tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43066561698285971592024-03-13T06:57:29.449-07:00Computer questA journey into the heart of computers.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-10831029255343009232011-11-02T23:07:00.000-07:002011-11-02T23:07:14.867-07:00On wifi<div>
Does everyone remember the last post I made where I said I'd be posting more now, and my next post would be on changing my OS from Windows to something most likely Ubuntu based? Well, at least one of those things was right (though I <u>will</u> be posting more now). I just completed what turned out to be a monumental task. <br />
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I ended up installing 3 different OSs multiple times, trying so many supposed fixes it made my head spin, and considering giving Windows 8 Developer Preview a try before I settled on a solution that, at least for now, works.<br />
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The problem wasn't the OSs themselves. On the contrary, they all looked and ran great. The problem ( and the bane of many a Linux user's existence) was my wifi card. Linux is notorious for it's bad wifi support. That could be due to closed, proprietary drivers that are mostly written for windows. This situation is slowly becoming better, with the development of better kernel support, and chip manufacturer Broadcom releasing an open source wifi driver for some of their chipsets last year.<br />
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Obviously, it could still stand some improvement. That, or my wifi card hates me. Using the Broadcom driver didn't work for my card, though it should have. Nor did NDISwrapper with the windows driver I pulled off the disk that came with the card. I even tried the B43 driver that comes standard with Linux, and B43FWcutter, which is supposed to splice your specific wifi card firmware into the driver. None of it worked with either version of Linux Mint I tried, or Ubuntu. I was considering Arch Linux or just going back to Windows in general, when I found an old Linksys router I brought back from Germany with me. The power supply for it wasn't dual voltage and it fried when I plugged it in, but I never got to test if the router still worked. I ended up just getting a new N router.<br />
<br />
In any case, I decided to see if it still worked, so I plugged it in....success! It still worked. That gave me an idea.<br />
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I decided to try out a ROM replacement for the router. These usually expand the capabilities of routers over those equipped with their stock ROMs, and two of the most well known, Tomato and DD-WRT, are free.<br />
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I decided to run with DD-WRT and see what happens. After going through the very detailed how-to, my router had a new ROM on it. I then found a how-to for configuring it as a client to another router and blam! I had connectivity through this old router to my gateway router.<br />
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I attached to my desktop (which is now running the newest Ubuntu) and it worked like a charm. It'll be a great stopgap until I can get a wifi card for that computer that I know will run on Linux.<br />
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I can't wait to put Wine on it and try a couple of the Windows games I have, and see how they perform (if I can get them to work of course. I also want to try putting Arch on my netbook now.<br />
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That's all I got for now. See you next time.</div>Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0Colorado Springs, CO, USA38.8338816 -104.821363438.6359796 -105.13722039999999 39.0317836 -104.5055064tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-10089476829212170062011-08-08T22:44:00.000-07:002011-08-08T23:21:50.891-07:00LinuxHey all! This post, I'm going to take some time to talk about Linux. It's everywhere. It runs servers for major web sites from Google to Facebook and beyond. Some heavily modified flavor of it probably runs your smartphone, your tablet, or your e-book reader. It runs the New York Stock Exchange. It powers the majority of the worlds most powerful computers. It's embedded in devices you wouldn't even think of. And it continues to grow today.<div>
<br /></div><div>While it might not dominate the desktop or laptop markets, thanks in no small part to Redmond and Cupertino, it does seem to be slowly gaining ground in that department, and has been for some time. This is in part thanks to the ease of installation of most major Linux distributions, as well as major improvements in ease of use, features, and driver development. The most successful of these being Ubuntu Linux by Canonical.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>It's the distro I've been using almost primarily for the last seven months on the netbook I got for Christmas last year, and it's been my primary OS in general since my main computer got boxed up in my move back to the States. And I have to say, it's currently number one for a reason. It's got great device support right out of the box, it's easy to use and install new software, and, some would argue, it looks slick with it's new Unity interface.