Nerd Cloud
..\rachel\blog
Getting Exactly What You Want
Something that can easily happen when you give a client what they think they want and not what you know they need. Cats Playfighting
Watch Cats Playfighting on YouTube. Mission: Build a PCI have always wanted to build my own computer. Over the years, I've replaced the odd component--a new modem, a video card, more RAM. But I had never started with nothing but parts and assembled them into a functioning computer. My geriatric laptop was about to give up the ghost. It would overheat regularly, shut down randomly, and frustrate me majorly. It was time to part ways. The itch to build my own computer got more persistant. I started surfing around Newegg looking at prices for components. I stumbled onto a three-part video series Newegg had recently produced called How to Build a Computer. Hey, maybe I could actually do this! I was still very afraid that my attempt to do this would turn into a very costly mistake. Probably, I would connect this to that and that to this and it would all burst into a giant ball of flame! Perhaps this is a character flaw, but that fear wasn't enough to quell my desire. I spent several days lurking on computer hardware forums, browsing blogs, exploring products, reading reviews, and watching videos. My confidence grew with each click. I landed on a great video at Tested called How to Build a Future Proof PC which helped me understand more about all the little details that go into a build. After many more days of research, I assembled a list of parts that I hoped would work. I posted the list to a few forums and asked for feedback. I got some good (and some bad, haha) advice from several helpful folks. Finally, I took a deep breath and ordered the parts! 
Here's a breakdown of which parts I chose and why:
If there can be only one part dubbed "the most important," it would be the CPU. I knew I wanted a quad core system (my old laptop was dual core), but should I go with Intel or AMD? To answer this question, I went to the hardware forums. I read threads discussing the various builds of users and picked up a lot of insight. Overwhelmingly, builders were choosing Intel for their quad core machines. I looked into my options for Intel CPUs: the i5 and the i7. The i7 was out of reach for me financially, so I settled on the i5 2500K. The i5 provides a really good value for the money. If you check out some of the performance tests over at AnandTech for Photoshop and gaming (what I use my PC for most), you'll see the i5 comes in very close to the i7 and actually outperformed the i7 in some cases. Of course, test case scenarios are not always applicable in the real world, so I read a lot of customer reviews to get a more "real" perspective. The conclusion I arrived at is basically this: If you can afford the i7, go for it because it's future proofing, but if the i7 is too expensive, then get the i5 because it's really the best value on the market right now in terms of price and performance. The 2500K model is "unlocked," so it can be fully overclocked easily. At the moment, I don't want to overclock. Aside from not knowing much about overclocking, I don't really need to overclock right now. But it's nice to have the option should I want to overclock in the future.
Asus P8Z68-V Pro Gen3 Motherboard I went with a more expensive Asus Z68 motherboard in order to future proof as much as I could. One thing I love about this board is that it supports dual video card setups for both AMD (Crossfire) and Nvidia cards (SLI). If my solo Radeon HD 6850 isn't cutting the mustard in a year or two, I can slot in an additional card to boost performance. I also have the option of switching to dual Nvidia cards if that configuration offered a better experience. 
Although I'm only using 16GB of RAM (only, haha) in my build, the board supports up to 32GB of RAM. While 16GB is plenty right now, maybe in 3 years I will need a full 32GB. It's nice to have the option open. In addition, the Z68 has two USB 3.0 ports built into the board with support for an additional module (and one happened to come with my case, so now I have four active USB 3.0 ports). Do I have anything that uses USB 3.0 right now? Nope. But I know it's coming and I've got my bases covered. (Note: USB 3.0 supports USB 2.0 devices, so the ports are usable right now.) Compared to what's on the market right now, this is a great but not excellent video card. Now, why did I go with an AMD card instead of an Nvidia card? I think AMD and Nvidia are pretty neck-and-neck in the GPU race. My last card was an AMD card (well, it was ATI then) and I was happy with it, so I chose them again. I selected a Gigabyte-manufactured card instead of an AMD, MSI, or HIS branded card for a few reasons. First, it fits in my case. Some of these video cards are just huge! Second, I wanted to keep the card and the rest of my system as cool (temperature-wise) as possible. The Gigabyte card features two large fans and some technical features to disapate heat more effectively. 
