Are there any computer gurus here?

[Doomsday]

Actually I only use my phone and tapatalk for this place.

Of course I know that. I was giving you INSTRUCTION.

 

[Scot]

Scot, so you're buying a pre-built system, right? Where are you finding the best deals?

I was hoping to find some amazing Black Friday/cyber Monday deals but so far I have not had any luck

For the specs I’m looking for it pretty much seems to be a pick em type deal on any of the main computer sites. Meaning they are all about the same price for what I’m looking for. You might save $50-$100 at most if you really look around at all the different sites.

I have a local computer repair guy that saved my ass when my main desktop for my business just died last month. The motherboard died and because I built it in 2010 we weren’t able to find a replacement motherboard that old that would work. So he built a similar system using old parts to see if we could save my system and that didn’t work. So he saved my ass by saving the hard drive and all its contents by putting all my files onto my back up laptop. I lost all functionality on my programs but my files themselves were saved.

I had years of case files and video files on all the cases I’ve worked over the years on that old system. If I lost those I’d be screwed when I get called to testify in court on an old case. If I can’t produce the original video footage and if that is what the entire case hinges on then the case gets thrown out altogether and my reputation gets trashed.

So now I’ve learned that I need a totally separate external HD to store a redundant copy of all my case files on so no matter what happens to my main computer I’ll still have access to them.

Wow, that was long winded. But the reason I brought up my computer guy is that he can build a matching system for the same price as any of the big box type internet stores. So I’m going to have him build it for me for the same price. Plus I’ll get exactly what I want instead of having to buy a system that is lacking a feature or spec that I want and have to add it on after the fact. I’d much rather spend money with a local business and help keep the small brick and mortar shops in my neighborhood open.

 

[Doomsday]

But the reason I brought up my computer guy is that he can build a matching system for the same price as any of the big box type internet stores. So I’m going to have him build it for me for the same price. Plus I’ll get exactly what I want instead of having to buy a system that is lacking a feature or spec that I want and have to add it on after the fact. I’d much rather spend money with a local business and help keep the small brick and mortar shops in my neighborhood open.

This is exactly what I've done since around 2011, 2012, just hand my problems over to my local computer shop owner. He's a honest and reliable dude who knows his shit inside and out. Reason I didn't bring this up though was, I assumed you didn't have such a guy or you wouldn't be asking here.

My guy in fact, is the one who told me to tell you that you definitely want the video card, for the software and that your gaming PC would be a clunky video editor without it.

So see, I tried to help. I called my computer guy for you. And all the time, you already had a computer guy!

 

[Scot]

Thx Dooms

My main hope was that I’d find some amazing deal for either Black Friday or for Cyber Monday. But sadly that just isn’t the case

Stores aren’t offering huge savings on prebuilt systems. You might save $100 if you look hard enough. But it won’t be the exact system you were looking for. It will be close but you’d still have to add to it after you buy it to make it exactly what you were looking for. And in doing so you just spent the $100 you may have saved to begin with

It’s just easier/better to have my computer guy build it for me.

I also priced all the parts out separately to see how much it would cost if I built it myself. And even that option cost more than a prebuilt system or having my computer guy build one for me. Since he gets the parts cheaper than I can he can still build it cheaper, include his cost to build the system, save me money, and still turn a profit for himself at the same time. All the while getting me the system for the same price I’d pay elsewhere

All in all everyone wins besides the big box chain type stores

 

[Doomsday]

All in all everyone wins besides the big box chain type stores

Yeah they're aiming at the masses, and the masses needs are far less than yours.

 

[Scot]

Scot, so you're buying a pre-built system, right? Where are you finding the best deals?

I’m not really finding any deals on prebuilt systems. You might save $50-$100 on a system. But that’s about it

I had hoped there would be some killer deals on computers for both Black Friday and cyber Monday. But it seems like the only systems on sale are much older models with CPU’s that are 4-5 generations old.

If you are just looking for a semi decent system that doesn’t need to be high powered then you can find some decent deals. Just not on the newest high end type systems

 

[phoenix]

So now I’ve learned that I need a totally separate external HD to store a redundant copy of all my case files on so no matter what happens to my main computer I’ll still have access to them.

This is why you should just upload everything to "the cloud" and let Google control your life.

 

[phoenix]

I’m not really finding any deals on prebuilt systems. You might save $50-$100 on a system. But that’s about it

I had hoped there would be some killer deals on computers for both Black Friday and cyber Monday. But it seems like the only systems on sale are much older models with CPU’s that are 4-5 generations old.

If you are just looking for a semi decent system that doesn’t need to be high powered then you can find some decent deals. Just not on the newest high end type systems

Yeah I would have thought the best deals on the high end newest items would be on the parts themselves not pre-built, and even then just spatterings here and there like oh hey! there's that processor on sale, or the SSD or something. But the video/graphics? seems that is unlikely to be found no thanks to all of the bitcoin munchers driving prices up.

 

[Scot]

Update

I did finally find a decent deal this morning. Amazon has this rig for $896 but I found it elsewhere for $699.

