Anyhow, I have come to give you an idea for a nice cheap hex core build. The budget? 1k. Purpose? This is mainly a build for multimedia, as that is the main purpose of the hex core, multitasking, encoding, video editing, and such. Usually, I prefer Intel, but hey, AMD does have a larger value for performance…. ^^. Remember, all prices are in Canadian, and are based from Newegg. Some of the prices may change over time from sales, and i haven’t added shipping. Anyways, here we go!

#Edit: I have posted this at both AllTechRelated and projectFight, so if you find it on both sites, please note that it is not copying, rather I have just decided to post this awesome thing on both sites.#

Motherboard: MSI 870A-G54

The MSI 870A-G54 is a fine choice for our needs. It includes all the latest features such as USB 3.0 and SATA 6GB/s. It has enough slots for expansions, and supports our Phenom II x6. Quite relatively inexpensive too.

Price: 109.99

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 2.8GHz

Well, there are 3 choices for your Phenom X6. The 1035T, the 1055T and the black edition 1090T. To be honest, I believe that the 1090T is quite pointless for spending the extra 100 dollars on. True, it has 400 more mhz of oohmf, and has an unlocked multiplier. But hey, it’s more of a challenge to overclock without the unlocked multiplier. Also, the 1055T can easily be pushed to 4.0ghz on stock cooling. Of course, if you want to dish out an extra 100, be my guest.

Price: 211.99

Case + PSU: Antec Sonata III 500 Black ATX Mid Tower with 500W PSU

The Antec Sonata is a wonderful case. It’s decent for our uses, with 4 internal hard drive slots, which is decent if you ever need to go RAID. You have a fine 120mm 3 speed control fan, that can balance quiet with cooling. There are 2 front USB drives for convenience, and best of all, it comes with a 500W PSU. Mighty fine for what we’re building. Nice price too.

Price: 124.99

RAM: 2X G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

Since we’re mainly using this computer for multimedia, 8GB of RAM will be more than enough. G.Skill RAM is quite reliable, and cost effective. I don’t suppose there’s much to say about the RAM.

Price: 102.99 X2

GPU: MSI R5570-MD1G Radeon HD 5570 1GB

Since we’re not gaming, the 5570 is mighty fine for our purposes. It can support the new DirectX 11, and has 1GB of memory. Want something even better? Put off the graphics card for a few months, after all, the prices will change with the release of the new 6xxx series. It’s a fine budget card, and is certainly something to look forward to if you’re coming from the drab world of integrated graphics.

Price: 87.99

Cooler: ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler

If you plan on overclocking, you’re going to need something better than that stock fan. If you know AMD, the fan that comes with it is loud. LOUD. What you want is a combination of efficiency and silence. This is the cooler that is the perfect hybrid. At 1250RPM, it is whisper silent at only 19dB. It’s not all that expensive either.

Price: 44.99

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1501FASS 1.5TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″

If you’re working with multimedia, surely you will need a lot of space. This Western Digital HDD gives you 1.5TB of room, mighty fine. It has a 64 MB Cache, and has a spin rate of 7200RPM. Best of all, it’s a great price for a great amount of storage.

Price: 109.99

Optical: LG DVD OEM

There isn’t much to say about the drive. It’s cheap. It works. Why not Blu-Ray? Well, with all the new 3D drives coming out, it’s best to wait. Can’t wait? Go ahead.

Price: 22.99

Grand Total: 918.91.

Wow, that was a lot less expensive than I thought. Is it just me or is that the same price of a 980x? Anyhow, I suppose once you add shipping and taxes (I love living in Alberta, no HST ^^, sucks to be you in Vancouver and Ontario) it will be somewhere around 1000. If you really want to, you can spend another 100 on a graphics card, and perhaps get yourself a 5770 or such. So, here are the overall system specs (considering that you haven’t oc’d anything)

_____________________

Phenom ii x6 T1055 – 2.8GHZ

8 GB DDR3 1600 Dual Channel RAM

1.5 TB Storage Space

1 GB Radeon 5570

____________________

Thanks for reading, Happy Building,

- gammaraptor-

EA decided to introduce a “mobile all in 1 base”. No need for a base!

