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Windows Vista - Hardcore Hardware

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Chandos the Red, Jan 24, 2006.

  1. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    Remove all ads!
    This is supposed to be the year that Windows Vista - formerly Longhorn - will see the light of cyberspace. There has been some speculation about what kind of hardware will be needed to run the new Microsoft OS. Here are some clues:

    I used to sell PCs at the retail level, and believe me, a lot of people are still out there right now with rigs that have the bare minimum to run XP, many with basic (onboard) graphics. When you consider that "most" buyers look at the 499.99 to 799.99 U.S. price point, (ala Packard DELL) it makes you wonder who's going to spring for all this new pricey hardware. And just what kind of price point these new machines will be at. It had always been in the past that as soon as MS released a new OS, the previous version disappeared almost over night from new retail PCs.

    This time I would not be surprised to see two price points, with two different MS OS systems - XP (probably 64V) and the new Vista (for a while). It would be a smart strategy. Average customers would have a good reason to look beyond the $599.99 price point they've formed in their minds, and would consider that higher-end machines would no longer be "just for playing games." While at the same time, builders could still cater to those who could not stand the thought of spending anymore for a PC than the cost of their 27" TVs.

    It seems even granny will need one of those hot new 6800GS 256MB 3D graphics cards for her Windows machine. :grin:

    http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1913841,00.asp
     
    Chandos the Red, Jan 24, 2006
    #1

  2. Tap Dancing Oyster Gems: 7/31
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    I'm avoiding it until they get the traditional implementation bugs out of the way.
     
    Tap Dancing Oyster, Jan 24, 2006
    #2
  3. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    A year is a long time. By that time the 6800 series will probably be obsolete :)

    I'm jumping on this as soon as it's out.
     
    Blackthorne TA, Jan 24, 2006
    #3
  4. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    Only by gaming standards. It will still outpower anything that comes in a 599.99 Dell, with "standard graphics." Heck, a TI4200 would still probably be a better option. At least the 4200 has its own memory.
     
    Chandos the Red, Jan 24, 2006
    #4
  5. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    RAID 5 is awsome, but IIRC it takes 4 drives of the same type/size...which means that you might have to drop over $400 for a 200GB RAID 5 setup. :eek: But then agin, SATA prices keep dropping...if a manufacturer offered a combo of 4 OEM drives that had NCQ technology, and the SATA 1.5GB/second (or higher) transfer speed for around $300, I'd buy it. :thumb: :rolling:
     
    Kitrax, Jan 25, 2006
    #5
  6. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    RAID 5 takes at least 3 (not 4) identical hard disks; plus for X number of hard disks, you get a (Total Capacity * (X-1)/X) sized RAID "disk". E.g. for 3 200GB hard disks in a RAID 5, you get 2/3 of the total capacity or 400GB for storage.
     
    Blackthorne TA, Jan 25, 2006
    #6
  7. Kitrax

    Kitrax Pantaloons are supposed to go where!?!?

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    Oops, for some reason I was confusing RAID 5 with RAID 0+1. Thanks for the correction BTA.

    So that no one else make a similar mistake, read this. It's a very in-depth look at all the raid levels and configurations. :thumb: :rolling:
     
    Kitrax, Jan 26, 2006
    #7

  8. Wordplay Gems: 29/31
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    It's good that they are forcing people to move on to more modern hardware or jump out from the train that is development, but at the same time this offers a huge possibility for Open Source software. In fact, since I'm doing my research paper about the subject ATM, I hope the old XP users that want to upgrade will buy their services from me. :cool:
     
    Wordplay, Jan 26, 2006
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  9. Abdel - Bhaal Spawn Gems: 13/31
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    I don't think we are going to see the computer that are less than $750 just going away. These price point computers allow people who don't have the money to go out and buy a $1500+ computer the ability to buy a computer that will do a lot of basic things. If anything we will see increase performance in intergrated graphic cards, price drop in current grahpic card, etc... And if I remember correctly, Vista has two modes, 32 and 64 bits. The 32 bit mode requirements are slightly higher than Windows XP. Where as the 64 bit mode is where all the goodies of Vista sits. Those of us who purchased or are purchasing higher end machines will get the most out of our systems with the 64 bit Window vista. I know the only thing I have to upgrade on my machine is my hard drive. I will probably go with a Raid setup but not until Vista has 90% of the bugs worked out of them, which will take roughly 2-3 years after it's release and by that time I will more than likely be in the market for a new computer or trying to talk my wife to let me buy a new computer.

    [ February 14, 2006, 21:15: Message edited by: Abdel - Bhaal Spawn ]
     
    Abdel - Bhaal Spawn, Jan 27, 2006
    #9
  10. Disciple of The Watch

    Disciple of The Watch Preparing The Coming of The New Order Veteran

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    The course I'm currently taking has an arrangement with MS to offer free software for students, and we're supposed to get a beta of Vista. For the moment, I'm using XP Pro. I'm looking foward to Vista, despite the hardcore hardware needed.
     
    Disciple of The Watch, Feb 3, 2006
    #10
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