Devon Sowell's Blog

Computer Part Prices Continue To Drop

If you're lucky enough to live in the Los Angeles, Orange County, or San Diego County areas of California, you can take advantage of the low prices at Fry's Electronics.

For example, this week;

20" Widescreen LCD Monitor, DVI $179.00
8GB USB Flash Drive $27.99
Canon MP470 All In One Printer $69.99
1TB eSATA/USB External Hard Drive $189.99
2GB DDR2 PC6400 TwinX Memory $19.99 (!)
2ea 2GB Secure Digital Memory Cards $19.99

These are some great deals.

Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

SolidWorks Performance; It's All About The Processor

My three year old Dell M70 laptop wouldn't stop crashing, even after replacing the hard drive. So, I searched around the Dell Outlet web site for a replacement. Thanks to Anna Wood and her diligent research, I learned that when it comes to running SolidWorks, the CPU is king. A SolidWorks approved video card and lots of RAM are also important too, but the Processor has the most influence when it comes to speed.

Therefore, at the Dell Outlet site, I sorted the laptop choices based upon the best CPU speed. I chose the M6300 for the 17" monitor and the SolidWorks approved video card. The FX1600M video card is not the latest and the greatest, but a new M6300 with the newest video card costs over $3,000, that wasn't in the budget. My outlet pick came to $1,700.00 plus tax and shipping.

Here's what I wound up with:

I was pleasantly surprised at the speed of this computer. Using Anna Wood's Punch Holder Part, I got a time of 115.45 seconds. That's 10 seconds faster than my XP64 bit, 8GB RAM, Quad Core 2.4GHz desktop! One year ago, I was using an AMD desktop computer. It's best time was 256.95 seconds. Computer speed has really improved in the last twelve months.

Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

Update, April 9, 2008; After applying Service Pack 3.1, the time dropped to 111.20 seconds, outstanding.

From 4GB To 8GB RAM

When Fry Electronics here in San Diego,CA had 8GB (4X 2GB) Patriot PC6400 RAM on sale for $160.00 (!), I just couldn't resist. I've been using it 3 days now on an XP 64 bit machine. I don't have time right now to run benchmarks, but appears to be about 10-20% faster than 4GB RAM. Since I use PhotoWorks everyday, that's where I see the largest gains.

Perhaps next month, I'll find the time to benchmark this set up. It is really nice that computer component part prices keep falling. I also picked up a 500GB Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive SATA 3.0GB/sec ($99.00) for my Server. If your Motherboard supports 3.0GB/sec, don't forget to remove the jumper from the Hard Drive or it will run at 1.5GB/sec instead. Now, if it were only possible to build my own laptop...

Devon T. Sowell
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

Microsoft To Extend XP Sales For Five Months

This is good news.

Here is a quote from an article, the link to the article is below;

"Microsoft said it decided to extend XP sales in response to feedback from computer manufacturers who said there were customers who still wanted to buy the older operating system.

Some customers have voiced displeasure with Vista due to a lack of compatibility with existing software programs and devices. The hardware requirements needed to run Vista also are a significant upgrade from many older computers."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21028201/

Assembled And Tested

Here's a photo of the assembled machine. The mechanical assembly time was 2 hours, 45 minutes. After reading user reviews on the Newegg web site, I added a Zalman cooler; they're quieter and cool better than the standard fan supplied with the Quad Q6600 CPU. It fired right up and I installed XP64 and Office 2003 easily.

I've downloaded SolidWorks 2006 X64 5.1 and the performance is amazing. Because of the new SolidWorks license activation procedure, I can't download version 2007/2008 until I release the current license on my current desktop. My current desktop is 30 miles away at my client's office. SolidWorks, please allow the activation/deactivation via the Internet on any machine.

The Asus motherboard allows for easy overclocking, the values are plus 10%, plus 15%, and plus 20%. I selected plus 10% so the CPU now runs at 2.63GHz. The CPU is holding steady at 33 degrees C, very cool. I'll post some performace results in a few days.

It's Time For A New Computer

Today, our home desktop stopped working, it's the motherboard. I'll bring home my SolidWorks desktop from the office and we'll use it at home. So, it's time to build a new SolidWorks desktop. Here a list of what I just ordered from Newegg.com;

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
Asus PN5-E-SLI LGA 775 Motherboard
4GB (4 x 1GB) Corsair DDR2 675 Memory
2 ea Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000 RPM SATA150 Harddrives
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel Case
Thermaltake 600W Power supply
Quadro FX1500 256MB Video Card
Windows XP 64Bit
Philips 20X SATA DVD Burner
Linkskey 12 in 1 3.5" Card Reader

I'll reuse my Office Professional 2003, I see no advantage in the 2007 version.