What’s good about that? You don’t have to send your units extremely long distances! Just bring the crawler with you! What’s bad about that? There are no more buildings. It’s just not an RTS anymore. What’s an RTS without any buildings? Also, you only have one crawler. And so producing massive hoards of units can take quite a long time with only one building creating them.

Another thing I noticed was that the point of the skirmishes isn’t to destroy the other team anymore. Instead, you have to go and capture and hold some key structures for as long as possible. That’s just stupid. You can destroy the enemy’s crawler, just for them to have another one spawn. It’s really tedious work, considering that you have a limit to the amount of units you have. That brings me to another point. There isn’t a “money” structure anymore. Instead, EA decided to scrap that and use “command points”. Basically, you have a limit to how many units you can pump out. I personally do not like the system. Like what I stated earlier. It’ just not RTS! In the old games like Generals, you could pump out a mass of troops, like over 100 tanks. What about now? You can only have around 7. Another thing. There’s an exp system, where you need a certain amount of EXP to unlock different units. This, also annoys me. In generals, you didn’t have to finish the campaign to have all the features. If you wanted, you could just play skirmish mode and there you have it. Everything is unlocked.

My conclusion? EA took a lot of risks trying to make a newer RTS game. Well, it’s not much of a RTS game if you don’t have buildings, a proper economic system, or an exp system. Oh well, I’ll try to beat the game. Maybe I should have bought Bad Company 2…. Oh well.

Happy Gaming

- gammaraptor -

How about themes? Of course. Don’t like how Messenger looks right now? Go through their themes database. There are many many themes, and a lot of them look very sleek. (Some of them on the other hand don’t.). I’ve even seen Counter-Strike themes and Half-Life themes.

There’s only one thing I don’t / didn’t like (I don’t know if it’s still there.) Once, when installing Messenger Plus!, it asked to install a sponsor program. I quickly just clicked yes, since i was in a hurry. Well, what that sponsor program ended up being was adware. Don’t worry, if you’ve already installed it, it can be easily fixed by removing Messenger Plus! I haven’t installed Messenger Plus! In a long time, so I don’t know if that’s still there.

So how much does it cost? NOTHING! This is a very nice freeware, it’s not a trial version or anything. Where can you get it?

At msgplus.net

Happy messenging!

-gammaraptor-

The Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights (CCER) is pleased to see that the Government of Canada has tabled its Copyright Modernization Act (PDF). However, the CCER is deeply concerned at how easily consumer rights can be voided by the anti-circumvention provisions included in this legislation.

Albeit slightly more flexible than the Conservatives’ previous attempt at reforming copyright, Bill C-32 is flawed at its core by the inclusion of strict, anti-circumvention provisions. These anti-circumvention provisions are modeled after those found in the oft-criticized US DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and effectively extinguish consumer and creator rights by tipping the balance of copyright law in favour of distributors and antiquated business models.

Bill C-32 includes provisions to address consumer activities such as format and time shifting, however these are all subject to digital locks. For example, consumers would now be permitted expressly by law to rip tracks from a CD into an MP3 and then transfer it their iPod or to make a backup copy of digital content to protect against loss or damage. However, what about consumers who want to watch a new DVD they bought on their iPad? No chance, as all commercially available DVDs employ digital locks and breaking a digital lock is not permitted by C-32 in this instance. Now what if a consumer wants to make a backup copy of a video game to protect their investment from undue wear and tear? Pointless, seeing as a digital lock needs to be bypassed in order to make that personal backup copy playable. According to Bill C-32 both of these reasonable consumer acts would be illegal and subject to penalties of up to $5000.00. So in actuality, the only rights Canadian consumers will get under Bill C-32 are those that the music, movie and game distributors decide they get or what has been aptly referred to as “market forces” in recent discussions surrounding the bill.

A more effective approach to the anti-circumvention provisions that inevitably seem to criminalize consumer activities in Bill C-32, would have been to link the act of circumvention to infringement as the Liberals did in their attempt at copyright reform. This approach is not only WIPO compliant but it integrates a greater deal of flexibility into copyright law by not placing a blanket prohibition on circumvention services, tools and devices. This approach would likely provide the greatest level of balance to Canada’s copyright regime by providing consumers with tangible rights and options rather than provisions that giveth with one hand and taketh away with the other. Such an approach would also ensure that creators are fairly compensated for their work while at the same time provide incentives for future innovation. Unfortunately, ministers Moore and Clement are taking Canada in a different direction. A direction that may appease certain interests in the United States and European Union at the expense of Canadian consumer rights.

