Opinion on buying new Desktop PC

Discussion in 'hardware' started by Rasheed187, May 10, 2014.

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  1. Wroll

    Wroll Registered Member

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    When I've seen that case, didn't read the rest. When I see a case like that and the 1000€ price tag I pass that vendor. There's no reason to have a case like that when you can get a decent Corsair, Zalman, Antec, Cooler Master etc for 50€.
     
  2. Joxx

    Joxx Registered Member

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    with the 1200 euros this HP costs you can start with this and this
    and have yourself a computing splurge
     
  3. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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  4. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    I will probably buy the Asus desktop to save me some money, so one final question: how much space will Windows 8 (plus OS recovery) use of the 64GB SSD? And what if the SSD crashes, will I loose all data? I guess it´s best to make a back up to the 1TB HDD? :)
     
  5. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    It depends on how well you separate your data files from the OS files. You should be able to fit two Win8 OS on that SSD so it's certainly not too small for one Win8.
     
  6. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    Don't remember how W8 handles it. But on W7 look at prefetching & provisioning to get many GBs back on an SSD.
     
  7. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    Thanks for the feedback, and now that I think of it, if the SSD is too small for my needs, I can always return it to the shop. :D
     
  8. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    OK so I bought the Asus, and I´m not sure what to think about it. It makes a high pitched noise and in "standby mode", the fans keep running. I´m still investigation this stuff. And can someone perhaps tell if the OS is installed on the SSD? I don´t get it, see pics. :)

    EDIT: It has a 1TB HDD (Toshiba), and a 64GB SSD (Kingston).
     

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  9. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    I like Asus, Toshiba HDD. Not thrilled about Kingston brand SSD. Seems like too many partitions, I'm probably wrong though. :) The fan always running concerns. I got to ask all the stupid stuff so here goes: could be bad fan, enough space for case not jammed into a chubby hole or against a wall, don't have a cat or other animal rubbing against case shedding hair & restricting air flow, cheap ass PSU, OS settings. Of all the silly ones the PSU is huge to scrutinize.
     
  10. SirDrexl

    SirDrexl Registered Member

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    No. The 1TB (931GB as Windows reports it) drive is split into partitions, with Windows on one of them along with "Data" and the hidden stuff. The SSD is "New Volume" (E) and it has nothing on it. I suspect the reason they made such a bad configuration is because Windows + their big recovery partition + the hidden files (hibernate and pagefile) would have left you with very little remaining space on it.

    If you can, you should install Windows to the SSD, with any HDDs disconnected to stop it from placing boot files on them instead of the SSD.
     
  11. Joxx

    Joxx Registered Member

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    what the pics tell me is that the OS is installed in the HDD
    and the SSD is empty... nice

    I see a 3rd disk as well (IOMEGA) is that external?


    Edit sorry SirDrexl, didn't see your post
     
  12. Joxx

    Joxx Registered Member

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    and I'm happy for you :argh:
     
  13. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Rasheed187,

    It is a UEFI system but with some planning you could copy the 800 MiB Recovery partition, MSR, ESP and Win8 to the SSD. Then delete these partitions from the 1 TB HD. Win8 can easily fit on a 64 GB SSD if you put your data files elsewhere..
     
  14. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    I´m going to be honest, it´s probably too much work for me. And Win 8 actually loads up quite fast, same goes for apps.
    But what to do with the SSD, should I put my most used apps on that drive? Will that speed up app loading even more? :)
     
  15. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    This might be the reason indeed. Earlier this year I bought an HP desktop with a 128GB SSD (with Windows installed) and the 1TB drive was free space. I´m not sure what to think of it, my PC feels fast at the moment, but the plan was to use the SSD extensively. :)

    Yes that is my "back up" drive.
     
  16. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    Well, I will tell you one thing, 2014 is not my year! I never had any problems with my 8 years old HP desktop, why can´t stuff just work? If this noise won´t go away, and I can´t solve the "standby mode" problem, I will probably have to return this machine. It´s too bad because overall I did like it. :(
     
  17. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    I feel for you bud. Remind me is this an ASUS build or did an individual piece this together? Cause if this is not stock from ASUS odds are HUGE that an individual (builder or customer) chose the wrong (very FEW brands & PSUs within brand lines are suitable for high end builds) PSU symptomatic of the stated fan always on problem. Or if you or another added hardware this could be the tipping point for the PSU. Also I do not respect/believe in or trust ANY IOMEGA products. I'd try running the PC for a few days up to a week even without connecting EVER not once the IOMEGA & see if the fan is still always on. Keep us updated.

