My New Rig

Laxer

Laxer

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I've had this for a few months now but was upgrading my storage solution this afternoon and figured I would take some pictures.

For those who don't know I took 6 months off school for a paid internship which, of course meant my computer needed a few upgrades.

I more or less maxed out my last system in terms of the hardware architecture so I bought a new CPU/Mobo/Case and moved forward.

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Specs:
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What about you guys, any hardware updates?
 
If you ever choose you don't need the computer anymore, I can always take it off you for free :grin1:
 
I will probably have this one for at least another year :lolg:

I will likely upgrade to a broadwell chip when it comes out.

After that I will have a full upgrade as I will probably need a new mobo/ram/cpu.

Interestingly, in total cost my upgrade from my last system was <$400 (excluding my new HDDs) when it was all said and done.

My new HDDs will probably add ~$120 or so to it once I sell the old ones.
 
I usually upgrade my main computer when I finally decide to upgrade to the latest version of Windows. Then I research the latest hardware and look for a motherboard that supports both (latest HW and latest Windows).

So, when W10 goes final, I will probably upgrade my hardware.

And of course, we need to remember that a new motherboard constitutes a new computer and a new computer needs a new Windows license. It is illegal to use an OEM/System Builders license that was purchased for, or came with an older computer on a new computer. And that is something we agreed to abide by when we first decided to keep using the old license on the first machine - thus making that agreement legally binding. Just the messenger here, wanting everyone to remain legal.
 
Digerati said:
And of course, we need to remember that a new motherboard constitutes a new computer and a new computer needs a new Windows license. It is illegal to use an OEM/System Builders license that was purchased for, or came with an older computer on a new computer. And that is something we agreed to abide by when we first decided to keep using the old license on the first machine - thus making that agreement legally binding. Just the messenger here, wanting everyone to remain legal.
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I always get the full retail version for this reason, and I always pull my old HDDs from my desktop when I sell them so no fear of the license being "re-activated" (or data recovery for that matter)

I normally upgrade as hardware upgrades usually staying a generation behind and buying all the used parts as people buy next gen. This is probably the closest I've been to the cutting edge
 
I always get the full retail version for this reason
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It costs more but with unlimited installations (one machine at a time) and unlimited transfers, it is often worth it. Plus, with the full retail version, Microsoft is on the hook to provide full and free technical support for 1 year. With OEM/System Builders licenses, the computer builder (including self-builders) must provide the 1 year of Windows tech support. If you are not fairly experienced in Windows, or operating systems in particular, having someone else you can call who is obligated to help you can be very important.

This is probably the closest I've been to the cutting edge
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The problem with the cutting edge is that it has not gone into mass production yet, thus is still expensive as the developers need to recoup their R&D investment and refund the coffers to keep doing R&D to push that cutting edge further - or at least ahead of the competition.

There's the cutting edge, and right next to that is the bleeding edge. At the risk of sounding too gruesome (though it is that time of year) I tend to be around the scabbed-over edge. I feel this gives the makers time to retool their factories to ramp up production driving costs down, plus time for these new products to hit the field, discover and work out the major bugs, come out version 1.1. then I buy.
 
I went from a 1090T to the 4770k right when the 4790k came out. Picked up the 4770k for $180 which is a crazy low price.

I've interestingly enough never used windows support despite having it. With an SSD for just pretty much a boot drive and applications I get it set up then ghost the image and put it on a storage drive. Any time I get hiccups I just wipe it and re image it. I have found this to be far better than windows recovery which I think tries to save some files?

Also, I enjoyed your Halloween references :grin1:
 
I have not used MS support either, except for authentication issues when I needed them to reset their databases.

I think you are right about Windows Recovery and it does try to save files - perhaps so you can recover from the recovery??
 
Very nice build, Geoff.

I really sweated through my new build recently - :0

jcgriff2_laptop.jpg - jcgriff2_laptop2.jpg

Took me more than 5 minutes to open the box, plug it in and turn it on! :lol:
 
Make sure the first you remember to do is wipe it clean from all that HP crap. :thumbsup2:
 
Laxer said:
Just don't use the toaster oven to dry it out... :lolg:
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Don't forget that was actually a [re-classified] science experiment for the kids benefit so when they drop a USB mouse in a glass of iced tea they would know exactly how long to nuke it in the microwave - unlike me, who didn't know microwave drying times for USB mice & ended up over-drying it to the point of a major and literal meltdown!

Jared said:
Make sure the first you remember to do is wipe it clean from all that HP crap. :thumbsup2:
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That's why I got 12 GB RAM - 4 GB for Windows 8.1; 8 GB for bloat-ware! lol
 
I have but I am not really qualified to personally comment because I build computers (partly because of all that crap). I don't pre-load them with crap, so it does not find any crap.

But I have seen it recommended by many I trust who use it on factory built systems and swear by it.

Note, it does nothing without your consent. It first prompts you to select if this is a new computer or not, then it prompts to create a System Restore point. Then it scans and lists what it finds - but not without first a stern warning that it cannot always distinguish between "Trial" software (the crap) installed on new computers and "Full" versions (not crap) of that software. For example, when I run it on this system, it reports MS Office, which often came in a trial version on many factory built systems. It only needs a license key entered to "register" it. Other than that, the essential executables are identical.

But as I noted, it does nothing without consent. So nothing listed is pre-checked for removal. You have to manually select what you no longer want so even if some "click-happy" user just keeps clicking "Next >", nothing will be removed by default. Very nice, IMO - especially with notebooks, which tend to be crapped up the most, but also have programs unfamiliar to the user that may be needed by the proprietary :banghead: features the makers foist - err... I mean so gracefully shove - err... I mean conveniently preload on their notebooks.
 
I use it quite often, and it's a good tool - lives on my USB stick. As Bill said, you have full control over what is removed.

It's also useful when I've been given a slow machine for clean up because you can just choose a bunch of programs to remove and it will remove them all. Makes bulk uninstallation of programs easier.
 

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