possible new computer

[YellowJacket!]

I don't know why people complain about the Celeron, it's a fine chip for the price. 
Brian

It is a good budget chip now.  But when they first came out they were overpriced for the performance that they gave.  The main difference that I have seen between AMD and Intel is that AMD technology uses "shorter pipes" then Intel so they get the same speeds out of "slower" chips.  Not sure if that is why AMD chips are usually less expensive for a comparable chip or if that is just a marketing idea, but it works for them.  I have had both AMD and Intel chips over the years and the only reason I go with AMD is that they are a better price point for the same quality.  Same thing with Nvidia graphics cards, you can get a comparable card from Nvidia for sometimes $100 less then a similar card from ATI.

Only problem now is that AMD and ATI are in bed together.  :-(

David

[dj]

I don't know why people complain about the Celeron, it's a fine chip for the price. 
Brian

It is a good budget chip now.  But when they first came out they were overpriced for the performance that they gave.  The main difference that I have seen between AMD and Intel is that AMD technology uses "shorter pipes" then Intel so they get the same speeds out of "slower" chips.  Not sure if that is why AMD chips are usually less expensive for a comparable chip or if that is just a marketing idea, but it works for them.  I have had both AMD and Intel chips over the years and the only reason I go with AMD is that they are a better price point for the same quality.  Same thing with Nvidia graphics cards, you can get a comparable card from Nvidia for sometimes $100 less then a similar card from ATI.

Only problem now is that AMD and ATI are in bed together.  :-(

David

Yeah, I noticed that about a week ago.  It was always AMD and Nvidia that would partner up.  Maybe this means that AMD can work and get the ATI cards a little bit more competitive with Nvidia.   ;D  Anything to help drive the price down on the newer cards.  ::)

[dj]

I worked on two PC's this past week both with very peculiar probems.  The first one was pretty straightforward.  It just wouldn't boot.  Did reverse order diagnosis by disconnecting and removing one component at a time until all that was left was the cpu and mobo.   And...nothing.  Then replaced the power supply and still nothing.  Diagnosis: either a bad, ie overheated and fried cpu or a bad motherboard.  Upon removal of the motherboard and further inspection, I noticed a dark black line on the chipset.  It was a large burn and a crack.  Fianl diagnosis: toasted chipset.  Replaced CPU and MOBO with a faster rig and wham! everything works.
Second PC was a little more difficult.  It would run and then lock up.  Did the same reverse order test and everything checked out.  Tenative diagnosis: Windows crap.  Backed up all files and reinstalled windows.  Crashed several times during windows install.  Pulled HDD and tested it on another PC...worked fine.  Just for kicks, took another HDD and used it and it BSOD'd during install.  Pulled everything out again and pulled MOBO out.  It was not until I removed the heatsink from the CPU that I discovered the problem.  All of the capacitors under the heatsink were swollena and leaking brown goo out of their tops.  Had only seen this once before.  HMMMMM. Final Diagnosis:ruptured power regulator capacitors on motherboard.  Ordered another motherboard and replaced it....everything fine.
The PC I worked on today kept crashing and once again, the reverse order testing was performed.  This time, after removing one of the memory modules, everything worked.  Added another 512mb stick of RAM to my last order and decided to take a ROV and study break.
Its kind of funny though, if you know enough about the Vision, you can allpy the same sort of troubleshooting algorythm to it as well....just on a larger scale.  ;D

I'll post some pics.

David

Sounds like those computers were overheating.  Do you use any temp monitoring software (like Motherboard Monitor...)?  I use this on all the computers that I work on.  It is a pain to set up, but it allows you to view the temps on the CPU, northbridge, southbridge, sometimes the memory...  I always make sure to have at least 3-4 fans in all of the computers with some going in and some going out.  I'll make sure that the cool air is blowing on the ram and video card and that the hot air from the power supply and the CPU are being vented out.  My rig has 6-7 fans set up to circulate the cool air in onto the core items and then take the hot air out.  My computer runs at around 70-75 F under heavy load.  If I see it get around 75-80 then I know I need to get out the compressed air and clean off the motherboard and heatsink.

[YellowJacket!]

The first one was an Emachines and was brough in by a customer.  Relatively clean inside and had a good sized push pull fan config and a decent cpu fan. (that was the one with a blown chipset)  She lives out in the sticks and said her power is unreliable so my guess was a power surge.
Second one was a custom system that I built ann had plenty cooling.  Had quite a bit of animal hair, dust and dander which led to me having an asthma attack (I keep my inhaler in my shop... ;D  ) but had good air circulation ( the PC, Not me).  It was a Gigabyte board which is usually reliable.  My guess is that it was a crappy power supply which was replaced by the owner.  I usually use at least 450 watt antecs.  This was a 350 watt chinese POS. - not one that I installed.

David

[dj]

The first one was an Emachines and was brough in by a customer.  Relatively clean inside and had a good sized push pull fan config and a decent cpu fan. (that was the one with a blown chipset)  She lives out in the sticks and said her power is unreliable so my guess was a power surge.Let me guess, she didn't have it on a surge protector either!  I'd have to agree with you on the power surge thought.
Second one was a custom system that I built ann had plenty cooling.  Had quite a bit of animal hair, dust and dander How much of that animal hair, dust, and dander was caked around the CPU's heatsink?  This could easily have created a "pocket" where the hot air could get trapped or possibly block the cooler air from getting to it to cool it down.which led to me having an asthma attack (I keep my inhaler in my shop... ;D  ) but had good air circulation ( the PC, Not me).  It was a Gigabyte board which is usually reliable.  My guess is that it was a crappy power supply which was replaced by the owner.  I usually use at least 450 watt antecs.  This was a 350 watt chinese POS. - not one that I installed.

David

[zore]

I have generally stayed away from the p4 laptops.  They are battery hungry and run rather hot.  The xp based laptops are generally built cheaper since that's why company's build them.  They are however better than celerons.  I have been using the amd 64 bit cpu's as well as their x2 cpu's for a while but have switched the intel core due.  When the 2.4ghz e6600 was release, it was easily the best bang for the buck in that price range.  AMD has seen that their cpu's can no longer compete clock for clock so they have lowered their prices accordingly.  I believe teh x2 6000 is about the same price as the e6600 and benchmarks show them to be similar.  Not to get overly nerdy about it, the e6600 uses 65watts while the x2 6000 uses 125 at full bore so if you are a tree hugger, the intel is better.

Back to the laptop, if the price is right, might be worth picking up.  I just got a xp based laptop for free.  I had replaced the drive for the people a few years back and it died again.  They were sick of dealing with it.