    Oh & this particularrly true of W8's always on/quick wake up feature. Make sure you are doing at least 1 complete shutdown & reboot a day. I usually shutdown at least 4-5x a day. Not necessary to do 4-5x like me. But nothing mission critical going on here & I'll take the energy savings. Besides at least since XP if the PC isn't too fubared there's a healing taking place with every clean reboot. That's why techs always suggest a reboot.
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2014
  18. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    It's a 30 minute job.

    If you think that is fast, wait until you have Win8 on the SSD.

    But your problem is the loud fan. It's probably better to return the computer and get one that is setup correctly with the OS on the SSD.
     
  19. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    So you´re saying that I don´t even have to reinstall Win 8, to get it on the SSD? But yes, this noise isn´t going away, and I get the feeling that the PC is already getting slower because it´s using the HDD instead of the SSD. I can feel it when starting apps like Process Explorer, and browsers like Firefox and Opera. But should it help to put those apps on the SSD? And I also noticed that Intel Rapid Storage is installed and running, does that give any benefit? :)
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2014
  20. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    Yeah this all sucks, but the system is made by Asus itself. I´m not sure if it has the NFC and Wireless Charging feature though, it´s a Dutch model. And the Iomega HDD is normally not plugged in. ;)

    http://www.asus.com/Desktops/M70AD/
     
  21. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    No install of Win8 to the SSD needed. The transfer of Win8 to the SSD really is a 30 minute job. But I'd get the hardware issue sorted out first.

    Edit .. You asked about apps speed on an SSD compared with a HD. I have cloned my SSD Win8 to a HD so they are the same OS. Photoshop on the HD takes five times longer to load than Photoshop on the SSD.
     
    Last edited: Aug 7, 2014
  22. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    I didn´t know that it was possible, but I´ve found some articles on the web. But I still don´t get it, what is the point of the current 64GB SSD? I've put some apps on the drive, but they don´t seem to run any faster. So does it make any sense to not install the OS on the SSD, like ASUS did? I think you need about 45 GB to install Windows, or am I missing something? :)
     

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  23. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Not having the OS on the SSD makes no sense. Just putting some files or apps on the SSD will make negligible difference. Here is a brief overview of what I'd do to transfer the OS to the SSD. I can fill in details if you go ahead...

    adjust pagefile size smaller
    remove hibernation
    disable restore points
    ccleaner
    delete temp files
    disk cleanup

    how much used space now?
    delete partition on SSD

    check MiB to restore in IFL
    Use IFL to compact C: drive data to 55000 MiB
    remain in IFL

    use IFL and Copy, tick Entire Drive line but deselect two unwanted partitions (764.69 GB Data partition and 15.66 GB Recovery partition)
    The partions selected will be ESP, MSR, 800 MiB Recovery, Win8 (4 partitions. Remember, the MSR doesn't show in Disk Management)
    Copy Options are...
    scale to fit
    align to Target
    Change Disk ID and GUIDs
    Omit Page File Data
    Omit Hibernation Data
    Log Results to File
    First Track Sectors will already be AUTO

    Shutdown, disconnect 1 TB HD and boot the SSD OS

    Shutdown, re-connect old HD, boot BIBM (or GParted) and delete these three partitions on the 1 TB HD ... ESP, Recovery (800 MiB), Win 8

    Boot SSD OS

    Transfer User folders to the D: drive (Data partition)
    http://researchaholic.com/2012/08/16/windows-8-how-to-move-user-folders-personal-folder/

    Create a partition in the free space on the HD
    When you have created image backups of the SSD I'd delete the 15.66 GB Recovery partition and resize the Data partition to fill the drive


    Edit... As far as used space is concerned, I have 22.4 GB of used space in my Win8 partition.
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2014
  24. Rasheed187

    Rasheed187 Registered Member

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    @ Brian K

    Thanks I will check it out. :)

    And so far I´ve used about 40.5GB, as you can see in the pic, and you are using even less, so it should be possible.
     
  25. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    You have enough space on your SSD for an OS partition of about 58 GB. You have 40.5 GB of data but we don't know how far that data is spread over the 150 GB partition on the HD. The data may be spread over the first 100 GB of sectors. So we have to move those used sectors towards the start of the partition by compacting the data. I've suggested you compact the data to 55 GB. This means the 40.5 GB of data will be spread over the first 55 GB of sectors. Now, 55 GB of sectors will fit into a 58 GB partition. You don't have to personally create this partition as IFL will copy the 40.5 GB of used sectors into the unallocated free space on your SSD and create a partition around the data. The partition will be sized to fill the unallocated free space by the "Scale to fit" switch. The small partitions (ESP, MSR and 800 MiB Recovery) will not be resized larger by this switch. The GPT data (analogous to the MBR) will be copied from the HD to the SSD too.
     
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