Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

[thesloc]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

PC isn't mine. Only my laptop has i7.

[lti]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

I don't want to spend that much money on a device that isn't capable of doing anything besides running games. I don't see the point in that or a lot of the newer games.

Also, why are you still using an Athlon II if you don't like anything besides Intel Haswell CPUs?

I'm in college, so having a laptop is good. I don't have to use the computers on campus, which all have really dirty keyboards and mice. However, I also need a computer that has a decent keyboard and doesn't crash. Almost all laptops made in the past three years lack these two critical characteristics. I'm actually thinking about getting new batteries for my old Gateway Solo laptop so I don't have to leave it plugged in and set all the BIOS settings every time I use it. It has a good keyboard and doesn't have a stupid glossy screen.

[Wester547]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

That LiteOn PSU probably has bad Ltec in it

It looks like a Bestec to me, but I could be wrong. If it's a LiteOn, I wouldn't be surprised to find bad Ltec and OSTs. If it's a Bestec, expect bloated Teapo, CapXon, Jamicon, and OST.

Mobile devices, laptops, and desktops are not the same thing, not even loosely, so I would not expect mobile devices to replace them so much as usurp their position. Laptops do not provide nearly the functionality and flexibility nor ease of repair that desktops do and yes, it takes much more ventilation and cooling to keep temperatures reasonable. I actually hate the fact that desktops are being "phased out". I do not believe they have outlived their useful life. For what it's worth, I really love the original Xbox still, it was my true introduction to nice graphics and I think that console for all its limitations was beyond its time (it has the good old GeForce 3 GPU). The Foxlink power supply in mine, from 2003, still works fine, and all the capacitors in that power supply are Teapo SC, SEK, or LXK. I have abused the hell out of that console and have used it muchly since 2003, and it still works fine. Have to say that I'm pleased with what's in the VRM low/output/VCore on the motherboard though, 3300uF 6.3V x3 Sanyo WG, and a mix of Panasonic/Matshushita FJ (3300uF 10V) and Chemi-con KZE (1500uF 6.3V) otherwise.

As far as desktops go, I don't think "poverty" is the phrase, more like "old school".

I'm sorry for everyone playing games on ps3 or xbox360 or consoles in general.

Basically you're playing at something like 960x540 on a video card with performance of a 3-5year old pc video card.

Ha! You think that's bad? I still play games that look ten times worse from the late 90's. I don't really care about graphics, I just like games with engrossing stories and engaging gameplay, and well developed characters.

[Pentium4]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

I was always afraid of trying first person shooters on the PC because it looked hard to get used to but it's really not. If you have a good enough system you won't get lag, but sometimes a console will lag a little. I remember not being able to beat the first Halo on Legendary by myself on my original Xbox and then tried it on the PC and ended up beating it

The graphics are much better too

[thesloc]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

Its not about technology; its about playing.

Everyone knows that.

[mariushm]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

I'm sorry for everyone playing games on ps3 or xbox360 or consoles in general.

Basically you're playing at something like 960x540 on a video card with performance of a 3-5year old pc video card.

Get a 24"-27" monitor or connect a proper pc with a decent video card to a TV and play some good pc games with high quality settings. You won't want to go back to consoles.

And predicting in advance the claim that a ps3 doesn't cost thousands of dollars like a pc does.... no, I have 130$ radeon 7770ghz edition and a 250$ cpu and a 150$ mb and 100$ motherboard .... all added up probably costs as much as a ps3 with a few games.

[Sparkey55]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

If you were given a dozen eggs yesterday and a dozen today you would most likely thow away yesterdays eggs just because there older.

[thesloc]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

For gaming there's always PS3. Besides, you can totally put Linux on the PS3.

Too many exclusive console titles too.

Unless you're a heavy pirate for gaming on the PC...that's the only advantage I see here.

[Uranium-235]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

I only game on my desktop. I do work on my laptop, right now dvd authoring. Hopefully soon i'll be getting a new laptop /w a GF GT730 so I can do some gaming too

[shovenose]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

Tablets are fun once in a while but for productivity and real gaming and actual work a nice desktop can't be beat.

[joshnz]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

I dislike laptops for these reasons.
Batterys have limited life time.
Cases are mainly plastic with brass inserts means case can be damaged easy.
You can't run them at max load 27/7 without risk of overheat.
Hinges are easy to break.
Charging port and charger get broken because these are mobile devices and pay no attention to stress on connectors.

[thesloc]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

Ah! So that's why side-mounted fans are better.

[Elysarian]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

sandy/ivy bridge is poverty indeed. Intel is already coming out with new CPU tech by 2014/2015 (AMD is pretty much out of the equation and will never catch up).

That may be because AMD know where their main income stream is for the next few years:

Consoles - PS4, XBone, Wii-U all run AMD silicon of one kind or another (just the GPU in the case of the Wii-U of course)

(I'm still holding onto the hope that they'll invest a chunk of this income stream in R&D on processors...)

