The computer and electronics super geek thread

[David Hingtgen]

I've upgraded my current PC about as far as I can.  It's 11 years old, and despite almost nothing being original besides the case, I need "new everything" to really take advantage of any new tech.  I've never had a PC this long before. The case itself is an issue at this point, incompatible with USB 3.1/3.2/C.  PSU (#3!) doesn't have 6x2 12-pin for modern GPU's, and is borderline for 5070/5080 wattage requirements. So that pretty much dictates "new everything", to accomplish a GPU/CPU upgrade at this point   

I came very close to buying a 5060 ti on Black Friday, but was still REALLY waiting for the 5070 Super/Super ti to come out.   Well, that's not gonna happen now, and everything is skyrocketing.  It's either get something now, or be stuck with an old PC for a very long time or pay a LOT of money for something new a bit later.  

At the moment, I've swung back towards CostCo again.  I could buy it, see if it works/see if it's one of the ones with the better mobo, and return it in-store if not.  I dread the thought of ordering a pre-built, waiting for it, then something doesn't work.  Much harder to troubleshoot "mystery components" and even harder to ship back.  

[azrael]

If you are planning on waiting the RAMpocolypse out, buying in-store and upgrading as things improve might be the way to go. If you want everything there and not have to worry about upgrades for a while, buying direct from the SI would probably be the better route. 

 

[mikeszekely]

So, it's not for power users and certainly not the answer to @David Hingtgen's quest... but Apple just dropped a bomb with the MacBook Neo.  Now, I'm saying this as someone who thinks Windows 11 is that bad once you de-clutter it... but the fact that you have to de-clutter it at all is telling.  The AI push is adding bloat that no one wants and no one asked for, and yet every time they get called out on it they've doubled down.  I think the only thing that's kept me suggesting Windows laptops to my family is that they don't do a ton with their computers, so they just want something cheap.  They're just not willing to spend $900+ on a base model MacBook Air.  I think the $600 MacBook Neo completely changes that conversation.  Yeah, as a primarily PC gamer I'm still going to be running a Windows desktop, and if I'm going on a trip my Zephyrus G14 is going with me.  But the next time my wife or dad want a new laptop, I'll point them at the Neo.  When my daughter gets far enough along to graduate from an iPad to a laptop for school, Neo.  Heck, I have an perfectly good M1 MacBook Air I use for couch surfing (so I know MacOS runs OK even with just 8GB of RAM), and even I'm thinking about replacing it with a Neo because I really dig that green one.

[David Hingtgen]

So how much RAM in that latest announcement?

[mikeszekely]

59 minutes ago, David Hingtgen said:

So how much RAM in that latest announcement?

You mean the MacBook Neo? Just 8GB. Not ideal, but like I said, I have an M1 Air with 8GB, and MacOS is optimized enough that it still feels adequate for basic tasks. Better than a Windows device with that little RAM, anyway.