[X] My Assistant

[SFJCody]

I'm thinking of making a new PC (the parts of the current machine date to around 2002-2003) and I've decided to make planetary image viewing & editing the main driver for the spec I'm aiming at. Any advice for someone who wants to casually browse through those enormous HiRISE images? I will be getting a new monitor as well.

[CosmicRocker]

SFJCody: Considering the date of your original post, you may have already built or bought your new machine. I've built several, and I can say that the advice everyone here has given you is excellent. I have always researched the hardware review sites like Tom's Hardware to help me decide which hardware would be best to incorporate into my new machine. Memory, storage, and processors define the machine. The various speeds of those three things are very important.

Cooling the main CPU's and other heat generators is also a consideration. There are many ways to cool, but the simplest and cheapest usually involves fans, which make noise. Harder's comments are relevant. The fans on my old PC made a hell of a racket. I like to listen to opera or other music while sometimes manipulating very large images. My new machine has very quiet fans whose speeds are controlled by a smart motherboard, all enclosed in an Antec case that helps route the air flow for improved efficiency.

If you get into building a PC in a serious way, you quickly discover that researching and planning the design process becomes enormously complex. Then, just when you think you have it all figured out, one or more of the hardware companies release a new product, and your design is hosed. Well, not really hosed, but you get my drift.

PhilCo's original comment regarding whether it is still really worth building your own PC is also relevant. It used to be that you could save a tidy amount by assembling your own machine, but my last PC would have only saved me $200-$300 dollars over a custom-built machine. You might want to check out some of the sites that allow you to pick and choose components and build your machine on line. That's what I did the last time, and I am quite pleased with this device.

I would definitely consider some solid state storage if you want to be on the cutting edge and impress friends and family with booting speed. ...but remember, solid state devices seem to have a limited number of read/write's. Be sure to have a backup and maintenance plan, as you would with any storage device.

[Del Palmer]

The fans on my old PC made a hell of a racket.

You know, I really miss the gentle and constant roar of the fans from my old system; my new build is whisper-quiet. I guess the fan sound appealed to the engineer within -- it sounded like things were happening. I also opted for a solid-state drive, the silence of such is quite unnerving after being used to the loud tick-tick of the disk in the 10-year-old system I just retired.

Then again, maybe my perception is clouded by the bad case of 'flu I'm currently under (things also look slightly redder). Then again, I probably just screwed-up the monitor calibration (yup, instead of resting in bed, I'm doing monitor calibration). Priorities, priorities!

I would definitely consider some solid state storage if you want to be on the cutting edge and impress friends and family with booting speed.

To be honest, booting is not all that faster compared to my 1998 system (yup, I installed the same 9-year-old OS on the new build ), but programs launch almost immediately, which would impress some people.