NEW SYSTEM SONY VAIO

[Cesar R]

Hello guys. I just purchases a Sony Vaio RX651

but I am having second thoughts about really bad.

has anyone had any experience with these kind of systems? here are the specs:

P4 1.4Ghz

256MB DDR expandable to 1GB

80GB ATA/100 5200 Seagate

Nvidia 32MB card

memmory stick drive

IEEE 1394 i.Link

CD-RW

CD-Rom

I am having second thoughts on how upgradable can the system be, and that quality of the components (ie. motheboard, ram) Does anyone know what kind of main board comes with it and the chip set? the people at sony tell me different things all the time. There are more lost than me. I just want an extra system to be used as my primary modeling rendering (stills) workstation. I could use some advice on whether to keep it or take it back and build my own? I plan to upgrade the CPU to a 2.2 un a few months. I just want some extra input from you experinced professionals. (I use max/viz/PS/LS/ACAD) Help..!

[Cesar R]

oh did I mention that when I called sony to inquire about the systems hard drive speed they said 7200 rpm, and when I purchased the system I can to find out it was a 5200 rpm. I am a little disapointed..

[Greg Hess]

If the Sony is using a Socket 423 format (Williamante P4), your maximum upgradable speed will be 2.0 Gigahertz.

 

At the current speed of 1.4 Gigahertz, your system is roughly the same performance as a 1.0-1.1 Gigahertz Coppermine system. So depending on what you upgraded from, it could be a downgrade, especially in max (Which doesn't make much use of SSE2).

 

The problem with Sony's, Compaq's, Hp's, and now even Dell's is that they are virtually unupgradable. All companies tend to use integrated parts to make the cases as small and efficent as possible, because the average consumer is not going to upgrade his or her system, they're going to buy another one instead. If you haven't already purchased the system, I would recommend contacting boxxtech.com, alienware.com, monarchcomputer.com, xicomputer.com, for information on custom workstations which will provide extended logevitity of your system, and greatly enhanced performance over the crippled speed of the 1.4 P4.

 

Please feel free to check out the Athlon's in production thread, on more information on this topic.

[Cesar R]

Iam sorry , its a 1.7 not a 1.4 I made a mistake.

does everything you told me still apply?

[Greg Hess]

You'll have to find out from Sony what type of socket its using.

 

If its 423, your maximum speed is 2.0 Gigahertz.

 

If its a 478 your maximum speed is 2.4* Gigahertz.

 

*=From the looks of it, all the 2.4+ ghz P4's will be using the 533 FSB, which of course...requires another new motherboard. Not sure if they plan to release any new 400 FSB chips past 2.4 Gigahertz.

 

Everything else still applies.

[cyclops]

Take the Sony back, if you can, and build yourself a dual Athlon. It would cost you less than the Sony (if you know the good places to buy the components) and it will be faster.

Personally, I wouldn't spend money on pre-built computers these days.

The advantages are: it's not much to go wrong, components are easier to setup these days. You have total control of what is in your PC (and avoid rip-offs such as the 5400rpm hdd instead of 7200). You get more power for your money. Overclocking, upgreadability, etc.

Disadvantages: no technical support, if you don't know what you are doing things can be tragic, you must find a cheap and very reliable component dealer.

[Cesar R]

thanks guys, I am going to find out from sony about the socket, but I am most likely to take it back. Does anyone know who makes the motherboards in the sony (brand name wise)

[Greg Hess]

I would assume Sony would be using general oem style motherboards, most likely intel based. You can identify a true oem board, but it takes quite a bit of work, and knowing how to look up specific bios codes and chipset ID's (on the Mboard).