People misunderstanding computer hardware and what they need

**Elysia** · 12-04-2013

$1100 US Dollars for that, or some other dollar, like AUS?

Originally Posted by Neo1

If all you can come up with is that it isn't enough for _you_ because you need to run a mission critical MySQL server in the background on your personal computer, then i'm afraid your argument is void for 99.9% of PC gamers.

I'm not pushing an argument here. Everyone is free to upgrade as they want. I upgraded from 4 GB because I felt memory pressure with my RAM filling up all the time.
Also, mysql is a stupid service. It eats 1 GB of ram because I have a total of 16 on this machine, so you really shouldn't count it towards the total. But the least thing you want is that you computer starts to crawl after closing a game because Windows is trying to recover all the ram that was paged out.

**Mario F.** · 12-04-2013

Originally Posted by Elysia

You realize that 4 GB isn't enough to get you anywhere today, right? Especially when you put games into the picture.

My 32bit Windows 7 computer must be doing something wrong then. That's the one I currently play all modern games, program in 4 programming languages, work and virtualize operating systems.

Originally Posted by Elysia

You want to put money on an SSD instead of memory? That's quite backwards. SSDs are slower than ram and they cost more for any useful amount. It's far better to just get that extra 4 GB of ram and get a faster computer.
Of course, every computer should have an SSD, but an SSD is not an alternative for ram. It is much, much slower and your computer will still come to a crawl if you use it instead of ram.

You must have been living under a rock for the past 3 years. You don't know the news? An SSD is the single biggest performance improvement to your computer since Intel invented the front-side bus. I mean, it tops anything. Buying more RAM, upgrading your CPU, buying even a new and better computer doesn't give you the performance improvement of and SSD.

**Elysia** · 12-04-2013

Originally Posted by Mario F.

You must have been living under a rock for the past 3 years. You don't know the news? An SSD is the single biggest performance improvement to your computer since Intel invented the front-side bus. I mean, it tops anything. Buying more RAM, upgrading your CPU, buying even a new and better computer doesn't give you the performance improvement of and SSD.

I am quite aware. I use SSDs myself. But then will not help you if you run out of ram.

**Mario F.** · 12-04-2013

Yeah. Well Ram won't help you if you run out of hard drive space. Duh!

God, you are so annoying!

**MutantJohn** · 12-04-2013

Originally Posted by Mario F.

My 32bit Windows 7 computer must be doing something wrong then. That's the one I currently play all modern games, program in 4 programming languages, work and virtualize operating systems.

You must have been living under a rock for the past 3 years. You don't know the news? An SSD is the single biggest performance improvement to your computer since Intel invented the front-side bus. I mean, it tops anything. Buying more RAM, upgrading your CPU, buying even a new and better computer doesn't give you the performance improvement of and SSD.

An SSD is only an improvement because it was the one are that was never really revolutionized.

Yeah, spinning disks are cool and all but they seem kind of old. CPU manufacturers are probably bigger and have more money so they have the money for R&D and then we get awesome things like 16 core processors with hyper-threading at 3.5 GHz.

GPUs are the same way. It's all flashy so people really eat it up. Compare the amount of times someone has purchased a flashy processor to someone who was bragging about buying this awesome new hard drive.

HDDs only improve one aspect of using your computer, whenever your computer needs memory not already written into the RAM (which as it turns out is quite frequently). So they can assemble a bit stream faster, am I supposed to be impressed? I mean, I am. I read about them and their design is surprisingly simple. But if anything, I wish I had 1024 GB of RAM so I could put my whole hard drive on it.

"But MutantJohn, that'd take forever!"

Oh, I know. But it'd be faster than a solid state drive, but only maybe considering the time of actually navigating all that RAM.

Also, holy poop @ phantom's first post o_O

**Epy** · 12-04-2013

@Elysia: 1100 USD

I'm in total agreement with Mario here. I bought an SSD for my old Dell laptop about a year ago to see what all the fuss was about. It starts up so much faster, applications start faster, compiling is way faster, etc. I suppose if you only care about games, then an SSD doesn't matter so much, but real world applications that have to read/write files are given a substantial benefit. I wish I had the $$ to put SSDs on all of my computers. It'd be the first thing I'd upgrade on any one of them.

