Comrades!
Hello again, fellow workers! (For the record, I’d planned to make regular posts, but the campaign and the election resulted in me being so fucking angry, I didn’t bother.)
So let me geek out a little bit here, and explain a few things before we continue.
I love anime. (You likely already know this.)
I highly enjoy building computers. (You may or may not have known this.)
I combine the two by building systems and assigning each system a project code name, which is usually a (female) anime character’s name. (You likely never wanted to know this.)
In ‘general’ order of conception:
- Shampoo
- Sarah
- Alix
- Chii
- Ikaros
Two of those are not like the others (well, I guess Shampoo doesn’t sound like it is, but it is). I am aware. That’s because Sarah and Alix were not custom-built. Sarah was an HP laptop my mother bought for me and Alix was an all-in-one I used after Shampoo bit the dust but was in a monetary crunch.
Don’t ask me the specs on any of those systems except for Ikaros. I don’t remember. As for Ikaros, well here’s how she’s currently set up:
IKAROS // Protagonist – Heaven’s Lost Property
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3 GHz Dual‑Core Processor
8GB DDR2 RAM
Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 (2GB VRAM)
225GB SSD, 465GB SATA
550W PSU
Pinkie Pie Sticker
When it comes to building computer systems, I have become very similar to the communists as I develop a Five-Year Plan. The goal of that plan is both simple, and two-fold.
- Build a system that will meet or exceed the ‘recommended specifications‘ on any game or program I am interested in running for at least the next five years.
- Build a system that will require minimum maintenance for those five years.
The second step is easy. Anti-virus, preventative maintenance (defrag a day keeps the doctor away! (No, I don’t defrag daily.)). You get the idea, though. A healthy dose of anti-spyware, keeping an eye on disk space, not downloading things you shouldn’t, and looking at pornography cute kittens in incognito mode will keep your system running as smooth as a porn star otter.
I started work on Ikaros in late 2010 after my power supply literally exploded in my face. It’s nearly 2017 and Ikaros has exceeded expectations. Thanks to help from my very smart friends in EVE Online, I was a bit more forward-thinking when it came to the system and got a processor that could handle games and programs and the tech they would be able to use for many years. I did have to upgrade memory at one point (going from 4GB to 8GB – 4X 2GB sticks). As well, I got a video card from a Stimulus member (my corp in EVE Online) and eventually upgraded it to a 2GB VRAM card from 1GB.
The only issue I have had, generally, is with disk space. I have a 1TB USB drive for various things that I care to download and store, but the working drives are both becoming overcrowded. Even though I should not be installing anything but the OS on the SSD (which, by the way, results in Ikaros going from POST to ‘ready to play!’ in about 30 seconds), I do.
I am also starting to see some bottle-necking with the CPU and while I can run most games on high visual settings, I want to run them on the highest.
This brings us to the present.
All plans require planning. I had some money for a move to Memphis that never happened, so I figured I could use some of that to buy some components, and buy the rest over a couple of months. However, even I am occasionally struck by a bout of luck. My lease was up, but I didn’t bother to look for a new place (and the one place I would like to live has a waiting list), and my apartments said “Hey! Renew 12 months and we’ll give you December free!”
Well, okay, I replied. So now I have $600 for buying parts. So I’ve bought the majority of the system now while I could save about $150 via Cyber Monday stuff and some rebates.
As for the system, I was going to go with a quad-core i5, but something else caught my eye. Saw a lot of positive reviews, and it was suited for my goals (having a system that will meet or exceed the recommended 5 years from now). An 8-core AMD. I’ve had an AMD processor before and it seemed fine. Plus, since I am considering playing with over-clocking on this one, it’ll be better for me to break a $130 processor rather than a $250 processor.
I also ordered a pretty cool liquid cooling system. Never dealt with one before, but it’s all self-contained so I don’t have to worry about breaking shit by forgetting to water the computer.
At the end of the day, (by which I mean today,) the only thing I have not ordered yet is the OS, the RAM, and I think the SSD. So, here’s the preliminary information on the rig of the future. Miku.
MIKU // Fictional Vocaloid Personality (Name means ‘future’*)
AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0 GHz (4.2 GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+
(PENDING) 32GB G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
(PARTIAL PENDING) 2X EVGA GeForce GTX 950 02G-P4-2958-KR 2GB (SLI to 4GB total)
Either 225GB or 500GB SSD (Decision Pending); 2TB SATA HDD (another one likely; 4.5TB total)
850W PSU
LIQUID COOLING OMG AWESOME!!!!
A sticker, like on Ikaros, that no grown man should have without some kind of ‘certification’ from the state.
The tower and the motherboard are pretty awesome as well. The MB has fucking LEDs that light up, pulse with the beat of your music and change colors. I may actually buy some slightly more expensive RAM that also lights up. I can’t wait to get everything put together. The total cost for this system will be right around $1,100 – $1,200. Probably more in the long run as I will probably buy an ultra-wide monitor sometime in the near future.
So, long story short, if you were expecting a Christmas present from me this year, well, I don’t know why. I don’t celebrate Christmas and have not gotten anyone anything since I was like nine. I might consider this my Christmas present to you all since a new computer will keep me off the streets and out of trouble. Need to start smacking these idiot Trumpets around who can’t draw a proper swastika.
As for Ikaros, well, I think she’ll retire to a quiet corner and be active as a file server. That way when the police or my mother shows up, there’s only one object to chuck into the pond downstairs.
I’ll try and post again soon! Start hitting F5 nao!!!
*According to her Wikipedia entry, which I have no reason to nor desire to fact check. Take that, society.
