Good to hear it went well. As for the keyboard issue, you can use an Apple keyboard on you machine, so if it's really annoying you could always just go back to what you're used to.
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Switching back to PC
- Thread starter Hellhammer
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Good to hear it went well. As for the keyboard issue, you can use an Apple keyboard on you machine, so if it's really annoying you could always just go back to what you're used to.
Yeah, I know. It's not that annoying and I've already gotten used to the KB pretty well.
They indeed are
Yeah, that's true. It's easier since Apple makes all the keyboards (well, you can use 3rd party) so the layouts are similar. With Windows, you got all those different ones, which is a bit of a challenge. You do get macro keys on Windows though
The biggest thing I miss is Expose/Mission Control or similar app switcher, any recommendations?
I completely forgot about this but remembered it yesterday when I accidentally initiated it.
Ok, I guess you are weren't looking for this. It's quite pathetic, I know.
Hellhammer - what's your backup strategy on this machine?
Is there anything around for the PC that makes creating bootable backups as easy as CCC or SuperDuper! ?
Is there anything around for the PC that makes creating bootable backups as easy as CCC or SuperDuper! ?
They indeed are
Yeah, that's true. It's easier since Apple makes all the keyboards (well, you can use 3rd party) so the layouts are similar. With Windows, you got all those different ones, which is a bit of a challenge. You do get macro keys on Windows though
The biggest thing I miss is Expose/Mission Control or similar app switcher, any recommendations?
Switcher
I'll use the 2TB as a backup. Haven't decided on the software yet though, I'll have to do some research.
Thanks! Works brilliantly, just what I wanted
I'll be interested to see what you come up with. Ease of creating bootable backups is a really big selling point for OSX as far as I'm concerned. Last time I used a PC as my main machine, there always seemed to be problems saving the registry while Windows was running, so you'd have to be in DOS to run utilities like Ghost. Hopefully those sorts of issues are now resolved!
To be honest, I'm fine as long as my data is safe (videos, music etc). I don't mind losing my apps as those can easily be re-downloaded, but it's of course better if they are backed up too.
This year I "repaired" two Windows PCs for friends, thus I wanted to have a bootable backup in case something gets ****ed.
I came upon XXXClone, which at least allows me to make a bootable backup of the current system onto another internal HDD or internal partition on the same HDD the OS resides on.
It is not as convenient as CarbonCopyCloner and not even as fast, but it works for troubleshooting quite okay, as I only made an image of the OS after it was successfully installed and configured and didn't do any subsequent backups.
But Hellhammer inspired me to built my own rig again sometimes, but from a Hackintosh perspective, as one day, I have to get a new Mac (iMac from 2007 is still going strong, and MBP from 2009 is still going strong) someday, but the lack of having Snow Leopard installed will not allow me to buy any 2012 Mac I guess.
And finding a good looking case, especially one like the PowerMac G5 or Mac Pro one is hard outside of eBay. But as this is more of a long-going project right now, I can focus on other things, like cloning Windows 98 to my 2004 iBook.
I just built this a few days ago. Not state of the art, but it's a big improvement over my 4 year old Core 2 Duo system
New parts:
Antec 300 Series Mid Tower
Asus P8H67-V Rev3 Motherboard
Intel i5-2300 Sandy Bridge (2.8ghz) Processor
EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 560 Video Card
8gb GSkill Ripjaws DDR3 (2x4gb)
Antec Neo Eco 620C Power Supply (620 watts)
Old Parts
Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
3 640gb Western Digital Caviar Black HD's
Dell 2405FPW 24" Monitor (6 years old and still going strong)
Sony/Optiarc DVD/CD Burner
Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
Logitech LX7 Mouse
Monitor Audio 700MK2 Gold Loudspeakers
Parasound Zamp v3
New parts:
Antec 300 Series Mid Tower
Asus P8H67-V Rev3 Motherboard
Intel i5-2300 Sandy Bridge (2.8ghz) Processor
EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 560 Video Card
8gb GSkill Ripjaws DDR3 (2x4gb)
Antec Neo Eco 620C Power Supply (620 watts)
Old Parts
Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
3 640gb Western Digital Caviar Black HD's
Dell 2405FPW 24" Monitor (6 years old and still going strong)
Sony/Optiarc DVD/CD Burner
Logitech Illuminated Keyboard
Logitech LX7 Mouse
Monitor Audio 700MK2 Gold Loudspeakers
Parasound Zamp v3
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Hows the Antec 300. I owned an Antec case a few years ago and it was nothing but trouble, but I heard that as budget cases go the 300 is great value. Did you have any trouble with fitting things or cable-management?
