What are your current computer's specs?

[spinnerlys]

I had two Windows desktop computers and two Windows notebook computers before I switched to Mac OS X in 2004 to an iBook G4, which was the most stable and durable (water damage to the screen and several falls) computer I have ever owned.

I now have a 2007 20" iMac with a C2D CPU running at 2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, an ATI Radeon HD 2400 GPU with 128 MB VRAM, and upgraded to an SSD with 60 GB capacity, which makes it still fast enough for more than daily use (I can edit HD video, properly transcoded, just fine with it).
I also have a 2009 17" MacBook Pro with a C2D CPU running at 2.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM, an Nvidia 9400M IGP with 256 MB shared RAM and 9600M GT GPU with 512 MB VRAM, a 120 GB SSD and 500 GB HDD inside it. It can do all the things the iMac can do, just faster and with less hangups, though Safari proves to be a bitch lately, letting the MBP panic quite often.
I also have several external HDDs, from 500 GB 2.5" HDDs in USB enclosures to 3.5" 1.5 TB HDDs connectable via Firewire 800 or eSATA, I guess 15 to 20 TB at all, though I backup my photos and personal video footage twice, which takes up 3 TB (including the backups).
Both Macs run Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, as the newest Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is not for me, it is to iOS-ified, which makes buying a new Mac (eventually I have to get a new computer) complicated and I ponder about building my own Hackintosh when it comes to that.

[FordSVT]

Tank. wrote:

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Thanks for the tip, I'll start saving up then.

http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc

Quite possibly the best resource I've found for building a new comp. The people there are extremely helpful creating builds within a certain price range.

[FordSVT]

spinnerlys wrote:

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I had two Windows desktop computers and two Windows notebook computers before I switched to Mac OS X in 2004 to an iBook G4, which was the most stable and durable (water damage to the screen and several falls) computer I have ever owned.

I now have a 2007 20" iMac with a C2D CPU running at 2 GHz, 4 GB RAM, an ATI Radeon HD 2400 GPU with 128 MB VRAM, and upgraded to an SSD with 60 GB capacity, which makes it still fast enough for more than daily use (I can edit HD video, properly transcoded, just fine with it).
I also have a 2009 17" MacBook Pro with a C2D CPU running at 2.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM, an Nvidia 9400M IGP with 256 MB shared RAM and 9600M GT GPU with 512 MB VRAM, a 120 GB SSD and 500 GB HDD inside it. It can do all the things the iMac can do, just faster and with less hangups, though Safari proves to be a bitch lately, letting the MBP panic quite often.
I also have several external HDDs, from 500 GB 2.5" HDDs in USB enclosures to 3.5" 1.5 TB HDDs connectable via Firewire 800 or eSATA, I guess 15 to 20 TB at all, though I backup my photos and personal video footage twice, which takes up 3 TB (including the backups).
Both Macs run Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, as the newest Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is not for me, it is to iOS-ified, which makes buying a new Mac (eventually I have to get a new computer) complicated and I ponder about building my own Hackintosh when it comes to that.

If you're talking about a new desktop computer and you're in love with OSX, that's what I'd do.

[Methos]

CPU - 3.2ghz Quad Core
RAM - 16gb 1600MHz
Graphics - Nvidia 9600 SLI 1gb dedicated x 2
HDD - 8.5tb Internal, 6gb external Ethernet storage
DVD Drive
Display - 3 x Samsung 24 inch HD minitors

Only upgraded last September, so i know it's a beast lol

M

[Mr. Laser Beam]

iMac:
2.8 Ghz Intel Quad Core i5
4 GB RAM
1 TB hard drive
ATI Radeon video
Mac OS X 10.7.2 Lion

[Kelthaz]

Intel Dual Core E8400 @ 3GHZ
Nvidia 8800GT 512MB
1.25TB (250GB + 1TB) HDDs
2GB DDR2 RAM

The ram is a big bottleneck, but I can fix that pretty easily. The CPU is also very easily overclocked, so this should do me for quite a few years to come.

[Holdfast]

I had to get a new laptop last Autumn; I just looked up the specs: Intel i7-2670QM 2.20 GHz, 8GB RAM, GeForce GT 540M 2GB.

I'll let those more familiar with these things decide exactly what that means in the grand scheme of things. Since I basically just use it for Office, some very light photo editing, email and internet, it's plenty fast enough. I like to keep my computers a long time before replacing them. The Vaio this replaced lasted 5+ years, so I'm hoping this one does the same too.