Another attention grabbing provision included in Bill C-32 is the legitimization of PVR devices and associated time and format shifting activities. Sounds great doesn’t it? You can now use that PVR you purchased to record your favourite TV shows for viewing at a later date and time without fear of being on the wrong side of the law…for now. This provision is also subject to digital locks (broadcast flags) that will inevitably be used in Canadian television broadcasts that will prevent a program from being recorded to your PVR or cause a recorded program to delete itself after a given period of time. Try to bypass these broadcast flags and you’ll find yourself on the wrong side of the law according to Bill C-32. Going from a consumer to a criminal just by engaging in a reasonable consumer activity will be the direct result of the anti-circumvention provisions in Bill C-32.

Bill C-32 provisions are not all as contentious as the anti-circumvention provisions are, in fact C-32 does take some positive steps forward in the areas of fair dealing, intermediary liability and educational exemptions. The Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights fully supports Bill C-32’s inclusion of a “notice and notice” approach to internet service provider liability. Meaning that, after being contacted by a copyright holder about a potential infringement, an ISP will be required to notify the customer that he or she may be violating the law. The customer’s personal information could then be released to the copyright holder with a court order.

Bill C-32 is now set to make its way through the parliamentary process and be referred to a committee where it will be reviewed line by line and where hopefully the public can be heard from in a fair and representative way. Industry Minister Tony Clement has made statements in the media indicating there exists an openness to amending Bill C-32 in a way to ensure balance for all sides of the equation. Clement’s continued willingness to engage Canadian consumers in an open dialogue on the copyright issue is rare and presents a unique opportunity that must not be squandered. If Canadians remain silent there is a real possibility that Bill C-32 will become the law of the land in its current flawed form, undermining the reasonable rights of all Canadians with its draconian protection for digital locks. However, if Canadians take the time to engage themselves in this important issue and speak out, Bill C-32 can be fixed and a proper balance in Canada’s copyright regime established in a responsible and sovereign manner.

In the coming days the Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights will be updating its online letter writing tool to reflect the introduction of Bill C-32 and its worrisome anti-circumvention provisions. Michael Geist has also relaunched Speak Out on Copyright to focus on this bill and encourages Canadians to join the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook group (to get active) and the Fair Copyright for Canada Facebook Page (to stay updated).

source: ccer.ca

As you can see, this bill still contains the strict anti DRM circumvention rules. For those of you who don’t know, DRM (Digital Rights Management) are locks that prevent one from copying a DVD that you bought. For example, if you bought a DVD or a game, there are locks that prevent you from making a copy of it, for example, for your friends to watch. To do this, you would have to circumvent (bypass) these locks. Doing so, would be illegal, and as stated from above, there can be penalties from 100 – 5000 dollars. (stated in section 46 of the bill) And you can, without even knowing, go from being a regular consumer, to a criminal.

		38.1 (1) Subject to this section, a copyright owner may elect, at any time before final judgment is rendered, to recover, instead of damages and profits referred to in subsection 35(1), an award of statutory damages for which any one infringer is liable individually, or for which any two or more infringers are liable jointly and severally,
		(a) in a sum of not less than $500 and not more than $20,000 that the court considers just, with respect to all infringements involved in the proceedings for each work or other subject-matter, if the infringements are for commercial purposes; and
		(b) in a sum of not less than $100 and not more than $5,000 that the court considers just, with respect to all infringements involved in the proceedings for all works or other subject-matter, if the infringements are for non-commercial purposes.

source: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=4580265&file=4.

So what can we do? Well, its not too late to go and have your voice be heard. After all, it is a democracy. The Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights has a tool to write a letter to the House of Commons. CCER will physically mail a copy on your behalf. Don’t worry, you don’t have to write the letter yourself, it’s already pre-written and pre-formatted. Add on what you like. Online letter writing tool

Happy letter writing! Stay tuned, I’ll update you soon.

-gammaraptor-

ScribeFire is a firefox extension for blogging. I am currently writing the post with it. So far, it’s working fine.
ScribeFire works with both FireFox and Google Chrome. There is currently support for YouTube embedding, quote tools, and source editing. So far, this is the best blogging tool i have found that can work on multiple platforms. Image embedding works fine too. Unfortunately, the only function i can’t seem to use so far is the read more tag. The read more tag works too. I find that this tool is quite handy, especially when you are editing multiple posts at one time (it has tabs) and posting on multiple blogs.

