Comment on Compaq Presario SR5122CF CTO Desktop PC

[firefly]

Hi YongGrand,

Thank you so much for all the helpful information. Truly appreciate you sharing your knowledge generously with me. You are just too kind ...

Check the Antec and Enermax, they have those good stuff brands. But be reminded that they are very pricey but worth every cent - you don't want the other parts of the comp to get fried right?

Gosh, if we don't get a good PSU, we might get other parts fried? Really? As I had mentioned earlier, I will be getting this Compaq Presario SR5122CF CTO Desktop PC from the promo package. You mean, I should change the PSU after I have gotten the PC? Is it still necessary if I were to just get a power regulator instead?

Don't worry, now it is the 21st century, not 20th. And now isn't the 90s, it is the new millenium. Computers have improved over the years and now it is EASY to build up a computer, and it take even 1 hour to fully set up the CPU parts-by-parts. Now, clone PCs are not called that way anymore - it's called self-built instead.

Hmm ... I guess you had misunderstood what I meant. We had very bad experience with the clone PCs b'coz they always give problems, like hanged, cannot boot up, can boot but no display on the monitor .. blah .. blah .. blah ... Gosh, it was a nightmare ...

By the way, I'm a working adult .. and we are neighbour too .. Am living in Kepong as well .. hmm .. Desa Aman Puri to be exact ..

Perhaps, we should meet up one day and let me buy you a cup of coffee .. to show my appreciate for your generous input ...

And my Celeron D desktop in my bedroom turns it into a personal sauna!! (I remembered I shut off the bedroom windows and the door to dry myself after a bath with that heat of the computer!!)

Really ar? Cool .. coz you have your personal sauna at home wor ... hehehehe .....

By the way, one more thing I wish to check with you ...

Comparing to Intel Celeron 420 1.6GHZ processor, does Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHZ processor generate more heat and consume more power?

For my purpose of 24x7 BT downloading, between a Celeron 420 and a Core 2 Duo E4300, which one will do a better job?

Once again, you kind advice is very much appreciated!

[Adrian Wong]

IMHO, if you are getting the HP package, you should not change the PSU, since it's covered by warranty. If I'm not mistaken, replacing the PSU might void your warranty.

Hmm.. TBH, clone PCs work just as well as branded PCs. There's no fundamental difference in the hardware. Only the software and setup differs. Your problems may be due to improper settings by the guy who set up your system, or merely software issues like viruses or an operating system that has not been updated (due to license issues?).

[The_YongGrand]

Originally Posted by firefly

Hi YongGrand,

Thank you so much for all the helpful information. Truly appreciate you sharing your knowledge generously with me. You are just too kind ...



Gosh, if we don't get a good PSU, we might get other parts fried? Really? As I had mentioned earlier, I will be getting this Compaq Presario SR5122CF CTO Desktop PC from the promo package. You mean, I should change the PSU after I have gotten the PC? Is it still necessary if I were to just get a power regulator instead?



Hmm ... I guess you had misunderstood what I meant. We had very bad experience with the clone PCs b'coz they always give problems, like hanged, cannot boot up, can boot but no display on the monitor .. blah .. blah .. blah ... Gosh, it was a nightmare ...

By the way, I'm a working adult .. and we are neighbour too .. Am living in Kepong as well .. hmm .. Desa Aman Puri to be exact ..

Perhaps, we should meet up one day and let me buy you a cup of coffee .. to show my appreciate for your generous input ...



Really ar? Cool .. coz you have your personal sauna at home wor ... hehehehe .....

By the way, one more thing I wish to check with you ...

Comparing to Intel Celeron 420 1.6GHZ processor, does Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHZ processor generate more heat and consume more power?

For my purpose of 24x7 BT downloading, between a Celeron 420 and a Core 2 Duo E4300, which one will do a better job?

Once again, you kind advice is very much appreciated!

If you are getting OEM PC, please, pretty please not to change or touch any parts inside that Compaq PC - you might void the warranty! The PSU and every each parts in the Compaq PC are meant (and designed) to be working together for each other, so not much worries in terms of safety and stability. All you need is a AVR, or a Surge Protector added.

If you are using a seperate rig EXCLUSIVELY just for BT rig, I would advise you to spend not too much on the processor - a simple Single core will do, like an Athlon64 3500+ or a Celeron 420. Too bad the Celeron doesn't have power saving features, but the wattages are low enough to save a lot of power. The Athlon64 3500+ has the Cool and Quiet feature too, and also works almost the same thing. You need not the OEM (like COmpaq, HP,...) rig for BT downloads - that could be an overkill. Mostly a BT rig is an older 2nd hand PC or a low-end machine.