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>While it's a great all around desktop, it leaves something to be desired for a nerd like me. So, awhile ago, I went hunting for another distribution to try (and possibly use for a fast, lightweight HTPC install). What I found was Arch Linux.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Arch Linux is a very bare-bones Linux distribution, and it's not for the technically feint of heart. With it's text-based installer, and no GUI default install, it leaves a lot to be desired as far as ease of use goes. But that not what Arch Linux is about. It's about teaching how Linux works to those with some experience and a lot of curiosity about the inner workings of the kernel. With it's documentation and community to help you along the way, Arch Linux is a great way to become an old hand at manually tweaking Linux to run just the way you want it to.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Until recently, my main computer has been boxed away. It's up and running now, and I think it's ready for an OS swap out. I'm going to be putting Ubuntu on it primarily (possibly Kubuntu or Ubuntu Studio or Linux Mint), and installing Arch on it as a backup. I also want to put Arch on my netbook. Afterward, I'm planning to do how-to's on both distros.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>That's all for now! Come back soon, and you should see some updates on my progress.</div>Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-69852175558549924492011-07-31T00:13:00.001-07:002011-07-31T00:13:00.537-07:00Redux<div><p>Hey everyone. I haven't posted on here in a while, mostly for personal reasons. I think I'm ready to start blogging again, though. Hopefully, I'll be alittle more vigilant about posting thos time around. Thos blog started our with an attempt to document the upgrade of my computer, and quickly unwound from there. I'm not quite sure if this blog will have a specific topic, or if it will stay the generalized computer/tech blog it had been turning in to. I guess I'll find out in the long run. I hope you're there to find out with me. Stay tuned.</p>
</div>Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-76601534504490650912010-08-12T14:23:00.001-07:002010-08-13T02:32:49.767-07:00Modding and streamingI've gotten a little into modding software lately. From modding the OS on my phone, to modding my desktop (see picture):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/TGUI9JkSJFI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/QOKYHdn3A-0/s1600/Dwm+2010-08-13+10-27-15-30.bmp"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/TGUI9JkSJFI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/QOKYHdn3A-0/s320/Dwm+2010-08-13+10-27-15-30.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504815966163444818" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I blurred the calendar skin shown on the left, lower middle<br />portion</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> of the screen, but it shows items from my Google calendar.</span><br /></span><br />I think it's kind of cool to do, because you can make your OS/desktop look exactly the way you want it to. There are some risks involved (you could wreck your OS if you're not careful), but I've found that I had to do a lot of poking around help forums to get my knowhow.<br /><br />The same thing happened recently when I was trying to get streaming to work to my PS3 using Tversity. That's why I'm going to publish a couple of howtos on doing these things. Look for them soon! I'll be going pver how to use Rainmeter to customize your desktop, and how to install custom visual styles for Windows 7. I'll also go through installing and setting up Tversity to stream your media (including some MKV files). Lastly, I'll swing back to modding, this time for Android phones.<br /><br />Before I even start this series, I have a disclaimer to put out. I don't claim to have comprehensive knowledge on any of these topics. My howtos will by no means be an end-all-be-all, for the topics discussed. They will be based on my direct expirience, and you should keep this in mind when following these howtos. That's why I will also be listing my sources. Should your expirience differ from mine, you can hopefully find what's wrong, along with a potential solution.<br /><br />Like I said, stay posted for more.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-75479618880512017102010-08-12T14:00:00.001-07:002010-08-12T14:00:02.861-07:00Android<br>In my last blog post, I mentioned my new Android based phone, the Moto Cliq.  I've been looking into the different aspects of android (App programming, custom roms, rooting, that sort of stuff)  and I'd be interested if anyone could point me in the direction of where I could learn more beginner level type stuff.  I've signed up at a couple of phone modding forums, but they all seem to be filled with people who are lightyears ahead of my knowledge base, or people who knew almost nothing about computers or phones.  I've already also taken a look at Google's Android developement how to, and it appears that they assume that you already know a good deal about programming in Java (their preferred method of devlopement for the masses is in a Java based IDE).  So, if anyone out there can point me in the right direction for learning how to build a custom Android flavor, or how to program in Java/make Apps, I would be much obliged.  