What do people do with their fast machines?

R

rcrez

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 22, 2005
Messages
201
So after everyone's overclocked their machines to the max, what can you do with it to really make good use out of the $ you put into it?

I don't play any games and theres got to be more than running Super PI all day...
 
if you don't run games why do you really need a fast rig? unless you are doing video / audio editing or 3D work?
 
downloading porn
gaming
watching porn

... that's all i can think of at this point...
 
Haha Storm.


Uhm, I work as a DJ during the summer (school's out, so I can't sell computers lol) so the horsepower lets me sample many MANY tracks in real-time. Not to mention I can use as many polyphonic voices as I want, before rendering anything.

The best thing about my rig is how fast I can compress 5-10gb of data into a 7zip to store for someone (I do backup services for people, it's like a rental data garage).

Other than that I game, benchmark and open CPUz alot :p
 
compslckr said:
if you don't run games why do you really need a fast rig? unless you are doing video / audio editing or 3D work?
Click to expand...

Exactomundo!

When people come to me and ask me to build them a system, I ask them if they

1. Game (recent and new games, not text based crap)
or
2. Video editing
or
3. Need to work with an app that models in 3D

If they say no to those questions, I tell them to go buy an off the shelf or mail order computer (whatever is on sale). If they tell me they game on their PCs or render video or do CAD/CAM, I can then build them a system.
As a matter of fact, I just an old Athlon XP 1800 PC (tower only) to a single mom (on a very tight budget) for $100.00. All she does is surf the net read, e-mails and some minor book-keeping (excel 2002). Cable Broadband with the XP 1800 is plenty for her needs.

I'd say the PRIMARY reason we chip heads NEED a blazing fast system.... is to play games. Gee I coulda saved a ton if I would just play console games. :D
 
Running VMware. Anyone who works in a heterogeneous environment can tell you how nice it is to run multiple operating systems on one machine for interoperability testing.

One of my c2d systems is running Linux/Freebsd/Solaris/W2K3. It's a lot quieter than having separate physical machines, and a lot easier on the electric bill.
 
I have the E4300...no VT
does that mean I'l be crippled when running VMWare?
 
I like a fast machine because I run folding@home on it. THe faster the better for that. That is the main reason I overclock.
 
I'm looking to build an uber cool system... wont be gaming that much tho (will skimp on the vid card)

my current 3200+ is a sloth at dvd ripping... also I want my visual studio programs to compile faster (5 second compiles get annoying when its just a minor change)
 
It like when I used to put thousands of bucks into building high performace automobile engines but not take them to the race track, I build high performace computers because, because..... well I can.., I can.., wait, let me think..... Go away kid, ya bother me. :p
 
Photoshop and digital imaging/graphics. Gaming, audio stuff. Webdev (don't need a fast machine, but the huge monitor comes in handy).
 
1. games and lost of 'em! new and old!

2. dvd/video decryption, compression, etc.

3. CAD

4. digital photos
 
1. Rip and encode dvd/video
2. gaming at high resolutions
3. Folding@Home for Team 33
4. growing my e-penis :D
 
Oddly enough, I video encode on my slower PC. It's easier for me to set up my HTPC to encode video and let it run than it is to have it run on my main PC. That way I can game or do something and still encode. Even with only a 2000+ I can encode using a lower thread priority and watch DIVX/DVDs at the same time. I get near realtime re-encoding of Divx files with it, so speed isn't much of an issue. Especially when I can leave it on 24/7 to do it's thing. The only thing I really need a fast computer for is games, even my graphic design work doesn't need a super fast processor or video card.
 
Burning_Monk said:
Oddly enough, I video encode on my slower PC. It's easier for me to set up my HTPC to encode video and let it run than it is to have it run on my main PC. That way I can game or do something and still encode. Even with only a 2000+ I can encode using a lower thread priority and watch DIVX/DVDs at the same time. I get near realtime re-encoding of Divx files with it, so speed isn't much of an issue. Especially when I can leave it on 24/7 to do it's thing. The only thing I really need a fast computer for is games, even my graphic design work doesn't need a super fast processor or video card.
Click to expand...

Yeah DIVX is a fairly quick encode, what quality level (or quantizer if you do it that way). I like H.264 these days though... That really taxxes your system.
 
Arcygenical said:
Yeah DIVX is a fairly quick encode, what quality level (or quantizer if you do it that way). I like H.264 these days though... That really taxxes your system.
Click to expand...

I prefer simplicity so I use Dr. Divx OSS for my re-encoding needs. But I make sure to select 'best' quality with the limited options it gives me. Do you happen to know of a program that converts MP4(h.264, I guess)->AVI?
 
Play games mainly.

I don't give a shit how fast I can burn or decrypt a dvd. I always leave and do something else while it's going on anyway.
 
does anyone have any benchmarks of how much faster VT helps when running VMWare?


maybe i should have gotten the e6300 instead of e4300?
 
Arcygenical said:
Yeah... VT helps VMware out ALOT.
Click to expand...

Please do your research before you make a statement like this. This issue has been discussed before. VMware does not utilize the VT extensions of the e6XXX Intel line. They have publicly stated that the hardware VT features are SLOWER than their software solution at this time.

The only advantage to having a VT enabled CPU is the ability to run virtual 64-bit guests.

Please stop spreading the misinformation.

Here's the reasoning from VMware engineers.

Arcygenical: Not shooting you down here! Thanks for the PM reply. Just making sure other people aren't mislead about VT and its 'usefulness'.
 
My machine isn't particuarly fast anymore but....I use it mostly for games and general purpose stuff. I do use it for ripping/converting DVD's on occasion (I haven't done that in a while seeing that 200 GB goes quick and I've been too lazy to get a new HD) and I also dabble in photo editing/manipulation.
 
To the OP's question:

I use my system for development, light gaming and heavy virtualization.

For the discussion on VMWare, it should be noted that while VMWare doesn't utilize the VT or AMD-V CPU extensions, there are other virtualization suites that do.

KVM, for instance, utilizes either of those technologies to increase VM performance. Some benchmarks have shown that KVM can bring VM performance up to 96% of native speed.

There are other options, like VirtualBox, that utilize kernel modules to get very good performance as well, even without the VT/AMD-V. In my experience, VirtualBox has been even snappier than VMWare.
 
"what can you do with it to really make good use out of the $ you put into it?"

For me it's a hobby. Do you ask someone how they make good use out of the $$$ they put into concert/movie/sporting event tickets?
 
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