According to the site, here are the blogs that are supported:

Online blogging services:

• WordPress.com (http://www.wordpress.com)
• LiveJournal (http://www.livejournal.com)
• Xanga (http://www.xanga.com/)
• Windows Live Spaces (http://spaces.msn.com)
• Performancing (http://www.performancing.com)
• Jeeran (http://www.jeeran.com)
• Tumblr (http://www.tumblr.com/)
• MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/)
• b2Evolution (http://b2evolution.net)
• Splinder (http://www.splinder.com/)

Custom Blogging Platforms (not hosted on wordpress or blogger)

• WordPress (http://www.wordpress.org/)
• Movable Type (http://www.movabletype.org/)
• Drupal (http://www.drupal.org)
• Textpattern (http://www.textpattern.com/)
• Roller (http://www.rollerweblogger.org)
• Blogger (http://www.blogger.com)
• MetaWeblog API (Any blogging software that implements this API)

That’s pretty much it, the formatting looks fine. I would highly suggest you try it.

You can install it from here for firefox:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1730/

And here for chrome:
https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/elkkomimknapgodalnkjeddkjnjkfmfp

Happy Surfing!
-gammaraptor-

Sorry for the people who have more experience, this part is just explaining what all this stuff is. If you want to get right ahead to all the good stuff. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a second or two.

Just a quick disclaimer, before you read the actual thing, AllTechRelated is not responsible for any damages you cause to your computer.

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So first, what the heck is a proc? Well proc is just slang for the Central Proccessing Unit. You might know it as the “CPU”. You can think of the CPU as the brain. The CPU runs all the instructions in a computer program, and is the main part of the computer.

Now what is the clock speed? It’s measured in hertz. What exactly is a hertz? No, it’s not the truck company. Think back to science class. Hertz is the rate of which something completes a cycle per second. So now, let’s take this back to your Pentium E5400. 2.7 GHZ is equivilant to around 2.7 Billion cycles per second.

Now this is where the “OC” (Slang for Overclocking) comes in. Overclocking is the proccess of forcing the computer to run at a higher clock speed. As usual, doing this will have its pros and cons. Overclocking the CPU will allow you to basically run the computer faster. What’s so bad about that? But of course there’s a few warnings with this. Overclocking the computer will of course, down the lifetime of the chip. Also, if it’s not done correctly, you may damage the computer.

Now don’t get too excited just yet. Not all computers can be overclocked. Many prebuilt computers, such as Dell, HP, E-Machine, ect have BIOS restrictions (I’ll explain what the BIOS is in a ‘sec.). Is it possible to get around them? Yes. Does it make the entire proccess more complicated? Of course. Can they destroy the computer? Possibly. So if you don’t think that you want to make the risk, I would press that big X on the top of your monitor. If not, welcome to the overclocking world.

Now depending on your computer, there are 3 ways to do this. An overclock can be done using the BIOS, a software overclock, or a manual overclock.Which one do I recommend? I would strongly suggest you to use the BIOS overclock, it is the most safe. If your computer is older, use a manual overclock, which requires you to move around some parts in the computer. If all else fails, you can use the software overclock. It’s quite risky and not suggested by me, but if you want to, you can try. I will be explaining all 3 methods.

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Method 1: BIOS

Alright, sorry for not explaining what the BIOS is. The BIOS is the Basic Input Output System. You can change much of the system’s settings on here, such as the boot sequence, the automatic shutdown temperature (you don’t want the computer to explode do you?) and of course, the clock frequency. Entering the BIOS may depend on your computer. Usually, the BIOS is entered by pressing the DEL key. Since I don’t have time to list all the keys, here’s a nice site I found that should contain the keys for most comptuers.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

Ok, you’re in the BIOS. The BIOS screen should look something like this (Don’t worry if it doesn’t, as long as it says BIOS somewhere you should be good =]):

In this case, you would probably find the settings for the frequency underneath “Frequency/Voltage”

Now next, you have to change the variables. There are a couple we need to worry about. In a perfect world, all you need to overclock is to change the FSB or the Multiplier (Don’t freak out yet, I’ll explain in a second.) Unfortuantely, changing those settings may also require you to change other settings such as the voltage and the memory timings.

