The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

My last IQ test put me in the low 120s. Have tested from about 115 to 135 depending on the nature of the test and my state of mind at the time. A lack of any sort of standard means it's hard to gauge. Have been wanting to take a proper test given by a psychologist for a long time. Common sense and IQ don't go hand-in-hand sadly

I'm leaning in the direction of maybe friction or heat generated energy produced by common items around the home. I have a few other ideas but don't want to blow it in the open if I'm right. You say it gives more than you put in, in a way. That leads me to look at common devices we use every day that just don't produce power at all. I think the challenge here is HOW you use those devices...

 

I wouldn't read too much into your IQ score. I don't believe those tests account for every variable. As you said, "state of mind". That's exactly correct! I for one understand exactly what you mean. I suffer from extreme social anxiety, among other things. Anxiety has a way of clouding many thought processes. Which would make such a test VERY unfair. There's really no way to test IQ accurately.

Heat, no. Friction, no. Kinetic? Yes! I'll give you that much. I suspect you may be onto me As well you should be. This really is a simplistic apparatus. But I do not judge those, who do not see its obviousness. There are many factors for not seeing the potential.

All will be revealed in good time. I don't suspect I'd make much on this, so It will be on the table soon enough.

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This should spark a debate.
I could build a powerful AMD PC cheaper, than a stable reliable "apparatus". A powerful flagship Intel system? Would however cost greatly more Intel is hitting us where it hurts. It's just business though. I do appreciate where they're coming from.

Actually, I could probably build my apparatus cheaper than even an AMD build, but I want to rigorously test it. I need solid components. I'll probably be investing upwards of 400 - $500USD. One of the components that intrigues me, is fairly expensive.

 

Social anxiety is something I am intimately familiar with. It really sucks! Wishing you luck on making your invention practical

As it stands, AMD retains better value in the budget segment. Intel stuff is just so damned expensive!

 

Just an FYI for everyone. Today is the 69th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy landings. Went to the range this morning about the time they landed and fired a 21 gun salute in remembrance.

 

Yes, expensive! I wish I could build an intel system. I really do! I recently built/encoded a blu-ray with over 8hrs of video content. It took nearly 15hrs to complete. That's the longest job I've ever ran on the 6 core. I think the 8 core bulldozer would have helped greatly too. Because the first pass on each title, only took 10 minutes each. (The second pass is where Bulldozer really shines)


You know, I think I have a build itch! :S But I must resist! Need the funds LOL!

 

I've built Intel systems as of late and the 4th gens have come down in price but I'm sorry they still don't perform as well as Sam might want you to believe at least not from my testing. And their power saving nonsense is much worst for performance then AMD's. When you turn off the power saver crap they do better but suck up more power, I'd call it a lose-lose.

I've thought about a 4th gen to use for a MAC rig with the prices coming down but it is golf season and my money has been going there for now. Maybe this fall I'll dabble with that.

I'm also going to setup a PinguyOS machine very soon. Their distro is sort of a MAC flavor Linux based on Ubanta/Gnome, I'm not a Gnome fan at all but will give it a go.

 

Anyone have recommendations for TV's in the <40" size range? I saw some talk about TV's a little while ago and figured you guys might have some tips for me since I know nothing about TV's at all.

Right now I'm thinking of getting a 120Hz Samsung since I don't know of any reason not too (don't feel like reading a bunch of reviews, just did that for monitors).

Thanks,
redmaw

 

You will have better luck with a Samsung, Sony, some LG's and even Hitachi's. Vizio's use to make some good TV's but as of late I've had bad luck with them so I would suggest not entertaining Vizio.

Also with new TV's the RealMotion120 crap can cause you motion blur even though it is suppose to alleviate the problem. Make sure that you can turn it off or have several settings to select from to get the best picture possible. The last Vizio I bought was a 120Hz and didn't allow me to adjust or turn off the motion nonsense. Unfortunately it was a Christmas gift and I didn't demo it in the store plus I've always had great luck with Vizio's so I set it up and after a day of going nuts I packed it up and got a much better Hitachi for $200 USD less.

Some people swear by Panasonic and there are some that are OK or good but you will pay more and then you might as well go with Sony which for TV's are great, most of Panny's aren't as good as some boast they are flat and lack luster in my opinion.

Your best bet is Samsung for sure then Sony.

