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My new VelocityMicro system, and short Vista Experience
VelocityMicro Gamers Edge PCX
eVGA 680i SLI Version A1
E6600 2.4 GHz core 2 duo
2 Gigs Dominator DDR2-1066 mhz
850 watt p/s SLI Certified
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Heatsink
eVGA 8800 GTX (1 only)
WD 250 HD 16 mb cache
20x Lite On DVD
Floppy
http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/8572/biosandvmsystem006ds9.jpg
$ 2,949.00 as shown
The new system arrived by UPS in very good shape, but the UPS driver did not ask for a signature even after I asked him if I should sign for the system. Not good, if I were a bad guy. The box was not torn or dented. The interior was well packaged with enough foam to protect the system. Upon removing the system from the box, I made sure all cables, disks, and manuals were included as they were. I was not in a rush as many are to turn it on. T-Shirt included, but not my size. Nice greeting card from the CEO/Owner included, not a biggie, but nice touchy feely thingy.
Silver case was big. Got the extra depth case for $ 50.00 more....
The next logical step was to open the case, and check the interior for any loose cables or cards. Shipping can be rough on anything, and its just plain smart to make sure before booting up the first time. Have heard from some with a new systems from Dell, or even VelocityMicro having boot up issues, dead on arrival stuff, getting real mad at the manufacture, but failing to do some simple checking first. Read from one VelocityMicro customer that his system was dead on arrival. Next day or two found out something was loose inside, and Wa La, it worked. You will have to open the case someday to install more memory, new video card or such, so why not open it up once it arrives to make sure all is well inside? Not hard to do, but some noobies or those that are too much in a hurry, over look this simple 2 minute procedure.
Next thing I did was make sure I read the set up procedures that came with the system, so not to make any first timer mistakes in hooking it up wrong. I connected the system to a good UPS battery back up, and booted up. Everything went well without a hitch.
Since my monitor was almost new (4 months old), and so was my printer, I knew it would work with Vista from the get go. It did. However, I did install both Vista 32 bit drivers for the monitor, and printer to be more up to date instead of using the Microsoft Generic driver that did work well. I did not connect some older hardware to the new OS, since rule number one, do not believe Mr. Bill Gates on what will work, and what will not on his new OS.
I then turned off the system, got my trusty digital camera out, booted into the Bios, and took all the wonderful pictures of the Bios settings, just in case I had to reset them later. Did not want to do this by hand like the first system I bought many years ago. Smart thing to do, but some do not do this simple procedure.
I did not overclock anything. Not the CPU, not the Memory, nor the Graphic card. Wanted to get the feel of the system, to see all is well for a good period of time before upping the CPU a little bit.
My system did not come with the dedicated sound card. Heard many having Vista issues, so I left this out, and got the integrated audio instead. Can always upgrade later. One nice graphic card (eVGA 8800 GTX) only. Not two cards, so as not to complicate the system at this time with Vista as some have had. Waiting for a better SLI driver. If my games run real well with one card, why go for SLI ? It can wait until games do not perform at some high settings. No need to waste more money on SLI if one card can do the work. Did not overclock the memory either. No need to. Game I played ran just fine. I'll do it later. I’m not a hot rod, that has to push when there is no reason to, and if games are smooth with the eye candy set pretty high, why bother.
The interior of the VelocityMicro system was clean, with cables nicely tucked away. Have all round cables, not even one flat ribbon as some systems come with. Plenty of room to work inside, and do not need to move things around to remove or install other memory, video cards, and optical drives. The case is an extra wide depth for easy install, and that means even if newer video cards are much, much longer than today's cards. Plenty of room for that. Nice, real nice.
I have my room temp set at 80 F. Only a fan over head turned on for some temp testing on the cpu, memory, motherboard with some summer type heat in order to know what to expect.
Idle temp recorded were :
1. CPU 32c
2. Board 36c
3. Memory 43c
System seems well constructed. No plastic material as in a Dell system. Nice upgradable system with the eVGA 680i A1 version board. May do that later. For right now, I'm well pleased, and hope this system will give me some good gaming, and longer upgrade life over my Dell system. Would have gotten a Dell again, but they do not listen or communicate with the customers as they should. Do not like proprietary parts anymore, and I at least know what I'm getting as far as hardware with this system.
Vista Ultimate experience.....
First, I would like to point out something about Vista, and Microsoft. Those that have been installing newer operating systems over the years have heard from Mr. Bill Gates, that their OS will work on a system with such, and such hardware, and with this or that amount of memory. What a bunch of garbage, and those of us who have installed these OS’s over the years have learned that what ever comes out of Mr. Gates mouth, should be listened to with a grain of salt. Always have a newer piece of hardware, and have more memory than what they say will work with, and a video card that is not a dinosaur or low ended.