Alright, let me explain. The FSB is the Front Side Bus. This is the part that connects with the northbridge of the computer. Am I getting you too confused? Now I suppose you’re going to ask what the northbridge is. Basically, it’s a chip on the motherboard that controls the graphics card slots and the memory slots. If you want more information, Google it.

So what is the multiplier? It’s basically the ratio between the internal clock rate and the externally supplied rate. Basically, when you multiply the multiplier and the FSB, you get the clock rate. A little warning, not all CPUs have unlocked multipliers. Go and find out what your CPU is, and do some research. Just a note, you still can overclock without an unlocked multiplier. However, you may not be able to overclock it alot. You will only be able to change the FSB. If you really want to have an unlocked multiplier, you can hack it, although that’s probably not recommended.

Overclocking is done by slow increments. Even if it seems ok at first, you want it to be stable. You don’t want to be able to game for around an hour before having it crash down. On the BIOS settings, they may have different names for these two variables. Some names for FSB include Clock rate, Clock frequency, Front Side Bus Frequency, something like that. The multiplier can either be clock ratio, or just clock multiplier, anything that sounds similar to it. Alright, change the variables slightly, then close and save. Fingers crossed! On reboot, – if your computer reboots run your operating system for an hour or so. Get a nice monitor system that can monitor the temperature. You will have noticed that the computer has gotten louder, or has gotten hotter. This is another consequence of overclocking. The temperature will increase. If it’s under 60C on load, you should be fine. If it’s any higher, I would get a cooler of some sort. If you like, increase the two variables again. Rinse and repeat.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What to do if your computer didn’t boot:

All right, if the computer didn’t startup, don’t worry too much. You can reset the BIOS in two ways. The first is finding the CMOS jumper. To do this, you have to open up the computer (dun dun dun!) Unplug the cables first. Grab a screwdriver, whatever it takes to open it (please don’t smash the case open.) Look around. It should be 3 pins with a plastic thingy on two of them (sorry that wasn’t so descriptive.)

Discharge yourself (You can do this by touching any metal, such as a large metal desk or the metal on the inside of the casing.) You don’t want the computer to go bbbbzt! do you? Carefully take it out, and place it in the other position. Turn on the computer. It’ll be dead. Turn it off, and put the jumper back in. If it worked, then the computer will start up normally. If not, well perhaps try the second method. If it’s dead after that, RIP.

If the first method did not work, or your computer does not have a reset jumper, try the second method. The second method to reset the bios is to remove the battery. There should be a cell battery somewhere. Take it out, and turn on the computer. After a few minuites, the capacitors in the motherboard will become discharged. Turn off the computer, then put the battery back in. The CMOS should have reset itself. If both methods did not work, try them again. If that didn’t work either, I suppose you have a bit of a problem.

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Why didn’t it work?

There are several reasons why it may not have worked. I think there are two reasons. First, you completely overloaded the cpu. That’s quite self-explanatory. Second, your computer did not have enough memory. I’m not going to explain too much. Basically, increasing the cpu frequency may eat up more RAM (Random Access Memory). These are the most basic reasons.

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Testing for stability:

There are a few programs you can use to test for CPU stability. These will prevent you from finding out that it wasn’t stable the so called “hard way”. Prime95 and CPUBurn are both programs you can use. Run them for a few hours, and if your temperature reading is below 60 and you have no errors, the system is stable.

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BIOS Hacking

If you’re using an OEM computer (HP, Dell, E-Machine, Compaq)with a locked BIOS, you have two choices. You can either use a hacked BIOS.  The other is using a risky software overclock. There are problems with overclocking an OEM computer. Firstly, you’ll void your warranty. Secondly, the case isn’t built for this. Thirdly, messing with your BIOS can destroy your computer. You won’t be able to fix it if it goes wrong. Unfortuanately, I do not know how to hack the BIOS. It is quite computer specific too. If you really want to hack the BIOS, find some information about your OEM computer, and search it up on Google.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Method 2: Manual Overclock

What is manual overclocking? Physically changing the FSB and Multiplier by using jumpers. Unfortunately, this proccess is quite motherboard specific. And it’s only older motherboards that use this function. And it may not work either. Once, I had an old Pentium III machine, and I tried using a manual overclock. Even when I maxed out the FSB and Multiplier, I saw absolutely no difference with the frequency.

