my new build scratch pad thread

[Caliga]

Dudes, I know about current software limitations on using multicores.  I'm trying to think ahead here. 

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

The most amusing part about multi-core Intel processors is hyper-threading.  Yes, 4 cores is not enough, 8 virtual ones is better.  Never mind that programs that only can use one core go from using 25% of your computing capacity to 12.5%.

The two hardware threads do not give you twice the capacity.  Each core has the same amount of FLOPs available with and without Hyperthreading turned on.  Hardware threads just allow software threads to use more of the available clock cycles by letting one thread use the resources of the core or chip while another thread is in a wait state pending the completion of an I/O operation or something going on in a different part of the core.

Even though hardware threads show up as two (virtual) CPUs, they are not two independent CPUs.

[Barrister]

Dudes, I know about current software limitations on using multicores.  I'm trying to think ahead here. 

A quality case can last you though several builds...

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

Dudes, I know about current software limitations on using multicores.  I'm trying to think ahead here. 

Then I'd wait a couple months to see what Intel's coming six-core offering will do to the market.

[Caliga]

I may well do that.  I'm in no rush. 

[DGuller]

The most amusing part about multi-core Intel processors is hyper-threading.  Yes, 4 cores is not enough, 8 virtual ones is better.  Never mind that programs that only can use one core go from using 25% of your computing capacity to 12.5%.

The two hardware threads do not give you twice the capacity.  Each core has the same amount of FLOPs available with and without Hyperthreading turned on.  Hardware threads just allow software threads to use more of the available clock cycles by letting one thread use the resources of the core or chip while another thread is in a wait state pending the completion of an I/O operation or something going on in a different part of the core.

Even though hardware threads show up as two (virtual) CPUs, they are not two independent CPUs.

That's way above my pay-grade.  All I know is that when I turned hyper-threading off, M2TW went from 12.5% CPU utilization to 25%, on my quad-core.  The improvement in speed was noticeable (from very slow to slow).

[Baron von Schtinkenbutt]

That's way above my pay-grade.  All I know is that when I turned hyper-threading off, M2TW went from 12.5% CPU utilization to 25%, on my quad-core.  The improvement in speed was noticeable (from very slow to slow).

Windows CPU utilization reporting is screwed up when it comes to properly reporting on multithreaded cores.  Understandable, since the Nehalem microarchitecture is the first from Intel to have hardware threads.  The Windows scheduler is also not going to use the threads effectively, which is probably why you got a performance increase by turning it off.  The scheduler isn't smart enough to realize each CPU is not actually a full, independent core and is probably trying to cram all the other system processes onto the other thread of whatever core M2TW was running on, which will kill the benefits of the hardware threads.

[viper37]

Cases:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1416&ID=1897

and I have this one:
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1277&ID=1408

[viper37]

Other topics:
Forget the SSD.  Not worth the price for now.  If you put your Windows and a few critical apps on a seperate partition, you can still late move your stuff on a SSD if the prices come down.  What I've seen is above 200$ for 80gb.  Not worht it.

Invest on a good motherboard, built for future use (2-3 years), spend less on the CPU, upgrade in one year.

Video card: the newests models are insanely prices (>600$), get the best models from last generation.  Nvidia GTX 280 would be nice, I think.

Get a decent monitor or plug it into a 32" LCD hdtv.

Get a very good power supply, 700w and +.  Case and power supply will last long, long after you get tired of the CPU&mobo.
Get decent fans too, for the CPU, and maybe one more for the case.

Or go the liquid way.  Pricey, but might be worth it.

[Caliga]

viper, some are now down to $2/Gb.  That's still pricey, but it's getting down to the range that I think is reasonable.  My brother bought an SSD in December for his PC and he said he felt like his performance flat out doubled.  He said he installed Win 7 on it in like ten minutes and power-on to usable desktop is like 20 seconds.

Yah, I always do close to (or at) top of the line motherboard when I do a build, and this build will be no exception to that rule.  I hadn't thought about buying a lesser CPU and doing an upgrade this time around, though... nice suggestion.  The only thing with that is it's something I've thought about doing before and then never actually done, for whatever reason.

video card: I have an HD 5770 and don't intend to upgrade right now (I'll pull that out of this PC and put it in the new one).  I may buy a crappy video card for this one so I can keep it running--like I said I might turn it into a Linux machine.  Ironically, the new PC will most certainly have onboard video.

I have a 22" LCD monitor right now and can't expand much without building a new desk, but also a nice suggestion if I decide to rearrange furniture.

I tend to get good power supplies, and I have a recent object lesson into why that's a good idea: when I moved down here my mainstream Antec PSU somehow died on the way.  I ran out to CompUSA and like an idiot picked up another overpriced mainstream PSU.  Eventually, Princesca inherited that PSU when I used it + case for a rebuild for her.  About three months ago the PSU's fan died and somehow it blew out her video card (though it seemed to still power on the PC sporadically).

[Scipio]

I have the following case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

together with a few scythe fans, and Zalman copper coolers for CPU and GPU, I am very satisfied with the cooling performance.  House temp right now is 74 degrees F; CPU's hottest core is 48 C, HD is 42 C, GPU is 53 C.

[Caliga]

Scip, thanks.  That case looks promising.  I bookmarked it (i.e. saved it to a newegg wishlist) for future reference.

Hey, are there USB ports on the front top of this case?  It looks like there are from the newegg pics.  I would really like those as my current case has them off to the side and getting to them is a pain in the ass with my desk the way it is.  I noticed alot of the hardcore cases have those.

[Ed Anger]

No, Dell is of the devil... like Apple's (Satan's) little helper.

Hey, it looks like the AMD hexacores might actually be released on Monday ... and they will be fairly reasonably priced, it sounds like.

HP then. 

[Caliga]

[Ed Anger]

Gateway/E-Machines.