Another idea...

[Handruin]

Just thought of another idea...it's nothing dramatic. Not that it has never been done before, but what about putting everyone's heads together and create virtual computer configurations.

Let me explain what I mean...everyone asks, "what components are good, and good together", "is this motherboard good", "is this hard drive fast for the $" and so on. What if we created an on going "top quality computer model" that we all put our input on and keep the info available for everyone to read.

We could certainly address more then one computer "grade" by having it rated on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10 for performance/cost...or even a sliding bar chart to signify a balance between cost and performance. (Reliability too...we could make a triangle chart)

This idea fits into a FAQ most likely, as people ask all the time what works well for components. Maybe we could break each component down and have individual comments for each, so that people can learn about all of our suggestions for each piece of the large puzzle we call a computer.

If this seems like a boring idea, just read right along and I'll go back to my little world. If you think it could be turned into something feasible, I would like to try it out!

I do realize we may never all agree on each component, but there has to be some consensus as to what works well together. I even find myself asking this, and as fast as PC components move, it would be nice to keep up to date.

I'm not looking to review this, but rather put the experience of the people into choosing quality configurations. We could even get into where a good place is to purchase the parts, but I won't get into that just yet.

Basic areas to cover could be:

• OS that the hardware works well on (Windows, Linux, Mac)
• CPU (Intel, AMD, power PC, cyrix...)
• Mother board (chip sets may need a separate section)
• RAM (DDR, SDRAM, RDRAM...)
• Case (power supply could go in it's own category)
• Video card
• Monitor
• Hard drive (guess where we can get help with this one)
• CD-ROM (including CD-R and DVD)
• Floppy
• HBA (if not built into motherboard)
• Network card
• Cables (rounded, silver...)
• Audio board
• Fans
• heat sinks
• Mouse
• Keyboard
• UPS
• Hub/switch/router
• Printer
• USB cards

Any thoughts? Or should I go back to sleep now...

 

[CougTek]

CPU (Intel, AMD, power PC, cyrix...)

Yeah, Cyrix is tha KING! We should put their speed demons in every system we build! ;-)

* Floppy

What a great idea! We might also reserve a forum to floppy drives debates! :lol: For me, it's Panasonic or nothing. NEC floppies are POS.

Sorry...I'm tired.


Your idea isn't bad, but I don't think it would be easy to sound plausible as a recommendation web site if we don't test any component. Many of our advices would be based on personnal experiences and we would often lack a credible and independant testing source to proove our sayings.

The lack of concensus among us is another significant problem IMO. Although we won't probably not start a flame war on certain points, we won't arrive to a concensus without rigorous testing of our various suggested configurations for a given system.

For instance, take the issue of what's the best platform (CPU/mobo/mem) for the price currently. I think it's a Pentium 4 Northwood 1.6GHz o/ced to 2.13GHz on a SiS 645-based mobo. Many others think it's still an Athlon XP + KT266A motherboard. Others might think that it's an o/ced Celeron 1GHz with the Tualatin core at 1.5GHz on some socket-370 type of motherboard. Who's right? I think I am, Athlon believers think they are and Celeron's fans think they are. Who's really right? No way to say for sure for the moment. Why? Because on the whole entire Net, there's not a single comparative review of these three configurations. In order to have an opinion about it, we have to extrapolate the results of some reviews here and some reviews there and then make our own conclusions, which are different most of the time.

The only way to settle it once and for all would be to test it. Gaming benchmarks, office benchmarks, CAD benchmarks and even DiVX benchmarks if you want. Then we would know what's the best bang-for-the-buck platform for every type of applications. Without testing, we can only guess and that's what we are doing right now.

Do you think recommendations based on hit and miss guess would be taken seriously? I don't think so. We won't be able to answer with a : "according to our results, our recommendation is well founded". Therefore, most of our advices could be taken lightly, because we won't have enough data to back them up.