Your first step is to open up your case. Once again, I would adivse you to discharge yourself by touching some large metal object. Once inside, check for an array of jumpers and pins. If you look close enough, you may see some numbers indicating mhz or multiplier or something. I’m not sure. If you need help, refer to your motherboard manual. Don’t know the model number of your motherboard? Use a program such as CPU_Z to find out. After finding the array of jumpers, this is where you’re alone. You will have to find out which jumper controls what. I would highly recommend finding that manual at this point. Move the jumpers to change the FSB and multiplier. This is extremely tedious work, as the jumpers are small and easily fall out of your fingers. I dropped the jumpers many times when I was attempting to overclock my old computer.

After you finish, boot up the computer and see if the frequency has changed. Test for stability. If it’s good, consider increasing the frequency even more. If it doesn’t work, refer to the sections in the first method.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Method 3: Software Overclock

If you have no choice but to do the dreaded software overclock, I’d like to give you some risks about doing so. Software OC’ing is dangerous, and can destroy you computer. If you truly want to boost your computer’s speed, I would advise you to go and build a custom machine. But if you persist…. then read on.

First, you have to determine the motherboard’s model number. Do this by using a program such as CPU_Z or looking inside your computer. After you have done this, quickly do some research on it. Find the Chipset, and the clock generator. Afterwards, head over to this site:

http://www13.plala.or.jp/setfsb/

You will have to find the version that fits all you data. Follow the instructions on the site on which files to download. Download, and extract. Start up the program. Now, under the drop box, Select your clock generator. Then click “getfsb”. Now set the variables as you want them, cross your fingers and press “Getfsb.” If it worked, your computer should still be alive. If not, I suppose you understood why I said software oc’ing is dangerous.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you guys understood what I was talking about, and I hope that this article was useful. And I hope you guys can do well on your next overclock. I would appreciate some comments about how I did, and how I could make this article better.

Happy Overclocking.

-gammraptor

When mousing over music, you can listen to a “preview” of the music. The only bad part about that is that when you’re already playing music and mousing over, it still plays and it’s a little annoying. Oh well.

-gammaraptor-

There are a whole lot of guides on what kind of case to choose, what proccesor, ect. After that, it teaches you how to safely put it all together.

Link: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-pc,2601.html

Anyways, I’d just like you guys to help me with some suggestions for my “computer guide” posts. Eg. May’s Mid-End Gaming Computer. You know, the one that was supposed to be 1400, but ended up being 1700.

There are a few elements that I need help with.

A – Different Types. -eg, Mid-end gaming, low-end workstation, ect. As of right now, I can think of 3, A Low-End Workstation computer, a mid-end gaming computer, and a high-end extreme gaming computer. Any ideas?

B – Average pricing. -What would jyou consider mid, low, high, ect? Do you think 1400 is too much for mid? Should it be 1500? 1200?

C – What to include -What do you want to see? A detailed description? Specs? A codename for the system?

D – Anything else! -As long as it is reasonable and do-able. I can’t build one for you, because duh, I don’t have money. Unless you sponsor me of course.

Thanks! I’d like to see some suggestions soon. Happy Commenting!

-gammaraptor-

Hey guys, I was just looking back at my old posts, and found the one I made about the “crazy high-end computer”. So, I’ve decided to find one that is much more practical. I think it was around 2 grand. Anyways, let’s go! All prices are from Newegg, they may change, as most of the parts are actually on sale right now. I am using the canadian prices, but just for courtesy, I have also included the US prices in brackets. Note, the US prices are not “converted”. I just took them off of the US Newegg site.

*Edit: I didn’t realise that I had spelled XFX as XFZ, and that I had chosen the pre overclocked edition of the Radeon 5850. The prices have been changed.*

*Edit #2: I really screwed up this time. I don’t know how, but the price changed from 1300, to 1700. I guess there was some major miscalculation somewhere. So I guess it’s not much of a “mid-end” computer anymore. Heh.*

Case: Antec 1200

This is a great case. It has a massive amount of space, with 9 internal drive bays, and the ability to house 10.5″ cards such as the GeForce GTX 295. The cooling system is pretty nice too, with 3 120mm fans in the front, and 2 120mm fans in the back. And don’t forget the top. There is a massive 200mm fan on the top correctly named “Big Boy”. It’s not bad for convenience either, with top mounted I/O ports and a nice tray for holding your camera, or other electronic accesories. And hey, it’s not that bad for style either, with a side window that allows you to see the insides. If you don’t like this case, your loss.