The above is of course pure speculation on my part

Back on topic: I use a laptop for my browsing and email needs (and for work tasks like upload/download on alarm systems) but I'll always have a desktop for gaming and serious (programming, photo editing and anthing else that would make my laptop go into thermal shutdown) - Currently my lappy has a dual-core Athlon II with HD5400 gfx and my desktop an 8-core FX8120 with nVidia GTX760 gfx.

Desktop runs at around 30 to 40 degrees Celcius (CPU core temp) under load, laptop burns my leg if I dare do anything remotely taxing (like playing flash games or HD video).

Oh, and I dust my PC rarely - the bottom of a case is not a good place for intake fans, especially if it's sat on a carpet! (mine is on a piece of Contiboard and has a filter over the bottom-mounted PSU fan which doesn't provide a lot of air to the case anyhow as it vents to the rear of the PSU)

Positive pressure and good airflow are your friends (you need to take into account any filters on the intake fans when planning your rig as they will reduce the airflow somewhat) - as is a well designed heatsink (I've never liked the stock coolers that have dead zones for dust to collect in like the one in the OP, prefer ones with side-mounted fans as this helps stop dust collecting around the fins due to the freer airflow).

[thesloc]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

sandy/ivy bridge is poverty indeed. Intel is already coming out with new CPU tech by 2014/2015 (AMD is pretty much out of the equation and will never catch up).

[lti]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

I think the newer HP laptops have a better cooling system (the same cooling system as Acer and Toshiba laptops since they're all made by Quanta), but the cooling issues weren't in "ancient poverty machines." Almost all laptop manufacturers switched to almost identical Quanta-built systems about two or three years ago, but I guess only people in poverty would ever want to use a laptop that is old enough to not crash every five minutes.

Do you seriously think that everyone in the entire world can run out and upgrade their computer the day a new CPU or video card is released? How does the age of the computer matter when talking about the effectiveness of the cooling system? It sounds like you think Intel invented a self-cleaning heatsink.

What generation of i5 are you talking about? I'm guessing you think Ivy Bridge is "poverty level."

[thesloc]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

Maybe if you replaced that ancient Core Duo of yours.

Everyone's on at least i5 technology.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

Since technology is getting smaller and faster so should desktop technology. Nobody envisioned tablets or even phones having the capacity that they have today much less envision a cooling solution to them.

Everybody knows this, manufacturers know this, and futurists know this.

Overclocking too will become a poverty man's method to having processing speed.

Sorry, many laptops are not better than desktops, they're more prone to overheating,
even under wussy tasks! I'm looking at you, Hewitt Packard!

And cleaning them are a PITA!

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

The main problem is bloated operating systems!

[thesloc]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

You wouldn't need that much cooling if you had smarter processor, otherwise, we would be up at like 6Ghz if you kept Pentium technology.

Gotta think outside the box with what you want or are doing.

Since technology is getting smaller and faster so should desktop technology. Nobody envisioned tablets or even phones having the capacity that they have today much less envision a cooling solution to them.

Everybody knows this, manufacturers know this, and futurists know this.

Overclocking too will become a poverty man's method to having processing speed.

[Elysarian]

Re: Why would anyone get a desktop anymore

Comparing a PC to a tablet is like comparing a B-double to a kei truck. I'll stick to PCs for the time being.

I think I have cleaned my PC maybe 4 times since 2006, and this PC never has the side panel on. Does air conditioning play a part in helping send dust particles all over the place? I ask that as my house does not have air conditioning.

I will agree however that some aspects of the PC should have changed long ago, probably during the transition from AT to ATX:

A PC should still be able to boot (e.g. into BIOS/POST/visual error) and show something on the screen with no RAM modules installed, or if any other minor error occurs (aside from having a completely missing CPU or graphics card/display adapter of course), rather than beeping and/or flashing lights like something from 1976. It wouldn't be that hard to include 1MB of RAM somewhere on the board, or even as part of the CPU itself like L1/L2 cache etc. (where this RAM is not used if memory modules are installed, so if you have 1GB installed, it wouldn't be 1GB+1MB). The same could be said about graphics cards, why can't you upgrade these by adding memory in a similar fashion? Who remembers the Sound Blaster AWE32 which had its own memory slots on the card itself?

I also agree that current power supplies are physically too small, the form factor may have been good for 250W in the AT days, but these days there is no room to fit large components like transformers, capacitors and heat sinks inside a 150x140x85mm box for a decent amount of wattage and retain good airflow (250W doesn't cut it for today's computers, with CPUs and GPUs being orders of magnitude more powerful than those from 1992, even if power usage has dropped dramatically). It doesn't matter whether they are meant to be repaired (serviced) or not, it's not the point. I won't even get started on SFF PSUs, or even SFF cases for that matter. Ugh.

Some PSUs are larger (longer/deeper front to back) these days...

I remember the AWE (IIRC the ram was to store MIDI patches in), I also recall owning a gfx card way back (May have been a Matrox or Cirrus Logic thing, possibly VESA Local bus) that had additional ram sockets on board...

Of course, I remember 486 boards with DIL sockets for the cache ram (and upgrading said cache on mine!)