The Pilgrimage

It’s amazing how much clarity a few days can bring. Since I wrote the last few posts*, I finally got up the courage to go out to Micro Center and spend enormous gobs of money on fancy toys and hardware. More accurately, I went and bought stuff before I had a chance to psych myself out. Again.

So long story short, I finally got to make my long-anticipated pilgrimage to Micro Center to buy my parts to build my new computer. And it was awesome.

Sure, I’ve shopped at Micro Center before; it’s such an awesome store, how could you not? But I know better than to shop there too often, since it’s far too easy to buy much more than you intend to. And I had only been there in the past for little things, like a cheap keyboard or a housing for an old hard drive. I had never really invested into things. But doing so, being able to walk out the door with the myriad pieces required to build a completely new computing platform with my own bare hands.

I’m a little excited, can’t you tell?

How did I go about making my final decisions? Well, I basically thought and worried and went back and forth until I was annoyed enough with myself, then I went out and did something drastic before I could change my mind. My girlfriend was nice enough to humor me as I wandered the store; I really only got hung up on my choice of cases. They didn’t have the exact one I wanted (with a side window), so I made the mistake of looking at other options while in the store. I know, I know, I should really know better than that. But apparently I don’t, because I spent far too much time going back and forth about things before eventually settling on the non-windowed version of the case I had come in looking for.

What’s that, you say? You want to know what I ended up getting? Well, feast your eyes on the obligatory pre-assembly box photo!

The complete haul.

The complete haul.

As for specs, this is what I ended up going with:

  • CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K

  • CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

  • Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97-SLI

  • RAM: 8 GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600

  • SSD: 128 GB Sandisk

  • Hard Drive: 2 TB Western Digital Black

  • Video Card: MSI Geforce GTX 970 OC

  • Case: Corsair Carbide 300R

  • Power Supply: EVGA 600B

  • DVD Drive: LG DVD Burner

  • WiFi: Tenda W332P PCI card

  • Fans: 2 included w/ case; Corsair SP120 Green (because my girlfriend loves me and I apparently amuse her)

I haven’t had a chance to start assembling things yet, but I did get all my available rebates off in the mail and am just waiting for a long enough stretch of time where I can start tinkering. I plan to write about the process, and may even go into why I chose the parts I did if I remember (TLDR: they were low price but good quality, and in stock).

Squee!

* It may seem fairly sudden, but the last two posts were written on Friday, and this one was written on Monday. Yay, New Year buffer!

Bells And Whistles

One decision I’m facing when it comes to my impending computer build (no really, it’s happening!) is balancing budget with upgradeablility. I tend to approach computer purchases as investments; I’m willing to spend a bit more money up front so that they’ll remain usable for longer. Case in point: my current laptop cost me $1500 when I bought it in 2008, but it’s been going strong for just under 6.5 years. My previous laptop cost me $3000 back in 2002 (my family sold the piano no one was using to help cover the costs), but I used that fairly regularly for nearly seven years; in fact, I wouldn’t have upgraded when I did if I hadn’t decided to go back to grad school.

And while there was a stopgap surplus desktop in between the two, both of my big personal computers have been laptops, which as a platform are not known for their expansion options. With desktops, you at least have the option of somewhat rolling updates: a graphics card here, more RAM there, maybe even a new processor down the line. So I really want to take advantage of that possibility.

I’ve also chosen to limit myself to around $1000 for this build. The problem I now find myself facing is that while I can definitely stay under that budget, if I want a better choice of expandability options that tends to push me over. And honestly, some of the features are ones I might not even use right away.

The two big ones I’ve come across are overclocking and SLI. Overclocking allows you to artificially speed up your computer’s processor beyond the manufacturer’s rated spec. It strikes me as not only a good way to add some longevity to a build, but also a fun way to tinker with the insides of my PC. Of course, “unlocked” Intel processors (those that allow easy overclocking) are more expensive. SLI involves connecting two (or more) graphics cards, allowing for better game performance, especially at ultra-high resolutions. This of course involves purchasing multiple graphics cards (they have to be identical), but also requires having a compatible motherboard, which of course adds to the cost.

So that’s kind of where I am: the enthusiast part of me wants cool and awesome features, while the frugal part of me wants to avoid spending money on features I’m not going to use. But by spending that money now, I might have more upgrade options down the line, saving me money in the long run.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to completely future-proof my build. That’s impossible; I could spend $4000 and still need to upgrade in three years. No, what I want is to have a build that is “future-ready,” one that doesn’t leave me wishing I had spent just a little more money at this point.

Overthinkers Anonymous

Well, I’ve reached a new milestone in my PC-building adventure: I am officially Thinking Too Much!

I tend to do this a lot, and have basically accepted it as a natural part of my decision-making process. Sure, it may not be the most efficient method, but I can’t seem to break the habit so I might as well just own it.

The way it tends to work is this: I’ll start my research, casting as wide a net as possible and basically poring over any source even remotely relevant to my subject. In regards to building a PC, this has involved sources such as Reddit, PCPartPicker, and professional review sites. And let me tell you, there’s a lot of information out there (a lot in the form of acronyms, but that’s beside the point). Almost too much.