Yes, many systems that are two years old or less will work some what well, but we also know it’s not all that its cracked up to be with the minimum hardware that Gates, and company says it will work with. So why do we have to fall for this useless, “It will work with your system with these spec’s” con artist garbage, when we know full well it will have issues with some systems, and older hardware ? Because, there is a noobie born everyday, and for some reason they fall for this Aero stuff, and jump for it. Upgrading it onto an older system? With hardware that is not updated with the latest driver? Boy, when will they ever learn not to trust a company who wants your money? Some individuals on the Dell forum are trying to install this OS on a four or more year old system. They want this Aero thingy for some reason. It does absolutely nothing for me
Another thing. I will never, ever perform an upgrade over another OS. I always do a reformat (Clean) install of windows. Too many headaches involved if you do, and why do this stupid upgrade anyway? Clean Install Only
So, for my short simple experience with Vista Ultimate 32 bit version, for about 3 hours of play :
1. It boots up in 58 seconds, not less than XP as Microsoft said it would, which for me XP booted up in 44 seconds.
2. Shut Down was 10 seconds for Vista, and about 12 seconds for XP, so about the same
3. So far, its running very smooth. Can care less for Aero, since I do not ogle over it. I listen to music, look at some photos and play some games/internet, not stare at the Aero stuff. Still have to learn this new OS, but for now, its OK I guess. Do miss the straight forward method of doing things with XP. Easy to find things as oppose to this Vista. Do not like the new ( Lousy ) defrag program. I'll get a third party one later. M/S dropped the ball on this big time. All these years and they don't seem to get their act together. Vista or at least the core 2 duo cpu's, It seems just a little faster than my old system, but than again, my old system was 5 years old, so that should not be too hard to do
4. Absolutely no hardware issues, no sound ( Integrated ) issues, no 8800 GTX issue ( single card only ), no printer issue, no broadband issue, and my software works. Only installed a five year old Microsoft Works Suite program, and some games.
5. One game installed played so far, Flight Sim X, and every setting with the exception of AA/AF were turned to the max. Left AA/AF off since I have a nice 24 incher LCD, and some jaggies did not bother me in the least. Game played well, but wish Microsoft would do what I saw in the game of Far Cry, and have some real nice intense graphics. Flight Sim X was better than the 2004 edition, but Microsoft for some reason does not go all out with the best graphical flight sim game. Disappointed with them on this.
My trusty older Dell system
Dim 4400
2.6 Ghz 400 FSB
1 Gb 2100 DDR memory
120 Gb Seagate 7,200 drive
XFX 7800 GS O/C AGP
410 watt p/s
VelocityMicro Gamers Edge PCX
eVGA 680i SLI Version A1
E6600 2.4 GHz core 2 duo
2 Gigs Dominator DDR2-1066 mhz
850 watt p/s SLI Certified
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Heatsink
eVGA 8800 GTX (1 only)
WD 250 HD 16 mb cache
20x Lite On DVD
Floppy
http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/8572/biosandvmsystem006ds9.jpg
$ 2,949.00 as shown
The new system arrived by UPS in very good shape, but the UPS driver did not ask for a signature even after I asked him if I should sign for the system. Not good, if I were a bad guy. The box was not torn or dented. The interior was well packaged with enough foam to protect the system. Upon removing the system from the box, I made sure all cables, disks, and manuals were included as they were. I was not in a rush as many are to turn it on. T-Shirt included, but not my size. Nice greeting card from the CEO/Owner included, not a biggie, but nice touchy feely thingy.
Silver case was big. Got the extra depth case for $ 50.00 more....
The next logical step was to open the case, and check the interior for any loose cables or cards. Shipping can be rough on anything, and its just plain smart to make sure before booting up the first time. Have heard from some with a new systems from Dell, or even VelocityMicro having boot up issues, dead on arrival stuff, getting real mad at the manufacture, but failing to do some simple checking first. Read from one VelocityMicro customer that his system was dead on arrival. Next day or two found out something was loose inside, and Wa La, it worked. You will have to open the case someday to install more memory, new video card or such, so why not open it up once it arrives to make sure all is well inside? Not hard to do, but some noobies or those that are too much in a hurry, over look this simple 2 minute procedure.
Next thing I did was make sure I read the set up procedures that came with the system, so not to make any first timer mistakes in hooking it up wrong. I connected the system to a good UPS battery back up, and booted up. Everything went well without a hitch.
Since my monitor was almost new (4 months old), and so was my printer, I knew it would work with Vista from the get go. It did. However, I did install both Vista 32 bit drivers for the monitor, and printer to be more up to date instead of using the Microsoft Generic driver that did work well. I did not connect some older hardware to the new OS, since rule number one, do not believe Mr. Bill Gates on what will work, and what will not on his new OS.
I then turned off the system, got my trusty digital camera out, booted into the Bios, and took all the wonderful pictures of the Bios settings, just in case I had to reset them later. Did not want to do this by hand like the first system I bought many years ago. Smart thing to do, but some do not do this simple procedure.
