hardware

nested RAID level 0+0 – ultimate performance?

January 6, 2011

I briefly considered RAID for storage in my new system, but realized that RAID is basically useless as a backup mechanism. Others have made the basic case for why RAID sucks as backup better than I can; I went ahead and ordered a new Caviar Black with the 6 Gb/sec interface as my main drive, [...]

Read the full article →

CES 2011: Waiting for Alienware M13x :)

January 5, 2011

Remember my earlier laptop angst? Well, I’m not exactly bowled over by the new Thinkpads just announced at CES, and the logic that we are unlikely to see a M11x R3 refresh this soon after the R2 refresh just a few months ago is pretty compelling (per this long thread at the NBReview forums). Plus, [...]

Read the full article →

Static concerns and UPS power protection for an enthusiast PC

January 5, 2011

My case is too large for my desk, so it went on the floor. A carpeted floor, that is, which means that my arm hairs are perpetually on edge as my arms rest on my desk (actually, a plastic table, which makes it worse. I’ll replace that soon with a proper metal and wood desk [...]

Read the full article →

building for the future

December 22, 2010

If you’re following my PC build saga, you’ll know that I was torn between trying to exploit old hardware for cheaper or splurge on new components. I think I’ve decided the latter route and focused on what my major uses are going to be: scientific computing (so, need lots of ram), and WoW Cataclysm (so, [...]

Read the full article →

thinking about Thinkpad, seduced by Alienware

December 1, 2010

I’m waiting for my aging Thinkpad T42 to be delivered today from repair – it had the same fan error as last time, and fortuitously chose the day before my 3-year warranty expired to conk out. My desktop PC replacement saga aside, I need to think seriously about what my next laptop will be – [...]

Read the full article →

new PC build

July 23, 2010

I think we badly need another PC in the house. Of course this is sort of a strange statement given that we presently have a Dell 800 and Thinkpad 42 (laptops), an EEE 701 and a Dell Mini 10v (netbooks), the current kids/gaming rig (whose evolution I described in detail here) and an aging Dell [...]

Read the full article →

The Grand Tour

June 10, 2009

my 30-day introductory membership to WoW expired today, but I haven’t yet renewed. I am resolving to finish my PC upgrade first. Unfortunately I neglected to order some thermal paste… so should I just build the PC anyway or do I delay it (and WoW, accordingly) to obtain some? I’ll have to order it from [...]

Read the full article →

hardware update

May 22, 2009

I’ve taken the plunge, and ordered the ASRock mobo I mentioned earlier, as well as a Dual Core chip (E7400). I went with the E7400 instead of an E5200 (about $40 cheaper) or an E8400 ($50 more expensive) because it was matched to the FSB speed of the mobo, at 1066 MHz. The board does [...]

Read the full article →

system rebuild, need mobo advice

May 6, 2009

my upgrade of the kids’ pc went well – especially since the older kids PC started working again too, so now I have two extra PCs. I am going to take over the newer system (newer being a highly relative term) and want to upgrade it even further. Earlier I just added an AG video [...]

Read the full article →

oh, all right

April 14, 2009

My daughter’s first PC is an old Dell that, when new, was pre-installed with Windows Me. It’s got a Socket 370 motherboard, probably some aging celeron inside. I’ve upgraded its RAM and stuck my valid license of W2K on it. A few weeks ago, it mysteriously stopped working, so I took another old PC from [...]

Read the full article →

Next Entries →