Of course, the more research I do, the more I realize I don’t know, and the more variables I start to consider. Throw my ever-present frugality into the mix, and it gets really hard to make a decision. “Is this motherboard better? But this one’s on sale. And this other one looks perfect, but is currently out of stock…”

That’s the great thing about shopping and planning: anything is possible until you actually start spending money. And I’m at the point where I should probably start spending money, otherwise I’ll keep thinking myself in circles and it’ll be another year before I actually get around to building my new computer. And by that point, all my knowledge will be outdated and the whole cycle will start over.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m starting to realize there’s never going to be a “perfect” time time make a decision, or a “perfect” suite of hardware. I’m going to have to make compromises and pull things kicking and screaming out of the realm of theory and into messy reality.

When is that going to happen? I don’t know. But I think I’ll wait a couple days to see if Micro Center gets any motherboards back in stock before I pull the trigger.

Artemis Post-Mortem

So for New Year’s Eve this year, we decided to throw a party. This was odd enough in and of itself, since I’ve never really lived in an apartment that was big enough to “entertain” in, but my girlfriend was amenable to the idea so I figured we’d try it. Of course, when I say “party,” I don’t mean the “everyone get drunk and rock out to loud music” type. Or even the “sip wine while appreciating art and the finer things in life.” No, I mean more of a “LAN party with a bunch of nerds.”

That is to say, we had over 25 people over to our 1,200-square-foot apartment for a rousing game of Artemis. And it was awesome.

I honestly wasn’t sure if we could comfortably fit that many people in our place. But we did, and managed to set up three complete bridge crews. One of my friends even brought their 50” TV to use! We ended up having a team in the downstairs rec room, a team in the living room, and a team in my office (which was about half the size of the other rooms). My other worry was having enough computers to go around, but once again my friends came through: not only was there enough tech to go around, we had enough extra that we could continue to run multiple ships even after people began to head home for the night.

Of course, wrangling that many computers and new players was a mite stressful. I spent most of the first hour and a half running around like a madman, making sure people had space and the requisite connections. But eventually things reached enough critical mass that they started to basically run themselves. I even had a chance to sit down a play a few sessions myself!

The night wasn’t without its hiccups. We ended up having a choke point in the kitchen, where people somehow chose one of the smallest rooms in the place to hang out in (of course, the food being there may have had something to do with it). If I had to do it again (and I’d like to), I’d probably put a crew in the master bedroom rather than the living room, and keep the latter free for congregating, consuming, and chatting.

But overall, flying around virtual space, defeating enemies, and “accidentally” nuking allies was a great way to ring in the new year. Everyone seemed to have a good time (even the few non-gamers who showed up), and we successfully managed to not trip any electrical breakers (despite trying our best with multiple computers, crock pots, and nearly all the lights in the apartment). That all being said, it left me fairly drained; it took us the better part of a week to get ready, and it was pretty much go-go-go from 7pm until we kicked everyone out around 2am. And while I’d like to do it again, maybe not right away. But it was a great time, and I can only hope that everyone who participated had a good time as well.

Happy New Year!

Artemis Prep

No post today, obviously.  It’s 11h30 on Monday night, and I’m still tinkering at my desk trying to get things ready for our New Year’s Eve party.  Since our last session with Artemis went so well, we decided to do it again!  And from the sound of things, we’re probably going to have enough to run multiple ships!  That is, of course, assuming our tech infrastructure holds up, to say nothing of being able to fit that many people in our apartment.  But we’ve spent a good portion of the past few days cleaning, and I spent most of my night playing with joystick setups and reinstalling the OS on my old desktop.  If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be pretty much ready by tomorrow night.  But given how things always take longer than expected, I’m not sure I’ll be able to post much over the next few days.  So this is my cop-out post, so I don’t feel as bad skipping out on writing.  I just think I’m going to need the time to make sure everything is in order.

It’s gonna be awesome.

Happy Holiday Eve

Well, the winter holiday season is starting to draw to a close. Just a few more days left, and we’ll be well on our way to the new year. I don’t have much to say right now; I know my posts recently have been a bit on the griping side, so I think I’ll keep whatever thoughts I have on the matter (not many, at this point) to myself for right now. Night is falling, the apartment is clean, and it’s almost time to get ready to visit with family. I’ve still got enough time I should be able to write something thoughtful in a card or two, so I’m going to do just that.

So Happy Holidays, everyone. No matter what you celebrate. Even nothing: we can all take solace in the fact that the days are going to start getting longer.

Axial Tilt is the reason for the season

via Bad Astronomy

Money For People

Somehow, I’ve ended up with a lot of anxiety surrounding holidays and gifts. And it’s clearly not just me. A huge portion of this stems, at least for me, from financial considerations. And I know that sounds bad, but it’s true. I’ve spent a good number of years recently on a very tight budget, both during grad school and while working as Costco, so my natural tendency towards frugality has been reinforced and overdeveloped. And of course, me being who I am, I feel bad about that. I feel bad that I feel obligated to spend money I’m not used to having on my friends and family, and then I feel bad that I feel bad. There’s really no way to win.

