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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 11:50:31

Title: What your computer says about you...
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 11:50:31: You know how they say you can know a man by how he treats his car, or what car he drives..

That is quite the truth with Computers, if not more so..

Just today, I noticed a -geek- guy still using an HDD instead of SSD..

Instantly I knew something was horribly wrong with his life. His mother has been sick, and the family has been putting all purchases on hold for several years to fund the medical bills..

(http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/onion-head/crying2-onion-head-emoticon.gif?1292862497)

I mailed him one of my 23 extra SSDs...

Oh, well, yea, of course, There's alot wrong with Tp4's life.. Those 23 SSDs is clearly a symptom of too much #Ronery..

Anyone else get any reads on other people's computers ? (http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/onion-head/lol1-onion-head-emoticon.gif?1292862512)
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 11:52:08: macbook air 11" 2013.

Tell me about me.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:01:47: Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 11:52:08
macbook air 11" 2013.

Tell me about me.

Need more details for a better read, The prediction tree is exponentially larger given fewer details.

Is that your only computer.

What are its specifications.

How old were you at the time of purchase.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:04:54: Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:01:47
Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 11:52:08
macbook air 11" 2013.

Tell me about me.

Need more details for a better read, The prediction tree is exponentially larger given fewer details.

Is that your only computer.

What are its specifications.

How old were you at the time of purchase.
I have a desktop I built in 2008, that sits in the cupboard.
I bought this in 2013 on a trip to the USA, when I was 23.

It's the 'base model'. 4GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, 1.3 GHz i5.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:13:41: Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:04:54
Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:01:47
Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 11:52:08
macbook air 11" 2013.

Tell me about me.

Need more details for a better read, The prediction tree is exponentially larger given fewer details.

Is that your only computer.

What are its specifications.

How old were you at the time of purchase.
I have a desktop I built in 2008, that sits in the cupboard.
I bought this in 2013 on a trip to the USA, when I was 23.

It's the 'base model'. 4GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, 1.3 GHz i5.

You are a hip-youngster who is greatly aware of the opinions of others.

You're overall a grownup who has graduated from deriving the bulk of life's pleasures from Video games.

Your life involves other-people far more than it involves computers.

The computer is a tool to you, and not a lifestyle..
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:21:12: Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:13:41
Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:04:54
Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:01:47
Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 11:52:08
macbook air 11" 2013.

Tell me about me.

Need more details for a better read, The prediction tree is exponentially larger given fewer details.

Is that your only computer.

What are its specifications.

How old were you at the time of purchase.
I have a desktop I built in 2008, that sits in the cupboard.
I bought this in 2013 on a trip to the USA, when I was 23.

It's the 'base model'. 4GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, 1.3 GHz i5.

You are a hip-youngster who is greatly aware of the opinions of others.

You're overall a grownup who has graduated from deriving the bulk of life's pleasures from Video games.

Your life involves other-people far more than it involves computers.

The computer is a tool to you, and not a lifestyle..
Unfortunately the prognosis is way off base :(

I don't play video games.
My computer is pretty much my lifestyle (professional and hobby programmer).

I'm too indecisive on what laptop to upgrade to, so just carry on using this macbook air.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: fohat.digs on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:41:03: Probably too true.

I have a monumental full-size tower by Casetek from the early 2000s. It probably weighs 40 pounds, empty, and has mounts for 6-80mm fans (2 front, 2 rear, 1 top, 1 side) (120s were probably too new at the time) with removable washable filters for the front ones. It has 5 external 5.25" bays and 2 external 3.5" bays (with 2-way locking front door) and 6 internal 3.5" bays. All with wonderful heavy plastic sliding brackets that keep all drive mounting screwless and tight.

Inside, currently, I have a mid-grade 2-year-old ASRock motherboard with 16GB of DDR3 ram and an AMD quad-core processor numbered something like 4100. 2 Samsung DVDs and a 8-way card reader with USB on the front. A 128GB Samsung SSD for boot, a 500MB WD black hard drive for my primary drive, and a 1.5TB WD black hard drive for bulk storage of music, photos, videos, etc.
Then another 500GB WD hard drive with Linux Mint that I boot to by going into UEFI and changing the boot order.

My graphics card (I don't game) is a Radeon 6450 with about 1GB onboard, and I have a Creative Elite Pro X-Fi sound card for my music and various projects like vinyl-ripping. It was top-of-the-line when it was new a decade ago, and still works great. I have a decent Logitech 5.1 sound system with a pretty good woofer.