I did not overclock anything. Not the CPU, not the Memory, nor the Graphic card. Wanted to get the feel of the system, to see all is well for a good period of time before upping the CPU a little bit.
My system did not come with the dedicated sound card. Heard many having Vista issues, so I left this out, and got the integrated audio instead. Can always upgrade later. One nice graphic card (eVGA 8800 GTX) only. Not two cards, so as not to complicate the system at this time with Vista as some have had. Waiting for a better SLI driver. If my games run real well with one card, why go for SLI ? It can wait until games do not perform at some high settings. No need to waste more money on SLI if one card can do the work. Did not overclock the memory either. No need to. Game I played ran just fine. I'll do it later. I’m not a hot rod, that has to push when there is no reason to, and if games are smooth with the eye candy set pretty high, why bother.
The interior of the VelocityMicro system was clean, with cables nicely tucked away. Have all round cables, not even one flat ribbon as some systems come with. Plenty of room to work inside, and do not need to move things around to remove or install other memory, video cards, and optical drives. The case is an extra wide depth for easy install, and that means even if newer video cards are much, much longer than today's cards. Plenty of room for that. Nice, real nice.
I have my room temp set at 80 F. Only a fan over head turned on for some temp testing on the cpu, memory, motherboard with some summer type heat in order to know what to expect.
Idle temp recorded were :
1. CPU 32c
2. Board 36c
3. Memory 43c
System seems well constructed. No plastic material as in a Dell system. Nice upgradable system with the eVGA 680i A1 version board. May do that later. For right now, I'm well pleased, and hope this system will give me some good gaming, and longer upgrade life over my Dell system. Would have gotten a Dell again, but they do not listen or communicate with the customers as they should. Do not like proprietary parts anymore, and I at least know what I'm getting as far as hardware with this system.
Vista Ultimate experience.....
First, I would like to point out something about Vista, and Microsoft. Those that have been installing newer operating systems over the years have heard from Mr. Bill Gates, that their OS will work on a system with such, and such hardware, and with this or that amount of memory. What a bunch of garbage, and those of us who have installed these OS’s over the years have learned that what ever comes out of Mr. Gates mouth, should be listened to with a grain of salt. Always have a newer piece of hardware, and have more memory than what they say will work with, and a video card that is not a dinosaur or low ended.
Yes, many systems that are two years old or less will work some what well, but we also know it’s not all that its cracked up to be with the minimum hardware that Gates, and company says it will work with. So why do we have to fall for this useless, “It will work with your system with these spec’s” con artist garbage, when we know full well it will have issues with some systems, and older hardware ? Because, there is a noobie born everyday, and for some reason they fall for this Aero stuff, and jump for it. Upgrading it onto an older system? With hardware that is not updated with the latest driver? Boy, when will they ever learn not to trust a company who wants your money? Some individuals on the Dell forum are trying to install this OS on a four or more year old system. They want this Aero thingy for some reason. It does absolutely nothing for me
Another thing. I will never, ever perform an upgrade over another OS. I always do a reformat (Clean) install of windows. Too many headaches involved if you do, and why do this stupid upgrade anyway? Clean Install Only
So, for my short simple experience with Vista Ultimate 32 bit version, for about 3 hours of play :
1. It boots up in 58 seconds, not less than XP as Microsoft said it would, which for me XP booted up in 44 seconds.
2. Shut Down was 10 seconds for Vista, and about 12 seconds for XP, so about the same
3. So far, its running very smooth. Can care less for Aero, since I do not ogle over it. I listen to music, look at some photos and play some games/internet, not stare at the Aero stuff. Still have to learn this new OS, but for now, its OK I guess. Do miss the straight forward method of doing things with XP. Easy to find things as oppose to this Vista. Do not like the new ( Lousy ) defrag program. I'll get a third party one later. M/S dropped the ball on this big time. All these years and they don't seem to get their act together. Vista or at least the core 2 duo cpu's, It seems just a little faster than my old system, but than again, my old system was 5 years old, so that should not be too hard to do
4. Absolutely no hardware issues, no sound ( Integrated ) issues, no 8800 GTX issue ( single card only ), no printer issue, no broadband issue, and my software works. Only installed a five year old Microsoft Works Suite program, and some games.
5. One game installed played so far, Flight Sim X, and every setting with the exception of AA/AF were turned to the max. Left AA/AF off since I have a nice 24 incher LCD, and some jaggies did not bother me in the least. Game played well, but wish Microsoft would do what I saw in the game of Far Cry, and have some real nice intense graphics. Flight Sim X was better than the 2004 edition, but Microsoft for some reason does not go all out with the best graphical flight sim game. Disappointed with them on this.
My trusty older Dell system
Dim 4400
2.6 Ghz 400 FSB
1 Gb 2100 DDR memory
120 Gb Seagate 7,200 drive
XFX 7800 GS O/C AGP
410 watt p/s