Too much about gift exchanges these days seems so transactional. Sure, there’s the chance of the awesome moment when you manage to surprise someone with something they really want or that holds some personal meaning, but far too often it seems to devolve into a rote exchange:

“Here you go, [FAMILIAL RELATION], here is a gift card to [STORE YOU LIKE].”
“Thank you, [FAMILIAL RELATION], here is a card of equal value to [DIFFERENT STORE].”
“This transaction has been emotionally pleasing.”
“Yes, I am truly a better [CLEARLY BIOLOGICAL ENTITY] for having experienced it. Let us go give a [TOKEN OF APPRECIATION] to our [SHARED FAMILIAL RELATION.”
AFFIRMATIVE.”

And of course, I’m just selfish enough that I still enjoy getting gifts. But I’m nice enough that I don’t like not reciprocating gift-giving. But that makes it feel too much like a transaction, which…

You get the idea.

In an odd occurrence, I find myself envious of such a lowly scumbag as George Costanza, with his Human Fund scheme. All the good feeling of giving a gift, without the actual investment! But more seriously, I wish there was a way we could all agree to avoid the stress of choosing and giving gifts. Like if the act of saying “My gift to you is freedom from the stress of having to get me a gift.” could be seen as complimentary and not a cheapskate move. Of course, this scheme falls apart if the other person has already gotten you a gift. Then you look like a Costanza.

Impending Festivities

It’s late, I’m tired, so there’s not much of a post today.  Although the good news is I pretty much got my Christmas shopping done.  Days before the deadline, even!  So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go enjoy what’s left of my night off before the Yuletide Gauntlet finishes closing around me.

Finally Friday

Not much to say today. It was a long week, and I’ve still got a lot to do before the weekend finishes. I’m tired, overwhelmed, and ready to be done. So, you know, the usual state for a working schlub.

But hey! I did get a chance to stop by Micro Center this afternoon. They’re especially crowded this time of year; apparently remote-control drones and helicopters are big right now. I primarily went in to look, mostly at tower cases. It’s hard to get a sense of scale from Internet pics, and while there selection wasn’t great (black, black, more black, and oh yeah, some white), at least I have a better idea what scale of hulking monstrosity I’m likely to end up with.

I didn’t make it out completely unscathed, of course. I ended up, mostly on a whim, picking up a tube of thermal paste. My laptop’s been running fairly hot lately, so much so that it actually shut down without warning while on battery power within the last week or so. I figure that refreshing the thermal paste probably couldn’t hurt, and it’ll be good practice for when I have to install the cooler on my own build.

That’s all I’ve got. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go be a manly man and finish sewing my undertunic for this weekend.

Getting To The Big Questions

Yesterday’s post felt awfully whiny, and for that I apologize. I guess it’s just hard for me to get into “the Christmas Spirit” (whatever that means) these days. Most holidays don’t seem to faze me, to be honest. Sure, I’m thankful for the day off or whatever, but everything else just strikes me as blasé. Maybe it’s because I don’t really have a strong sense of time; one day feels like the next, and without outside markers it can be hard to really be aware of the passage of time. Part of getting golder, I guess.

But that enough downer stuff. The good news is my PC build research is progressing! The interminable sea of numbers and acronyms is slowly but surely starting to make sense. There’s still a lot of questions that need answered, but I’m avoiding those for the moment and trying to enjoy looking at all the fancy motherboards and graphics cards and whatnot.

One of the big things I’m struggling with is the AMD/Intel question. Like anything, there are advantages and disadvantages to both choices, and finding balanced, objective analysis beyond “it depends what you’re going for” online is hard to say the least. Sure, AMD chips tend to run cheaper, but Intel chips tend to be faster. I’ll admit to being a little biased by previous experience, as well: all my past computers have been Intel/Nvidia setups, so the Intel naming scheme makes a lot more sense to me. With AMD, I have to completely re-learn the naming schemes and product tiers.

And choosing something merely because it “makes sense” seems a really shallow approach to me. But I can’t seem to help but be influenced by it. Maybe I just need to take some time and really dig into the numbers and details, but then of course I run the risk of information overload, and being even less able to make a decision than usual.

So yeah, I don’t know. Right now I’m leaning towards an Intel setup, mostly because that’s what I’m most familiar with. And who knows: maybe familiarity is a valid concern when doing something as potentially complicated as building a computer from scratch. And to be honest, I’m probably not going to learn too much more the deeper I dig, because there is a lot of information out there, and by the time I got through it all I’d have to start over because something new and better will have come along.

I will say it’s comforting to know that there’s plenty of resources online, like Logical Increments, Reddit, and even a build generator to make things nice and easy. And while I don’t want to go with something just because I read it on a list written by someone I don’t know, I have to start somewhere.