I also have about 3-1TB external hard drives for various backups. I think I have a 750 watt EVGA power supply.

I use 2 cheap old LCD monitors of about 19" each. Keyboards vary but mostly an F-122 with no top case and a modded Dell AT101W plugged into the PS/2 and sitting in the back for when I need it. I have an Anker (semi) vertical right-hand mouse and use a Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical for the left.

Altogether, my rig probably weighs about as much as I do, and I am a big guy.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:47:10: Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:21:12
Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:13:41
Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:04:54
Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 12:01:47
Quote from: joey on Sun, 07 August 2016, 11:52:08
macbook air 11" 2013.

Tell me about me.

Need more details for a better read, The prediction tree is exponentially larger given fewer details.

Is that your only computer.

What are its specifications.

How old were you at the time of purchase.
I have a desktop I built in 2008, that sits in the cupboard.
I bought this in 2013 on a trip to the USA, when I was 23.

It's the 'base model'. 4GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, 1.3 GHz i5.

You are a hip-youngster who is greatly aware of the opinions of others.

You're overall a grownup who has graduated from deriving the bulk of life's pleasures from Video games.

Your life involves other-people far more than it involves computers.

The computer is a tool to you, and not a lifestyle..
Unfortunately the prognosis is way off base :(

I don't play video games.
My computer is pretty much my lifestyle (professional and hobby programmer).

I'm too indecisive on what laptop to upgrade to, so just carry on using this macbook air.

Hahahaha... Hopefully I'll get the next one.. (http://www.cute-factor.com/images/smilies/onion/069.gif)

That, or you're lying to yourself..
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: dustigroove on Sun, 07 August 2016, 13:10:12: Not going to list all of them... but suffice to say that I have a lot of computers/devices. (Some history for the bones and tea leaves to work better; my first 3 computers were a TRS-80 Model 1, Commodore SX-64, and Macintosh 128k.)

Here's the two that I currently use most...

Dell XPS 14
(L421X, running Arch/i3)

Lenovo Twist
(S230u, running Arch/i3)
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: noisyturtle on Sun, 07 August 2016, 17:58:46: I still use platter drives too 100%. I bought one SSD like 2 years ago that burnt out in less than a month erasing all my Steam saves so I do not trust the technology.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: FrostyToast on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:03:54: I wonder what my computer says about me.
I would guess it would say some pretty great things about me because every time I see it, it gets turned on...

Oh... you meant how it represents my personality? Uhm. You could see I'm someone who likes to burn money for fun.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: DALExSNAIL on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:33:37: Quote from: noisyturtle on Sun, 07 August 2016, 17:58:46
I still use platter drives too 100%. I bought one SSD like 2 years ago that burnt out in less than a month erasing all my Steam saves so I do not trust the technology.
It's like those old people who refuse to order anything online.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:40:45: Quote from: DaleSnail on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:33:37
Quote from: noisyturtle on Sun, 07 August 2016, 17:58:46
I still use platter drives too 100%. I bought one SSD like 2 years ago that burnt out in less than a month erasing all my Steam saves so I do not trust the technology.
It's like those old people who refuse to order anything online.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

This completely explains why noisyturtle is so grumpy all the time.. He's on the internet without an SSD.

(http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/onion-head/embarrassed3-onion-head-emoticon.gif?1292862502)
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: noisyturtle on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:45:57: Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:40:45
Quote from: DaleSnail on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:33:37
Quote from: noisyturtle on Sun, 07 August 2016, 17:58:46
I still use platter drives too 100%. I bought one SSD like 2 years ago that burnt out in less than a month erasing all my Steam saves so I do not trust the technology.
It's like those old people who refuse to order anything online.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

This completely explains why noisyturtle is so grumpy all the time.. He's on the internet without an SSD.

Show Image
(http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/onion-head/embarrassed3-onion-head-emoticon.gif?1292862502)

How would an SSD possibly improve my internet speeds?
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:49:55: Quote from: noisyturtle on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:45:57
Quote from: tp4tissue on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:40:45
Quote from: DaleSnail on Sun, 07 August 2016, 18:33:37
Quote from: noisyturtle on Sun, 07 August 2016, 17:58:46
I still use platter drives too 100%. I bought one SSD like 2 years ago that burnt out in less than a month erasing all my Steam saves so I do not trust the technology.
It's like those old people who refuse to order anything online.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

This completely explains why noisyturtle is so grumpy all the time.. He's on the internet without an SSD.

