I've been converted.

[Seraphimsan]

About 6 months ago I was forced to build a new computer by means of the destruction of my old one. I was already in the process of saving up for an entirely new build so I wasn't completely in the hole. BUT as a consequence of the timing I was forced to build on a budget. Now I've been AMD for the last 7 or so years. about as long as I've been building and toying with computers. Back then amd was the only one offering 64bit, and I always liked the new and shiny things. But now that I've gotten the time to save up again I'm building again, and well, I've been converted to intel. Upon looking at what the SandyBridge 2600k can do? I'm game for some intel madness. From hyper threading to faster clock speeds to quicker interface with the chipset than AMD can handle? I would be crazy not to. I guess the only reason I've been using AMD for so long is the O.C. ability, which hasn't been so great in the last two or three generations of AMD. And while the Bulldozer is coming out and will give us 8 core processing for cheaper prices than intel, and the LGA 2011 is expected to be out by christmas (offering 16 tasks running simultaneously) I'm switching to intel and can't afford the top of the line 8 core intel anyways, nor do i need that many cores right now.

Specs of my new PC (tentative as I'm still saving a bit):
Processor: Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz
Cooling: Tuniq CR-PRO120-BK-RV1
Graphics-Card: (2x) ATI HD Radeon 5770 (currently owned)
MoBo: ASUS P8P67 LE B3 Intel P67 Motherboard
Ram: 16Gb G-Skill DDR3 1600 (already owned)
Case: Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-US-BA-WOPSU

Also to spark debate:
You're build? or Intel vs. AMD?

[ultifinitus]

Nice specs!!!

and intel.

[Seraphimsan]

Also I could note that me, my roommate, and our friend who will room with us next year, are all building identical PC. with the only differences being amount of ram, graphs cards, and the CCFL colors in the chassis :3 (Mine will be green)

[Albatross]

Unless ASUS decides to ditch the Optimus and Switchable Graphics technologies in the near future, it's looking like my next computer will contain an AMD chip.

Either way, I personally prefer Intel, as they seem to be going better at the high-end in terms of performance. AMD chips strike me as better priced for their performance, though.

EDIT: Or not. Ah, decisions... high performance, long battery life w/ a decent CPU, or long battery life w/ a decent GPU...

-Albatross

[Seraphimsan]

Or compromise both and get a desktop :D

[Albatross]

NO!

Honestly, though, portability is a large concern for me. I'm always moving from place to place and let's face it: my Android phone's compute power is a little bit too low for me. I have no problem lugging around a 3.5 kg laptop if I need to, but a desktop? Nah. :P

By the way, nice specifications! What are you planning to run on it?

-Albatross

[Seraphimsan]

I'm a huge PC gamer. So pretty much anything I like that's new. Hopefully going to be able to play The elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim at launch. (on max settings of course) Crysis 2 looks neat as well. So basically Modern Gaming with extremest settings.

EDIT: Unless you meant what OS in which case Multi-booting Slackware Linux 13.1 x64, Linux Mint 10 x64, Windows 7 x64, and iatkos S3 (x64)

[chrisname]

Sandy Bridge has some kind of hardware DRM built into it, so that's why I'm sticking with AMD...

[moorecm]

Intel chipsets but never again will I buy an Intel motherboard.

[z05DSL3A]

Intel vs. AMD?

At the moment, Intel Mainly.

I've got a bit of saving to do before/if I get the dual six-core Intel Xeon “Westmere” beast that I want.

[Seraphimsan]

@Grey Wolf:

At first I thought it sounded like a server, by the Xeon processors, but then I realized it's a Mac Pro. Let me know how that thing runs, back when I liked macs I wanted one.

[z05DSL3A]

It would be a Mac Pro, I use a Dell workstation (Quad core Xeon processor) at work and that rocks.

I have in the past specced up a Workstation with dual Xeon processors, three tesla GPUs, a Quadro, and a bucket load of ram. I would have loved to see that run.

[Seraphimsan]

That does sound amazing, especially for development work, From what I remember the tesla/Quadro series are primarily graphic artist/ development grade GPU (not to be confused with a GPU in development). Plus Xeon are great for what you'd likely be doing. (in the buisness world that is) Personally I'm 18, in college, and have an obsession with building computers. Thus I'm building a beast.

[z05DSL3A]

I want to learn about High Performance Computing and Computational Science, in this case with CUDA. The Teslas are for pure computational grunt, each Tesla C2050 has 448 cores.

This is purely for my own edification.

[Seraphimsan]

Interesting, I never got around to playing with CUDA, but I too want to learn about high performance computing.

[tition]

I have no problem lugging around a 3.5 kg laptop if I need to, but a desktop?

With this weight it could be better used as a battle hammer!

I have been using a 1.6kg laptop (with battery!!!) as my main computer for the last year and a half ... it is super cool :)

[ultifinitus]

kg

Dratted UK people and your sane measurement system!

[Albatross]

I actually used to have a laptop for the purposes of multimedia creation. While it had a really nice screen, at the same time it was about 3.5 kg. Frankly, I didn't mind that much... except when as a result of the laptop and several large books my carry-on bags would end up over-weight at airport checkins.

-Albatross

[Seraphimsan]

I lol'd