I tested out the new card by doing some GPU-intensive tasks. I used Autodesk 123D, a 3-D modeling software, and found it very snappy. I also played The Witcher 2 (released in May), a graphically-intensive game, and didn't experience any lag or stutter. I thought the graphics looked very crisp and clear. I have to say, though, after seeing some screenshots of how The Witcher 2 could look with dual video cards, it makes me want another one! One can dream.... Corsair Vengence DDR3 1600 RAM For the RAM, I choose DDR3 1600 because it's sort of a middle ground for price versus performance. You have 1333MHz on the low end and 2133MHz on the high end. This particular model has a CAS latency of 9 which is another sort of middle ground for getting the most out of your money. I decided on a 4x4GB configuration to take advantage of the quad-channel features of my motherboard. 32GB would be awesome, but 16GB is enough for my use case right now. If I find myself doing a lot more video editing in the future, I may need to go with 4x8GB. But for right now, 4x4GB offers great performance without breaking the bank. In the past, I have had enough memory that has failed or not performed as expected that I was not even going to consider RAM from a no-name or not well-established company. My options were Corsair, Crucial, or Kingston. I know GSkill is very popular in the gaming community, but I just didn't want to step out of my comfort zone on this component. I went with Corsair sticks because they offered the performance I wanted for the budget I had. In addition, these sticks have low profile heat sinks so they stay out of the way of my other components. I'm not convinced that heat sinks really make much of an impact on cooling, but it seems like all the RAM has them now. As a bonus, the heat sinks match the other blue components on my motherboard. :p (Note: You can easily find this RAM for less than half the sticker price on retail websites.) Seasonic X650 (650w 80 Plus Gold Certified) Modular Power Supply I knew I wanted a modular power supply so that I only had to use the cables I needed. 650 watts is plenty to power my system without being underkill or overkill. I have enough spare wattage to add additional components down the line (like a second video card, more hard drives, and a bluray drive). 
The "80 Plus Gold" certification is sort of like the Energy Star rating you find on household appliances. A rating of gold means that the PSU is 87% efficient at full load. The certifications from worst to best are none, bronze (80%), silver (85%), gold (85%), and platinum (90%). I chose Seasonic because it's a reputable brand. I was considering a Corsair PSU as well, but in the end Seasonic offered a better price on a comparable unit. Crucial M4 SSD - 128GB SATA III 6.0GB/s I couldn't resist a solid state drive! You might be thinking "only 128 gigabytes?!" While it would be very nice to have more space, it's very expensive! 128GB is enough space to install Windows 7 and the applications I use. I don't keep any data on this drive, only the operating system and applications. With everything installed, I have 50GB free. So why a solid state drive? Simple: SPEED. I was lured in by reading forum posts by users claiming they could cold boot into Windows in around 10 seconds. Seems impossible, right? It's not. On my system, I boot into a usable state of Windows in around 30 seconds. Almost all of that is the BIOS POST, however. If you want to measure from the Windows splash screen to everything loaded, it's about 7 seconds. :D There are a few brands of SSDs that are popular right now including Corsair, Sandisk, and OCZ. After pouring over the reviews of all the brands, I chose a Crucial drive because they were the most reliable (anecdotally, of course). Seagate Barracuda HDD - 1TB 7200RPM SATA III 3.0GB/s Hard drive prices are through the roof right due to the flooding in Thailand (a major supplier of hard drives). For this reason, I had to skimp quite a bit on the hard drives. I had my heart set on two 2TB hard drives, but that would have cost a small fortune. Instead, I settled for two 1TB hard drives. I placed in a RAID 1 configuration so that I have an exact backup of all the data. Unfortunately, that means I only have 1TB of usable space instead of 2TB. Hopefully, the market will recover and prices will fall soon, but who knows how long that will take. I had to have something to get me by. Sony Optiarc DVD-RW Drive (Model AD-7261S) I rip and burn a lot of CDs and DVDs. It's important for me to have a DVD-RW drive that is reliable. I was on the fence between a similarly-priced LITE-ON branded drive and the Sony. In the end, I went with the Sony because it supported Lightscribe. I've only used Lightscribe a few times in my life since the discs are a bit more expensive than standard blank CDs or DVDs; however, it's nice to have the option. Funny story: I bought the wrong case. :p I meant to buy the HAF 912 which is a smaller case. Instead, I