More later about my Android based escapades as they happen.<br /><br>Posted via my Moto CliqJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-81831307915748646882010-07-31T05:57:00.001-07:002010-08-13T01:11:12.416-07:00Quick updateSince my last post, not that much has happened. I've installed a SSD in machine; an <u>OCZ</u> Vertex, in the 30 GB variety. That gives my rig these current stats:<br /><br />Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard.<br /><br />Intel Q8400 2.66 GHz proc<br /><br />Asus EAH5850 Radeon 5850 Videocard<br /><br />6 GB 800 Mhz DDR2 ram<br /><br />30 GB OCZ Vertex SSD<br /><br />Various other harddrives I have thrown in.<br /><br />It doesn't do to bad on framerates for Crysis now. I'll post some benchmark numbers soon. I haven't had time to do much lately because of different other life aspects, and my phone. I've had an android based phone for the last couple months, so I've been poking around that. I'll include a longer post on that as well when I can. I realize I've been kind of neglecting to post for a while, but I think I'll post a little more often now on. Till next time!<br /><br /><b></b>Posted via my Moto CliqJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-29265941354965053662010-03-20T03:17:00.001-07:002010-03-20T03:17:23.122-07:00Memory<br>Well, I'm home now.  After getting back, one of the first things I did besides sleep (jetlag sucks, btw) was check my mail.  Sure enough, there was a package there for me.  It was the memory I ordered.<br /><br>Now, for those of you who might not know, RAM is your memory, and the more of it you have in your system, the better.  Well, as you may have read in an earlier post, I only had two Gigs of RAM, due to a speed discrepency I found between some of the sticks I had, it was limiting my overclocking potential for my CPU.  Unfortunately, even after the fix, I was still limited two Gigs of still-not-quite-that-fast RAM.  So I ended up ordering 4 Gigs of 1066 MHz RAM (DDR2).  Now its in my system, and it's better than ever.<br /><br>Next up I have planned an even better upgrade.  I will be going from Win 7 RC to Win 7 Home Preimium.  On a solid state drive!  An OCZ Vertex 30 Gig SSD.  It's only big enough to hold the OS  and maybe one or two programs, but it should improve my initial load time dramatically.  I already have the drive (it's the part I was waiting for in the mail), and now I'm waiting on the OS, which hasn't shipped yet.  I'll post again when I'm ready for the upgrade.<br />Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-64109342512469202432010-03-09T14:42:00.001-08:002010-03-09T14:42:15.555-08:00FinallyI just got the part I ordered today. I can't wait to install it and see what it can do!<br /><br /><br /><br />Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-12009567837414743712010-03-08T13:31:00.000-08:002010-03-08T13:34:49.884-08:00WaitingSo, I've been visiting with some family recently, and before I left I ordered a new part for my computer. Ihad it sent to the address I'm visiting because I figured it would get there sooner. It's still not here. Not cool. I keep checking the tracking number on Newegg, and it's been stuck in the same place for the last 4 days. I ordered it at least 11 days ago. Not cool USPS. Not cool. Leave a comment if you've ever been strung along waiting for a part.<br />Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-2762523738299515292010-02-27T02:54:00.000-08:002010-02-27T05:11:27.814-08:00Back againHey, everyone. It's been awhile since my last post here. I'm going to be posting more regularly from now on. I've got a lot to say about my upgrades (I've been pretty active with it recently), and some others on the way.<br /><br />After moving everything into the new case, and installing a 500W power supply, I got new cables to connect to everything. UV blue cables that glow with the UV lights I installed in the case. After that, things stood still for awhile. Then after about a month, I installed a new motherboard, the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P. It's got tons of options in the BIOS, including bus speed, memory multiplier, and CPU clock multiplier (if it's unlocked). It's probably one of the best socket 775 motherboards available (in DDR2 form). After that, I put a new air cooler on my CPU (nothing to write home about, but it's better than the stock one). For a couple months, nothing changed. I ran at a little over 2GHZ, and was happy with that.<br /><br />Eventually, I realized that the reason I could only OC from 1.8 to 2GHZ was because my memory couldn't handle a bus speed any higher than that. I pulled it out, and now I'm running 800MHZ RAM at 900MHZ. I also pulled out the old processor, a 1.8GHZ Core 2 Duo E4300. I replaced it with a 2.66GHZ Core 2 Quad, and OC'd to 3.6GHZ.<br /><br />Video wise, for some time, I was rocking an NVidia Geforce 7800GTX. I have two, but I could only use one, because the motherboard I have doesn't support SLI (quite possibly it's only drawback). After awhile, I "upgraded" to a 9500GT (I say "upgraded" because, even though it could handle more, Windows actually rated it lower than the 7800GTX). It was around that time that the new ATI cards came out. For Christmas, I ended up getting a Radeon HD5770. It could put out some FPS, that's certain. Using the <a href="http://unigine.com/download/">Unigen Heaven benchmark</a>, I could put out around 36FPS with it. I had wanted to go X Fire with a second one, but that specific video was out of stock everywhere. Instead, I sold the one I had. It was about $160, and buying a second one would have cost around $320. I realized that buying the next model up, the HD5850, would cost about as much, and would only take up two slots on the back of my computer, as opposed to the four slots taken going XFire on two 5770s.