ones are starting to static out and I have to adjust the volume to get sound. Soon they might join those grado headphones you forced me to get!
It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.
Hah, I'm still using my Klipsch, albeit in a 2.1 configuration and they still sound great (the rear two are in my closet, reducing cabling accidents).
However, they're missing a #$%^ing headphone jack which is a #$%^ing pain in the ass to get without significant line noise and without having to purchase a new speaker set, like the Logitech Z-5500s ( newegg ).
PCIe2 sooner rather than later? I have no idea what the schedule is here, or the potential perf benefit, but if you were thinking about a desktop purchase towards the end of the year you may want to find out what the story is there.
New PureVideo in DX10 Nvidia parts (8600, 8500) offers more HD acceleration than the previous implementation. But performance non-shader intensive games is flat compared to existing mainstream cards from Nvidia and AMD.
Last edited by Jonathan on Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I am quite honestly displeased by the mainstream DX10 Nvidia cards. AMD's Linux drivers are still cruddy, so basically Nvidia is the only game in town at the moment. I want to upgrade my CPU to get more Eve frames (Eve being heavily CPU-limited right now), but I need a PCIe card to do so. I spent $300 on a 6800 a few years ago and I'd still need to spend almost that much to get better performance today.
The GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB at $290 is tempting, but it's also honking huge. I was hoping I could get a non-reference mainstream card with a nice heatpipe or something. Bleh.
Well, given how unsuccessful nvidia was when they first tried to integrate sound and networking into their chips, I wouldn't hold out much hope.
Software support for sound shouldn't be an issue, assuming it supports DirectSound and maybe EAX. The physics thing is more curious. Last I heard the only "standard" API for hardware physics acceleration was provided by the only vendor of hardware physics acceleration, so it wouldn't be surprising if AMD goes with something completely new and completely unsupported. You'll probably see a lot of bundled "special edition", "modified for AMD physics" games, and no support from any off-the-shelf game (like the early days of 3d accelerators).
The problem with physics acceleration is that a game that REALLY uses it is unplayable on any other system. Either you make the increased number of object interactions central to your game and limit your market to the very few people with accelerators, or you just use it for optional eye candy, which isn't going to convince people to buy the fancier hardware.