It's a great idea nonetheless, but only if we review the stuff we recommend or if we are able to find reliable sources to back up our sayings. I would be very happy to participate in a serious reviewing and counselling we site, but right now I don't have the budget to buy all the toys required for this kind of project.

 

[CougTek]

Now look at what you've done Doug. Do you realize that because of you, I will go to bed too late again tonight? 1:33am and I'm still typing on my damn keyboard.

Let me sleep for God sake!

 

[Handruin]

Now look at what you've done Doug. Do you realize that because of you, I will go to bed too late again tonight? 1:33am and I'm still typing on my damn keyboard.

Let me sleep for God sake!

Lol, I hear ya!

But let me put another thought out on the table, I wasn't really envisioning the entire site changing to this idea, but rather be a part of the site. Over at SR, and even here at SF, the members give advice about hardware all the time. People take the advice regardless of a review, and believe it or not I had actually done the same with my current system from the help of members at SR.

I agree a formal review will give strength in what the community says. But the point I was trying to make was that this information could be incorporated in way that is similar to an on-going FAQ.

All the points you made are valid in concern to "who is right"...well, in this case everyone can be right. Not everyone wants an Intel setup, or an AMD and so on. But what if the information was easily available so that it could be argued (in a nice way of course) so that a reader can make a better decision as to which platform is best for them?

Again, it was just a thought. I wasn't trying to suggest the entire site become this idea, but rather explore it as a side project. Everyone seems to have some input as to what hardware is good, and what to stay away from. Even for the simple fact that we can help ourselves, this could be beneficial. If we trust each other, then eventually this trust may grow outside...

 

[Buck]

Handruin,

I think the idea is fantastic, but the task is unwieldy. Perhaps with good cooperation, plenty of time, and practical input, we could manage such a commission. I’ll participate, but I cannot unequivocally prescribe the amount of data or time that I could supply.

BR

 

[Fushigi]

What about a database where you can list the components you have and rank them from horrible to terrific? Caveat the whole thing by noting that the results don't reflect scientific methods but do represent the input & experience of forum members.

Rating of each product can be broken in to categories:
- Cost
- Stability
- Performance
- O/C-able (if applicable)
- Reliability
- Expandability
- OS
- Comments

A comment section is valuable as I, for example, would rate the stability of my current motherboard as about a 4 (of 10) and comment that it's very unstable if using more than 1 stick of DDR but is very stable if using just 1 stick.

- Fushigi

 

[Handruin]

What about a database where you can list the components you have and rank them from horrible to terrific? Caveat the whole thing by noting that the results don't reflect scientific methods but do represent the input & experience of forum members.

Rating of each product can be broken in to categories:
- Cost
- Stability
- Performance
- O/C-able (if applicable)
- Reliability
- Expandability
- OS
- Comments

A comment section is valuable as I, for example, would rate the stability of my current motherboard as about a 4 (of 10) and comment that it's very unstable if using more than 1 stick of DDR but is very stable if using just 1 stick.

- Fushigi

You last phrase is touching upon one of the goals I would like to see achieved with creating a project like this. Note that you mention the board is unstable with more than 1 stick of DDR. This is valuable information, but another person buying your board would not know this unless they encounter a person such as you holding this knowledge.

The other point to mention is that you current configuration may be unstable, but someone else with the same motherboard and CPU may have a stable system because they are using a different video card. That's just an example, and may not be at all true, but knowing this info would be very helpful to someone looking to buy the same board as you.

With a greater amount of information, we could eventually piece together a machine with compatible components to suggest to readers. This isn't necessarily a review, but a suggestion. The task of reviewing every component in order to justify a stable system is a daunting task, not to mention an expensive one.

The database idea you mentioned was something I was consider as well. There needs to be a way to archive the info and make it searchable. Perhaps a system of checks and balances where a user can piece together a system using a web based model. In this model it will know what components work well together and which ones do not. It could flag a warning to the user that known issues exists with certain configurations.

These are just some more of my thoughts...