<br /><br />Now, we're up to date. Here are the current specs:<br /><br />Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard<br />Intel Q8400 2.66GHZ processor OD'd to 3.6GHZ<br />2GB Kingston 800MHZ RAM OC'd to 900MHZ<br />ATI Radeon HD5850 video card<br />500W Thermaltake PSU<br />320GB, 250GB, 160GB Hard drives<br /><br />and my WEI numbers:<br /><table style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(234, 234, 234); font-weight: bold;" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="125" align="left">Processor</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" align="left">Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="75" align="middle">7.4</td> <td style="background-color: rgb(224, 224, 224);" class="DocText" rowspan="5" valign="bottom" width="100" align="middle"> <table width="100" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="100%"> <tbody> <tr height="100"> <td style="background-image: url("res://C:Windowssystem32winsatapi.dll/PNG/#111"); text-align: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: center center;" valign="center" align="middle"><span class="OverallRating" width="80">5.5</span></td></tr> <tr> <td valign="center" align="middle"> Determined by lowest subscore</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr> <tr xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(234, 234, 234); font-weight: bold;" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="125" align="left">Memory (RAM)</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" align="left">2.00 GB</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(224, 224, 224);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="75" align="middle">5.5</td></tr> <tr xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(234, 234, 234); font-weight: bold;" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="125" align="left">Graphics</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" align="left">ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series </td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="75" align="middle">7.0</td></tr> <tr xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(234, 234, 234); font-weight: bold;" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="125" align="left">Gaming graphics</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" align="left">1783 MB Total available graphics memory</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="75" align="middle">7.0</td></tr> <tr xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(234, 234, 234); font-weight: bold;" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="125" align="left">Primary hard disk</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(240, 240, 240);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" align="left">234GB Free (298GB Total)</td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(255, 255, 255); background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);" class="DocText" valign="bottom" width="75" align="middle">5.7</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Now, as you can see, my memory and HDD scores are significantly lower than the CPU and video scores. These are what my next posts will be about. But first, some more benchmarks. In the Unigen Heaven Benchmark that I mentioned earlier, I can now put out 56FPS (this is with tesselation disabled, as is the 36FPS earlier with the 5770). I also got 3DMark Vantage, and I'm able to put out 13285 Points.<br /><br />Well, that's all I've got for now. Look for my next posts, when I will be putting in some upgrades that I'm very excited about. I'll leave you with some pictures:<br /><br /><img src="file:///D:/pics/computer/P1050156.JPG" alt="" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/S4kYFdHT38I/AAAAAAAAAE8/XmtJJZXFVXU/s1600-h/P1050174.JPG"><img style="border: 2px none; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/S4kYFdHT38I/AAAAAAAAAE8/XmtJJZXFVXU/s320/P1050174.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442908106647658434" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/S4kYEs-wqoI/AAAAAAAAAE0/5tqjZFHgnfI/s1600-h/P1050171.JPG"><img style="border: 2px none; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/S4kYEs-wqoI/AAAAAAAAAE0/5tqjZFHgnfI/s320/P1050171.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442908093726894722" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/S4kYEQgXUlI/AAAAAAAAAEs/JXzJoUbZWaw/s1600-h/P1050161.JPG"><img style="border: 2px none; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/S4kYEQgXUlI/AAAAAAAAAEs/JXzJoUbZWaw/s320/P1050161.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442908086083211858" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/S4kYEJlSuOI/AAAAAAAAAEk/lUEhiYiZ4Eo/s1600-h/P1050156.JPG"><img style="border: 2px none; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/S4kYEJlSuOI/AAAAAAAAAEk/lUEhiYiZ4Eo/s320/P1050156.