ordered the HAF 922 which is a much larger case. No, actually, it is a hulking beast of a case! I could probably fit two of everything I have inside this case now and still have room to spare. If you take a look at the photos of each case, you can see how I got confused. They look almost the same! In all of my hunting around for the best price, I didn't pay close enough attention to the model number. I didnt want to pay for return shipping to exchange it (it weighs 25 pounds!), so I just kept it. Enormousness aside, the HAF 922 has some great features (which the HAF 912 also has!). This is a tooless case which means you don't need to unscrew any screws to mount drives or PCI cards. It makes adding and removing drives quick and painless. Both sides of the case are removable which gives you easy access to all of the compenents. There are two USB ports on the front of the case, along with a SATA port if you need to retreive data from a hard drive but don't want to make it a permanent part of your system. One of the most imporant reasons I went with this case was airflow. I have had components die on me in the past because they overheated. My recently retired laptop was constantly overheating and shutting itself off. This case has mesh vents on the front and the side, along with three built-in fans (front, top, and back). The side vent means I can easily add a fourth fan if I need to. Initially, I was concerned the fans and lack of solid enclosure would make the machine noisy, but I've found that is runs very quiet. There is just a small hum of airflow, even under higher workloads. My favorite part, however, are the red LED lights. :p What can I say...I'm just a sucker for things that glow. (You can also turn off the lights if you don't like them.) And now for the cross your fingers and hold your breath moment! 
It works! Pretty good benchmarks, too: 
Final Thoughts I only knew a little about all the components I needed before I purchased them. I spent hours pouring over product specifications, looking at photos, reading online reviews, and asking questions on forums. I wanted to make sure that I was getting the very best bang for my buck. In the process, I learned so much about all of these components that I don't think I will ever be able to buy a pre-built system again. Aside from the general awesomeness of having a great computer, I feel very proud to have actually built it myself. It's very rewarding that I now know how to do something I didn't previously know how to do! Being a webmaster, so much of my work is intangible. It disappears when I turn off my computer screen. It feels awesome to actually see the end result of so much hard work. Mission accomplished. :) SOPA Blackout GalleryToday, January 18, the House of Representatives was supposed to vote on the SOPA legislation. The Senate will vote on a very similar bill known as PIPA on January 24. To protest these two bills, an internet blackout was organized. Several major websites like Google, Wikipedia, and Wordpress participated in the blackout, along with an untold number of lesser-known websites. Some websites choose to go totally black and restrict access to content, others used black banners across their logos, and others added links to informative articles about SOPA and PIPA. Some blogging websites like Tumblr and Posterous only had information about the bills after you logged in. The SOPA bill was very recently shelved by the House, so it is not being voted on today. However, the SOPA Blackout went on as scheduled to raise awareness of an issue that will certainly be back in the future. The blackout also serves to draw attention to the Senate vote on PIPA next week. I went through my bookmarks today and collected screenshots of websites that were participating in the blackout. If I come across any others today, I'll add them to the gallery.Update: Added several more screencaps. I've noticed some websites that weren't participating when I first visited them are participating now. No reason to pass up some free publicity, right? My Colorful WorkstationI finally got my desk all set up to accomodate my new PC. Previously, I just used a laptop, so I didn't really have a dedicated workstation. Usually, I just ended up spralwed across the couch--not always the most work-friendly position. The setup is still a work in progress, as I'd like to add some floating shelves above the desk to hold my books, cables, software, trinkets, etc. (basically, everything that is in that set of plastic storage drawers). Anyway, without further ado...
Also yet to come is a new monitor. Right now I'm using a 15" LCD from an old computer. It still works fine, but it doesn't have the best color accuracy. It also feels very cramped compared to the 17" widescreen on my laptop and the 20" monitor I use at work. I just have to replenish my funds a little bit first. But I'm happy with how it all looks so far. :) Toby in the Snow
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