**Epy** · 12-04-2013

Oh, I know. But it'd be faster than a solid state drive, but only maybe considering the time of actually navigating all that RAM.

It should be faster, but try it out for yourself. I tried RAMDisk for Windows on my work laptop to do some compiling, and it sucked worse than the hard drive. Probably because I was compiling in parallel, or maybe the RAMDisk software sucks. I'm sure things are better on Linux.

**Elysia** · 12-04-2013

Originally Posted by Epy

@Elysia: 1100 USD

Wow. Holy seriously wow. That was an enormous rip-off >_<

I'm in total agreement with Mario here. I bought an SSD for my old Dell laptop about a year ago to see what all the fuss was about. It starts up so much faster, applications start faster, compiling is way faster, etc. I suppose if you only care about games, then an SSD doesn't matter so much, but real world applications that have to read/write files are given a substantial benefit. I wish I had the $$ to put SSDs on all of my computers. It'd be the first thing I'd upgrade on any one of them.

Oh, I don't disagree with this, at least. SSDs are essential components for every computer IMO, just as enough ram is. Two most important components.

**cfanatic** · 12-04-2013

I am still using a Core2Duo from 2007 as my desktop machine(running W7 Ultimate), and a dual-core Atom netbook. These 2 machines will suit me for many more years to come, but of course, the itch to upgrade is always there.

**grumpy** · 12-05-2013

Originally Posted by Epy

The purpose of my original posting was really because my brother, who didn't have that money to spend in the first place, foolishly bought that computer when he could've either a) let my dad and I buy him one or b) buy one that was fairer priced. I don't like seeing people waste money, especially family.

The purpose of your post was to seek affirmation or support of your point of view (that your brother is foolish, and wasting money). The purpose of my post was to make the point that your viewpoint does not (necessarily) warrant affirmation or support.

From your words, I gather he bought it from money he earned. He has therefore taken responsibility for the purchase, and is willing to wear the consequences - good or bad. Taking responsibility is something to be applauded, even if you disagree with his decision. But, with his money, it is his decision to make, not yours. By harping on the point, you are basically giving the message that you expect your brother to defer to your opinion or be deemed a fool. That is not a good way to treat anyone, in particular a family member.

**Hodor** · 12-05-2013

Originally Posted by Elysia

I think you are an exception from the norm, though.

Been playing FC3 for the last 1.5 hrs on highest possible settings

People misunderstanding computer hardware and what they need-untitled-1-png

**Elkvis** · 12-05-2013

Originally Posted by Elysia

I am quite aware. I use SSDs myself. But then will not help you if you run out of ram.

but a SSD will swap a lot faster than a mechanical drive. access times are measured in ns instead of ms.

**Epy** · 12-05-2013

@grumpy: I don't expect you to understand because you don't know the situation. He doesn't have the money for such things and when he overspends, my parents end up bailing him out. So yes, he should be less of a jackass and be more practical.

**Yarin** · 12-05-2013

Originally Posted by Hodor

Been playing FC3 for the last 1.5 hrs on highest possible settings

People misunderstanding computer hardware and what they need-untitled-1-png

It's a good thing you censored those processes, I was going to find their exploits and use my skillz to haxor you

**grumpy** · 12-05-2013

Originally Posted by Epy

@grumpy: I don't expect you to understand because you don't know the situation. He doesn't have the money for such things and when he overspends, my parents end up bailing him out. So yes, he should be less of a jackass and be more practical.

Oh, I understand all right.

You need to talk the family into not bailing him out - which is easier said than done. Let him wear the consequences of his actions, and he will learn. Nagging him to be less of a jackass and to be more practical won't do it - particularly from a brother - and you seeking affirmation of the substance of your nagging isn't worth it.