Price: 179.99 CND (169.99 USD)

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Power Supply: Antec TruePower New TP-750 750W

Well, you do need something to power up that machine. Well, this will do it for you, and might save you the pain of buying another one in the future. Although it says 750W, some guy tested it, and found that it could actually run up to 900W some without any problems. Basically, that means that you’re getting basically getting a 900W power supply for half the price. That’s quite a steal. It’s also ready for SLI and Crossfire, and above all that, it’s quiet.

Price: 119.99 CND (114.99 USD)

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CPU: i7 930

I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard about the i7 by now. For those of you that have just crawled out from under a rock, the i7 is Intel’s most powerful processor. They have also released the i5, and the i3. It’s a quad core proccessor. I have chosen the i7 930, because it is just a little more powerful than the i7 920. And you get that for just around 10 dollars more. The i7 930 is quite easy to overclock, and has your usual hyper threading and turbo boost. And hey, it’s not as expensive as the i7 940, 950, 960, 965, 975, or the 980x. Good value, good quality, what more could you ask for?

Price: 299.99 CND (294.99 USD)

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CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP

Well, you don’t want your CPU to explode do you? What do you want in a cooler? You want it to look nice, be silent, and above all, actually cool. This cooler can do all of that. It has dual 92mm fans, and a very nice “unique split fin” heatsink design. It has around 19dBA of of sound. It includes all the mounting brackets, and the thermal paste. And a very nice price too. If you’re planning on overclocking, this cooler will do its job.

Price: 32.99 CND (33.88 USD)

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Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

This is probably one of the most important parts of the computer. The motherboard. It brings all the parts together. This board will support USB 3.0, which although has not been introduced in consumer products, it’s coming. Worried that you can’t use your old devices? No worries. It still has USB 2.0/1.1 slots. Also, the SATA 6Gb/s works with this machine. It’s nice to be prepared for the future. You think that’s it? There’s still more. This board can also support 3 way SLI, and Quad GPU CrossfireX. It can support up to 24GB of RAM. And above all that, it can support the hex-core proccesor. It’s a little pricey, but hey. At least you’re ready for the future.

Price: 304.99 CND (299.99 USD)

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Memory: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600

I don’t suppose there’s a lot to say about the memory. It runs at 1600mhz. You have 3 memory sticks out of 6 possible slots. The timings are 9-9-9-24, and it has a heat spreader. It’s an ok price too.

Price: 176.99 CND (169.99)

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Graphics Card: XFX Radeon HD 5850

Ah, the graphics card. The most important piece of the puzzle to the gamer. The Radeon 5850 is part of the new HD5000 series, for those of you that have been sleeping under a rock. This graphics card has support for DirectX 11, Shader Model 5, and Eyefinity for multiple screens. There is 1 GB of GDDR5 RAM, 2 DVI ports, 1 HDMI port, and 1 display port. If you don’t want to use this card and want to go Crossfire, I would suggest using two Radeon 5770′s.

Price: 319.99 CND (309.99USD)

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Hard Drive: Western Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache

Well, the data’s got to go somewhere right? This hard drive has a nice 32MB cache, has a nice 7200rpm, uses the SATA 3.0GB/s interface, and has 1 TB of storage space. Personally, I don’t store up files as fast so 1TB is more than enough. If you want more, there’s always the 1.5TB or 2.0 TB models. For more money of course. You get what you pay for.

Price: 169.99 CND(159.99USD)

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Optical Drive: SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C – OEM

I guess there’s not a lot to say about the optical drive. It’s a DVD burner. Why didn’t I choose a Blue-ray burner instead? Because they’re already working on newer and better drives. Stick with this one for now, and get a better one later. If you want a blu-ray burner, go ahead.