Show Image
(http://emoticoner.com/files/emoticons/onion-head/embarrassed3-onion-head-emoticon.gif?1292862502)

How would an SSD possibly improve my internet speeds?

The internet constantly writes small cache files, often to HDD.. This causes latency

As operations wait for writes or reads to complete, the slow drive may hold back the pipe some where..
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: rowdy on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:02:03: My fastest computer is a core 2 duo 2.93 GHz with 4GB RAM. It has a SATA mechanical hard drive.

You can mail me a whole new computer if you like.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:41:01: *sends PC specs to tp4*

tell me my fortune, teller of fortunes
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: joey on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:42:34: Quote from: Computer-Lab in Basement on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:41:01
*sends PC specs to tp4*

tell me my fortune, teller of fortunes
You live in a basement. Alone.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: algernon on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:51:43: I had SSD on my home computer, now I don't. This is by choice, and I have not felt the need to invest in SSD in the past two years. OTOH, my work laptop has SSD, and I still do not see how it would improve my life or work. My home computer has ****loads of RAM, and I run Linux pretty much all the time (except for some odd game that I'd like to play and has not been ported to Linux yet, or doesn't run under WINE).

But! I have nice mech keyboards both at home and at work, trackballs and a standing desk (at home), with cables neatly arranged and such.

Oh great master tp4, tell me my sins.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: Fire Brand on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:52:19: ^rekt

Okay what about me tp
AMD fx8320
Gigabyte ud5 990fx
16gb ram kingston
120gb ssd Samsung
1tbhd
240 rad
Gtx 760 Asus

And what I use quite often as a tablet a linx 1010b

Tell
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: Computer-Lab in Basement on Mon, 08 August 2016, 07:03:49: Quote from: joey on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:42:34
Quote from: Computer-Lab in Basement on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:41:01
*sends PC specs to tp4*

tell me my fortune, teller of fortunes
You live in a basement. Alone.

I've moved up to the second floor actually.

But still alone. :'(

tp4, specs attached, i want fortune
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: DALExSNAIL on Mon, 08 August 2016, 07:33:37: Quote from: Fire Brand on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:52:19
^rekt

Okay what about me tp
AMD fx8320
Gigabyte ud5 990fx
16gb ram kingston
120gb ssd Samsung
1tbhd
240 rad
Gtx 760 Asus

And what I use quite often as a tablet a linx 1010b

Tell

Someone who doesn't play demanding games, and likes good bang for your buck to save money for spending on new mechs?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: xtrafrood on Mon, 08 August 2016, 07:52:24: I'm using a SATA II motherboard so any benefits of an SSD would be completely lost afaik

My thoughts on what my computer says about me are that I'm disorganized and lazy, but mildly intelligent with a hint of mild insanity
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: tp4tissue on Mon, 08 August 2016, 09:05:16: Quote from: algernon on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:51:43
I had SSD on my home computer, now I don't. This is by choice, and I have not felt the need to invest in SSD in the past two years. OTOH, my work laptop has SSD, and I still do not see how it would improve my life or work. My home computer has ****loads of RAM, and I run Linux pretty much all the time (except for some odd game that I'd like to play and has not been ported to Linux yet, or doesn't run under WINE).

But! I have nice mech keyboards both at home and at work, trackballs and a standing desk (at home), with cables neatly arranged and such.

Oh great master tp4, tell me my sins.

I read somewhere it's easier to maintain no-fap on standing desk, because well, it's hard to fap while standing..
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: tp4tissue on Mon, 08 August 2016, 09:07:15: Quote from: csmertx on Mon, 08 August 2016, 07:52:24
I'm using a SATA II motherboard so any benefits of an SSD would be completely lost afaik

My thoughts on what my computer says about me are that I'm disorganized and lazy, but mildly intelligent with a hint of mild insanity

That's a common misconception..

SSDs are FAST not because of sequential read/write, so the 300MB/s quotes, 1000MB/s quotes, all fundamentally useless to most users..

SSDs are FAST because of Random i/o performance @ 300x that of harddrives.. approximately ~30-50MB/s of random performance on Latest gen SSDs..

