Hawkiee's got a new computer!

[hawkiee552]

Yes, finally I have bought a new laptop. I can finally join the server now, but I still have lots of school work to do.

I bought it used from a classmate, it barely cost me $90 and was in perfect shape. It has been used for a year and stored in a drawer for half a year. The model is Compaq Presario CQ57-205SO

Now, you might think that $90 for a laptop (even more when you see the specs) is expensive, but it wasn't. In norway, we had to pay over $400-650 to get a cheap/decent laptop (no kidding!) and this was in the $400 price range when it was new. So I think that it's a great deal, and it works perfectly for school (mostly what I needed it for) and also some games like Source, Race: The WTCC Game and Minecraft.

So here's what the laptop looks like, also my current setup (for those of you who are interested):




I solved the space problem ;D

Specs are listed here (from Speccy):

Code: Select all

Operating System
	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

CPU
	AMD C-50 @1GHz DualCore
	Ontario 40nm Technology

RAM
	8,00 GB DDR3 @ 532MHz (7-7-7-20)

Motherboard
	Hewlett-Packard 3577 (Socket FT1)	51 °C

Graphics
	Generic PnP-monitor (15,6" 1366x768@60Hz)
	AMD Radeon HD 6250 Graphics (HP) (80 pipelines @280MHz and 1GB shared memory)

Hard Drives
	298GB Seagate ST932032 5AS SATA Disk Device (SATA)	28 °C

Optical Drives
	ELBY CLONEDRIVE SCSI CdRom Device (This is a virtual drive)
	HP CDDVDW TS-L633R SATA CdRom Device

Audio
	Realtek High Definition Audio

As you might see, the amount of RAM is overkill, but I just threw in some sticks that I had laying around here. It came with only 2GB, which was terrible for a 64bit OS when it comes to games and such.

Let me know what you think. Most of you would yawn at the performance of this laptop (because of the specs shown) but it's really performing good, almost as good as my last laptop (see the specs in the "Your rig" thread if you're interested). One weird thing I noticed is that it can run Race: The WTCC Game (2006 racing-game) without problems on max graphics with a stable 60FPS, and my last laptop which should've been the best in the AMD's Llano APU series couldn't run it well on even medium. Compatibillity problems?

Anyways, this is a great laptop and I love it. I didn't buy a new one as I wanted to save some money right now.

[sniper101]

lol my room is a bit messier but more space but nice room tho and gratz on ur new computer!

Edit: ur wheel chair is the same exactly kind of my wheel chair..........and style........and color....

i want to post my room picture now lol

[DelusionalSyko]

Wait...did you mix stock memory sticks with random memory sticks? I highly advise against that. Also, you might have a hard time playing games. An AMD dual core running at 1ghz sounds insanely under powered.

[micswix]

Two televisions in one room? Getting fancy up in there.

[Alex]

The one to the right is actually a computer monitor

[micswix]

Wow, lucky.

[hawkiee552]

Thanks sniper!

Wait...did you mix stock memory sticks with random memory sticks? I highly advise against
that. Also, you might have a hard time playing games. An AMD dual core running at 1ghz sounds insanely under powered.

Actually, the stock memory isn't in the computer anymore, I've got two 4GB Samsung chips of the same type in it, so there's no problem

Yeah, it might sound underpowered, I can agree to that, but after using the laptop for almost a week, I can say that the performance of it is great, even though it's only 1GHz. Processors are different, and some might perform better than others even though the GHz is the same (everyone knows that, right?). Source games runs fine (as they're not CPU expensive) but also, GTA IV is no problem running at 10-30FPS, but not playable though.

Yeah micswix, the TV is used for watching TV ofcourse, playing PS2 games and other devices with analog output. The HP monitor is connected to the laptop so that I can watch movies, as it's the biggest screen that I have. For now

[hawkiee552]

Delusional, you were sceptical about this CPU to be very underpowered as from what I've noticed, you think that AMD have weaker CPU's than Intel. Now take a look at this YouTube video and you'll see that the Intel Atom N550 (1.5GHz dual core) struggles on decoding 1080p H.264 playback, while the C-50 (1 GHz dualcore) does it with no problem. Even the C-30 outperforms the Atom while only having 1.2GHz single core. Pretty neat stuff from AMD right there

[DelusionalSyko]

I have no problems against AMD APUs. I'm actually surprised at how powerful they are. HOWEVER. They're CPU's are weak compared to Intel. I'm a PC enthusiast. Not a laptop junkie. So mobile edition CPU's and APU's don't interest me. I'm surprised at how well a dual-core APU running at low clock speeds can run rendering and games at a steady FPS. Intel have integrated graphics built in, but they're garbage.

[hawkiee552]

I was more of a desktop person until I got my first laptop, and was actually looking at laptops with a negative point of view. I was always hung up in the performance difference between laptops and desktops, also the price difference. IMO, desktops were a lot better than laptops. In the past, you could get a decent desktop for a low price, but if you wanted a laptop with the same performance, you'd have to tear apart your wallet. Now several years later, atleast here in Norway, you can get cheap laptops that has better overall performance than desktops at the same, and even higher price. The reason that I went from desktop to laptop was price. My lifestyle is also the reason that I've changed. I like to have only one computer, have that simplicity, and also I like to carry my computer to school and friends, and even around the house.

It's only a matter of preferences. Nothing is worse than the other, it's how you're going to use it that matters when you choose your desktop/laptop. Junkie is a word I'd rather not use, as I think it has a negative feeling in it, and I wouldn't call you a desktop junkie because you prefer desktops

I am a PC enthusiast too, got lots of PC parts that I've been experimenting with in my garage and basement (and I mean LOTS), but I've gotten tired of all the mess and such so it kinda died off. Even though I have a laptop, I am still looking up hardware and learning how they work together, mostly CPU and GPU models for gaming. I've also chosen the parts and built Cactus' desktop for him, and he seems quite happy about it.

If I had a bigger room and more money, I'd build myself a rig though.