PC Build 2012, Part II: Built & Running

So, in my last entry I promised that I would update soon. This isn't really soon, more like a couple weeks later, but I am updating nonetheless.

The build went great with only minor hiccups. As I told one of my friends, it was less fun than I thought it would be but it was definitely more rewarding.

Now that I have been using the PC for a couple weeks I can say that I couldn't be happier with it. I did add two extra items since the last entry -- a Zalman 9900 MAX CPU cooler and a 2tb Western Digital 72,000RPM HDD -- so I ought to make an updated PC spec list. I also overclocked the CPU from 3.4ghz to 4.4ghz.

Anyway, I want to keep this entry short. More soon, I hope!

PC Build 2012, Part I: My PC Past & the Components

I have been a PC gamer my whole life. The PC is where I started gaming and with the exception of a few years in the mid-2000s when the only modern computer I had was an iMac G5 for my video editing classes, I have primarily been a PC gamer.

In 2009 I purchased a MacBook Pro and a copy of Windows XP so that I could start PC gaming again. I found that it was not as powerful as I had hoped when I tried playing new games, such as Modern Warfare 2, but it could play fairly recent games just fine. Really, all this did was whet my appetite for a true PC so in early 2011 I bought a nice one of Gateway's FX gaming PCs. So far I have been quite happy with it, the only real weakness being the mid-range AMD Radeon HD 6770 graphics card, which I recently addressed by putting in an EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified ULTRA with 3072MB of vRAM. With this new graphics card, the PC has no problems playing even the most demanding of games, like Battlefield 3 and Crysis 2, on their highest settings at a resolution of 1920x1080.

I am happy with my current PC, so why am I building a new one? For work. Well, my dad and I are trying to grow my current video editing job into something larger. To do that he wanted a nice PC for us both to work on. We made a deal, he buys my PC with its original HD 6770 graphics card and I will build a new PC of my own. So, now that I have had a couple years back in the PC scene I am now comfortable building one for myself. Here are the components I have chosen:


Case -- COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced Blue Edition
CPU -- Intel Core i7-2600K
Motherboard -- ASUS P8Z68-V Pro GEN3 Z68
Graphics Card -- EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified ULTRA 3072MB
RAM -- 16GB G.SKILL Ripjaws (4 x 4GB)
HDD -- Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB 10,000 RPM
HDD -- Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB 10,000 RPM
Optical Drive -- ASUS 24X DVD Burner
Wireless Card -- Rosewill Wireless Adapter (if Ethernet unavailable)
Power Supply -- Rosewill 1,000W PSU
OS -- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

The FX which I had been using and just sold to dad is nice, but this build of mine is really nice. I will update this journal with the progress of the build, currently all of the parts are in the mail.

Writing again

Lately I have been writing more than I have in quite some time. Albeit not in this journal or any other place online, but in my oldfashioned notebooks. Mostly pieces of stories, some ideas, and some thoughts. I may post some of it here eventually, but none of it really seems fit for this journal so I may just post random stuff here to stave off website abandonment.

It is nice to be writing again. It is also nice to find inspiration again.

Scribbling and Skyrim

I am writing more now than I have in a long time. No stories are fully forming but it's nice to at least be somewhat productive. If I keep thinking of ideas for different stories, I will have to force myself to concentrate on one eventually or else I will not get anywhere. But, for the time being, it is nice to feel the flow of creativity again so I will just see where this takes me for a little while.

Also, Skyrim is amazing. Seriously. It will likely end up as one of my favourite games, ever. Ever! Which really isn't a surprise as Oblivion is one of my favourite games. Gahh.. why am I still typing? I should be playing more Skyrim! *launches Steam* Baiii!

OMG OMG OMG SKYRIM COMES OUT TOMORROW

As if I wasn't hyped enough, Alec Meer from RPS says, "Not only is Skyrim, for my money, the game of the year, but… oh this is hard. Very hard. I’m sorry Morrowind – I love you, but I don’t need you anymore. I think, at last, there is a new Best Elder Scrolls Ever."

Vox Nova

The tragedy is not that she tread on my heart as she left but that my voice was still fastened around her neck.

Old Man Internet

The internet has been around for a while now, or at least long enough for me to feel old when stumbling upon some things I first saw long ago and I kinda love that. I will post some of these over time just for fun. So here's the first good oldie:

Badgers!

QotD

3:21 PM - Ells: HAMMERHEADS
3:21 PM - Ells: STING RAYS
3:21 PM - Ells: I DONT UNDERSTAND THIS SYMBOLISM
3:21 PM - Ells: AND IM AN ARTIST