This is what makes SSDs feel significantly faster.. and it works just as well even if you're on Sata 1, as long as the controller supports AHCI..
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: xtrafrood on Mon, 08 August 2016, 09:54:48: Quote from: tp4tissue on Mon, 08 August 2016, 09:07:15
Quote from: csmertx on Mon, 08 August 2016, 07:52:24
I'm using a SATA II motherboard so any benefits of an SSD would be completely lost afaik

My thoughts on what my computer says about me are that I'm disorganized and lazy, but mildly intelligent with a hint of mild insanity

That's a common misconception..

SSDs are FAST not because of sequential read/write, so the 300MB/s quotes, 1000MB/s quotes, all fundamentally useless to most users..

SSDs are FAST because of Random i/o performance @ 300x that of harddrives.. approximately ~30-50MB/s of random performance on Latest gen SSDs..

This is what makes SSDs feel significantly faster.. and it works just as well even if you're on Sata 1, as long as the controller supports AHCI..

I had an SSD in this computer and its read/write speed performance was equal to my 5,400 RPM HDD -- I made sure AHCI was enabled in the bios. I use ancient equipment :))
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: mrhead on Mon, 08 August 2016, 10:08:11: If you don't notice the performance boost from a good SSD you may also be someone who doesn't notice the difference between 720p and 1080p.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: Fire Brand on Mon, 08 August 2016, 12:58:12: Quote from: DaleSnail on Mon, 08 August 2016, 07:33:37
Quote from: Fire Brand on Mon, 08 August 2016, 06:52:19
^rekt

Okay what about me tp
AMD fx8320
Gigabyte ud5 990fx
16gb ram kingston
120gb ssd Samsung
1tbhd
240 rad
Gtx 760 Asus

And what I use quite often as a tablet a linx 1010b

Tell

Someone who doesn't play demanding games, and likes good bang for your buck to save money for spending on new mechs?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Its a fairly old system now I believe I built it back in 2012 or whenever the FX8320 came out, its rather nice I basically only really play Overwatch and league of legends so its not bad, it can still push well for other games though should hopefully last me another year yet :)
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: Marizen on Mon, 08 August 2016, 13:49:03: OOOH DO ME!

Desktop:
- Asus Maximus ROG Hero VIII
- Intel i7-6700K w/ Noctua NH-D14
- EVGA GTX 970 SSC
- 1000W EVGA Supernova
- 32GB (16x2) G.Skill 3200MHz CL14
- 256GB Toshiba Q Series Pro SSD, 1TB WD Blue, 4TB WD Blue
- An old Corsair case that I can't remember the name of

I know the PSU is totally overkill, but it was on sale for the same price as the 850W, so why not.

Laptop:
- Lenovo T420
- Upgraded to 16GB RAM
- Upgraded to 480GB Sandisk Ultra II SSD
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: Data on Mon, 08 August 2016, 14:18:54: Let's see if I can remember...

Asus Z87-WS
Intel i7-4770
16GB Corsair DDR3
Asus GeForce GTX 760
3x Western Digital Black 1TB
Corsair 650W? PSU
All in a Lian Li PC-9N

CPU cooler is an enormous Thermalright Black Edition they don't make anymore, so I had to find a case wide enough for it. :P
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: suicidal_orange on Mon, 08 August 2016, 14:47:11: Anyone want to try me?

10 year old Antec P180 with a missing door, tidy hole in the top for water filling, 120mm radiator on the back and 4x5.25 bays housing another 120mm radiator. One DVD-RW and a USB card reader in the floppy bay.

Inside algae green tubing (it came that colour, not dirty :))) to NB and CPU. Blue Asus mobo, I7 2600K @4ghz, 16gb matching blue RAM, PCI-E SSD plugged in for years but can't remember the last time I used it. Supposed to be 4 drives but one died so I disconnected it (cut the PCB) and struggle to trust what remains. No graphics card.

Through the front fan hole (dremmeled off, covered with original filter) I can remove the main SSD, a Samsung 830 256gb I think. In the bottom are a 3tb storage drive (chosen for quiet) and my old still functional but unplugged storage drive, along with a fanless 400W Seasonic PSU.