I'm very pleased so far. Nothing rattles or feels cheap. Fans are relatively quiet, and cable management is pretty decent. I had no problem fitting anything. All in all an excellent value especially for the price. I paid $58.99 plus I'm getting a $15 rebate.
Glenn
Nice. I think I must have just chosen a bad case then. Glad to hear your experience was better than mine
Nice. I think I must have just chosen a bad case then. Glad to hear your experience was better than mine
Too bad you had problems with yours. That's my biggest fear when I build something new, having a defective part. It's such a hassle when you have to return something. Luckily my system is running like a champ. I've been burning it in for the past few days and so far it hasn't hiccuped. The cooling is superb. My CPU Cores run from mid 20 degree C when I'm just browsing the web, and under full load it's never gone over 55C with the stock cooler. As far as fans are concerned, I ordered new 120mm PWM (4 pin) that plug directly into the motherboard fan headers. The original fans have standard Molex connectors. I have them running off the power supply for now.
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You may find this site useful: http://www.easeus.com/
Look around and they have some decent free software for maintaining and working with Windows, I've used their free partition master software for quite a while and it works well.
Sorry that I haven't provided any thoughts yet, I've been busy lately. Hungover Sunday is great time to do this, though
Something very general first. Overall, I've been very happy with the change. Windows 7 is really a good OS. Sure OS X is better in some cases, but so is Windows in some.
After switching the PSU for the Antec, it's been totally quiet. I also connected the CPU fan to a case fan connector so the default rpm is a bit lower (thanks for the tip!). I also bought two extra fans to improve the airflow, but only one is in use at the moment because putting a fan in the upper fan holders will cause quite a lot noise from what I have heard. They were only a tenner each so I don't mind.
IIRC some of you were asking how the dual display setup works. I have to say it's brilliant. It has increased my efficiency a lot because I can now easily have two windows next to each other, or four if I squeeze them in. I can easily have dozens of windows open when I get excited about something, and I'm lazy to close them because I might not find it again (history and bookmarks exist, I know, but come on I'm lazy).
In gaming, the dual displays help too. I only game on the other one but being able to have things like Facebook, email, IM and hardware monitor open at the same time are huge benefits. I can immediately see e.g. a FB message without exiting the game. If it's something important, I can exit and reply. If it isn't, I'll continue gunning down some terrorists
I've been very pleased with the overall performance, too. Pretty much all games run at the highest graphics. BF3, in particular, looks absolutely astonishing. I haven't even done any OCing, so I can squeeze out some extra frames in the future if needed. 8GB of RAM also helps a lot and I can live my window-full life without worrying about performance loss.
As for the SSD, I've found that 64GB is enough for sure. Right now, I have 19.6GB of free space in it. Windows install takes a lot more space than OS X, so I only had like 30GB left after installing Windows. All my files are stored in the 1TB Samsung, and the 2TB works as a backup. I just need to remember to change the install to F drive instead of C when installing games, otherwise it's very simple.
Some of you were inquiring about the backup software. I first tried something called Cobian Backup, but didn't like it. I decided to give Windows' own backup software a try. So far, it has worked for me. It's integrated into Windows anyway so I believe it should be decent.
All in all, I have no regrets. I knew what I was getting, and I got what I wanted. I still love my MBA, and iPhone, but I think Apple can't offer me a desktop suitable for my needs.
One question. Does anyone have any recommendations on a remote controller? I liked the fact that I could control my iMac from my bed using the Apple Remote, but I haven't found anything similar for PCs. I don't mind if I need to get a Bluetooth or IR receiver, but something for Windows Media Center would be nice.
Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm more than happy to try answering it.
Something very general first. Overall, I've been very happy with the change. Windows 7 is really a good OS. Sure OS X is better in some cases, but so is Windows in some.
