I’ve been gone from the blog for a while and one of the reasons
(there are many) is that I bit the bullet and built a new computer. I
try to alternate buying a pre-built machine (Dell) and building one
from parts when I get new machines. Since my last machine was a
pre-built Dell this time I bought a bunch of parts and put them
together as a (mostly) working computer. Before I start blathering on
about stuff here’s a list of the main parts with brief comments:
That is the bulk of the components. I had a few kinks to work out
but overall this has been a nice machine to setup. The absolute best
thing though is the dual core processor. I’ve not had a whole lot of
opportunities to work with multi-processor machines as a
desktop/development machine. Usually they are reserved for the servers
and I am remoting into them. Not the ideal situation to fully
appreciate working with more than one processor on the system. If I
look at my task bar right now I’ve got:
- 4 Internet Explorer windows
- 2 Firefox windows
- iTunes
- BlogJet
- Remote Desktop
- Virtual PC installing an OS
- 2 Windows Explorers
In the past I would have a slightly ‘jerky’ system with this much
running. Most of it due to the Virtual PC which is very active. With
this machine though I may as well not have anything else running. I
don’t notice it at all. In fact the CPU usage in Task Manager is
hovering around 45%. Very nice!
Jon sums things up in his blog very well:
Rauschenblog : Dual Core Goodness
So, especially for developers, I would strongly reccomend a
dual-core CPU even at the expense of less overall processing power
(e.g. get a $300 dual-core CPU over a $300 single-core even if the
single-core has higher benchmark scores). Trust me - you will be
happier.
Now playing: Autour de Lucie - Chanson Sans Issue [Remix] [*]