Setup is completed with a 1600x1200 20" HP LP2016 IPS, CM Storm mouse with temperamental middle click, and my first mech - a fullsize Ducky modded with a Teensy.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: pwade3 on Wed, 10 August 2016, 10:57:58: Do me, do me.

i5 2500k, 2 560 Ti's, 8gb RAM, some sort of SSD, inside of a CM Storm Scout case.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: mike52787 on Wed, 10 August 2016, 14:30:42: Tell me about myself.
Desktop:
Cpu: E5-2660 (oc @2.6ghz)
Ram: 16gb ddr3 1600
Mobo: Asus Rampage IV Gene (bought with bent pins for 60$, straightened socket pins, works like a charm)
Gpu: Evga GTX 770 2gb
Storage: 2x 1tb wd green, 1x 256gb ssd
Monitors 25" lg ultrawide, 24" asus, 23" dell
all in a modded lian-li pc-v600
Laptop: Lenovo Thinkpad X230
Cpu: i5 3210m
Ram: 8gb ddr3 1333
Storage: 1tb hdd, 128gb msata ssd

I built the desktop earlier this year, upgraded from an old i7 950 rig I got from a friend. Cost me no more than $450.
I pieced the laptop together from used and new parts last year. Cost me about $500 iirc.
Title: Re: What your computer says about you...
Post by: Leslieann on Wed, 10 August 2016, 20:16:44: Quote from: tp4tissue on Mon, 08 August 2016, 09:07:15
Quote from: csmertx on Mon, 08 August 2016, 07:52:24
I'm using a SATA II motherboard so any benefits of an SSD would be completely lost afaik
My thoughts on what my computer says about me are that I'm disorganized and lazy, but mildly intelligent with a hint of mild insanity
That's a common misconception..
SSDs are FAST not because of sequential read/write, so the 300MB/s quotes, 1000MB/s quotes, all fundamentally useless to most users..
SSDs are FAST because of Random i/o performance @ 300x that of harddrives.. approximately ~30-50MB/s of random performance on Latest gen SSDs..
This is what makes SSDs feel significantly faster.. and it works just as well even if you're on Sata 1, as long as the controller supports AHCI..
Sorry TP, you were going great, right up until the last line.
While true, it's not as dramatic as you think it is, Csmertx is actually correct in that he hardly noticed a difference.

Math time! (all times used are theoretical).
If your drive is pretty well defragged, access times are minimized. Say you copy one 100meg file and it takes 5 seconds to copy on sata2. The added .1second access time to find the file adds a minimal amount of time to the file transfer. If that same file is in 50 fragments or we use 100megs comprised of 50 files, now you added 5 full seconds to the transfer time. So while access time matters, it only matters on how many files or fragments you are working with. So max time on the ssd is 5 seconds and the conventional can be anywhere from 5.1 seconds, up to 10 seconds. Obviously the SSD helps, but only really shines when the other drive is heavily fragmented or pulling multiple files. There is always fragments, it's usually just a matter of how many.

Ignoring seek times, if you transfer a single 100meg file, if both drives flood the sata channel, the times will be pretty much the same the same with 5 seconds vs 5.1 seconds.
Obviously the ssd does little here.

Now let's look at what happens with Sata 3.
Because it took 5 seconds to transfer, the .1ms access time was only a small percentage of that transfer time. When you switch to Sata3, suddenly you are waiting less time for files to transfer. Instead of 5 seconds to copy a 100meg file it takes 2.5. Your 0.1ms access time is a larger percentage, but still not a very noticeable difference (2.5 seconds vs 2.6seconds), but watch what happens when we add fragments or use multiple files.

On the ssd, it remains s a straight up 2.5 seconds, regardless or fragmentation or how many files you copy. On the conventional drive though, it's 2.6 second starting point is great, until you add in those 50 pieces from earlier, now, it can run as high as 7.5 seconds. The conventional drive is faster than it was before, but it's performance now ranges from almost matching the SSD to taking 3 times as long.

As sata speeds increase, the impact of fragments and access times on data transfer times becomes more and more dramatic, even if the spinner can continue to flood the data channel which is more and more difficult. On Sata 4, the transfer time on the above files now goes from 2.5 seconds to 1.25 seconds on the ssd, and 1.35 on the spinner. However add in your 50 fragments and now you are going from 1.25 seconds of the ssd all the way up to 6.25 seconds on the spinner, it's now 5 times slower than the ssd. The inverse is also true, as sata speeds decrease, the ssd has less impact, which is why Csmertx sees such a minimal difference. When I went from Sata2 to Sata3 (same drive), it was a world of difference. The ssd was nice on sata2, but it took sata3 for it to really shine.

On laptops, the difference happens earlier simply because laptop spinner drives lag far behind desktop drives in terms of transfer and access times. Suddenly stuffing something that makes a desktop drive seem slow is a massive improvement in itself.

TL:DR
The faster your sata channel, the more impact an SSD will have.