It’s an HP
i5-8400
8gigs Ram (which I’ll upgrade to 16 for $50)
256g SSD MVMe PCIe M.2 HD (which is the fastest HD configuration available, it’s even faster than a standard SSD drive by a large margin)
GTX 1060 (3gb) video card
Then all the regular bells and whistles like a DVDRWR, 3-1 memory card bay, USB 3.1, 2.0, and 3.1 gen 2 type C

All for $699+$50 for the extra RAM

The only thing it’s missing is a standard high cap HD which I already have ready to install. It’s a 1TB standard HD

I’m running a speed test on a 6 minute HD video on my old back up system right now as a baseline. I’ll run the same video conversion test on the new system when I get it. The conversion took just over 43 minutes which is absolutely insane. Hopefully the new computer will cut that time down drastically.

 

[Scot]

This is why you should just upload everything to "the cloud" and let Google control your life.

I wish I could use the cloud for business. It sure would make my life a whole lot easier.

But I can’t touch the cloud with anything to do for work. It’s typically too sensitive and I can in no way take a chance on someone else gaining access. I have to keep everything local on my own machine. It’s all protected under multiple layers of security. The last being a yubikey that I physically keep in my gun safe until I need access to my computer. It must be inserted into the host machine for two party authentication to first unlock my computer, then to access the locked and encrypted file folder itself. Without the yubikey my machine is basically as useful as a brick

 

[Doomsday]

So... Your local computer guy loses out?

 

[Scot]

So... Your local computer guy loses out?

I haven’t bought it yet.

I gave him the specs and the exact model number and asked him to see if he can match or beat the price. If he can find the same prebuilt machine for the same price I’ll buy it from him. He said he will try to match it and get back to me tomorrow. But he said it was a killer deal and he doesn’t think he can match that price. If he can even come close to the price I’ll buy it from him instead.

But he quoted me $960 earlier today for a similar machine with a standard SSD drive. (Not the m.2 MVNe drive I want) so hopefully he can find a way to build it or find it cheaper.

Even if I have to buy the computer elsewhere I’m still going to bring the new computer to him to have him install the second HD and set it up for me.

He was going to charge $40 to install the HD. If I bought all the parts separately he was only going to charge $80 to build the entire system.

 

[Scot]

I just purchased the computer today. My local guy said he couldn’t even come close to the price I got.

I checked toms hardware and tested the regular onboard video card on the computer compared to the GTX 1060 that’s installed in it and the video card is 623% faster than the standard onboard graphics and 2764% faster than what was in my old computer

I’m really curious to see how much faster this new system will be. It arrives Thursday. The old system took 43 minutes to render a 6 minute video. I’m looking forward to seeing how much this new computer speeds up my daily workflow

 

[Scot]

Well here is another update

I ordered the new computer on Tuesday with free 2 day shipping. So it was supposed to arrive tomorrow Thursday

So I get up this morning and check the tracking number. It says it’s in process. All is good. So I head off to work.

When I get home from work I check the tracking number again and it now says the item has been cancelled.

No email from the seller about the cancellation. Nothing. So I check my account and the $700 was refunded to my account.

So now I call the seller to find out what the hell is going on. Apparently they flagged the sale as fraud and cancelled the order. When I purchased it I did it on a guest account and did not create an account with them. Apparently this somehow caused the fraud flag because of the guest account and high dollar value of the sale.

Whatever

Now I just want the damn computer so I reorder the item. Then call them to see what’s going on. That is when they tell me about the fraud cancellation deal. But when I reorder it now it’s stating that it won’t arrive until Dec 3rd. The site states it’s free 2 day shipping but still lists Dec 3rd as the date of arrival. Not acceptable

Anyway, after an hour on the phone and speaking to a manager finally the item is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. And my new $700 computer is only going to cost my $630 because they gave me a $70 discount for my inconvenience

I’m usually not one to bitch and complain. But sometimes it pays off.

 

[bbgun]

If you need help getting rid of viruses from porn sites, pm me.

 

[Scot]

Thx

Firewall
VPN with a deadman switch
Virtual Box
Tor Browser

I should be ok

 

[Doomsday]

Where did you order this, Scot?

 

[Scot]

Of all places....

Walmart. I didn’t even know they carried real computers

 

[Scot]

Well the new computer showed up today.

So I did a video rendering test against the old machine

It took the old machine 43 minutes to convert a 6 minute video and it only took the new machine 3 and a half minutes!


So I’m happy with that type of improvement. That will save me a bunch of time

 

[Doomsday]

Well the new computer showed up today.

So I did a video rendering test against the old machine

It took the old machine 43 minutes to convert a 6 minute video and it only took the new machine 3 and a half minutes!


So I’m happy with that type of improvement. That will save me a bunch of time

Amazing how the more transistors we're able to embed into each square inch of silicon, the more the technological curve of computing power steepens. And that rate, the increase in the number of transistors per square inch? That curve is exponential now. Kurtzweil's Law of Accelerating Returns is at play in a big way.