Clone computers, if you get the low-quality parts, well, you get the low-quality performance + stability. I build a few for myself and did some homework and gotten myself rock-solid configurations.

If you plan to use the PC for almost anything you want to do, like BT, games, homework, and stuff like that altogether, you NEED a C2D then. Anyway, E4300, or a E4500 will work better.

So are you still purchasing the Compaq or build your own?

p.s: Wow, I didn't notice that - Desa Aman Puri - it's such a huge place with cool apartments!

[Chai]

Not only you will void the warranty, the PSU is probably a non ATX PSU, which will not fit in the HP system.

The problem with 'clone' PCs are because it's normally a cheap system with cheap components, unstable drivers, immature chipset (SiS or VIA chipsets).

I've been building my own system since the 90s, other than the K6-2 which was pretty unstable, since then, all my PCs are rock solid with good components.

[The_YongGrand]

Originally Posted by Chai

I've been building my own system since the 90s, other than the K6-2 which was pretty unstable, since then, all my PCs are rock solid with good components.

The K6-2 is still okay - not that really unstable. It's the Super7 motherboard's fault really. Once I had a MSI-5184 board with swollen caps and didn't work that well with my USB card!! Other than that, it runs many things perfectly with 128MB RAM (Win2000). Well, these K6-2s are cheap.

Pretty sure that the Super7 motherboards are freaky in nature. The SiS530 is the most notorious one, along with the PCChips M598 board. These boards are really good doorstops and I had one of these given by my friend too. Sadly, it was DEAD and I used it as a soldering/desoldering practice arena. VIA chipsets are fine - except that the whole K6-2/3 are pretty obsolete when the P3s are already out.

Guess what? I tried GTA3 in my old K6-2 450 and it didn't work that well. The readme told that the FPU of that processor is insufficient for all that.

Not only you will void the warranty, the PSU is probably a non ATX PSU, which will not fit in the HP system.

The problem with 'clone' PCs are because it's normally a cheap system with cheap components, unstable drivers, immature chipset (SiS or VIA chipsets).

It's good not to change anything on a OEM PC.

Problematic 'Clone' PCs are made out of poor components like you have said. HEre's some of my very rough guidelines for building a standard no-frills PC:

Intel rigs -

Good configuration: Intel-based Chipset board, 865 for DDR1, and 945/965 and later for C2D and P.Dual Core with DDR2. Brands? Asus is the top one, or the plain Intel one. Well, you can choose MSI and also Gigabyte, they are all good performers as well. SiS chipset is *still* okay because some Intel boards include them as well.

Bad configuration: VIA chipset based board - normally associated with poor stability or either poor performance. Do not pair it up with any Celerons - that will even work worse than that. And worse, PCI-E bandwidth of these VIA chipset isn't usually 16x - it's 4x. Please take note of that!

Not sure: nVidia 680i. Who tried that before?

AMD rigs -

Good configuration: AMD/ATi-based chipset, nForce, or Geforce 6150/7050. They rock so hard for rock-bottom small cheap multimedia rigs! VIA is okay but with less features.

Bad configuration: Nope - only thing is, avoid those PCChips or ECS or Jetway. They are dangerous brands.

I hope my explaination is correct - please correct it for me if not.

[firefly]

Originally Posted by Chai

Not only you will void the warranty, the PSU is probably a non ATX PSU, which will not fit in the HP system.

The problem with 'clone' PCs are because it's normally a cheap system with cheap components, unstable drivers, immature chipset (SiS or VIA chipsets).

I've been building my own system since the 90s, other than the K6-2 which was pretty unstable, since then, all my PCs are rock solid with good components.

Hi Chai,

Thanks for the tip.

Honestly, when we get our "clone" PCs, we actually asked for the best of everything .. like Gigabyte motherboard, G-force display card, etc .. hmm .. not cheap system and cheap components as you might think ...

Hmm .. not sure whether there are conflicts between the parts .. or whether those are the genuine parts .. but since we are no expert compare to you .. perhaps my friends and I all got cheated loh ...

By the way, did you notice my post below? Care to reply?


[Quote:]
Something like this.

http://www.aerocool.us/p-peripheral/...owerpanel.html
[/quote]


Hi Chai,

Yes, this is definitely what I need! Thank you so much for the info and pictures ...