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442908084224833762" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><img src="file:///D:/pics/computer/P1050156.JPG" alt="" /><img src="file:///D:/pics/computer/P1050156.JPG" alt="" />Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-80162712633383592982009-09-18T04:22:00.000-07:002009-09-18T04:47:50.573-07:00Back on track soon, and a note about LynnfieldI've been away from this blog for quite some time. That's mostly my fault, but soon I should be back to regular posts. In about a week or so, I should have a new (horribly long) post about everything I've done with the computer since the last post. I'm very excited to share it with you!<br /><br />On a side note: I'm also very excited for Intel's release of the Lynnfield version of their Nehalem core architecture. It's supposed to be for "budget" builders, though the only chip with the Lynnfield core that could be considered budget to me is the Core i5 750-which at $200 is actually a midrange price. It's $100 cheaper than the Core i7 920, and is only slightly slower than it's i7 cousin. This might be due to the changes Intel made with the Lynnfield chip.<br /><br />Those changes are why I call the two "cousins." For starters, Lynnfield i7s (which feature the LGA 1156 socket type) are incompatible with parts made for Bloomfield i7s (which are LGA 1366), which were the first Core i7s to be released. Other changes include taking PCIe control away from the Northbridge and switching back to dual channel DDR3 support from tri-channel (Intel says this is because most people don't need the bandwidth provided by three channels of RAM.)<br /><br />If your curious to get the whole scoop, and see why the i5 is slower than the i7 920, as well as the problem with LGA 1156, go <a href="http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/core_i5">here</a> to learn more. That is an excellent Maximum PC article that breaks it all down. That article is also where I got my info from (thanks MPC!).<br /><br />But I digress. See you later!Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-4311046481607858972009-06-13T10:22:00.000-07:002009-09-18T04:22:31.109-07:00Sound and light.About a week ago, a problem on my computer became apparent to me. It had no sound. For some reason or other Windows 7RC couldn't see my sound device (the sound chip on my mobo). I went to the manufacturer's website, downloaded the most up to date driver, and installed it. That did absolutely nothing. While thinking about what I could do, I remembered a sound card I got from a bricked computer I had bought earlier. It is a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. It's by no means the best sound card out there, but it should at least fix my problem of no sound at all. Here's<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPk1hbq-hI/AAAAAAAAACY/qEQwMSQ8C_s/s1600-h/P1040121.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPk1hbq-hI/AAAAAAAAACY/qEQwMSQ8C_s/s320/P1040121.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346868790777543186" border="0" /></a> a pic of it.<br /><br />I tried to keep the same functionality the board had with the case, so I tried to find the connectors for the ports to plug in to the card. It might or might not have worked; I have yet to try it. Anyways, the install- besides hunting down the right connectors on a commercial board with no actual labeling-went well. I had to remove the video card so I could get my hand in there and maneuver around, but it went back in just fine. Now I have sound again. It's on the 2006 Windows driver, and I'm downloading Creative's driver for it as I write. It's actually installing now. Anyways, on to the next mod.<br /><br />I bought a case today. It's just a mid tower, but it's much more spacious than the commercial case everything is in now, so I'm happy. It's a Raidmax Sagitta. It has a clear side panel, 7 expansion card slots, 5 5.25" drive bays, 2 3.5" external drive bays, and 3 3.5" internal drive bays. It's also got a tooless construction, for easy part installation. The fans also light up, and I might install some lighting of my own on the inside. Unfortunately, that's kind of a teaser, because I will not be swapping everything until after I move, in about a week and a half. You'll know all about it when I do though. If you have any tips or suggestions, feel free to leave them as a comment. Now for some eye candy:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPrPjb0NhI/AAAAAAAAACg/eLyfG9dMV8E/s1600-h/P1040133.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPrPjb0NhI/AAAAAAAAACg/eLyfG9dMV8E/s200/P1040133.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346875835061384722" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPs2rZ8PMI/AAAAAAAAADg/7VW6e0fPyAs/s1600-h/P1040137.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPs2rZ8PMI/AAAAAAAAADg/7VW6e0fPyAs/s200/P1040137.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346877606727531714" border="0" /></a>Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-28707453383822358582009-06-11T02:31:00.000-07:002009-06-13T11:27:40.099-07:00A peek inside.In my first post, I mentioned that I had already made a change to my computer's makeup. About last week, when I had this idea, I already had a few spare parts on hand. Nothing phenominal, mind you, but it was a start. I had two one gig sticks of DDR2 RAM, and a video card. An nVidia 7800GTX 512MB, to be exact. See the picture below. Even better, I had two of them. So, here goes the upgrade.