Stevo

 

Thanks Stevo that helps a lot.

 

We have a panasonic Plasma 50" in the living room. Love it. It's several years old though. Don't know how they've been doing in the TV market. Samsung has pretty much always been good to me. No matter the hardware. $ony on the other hand, I won't touch with a ten foot pole. I have my reasons...
LG seems good from what I've seen. Can't comment on Vizio. I personally have a 37" JVC. LOVE it But I haven't really done any real testing with it. Just Blu-ray and secondary monitor stuff.

 

I have several Sony TV's and they stand out against most TV's, plus they last forever. I can't say I love the Sony company but that doesn't keep from buying the best, I won't shoot myself in the foot just because I don't like some of their tactics like with their consoles. I didn't mention JVC but I would agree with you they tend to be good too.

 

I see good results from Panasonic and reasonably good results from Samsung. I certainly wouldn't place Sony anywhere near the top. They used to be there, but in the past few years I think their reputation is being used to cut costs and still sell at a high price.
"They don't make them like they used to" etc.

As far as Haswell goes, no idea what that's about, as the power saving features really only apply to idle load, there's no power saving feature that cuts performance at full load. The CPUs are just more energy efficient full stop. They're no real faster than Ivy Bridge, but they're at least more performance per watt. Whether this really matters in a high-end system is of course debatable.

Last IQ test I did was over 10 years ago, I think I scored 128, however, I was bad at the factual memory section at the time, and now I think I'd do a lot better as my factual memory has improved since then (If only I could say the same about remembering where I put things / to do things etc!)

 

You certainly seem more intelligent than a 128. I chuckle about those tests. Everybody is wired differently. Similar, but at the same time, we all have little differences. And when it comes to the state of mind, that totally throws the entire test. Imagine the difference between a person who suffers from anxiety, and somebody who's feeling completely euphoric.

Yeah, $ony and Asus are two peas in a a pod as far as I'm concerned. I used to trust their name. But no longer. Perhaps if they were to drop a few departments, and focus on say the PS3, and a some other popular devices, they could be good again. They've dipped their hand into so many departments... it's like their money is spread thin!

 

Not true on laptops every time you go between tasks there is a huge wait and that's only one example there are many but we won't agree. You are right Intel core to core are better just not as much as you might think and I'll take more cores any day myself. If they had a 32 core processor I'd be on board! I am impressed with the 4th gen prices you can get a good Intel at a moderate price point as Intel goes so I will be getting one this fall, the higher end i7 4th gen.

I have a new Sony TV and it is all of the quality of any of my old ones and the screen is much better then most TV's, they are expensive which is why I went with Sammy's but now they are to getting expensive. You put my new Sony up against any Panasonic and there is no comparison. You can hate Sony but they still make a damn nice TV.

I'm in the high 120's low/mid 130's too. Like the rest of you my score has varied which the IQ testers say doesn't happen throughout your life, that should tell you something there. I too don't put much weight on IQ tests.

 

Lol. You and I both know this has nothing to do with the CPU whatsoever.

IQ is a fair general baseline, but I would consider it to within accuracy of about +/- 10-15% at best. Depends on the test, the day, etc.

 

Bought a sony 46 several months ago, steve is right on samsung and sony's, I did all the leg work and a ton of reading, went to plenty of friends home etc. nothing beats that duo, I took the sony over samsung only because of the price was slightly better.

 

I have had two sony flatscreens, both still going strong, yes one is new, the 46, my older sony is almost 8 years old it's a flat 40xbr, I don't think this tv has been turned off more than twice in it's lifetime, between my wife, myself and the kids it's on 24/7.

So I cannot complain so far about quality, the new 46 well it remains to be seen, can not comment on how well they build them now but I go with the picture quality more than anything, and sony, samsung has it wrapped up.

 

It sure does energy saver is built into the cpu on mobile processors AMD or Intel so yes it does.

 

Can you tell us which Intel CPU and a specific example that causes the delay? I have used several Intel based laptops and never really noticed. Switching between a high end desktop and a laptop could be masking a lot of performance issues though as I am already expecting lower performance.

If you disable all the power saving features does this issue go away?

 

Power saving for clock speed, voltage and TDP is also built into desktop CPUs, and has been since at least the Core 2 Duo days, probably the P4 as well (I didn't own the latter). The clock speed / voltage change is seamless, and is never noticeable.