Hmm .. can I get this in LowYat? How much does it costs? Roughly .. do you know?

But .. how to fix it? There are so many different cables for different devices in the pictures. Umm .. do I need to fix each cable to some port or slot in the motherboard? Or, just need to hook this powerpanel into an existing cable .. like in the case of CD ROM or harddisk? I am a hardware dummy and I would definitely lost after opening the casing ...

Care to advise? Thank you so much!!

[firefly]

Hi YongGrand,

If you are getting OEM PC, please, pretty please not to change or touch any parts inside that Compaq PC - you might void the warranty! The PSU and every each parts in the Compaq PC are meant (and designed) to be working together for each other, so not much worries in terms of safety and stability. All you need is a AVR, or a Surge Protector added.

Thanks for the tip. I will definitely get a Surge Protector ...

So are you still purchasing the Compaq or build your own?

The Compaq PC actually comes with the package when you sign up for Streamyx RM99 per month through Citibank credit card. Since Streamyx is recently available at my block, thus, sign up and get a PC .. hmm .. seems pretty hard to pass .. don't you think?

p.s: Wow, I didn't notice that - Desa Aman Puri - it's such a huge place with cool apartments!

Hehe .. it's a very nice place to stay .. cooling and quiet. Mine is on hill top .. facing the forest ...

If you are interest, my offer of coffee still stands ....

[firefly]

Originally Posted by The_YongGrand

The K6-2 is still okay - not that really unstable. It's the Super7 motherboard's fault really. Once I had a MSI-5184 board with swollen caps and didn't work that well with my USB card!! Other than that, it runs many things perfectly with 128MB RAM (Win2000). Well, these K6-2s are cheap.

Pretty sure that the Super7 motherboards are freaky in nature. The SiS530 is the most notorious one, along with the PCChips M598 board. These boards are really good doorstops and I had one of these given by my friend too. Sadly, it was DEAD and I used it as a soldering/desoldering practice arena. VIA chipsets are fine - except that the whole K6-2/3 are pretty obsolete when the P3s are already out.

Wow!! These are really too technical for me. Gosh, you sounded such a PRO! Hmm .. are you an IT person? Oh boy .. guess I'll need to "kautau" to you lah ...

Problematic 'Clone' PCs are made out of poor components like you have said. HEre's some of my very rough guidelines for building a standard no-frills PC:

Intel rigs -

Good configuration: Intel-based Chipset board, 865 for DDR1, and 945/965 and later for C2D and P.Dual Core with DDR2. Brands? Asus is the top one, or the plain Intel one. Well, you can choose MSI and also Gigabyte, they are all good performers as well. SiS chipset is *still* okay because some Intel boards include them as well.

Bad configuration: VIA chipset based board - normally associated with poor stability or either poor performance. Do not pair it up with any Celerons - that will even work worse than that. And worse, PCI-E bandwidth of these VIA chipset isn't usually 16x - it's 4x. Please take note of that!

Not sure: nVidia 680i. Who tried that before?

AMD rigs -

Good configuration: AMD/ATi-based chipset, nForce, or Geforce 6150/7050. They rock so hard for rock-bottom small cheap multimedia rigs! VIA is okay but with less features.

Bad configuration: Nope - only thing is, avoid those PCChips or ECS or Jetway. They are dangerous brands.

Thank you so much for such good tips. I will save these info for my future self-built PC ... when I have learned enough from you guys ... hehehe ...

[Dashken]

OEM PCs are much more stable because the drivers, software package, OS and key components (mouse, keyboard, RAMs, etc.) have gone through multiple type of stability tests unlike 'clone' PCs that we build ourselves. That's why OEM PCs are more expensive compared to the clones plus they normally come with free service and support.

But if you are a PC-savvy kind of guy, advice is, don't get OEM PC unless you're getting a notebook. It's much more expensive plus you don't get the satisfaction of building your own PC although building a new PC doesn't even take longer than an hour but the feeling when hearing your new PC comes to life for the first time (or don't). Wow...

[Chai]

Yup, exactly, the Super7 motherboard was very unstable, I sold it within months. VIA chipset drivers were not very mature back then.

Having a Gigabyte motherboard doesn't mean it's good. Gigabyte has low end and highend motherboard. If you are not even sure what's the model or the chipset used, chances are, they are cheap motherboard as well.

About the front panel bay, I don't have one. Try to find some reviews from Google. The Aerocool one was just an example.