This came to $2,100.00 including tax and shipping, plus $85.00 in mail in rebates. It looks like I'll have to keep driving my 1998 Toyota Camry another year (I dream about a new RX8 Rotary Mazda)!

I hope to have a review of this machine early next week.

More Windows Vista Issues

Still thinking about using Windows Vista? This article may "cool your jets". My question is this; What about video drivers for Solidworks/Vista? How about Printer Drivers?

Does anyone have any information about this?

Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

Windows Vista, You're Not Stuck With It

I've had many questions from Users that have just purchased new computers that have Windows Vista pre-installed. They don't want Vista, but don't know what to do. Easy, just install Windows XP. It's still available.

Buycheapsoftware.com is my source for software. I've been using this company for many years and I recommend them. Follow the link and you'll find all flavors of XP at affordable prices. No worries!

Cheers,
Devon T. Sowell
www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

Flash Hard Drives

At the start of each new year, I think about building a new computer. One of the pieces of new hardware I've been waiting for is a new Flash Hard Drive. There is a 16GB drive currently available now, it's a Samsung priced around $500.00.

Now, Samsung is getting ready to release a 32GB model. Here is picture of this new Flash Hard Drive. These new drives will take advantage of code written in Windows Vista to save power and run faster.

For more information about this, see  Tom's Hardware Guide, one of my favorite web sites.

Cheers,
Devon
www.3-ddesignsolutions.com
 
 

My Desktop Computer

.

.

.

.

.

I like to build my desktop computers. Here is my latest configuration;

• Ultra Micro Micro ATX Case
• MSI Micro ATX Motherboard
• 2X Western Digital 74GB 10,000rpm Hard drives
• 1X Seagate 80GB Barracuda 7,200rpm Hard drive
• 2GB 3200 RAM
• Nvidia FX540 Video Card
• AMD 64 X2 Dual 4200 CPU
• Linksys EG1032 Gigabit Network Adapter
• Philips Dual Layer DVD Writer
• Full Size Antec 500 Watt Power Supply With Fan Speed Control
• 2X Zalman Fan Speed Controls For The Case Fans
• XP Pro With The 3GB Switch Enabled

With all the fan speed controls set to the lowest settings (I hate noisy fans) this system runs at 44 degrees C (111.2 F) - 50 degrees C (122 F) which is well below the 60 C limit. I put all my applications (C: drive) on one 74GB drive and all data on the other. I use the Seagate drive for the swap file. This mother board supports 4GB of RAM, so my next upgrade will be this and the 64 bit version of XP. This hardware adds up to about $1,500.00.

Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
3-D Design Solutions, Carlsbad, CA
760 809-9046
fax 760 434-0917
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com/
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/devonsowell/

External Storage & Back Up

During the past seven years, I've generated almost 800GB of SolidWorks data. I used to burn my old data to CDs for storage, but now my preferred method is using external hard drives. A picture of my latest is shown, a Western Digital My Book Essential Edition, 250GB. The outstanding feature of this USB 2.0 drive is the ability to turn itself on and off by itself. When my computer is shut down, the hard drive shuts down too. Also, if it is inactive for 10min, it shuts down. Very handy. My older 160GB, IOGEAR (still in use, but 75% full) must be controlled by a manual switch. I usually forget to shut it down and it runs all night. I recommend this external hard drive, a good buy at $129.00 plus tax and shipping.

*October 8, 2006*  Office Depot has a sunday paper ad showing this at $99.95 after rebate.

Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
3-D Design Solutions, Carlsbad, CA
760 809-9046
fax 760 434-0917
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com/
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/devonsowell/

A Good Deal On A New Laptop

Here in SoCal, CompUSA has really lowered their prices for computers ordered from their in-store kiosks. My Wife needed a new laptop. All she requires is e-mail and Word for her work. So, two weeks ago, we ordered a 15.4" WS Compaq Laptop, MS Works with Word, an Espson Photo Printer, a HP 3 in 1 printer, and web cam, for $299.00 plus tax and $50.00 total shipping for all items after rebates. Is it a powerhouse? Of course not, but it gets the job done. I saw an ad in the Sunday newspaper two weeks ago and followed up. They all arrived within one week and all perform as expected.

Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
3-D Design Solutions, Carlsbad, CA
760 809-9046
fax 760 434-0917
dtsowell@3-ddesignsolutions.com
http://www.3-ddesignsolutions.com/
http://designsmarter.typepad.com/devonsowell/

A Clean Screen is a Mean Scene

What's the best way to clean your computer screen? A Toshiba Support Tech gave this advice a few years ago; clean it with plain white toilet paper. Moisten the paper with water and rub the screen very gently to remove smudges.