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjDVIZh6qkI/AAAAAAAAACQ/D8-N7PuhauQ/s1600-h/P1040117.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjDVIZh6qkI/AAAAAAAAACQ/D8-N7PuhauQ/s320/P1040117.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346007097957591618" border="0" /></a><br /><br />To get started, I took my PC from it's normal position, detached all it's cables, and moved it to a table. After removing the side panel, I was disappointed. The mobo only had one PCIe 2.0 slot! Fine. I'll only go with one card. But then came the next surprise; there weren't any PCIe power connectors on the power supply, and there weren't enough 4 pin molex connectors to make one! So, I was apparently stuck there. I installed the RAM, and in the meantime, had an idea. I had a spare power supply in the other room that did have a connector. I'd just change them out, and I'd be good.<br /><br />So, I disconnected all my connectors, unscrewed the power supply, and realized another thing about this rig; the CPU fan rests directly below the power supply. After removing the CPU fan, I was able to pull the PSU out easily. I put the new one in, reconnected everything, screwed the fan back on, and -the point of all this- installed the video card. The bios picked everything right up, and so did Windows 7. All I got from it was a nifty little popup box that said I needed to restart for these changes to take effect. OK.<br /><br />Now it all runs smooth. I'm even running two 15" monitors now, thanks to dual DVI outputs. All these are temporary measures, though, until I can buy better upgrades. My next objective after this is to move everything into a bigger box, so it will all fit (after realizing that the case everything is in now is DEFINATELY not enough). Hopefully I'll post about that in the next month. There will be other posts in between though, so don't be disappointed. I'll also post pics of what it looks like inside my rig soon. By the way, if anyone has tips for my upcomming mod, please share them in a comment. Until next time.<br /><br />EDIT: Here are the pics inside I promised;<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPuf1vNHRI/AAAAAAAAADo/OpxZ5P4Zh6o/s1600-h/P1040129.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPuf1vNHRI/AAAAAAAAADo/OpxZ5P4Zh6o/s320/P1040129.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346879413387336978" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPutomBzjI/AAAAAAAAAD4/Lpw-bH4nYbU/s1600-h/P1040132.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPutomBzjI/AAAAAAAAAD4/Lpw-bH4nYbU/s320/P1040132.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346879650377354802" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPvNXqP_-I/AAAAAAAAAEA/kZl48w78qds/s1600-h/P1040131.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_MUlxyXVn6GU/SjPvNXqP_-I/AAAAAAAAAEA/kZl48w78qds/s320/P1040131.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346880195587473378" border="0" /></a><br />Pretty cramped, eh?Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4306656169828597159.post-14682142386659375742009-06-10T12:21:00.000-07:002009-06-10T14:34:26.328-07:00The beginning.It all started with Myspace.<br /><br />Until then, I hadn't been very interested in computers. Then one day, I saw some "custom" accounts, and I researched how to do it by hand myself. Several markup and scripting languages later, I discovered the wonder that is building a computer by hand. I had always known it could be done, but until this point in my life, it hadn't interested me. But now I knew how to do it, so I <b>had</b> to do it. Just one problem.<br /><br />Money.<br /><br />I don't have enough in my meager piggy bank to buy all this stuff at once! That is extremely frustrating. More so since what I'm currently working with isn't that great. Here was my initial setup:<br /><br />Gateway GT5408<br />-1GB DDR2 RAM@500MHz<br />-320GB HDD (don't know the spindle speed for sure, but I'm betting it's 5400)<br />-Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHz proc<br />-Integrated video/sound<br />-15" LCD monitor<br />-PSU unknown wattage<br />-Generic DVD burner<br />-Generic mobo.<br />-Media card reader.<br />-Windows 7RC<br /><br />This inspired me. I've read about upgrade creeps (upgrading your PC piece by piece) before in PC magazines, and I had a thought, "I can do that with my current PC!" This would allow me to have a fully functional PC between upgrades (I hope), and only get what I can afford. Perfect.<br /><br />Then I had another shock of brilliance. I would post the entire process in a blog, along with other PC related posts. This might potentially help other people in the future, and it might attract some helpful people that want to give me some tips. So here it is.<br /><br />I've already done one upgrade, which I'll post about soon, and hopefully there will be more to come. In the mean time between them, I'll hope to keep you entertained with my blathering about other computer related items. That's all I have for now, though. Keep watching, and I'll post again soon.Joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09368048235356021923noreply@blogger.com0