illusionofjoy: (Default)

On average I've been putting in applications for three to seven jobs per week. I dig through postings and if there is something I'm qualified for which pays my minimum salary requirement, I'll send in my resume and a cover letter. To date, no potential employers have realised that I could be doing incredible things for their business. Their loss...

I've already decided that once I do become employed again, assuming that the cash isn't too tight, I'm going to reward myself with a new computer. Granted, it's getting to the point where I actually need a new machine, but suffice it to say that circumstances force me to continue squeezing life out of the old XP build.

Here's the stuff:

PartBrand & ModelPrice*
MotherboardAsus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3$209.99
RAMG. Skill 32GB F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL$324.99
CPUIntel 3.4GHz Quad-core i7-2600k w/ fan BX80623I72600K$319.99
Hard DriveCorsair 180GB SSD CSSD-F180GB3-BK$249.99
DVD/CD driveAsus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS$19.99
Video CardSapphire Radeon HD 6670 100326DDR3L$79.99
Power SupplyRaidmax 630 Watt RX-630SS$49.99
CaseThermaltake V4 Black Edition ATX Mid-Tower VM30001W2Z$49.99
FansScythe 120x12mm slipstream case fan SY1212SL12H$12.99 (qty.: 3)
FansScythe 120x25mm slipstream case fan SY1225SL12SL$13.99
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit FQC-04649$139.99
Wifi CardAsus PCE-N15$27.99
Keyboard & MouseLogitech MK120$20.99

Total:

$1,507.88

*as of Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 from newegg.com

Not much has changed since the last time I posted on this subject. The biggest change is that I've decided to eschew using a mechanical drive for my boot disc, opting for a newer solid state drive. While they are costly when measured by how much storage one gets per dollar, they are also quite a bit faster than the old style of hard drive. Since I'd only be using the thing to hold Windows 7 and whatever software I opted to install, a 2TB drive wasn't exactly necessary (especially as I'll be putting the XP machines two 1TB SATA drives into the new machine).

Not long ago I found an article on creating a dual boot XP installation. The reasoning behind this is that if one has two copies of XP installed, one can be the general purpose operating system while the other can be the clean, streamlined version dedicated to the digital audio workstation. Naturally, I think this is a good idea and I'd like to partition the SSD for a dual boot Windows 7 installation. In theory it shouldn't be much different in application than an XP dual boot, however if anyone has installed a Windows 7 dual boot, they've yet to write about it online. I've found plenty of tutorials on how to install Windows along side Linux or any numerous other operating systems. I'll probably just have to try it out myself and see what happens.

illusionofjoy: (Default)

After the recent scare with my old XP machine, more and more my thoughts have drifted towards building a new computer. There is nothing wrong per se with my old machine save for it being old - and computers, like people, tend to slow down and develop unexpected quirks with age. More importantly, this computer has reached the its limit in regard to upgradability. Some examples:

  • On their website, Microsoft told me point blank not to bother even trying to install Windows 7 on my current machine
  • My motherboard only includes two SATA HDD ports; both are being used
  • My motherboard is only upgradable to 4GB RAM
  • The 2.8GHz dual-core CPU I've got is as good as it can handle
  • The video card being used is plugged into a now obsolete AGP slot
  • New video cards generally use PCI-express, speaking of which...
  • My motherboard has none of those; it does have five PCI slots though

So, I've compiled a wishlist of parts to build a new computer with and filed it under "things to reward myself with once I have a steady income again." Along with the two 1TB SATA drives and Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS which I plan to cannibalise from my current PC, here's my initial wishlist for a new build:

PartBrand & Model NumberPrice*
MotherboardAsus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 $209.99
RAMG. Skill 16GB F3-17000CL11Q-16GBXL $169.99
CPUIntel 3.3GHz Quad-core w/ fan BX80623I52500K $224.99
Hard DriveWestern Digital 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s WD20EARX $199.99
CD/DVD driveAsus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS $19.99
Video CardSapphire Radeon HD 5670 100289-2L $89.99
Power SupplyApevia 500W ATX-CW500WP4 $39.99
CaseAntec Black ATX Mid-tower Three Hundred $54.99
Fans (2)Scythe 120mm slipstream case fan SY1225SL12SL $19.98
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit FQC-04649 $139.99
Wifi CardAsus PCE-N15 $29.99
Keyboard & MouseLogitech MK120 $20.99

Total:

$1,220.87

*as of Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 from Newegg.com

No doubt these specs will change with time, technological advances and market adjustments (the prices of hard drives and RAM sticks are particularly inflated right now). In any case, what I have listed above is pretty much what I would purchase if I were to do it right now.

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Seth Warren

May 2025

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