[Deks]

My laptop (now 3 years and 3 months old):
CPU: P7350 (Core2Duo, 2.0GhZ per core) - will be upgraded to X9100 (3.06GhZ) in a few weeks,
GPU: 9700m GT GDDR3 - will maybe be upgraded later on to a better one that offers 40% better performance - but I don't think I will in the end.
RAM: 8GB 200pin so-dimm DDR2 - 800MhZ (upgraded today from 4GB),
HDD: Hitachi 500GB 7k500 (7200rpm) - plan to put it into a caddy by taking out my optical drive (which I never use anyway) and place an SSD (80 or 100GB should suffice) as the primary drive for OS and programs - though this upgrade won't happen for another 6 months or more.

That's about it.
I spent about 200EUR for the CPU/RAM upgrade - which I found cheap and better than buying a new laptop altogether (which simply isn't an option right now, and besides, I like tinkering with this one).
I'm thinking the current setup with the new CPU will last me at least another year or two before I upgrade.

[ares93]

Deks wrote:

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I spent about 200EUR for the CPU/RAM upgrade - which I found cheap and better than buying a new laptop altogether (which simply isn't an option right now, and besides, I like tinkering with this one).
I'm thinking the current setup with the new CPU will last me at least another year or two before I upgrade.

Yeah, tinkering with laptops is fun. I more or less built my last three laptops.

Zepto 3215w:
Celeron M540 (i think) -> T5250 -> T7250 -> X9000
1GB -> 2GB -> 4GB
15.4 1280x800 -> 15.4 1680x1050
Azurewave 802.11G -> Intel 802.11N
Added 3415w power button cover.

Asus X72JR:
Intel i3-330m -> Intel i5-520m
2GB -> 4GB -> 8GB
500gb 5400rpm -> Intel SSD + Secondary 500GB 7200rpm

Toughbook CF-29:
Refurbished case, maxed ram to 1.5gb, added GPS, added emissive keyboard, added DVD-RW , sata conversion + Corsair SSD, added WWAN + antenna, added internal bluetooth, added internal mic, replaced LCD, replaced touchscreen, added CF-30 handle, modified the passive cooling system. I'm also working on biometrics. Its a pretty tight fit.

[FordSVT]

Holdfast wrote:

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I had to get a new laptop last Autumn; I just looked up the specs: Intel i7-2670QM 2.20 GHz, 8GB RAM, GeForce GT 540M 2GB.

I'll let those more familiar with these things decide exactly what that means in the grand scheme of things.

That's pretty much the best processor and graphics card combo you can get in a laptop without going insane with the price, it should do you just fine for the next few years.

[spinnerlys]

FordSVT wrote:

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If you're talking about a new desktop computer and you're in love with OSX, that's what I'd do.

If you are talking about Hackintoshing, then yes, I might just do that, though getting a proper notebook (not netbook) to run Mac OS X is a bit harder, as far as I have gathered.

And I am not really in love with Mac OS X, as I still see many faults with it(though love does not always makes one blind), especially with the new version, it is the only OS I feel comfortable with, and is not ugly as shit (sorry). I guess, I just like Spaces and Exposé and the rather dull colours compared to the colourfulness of Windows, which started with Windows 5.1 (I always reverted to the Classic look or Windows 2000).

Anyway, a new computer is still a year or three off, so I can live with it, and maybe there will be good Linux variant out there I can run, though my applications will never run on them.

[ares93]

Just keep in mind, lads, that hackintoshing is illegal in the us, canada and the uk. Maybe its not a good idea to discuss it online.

[Deks]

FordSVT wrote:

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That's pretty much the best processor and graphics card combo you can get in a laptop without going insane with the price, it should do you just fine for the next few years.

Meh... the gpu could have been better... the 555m would be a decent mid-range gpu, or even better, an 560M - but it also depends on your budget.

Aside from that, Holdfast... you can upgrade manually to 16GB RAM if you wanted to.
Just get the cheapest 2x8GB DDR3 so-dimm you can find and you'll be good.
Oh and, don't pay too much attention to Mhz speed on RAM... it means 0 in terms of real-life performance, gaming, etc.
As I said, stick to the cheapest RAM - and brand doesn't really matter either.

Aside from that... where are you situated and what's your budget?

[spinnerlys]

ares93 wrote:

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Just keep in mind, lads, that hackintoshing is illegal in the us, canada and the uk. Maybe its not a good idea to discuss it online.

You mean here? Were spammers roam free?

There are plenty of Hackintosh message boards out there, and it is not really ILLEGAL, it is just violating the EULA. If one would sell Hackintosh computers like Psystar did, then that is kind of illegal and Apple will fuck you.
But Apple is "kind" enough to not come after the few people, who use a Hackintosh or post on message boards about it and help each other out. They have bigger fish to fry, especially when they can get more money out of it, and Samsung has more money than Jane or John.

[Count Zero]

Who the hell needs 16 GB Ram? Even 8 is overdoing it for the vast majority of people.