After switching the PSU for the Antec, it's been totally quiet. I also connected the CPU fan to a case fan connector so the default rpm is a bit lower (thanks for the tip!). I also bought two extra fans to improve the airflow, but only one is in use at the moment because putting a fan in the upper fan holders will cause quite a lot noise from what I have heard. They were only a tenner each so I don't mind.
IIRC some of you were asking how the dual display setup works. I have to say it's brilliant. It has increased my efficiency a lot because I can now easily have two windows next to each other, or four if I squeeze them in. I can easily have dozens of windows open when I get excited about something, and I'm lazy to close them because I might not find it again (history and bookmarks exist, I know, but come on I'm lazy
).In gaming, the dual displays help too. I only game on the other one but being able to have things like Facebook, email, IM and hardware monitor open at the same time are huge benefits. I can immediately see e.g. a FB message without exiting the game. If it's something important, I can exit and reply. If it isn't, I'll continue gunning down some terrorists
I've been very pleased with the overall performance, too. Pretty much all games run at the highest graphics. BF3, in particular, looks absolutely astonishing. I haven't even done any OCing, so I can squeeze out some extra frames in the future if needed. 8GB of RAM also helps a lot and I can live my window-full life without worrying about performance loss.
As for the SSD, I've found that 64GB is enough for sure. Right now, I have 19.6GB of free space in it. Windows install takes a lot more space than OS X, so I only had like 30GB left after installing Windows. All my files are stored in the 1TB Samsung, and the 2TB works as a backup. I just need to remember to change the install to F drive instead of C when installing games, otherwise it's very simple.
Some of you were inquiring about the backup software. I first tried something called Cobian Backup, but didn't like it. I decided to give Windows' own backup software a try. So far, it has worked for me. It's integrated into Windows anyway so I believe it should be decent.
All in all, I have no regrets. I knew what I was getting, and I got what I wanted. I still love my MBA, and iPhone, but I think Apple can't offer me a desktop suitable for my needs.
One question. Does anyone have any recommendations on a remote controller? I liked the fact that I could control my iMac from my bed using the Apple Remote, but I haven't found anything similar for PCs. I don't mind if I need to get a Bluetooth or IR receiver, but something for Windows Media Center would be nice.
Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm more than happy to try answering it.
That's the issue I ran into when running with windows. While mostly devoid of options and flexibility TimeMachine is great at creating backups, likewise Carbon Copy Cloner is a great app. I really missed those apps when running windows.
Another facet I missed is the simplicity of OSX. The application folder is better then how applications are installed in windows and the start menu can easily (and quickly) get out of hand.
I think windows has a lot of things going for it, and I believe MS has a great Os with win7 that can go toe to toe with OSX
True. TM is awesome, and free.
I always use search to launch apps so I don't mind. I do this in OS X too.
I tried it but there was something it missed. IIRC it couldn't backup my F drive to my backup drive, I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, I'm not going to pay $50 for backups.
I always recommend people buy the tool that works best for them. And if I were in your position - I'd want a Windows-based tower PC too.
From what I've seen of it, Windows 8 looks like a pretty good OS. And a tower chassis is always going to preferable for those who need to check out the latest hardware.
I think the only thing you'll miss about the iMac is the clean, minimalist look of the all-in-one design. I recently returned to Macs after a ten year absence, and I'm still amazed at how easy it is to move my "desktop" computer from one room to another, or simply to dust underneath it. Even the best Tower rig is going to have an additional set of data and power cables adding to the birds nest underneath your desk. For whatever reason, PC manufacturers never seem to be able to bring of the all-in-one setup anywhere nearly as good as Apple does.
For me, backups are priceless, which is why I still use True Image (with Plus Pack) under Windows. I love the fact that I can import an image into VMWare as a VM almost effortlessly. I have a family pack with licenses installed on each of my Boot Camp installs and my Windows 7 desktop.
Just look for the special deals Acronis offers all the time and you can usually get a license with plus pack for ~$30.
I stopped being 100% Apple some time back when I outgrew my TIme Capsule and wanted a "real" NAS and also needed a desktop to plug some archival media into.
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