Price: 27.99 CND (21.99USD)

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So… Unless you’ve been using a calculator this whole time, you probably want to know what the price is. Minus shipping and taxes, the entire thing is $1712.91. I suppose if you added the shipping and the taxes, you’d get around possibly  some above 1800. If you really wanted it to be cheaper, be my guest, edit this layout. Some changes you could make are using a regular case, using a lower rated power supply,  ect. I suppose if you did that, you could save around 200 dollars. One more thing, I didn’t actually build this computer. It’s just a plan. I don’t have that much money anyways. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, and I hope it helps with your future system. Don’t forget to discharge yourself. Happy building!

-gammaraptor-

It can be downloaded at the Ubuntu website at ubuntu.com

Some of the latest features include:

A music store

Social network integration

PiTiVi, a video editing program is included!

I’m excited, as I am downloading the latest version right now…

Some other news, Intrepid Ibex, or Ubuntu 8.10 will no longer be supported…. tommorow. April 30. Rest in peace. It was the first version of Ubuntu I ever used.

Also, Ubuntu 10.10 has been announced. Maverick Meerkat, it will be called. Happy downloading!

-gammaraptor-

I was looking at Newegg’s combos involving the new Intel 980X Hex Core processor, and I found one that is quite intereseting. Here’s the parts that are in it.

Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition

ASUS Socket 1366 Intel X58 Express Chipset SATA III Supported ATX Motherboard (P6X58D Premium)

SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 5870

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB

(3 x 2GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB 7200RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6Gb/s

LG Black 10X BD-R 8X BD-ROM Internal 5.25″ LightScribe Support Blu-ray Burner

Thermaltake Black Widow 850Watts

Thermaltake Level 10 Black Gaming Station Computer Case

And what’s the price? Well… Originally it would have been $3,655.42.

What’s it now? $3,165.49. That’s almost 500 dollars off the original price. By the way, all prices are Canadian.

So… You may be asking, why the heck is it so expensive? I was thinking that too. I looked through the price list. Most of the items were in the $300 range. But I found 2 items that were off the scale. One, was of course the processor, at around 1100.  The other one, was the case. $900. I almost choked, and so I did some research on the case. I looked at this review: http://www.legitreviews.com/

I have to admit, although pricey, the case looks very, very nice. The concept is quite interesting too. It has an “Open Compartment Architecture”. It’s a little hard to explain, so I uploaded a few photos for you to see:

I hope that helps explain the concept. So, you might be thinking, “Sure, you’ve got me convinced on stylish. How about performance?”

Well, according to the official website, TTLevel10.com, the Level 10 has an “exposed vertical heatsink”. Another thing I also found, was that they have 6 “removable” hard drive slots, with the top two having a backplane and cooling fans. The ventilation is supposedly decent, “highly efficient airflow system”. It includes a 140mm intake fan, and a 120mm exhaust fan. The case also has a lock, to protect your valuable parts.

How much does it weigh? I was shocked. 50 lbs. And that’s without anything in it. I guess that’s why it has a handle on it. It’s quite hard to see by that photo, but the case is actually quite huge. 24′ X 12′ X 26′. I couldn’t actually see that until I saw an unboxing photo with someone standing next to it.

You might argue that, it’s too overlishly expensive. That’s true. I wouldn’t buy it, just for that reason. But you have to admit, it’s quite unique, and the designers took quite a big risk.

Anyways, let’s get back to the actual system itself. This system includes the latest Intel processor, the 980X. It has 6 cores. I believe they call it “Hex-Core”. It has 12 threads, runs at 3.33GHZ, and has a massive L3 cache of 12mb. The ultimate dream for multitaskers. Other than the CPU, the system is quite average. 6GB RAM, a Radeon 5870, a 2 TB hard drive, and a Blu-Ray drive.

I don’t really expect anybody to buy this, due to the complete crazy price. But hey, take a look at Newegg. It has a lot of these combos, you can save a little bit of cash. Happy surfing!

-gammaraptor-

No 10.04. But then I remembered about the alpha releases. Although it wasn’t on the front page, it was hidden on a little page. (Click Here) Right after, I went on my testing laptop and upgraded. Right now, it’s running quite stable on my machine. I got more updated software, such as firefox 3.6, the latest version of GNOME, and also the latest Kernel. One noticable difference is that the bootup speed is quicker then 9.10. It is a bit dissapointing that they do not have any new features yet, but the next alpha release is on Feb. 25.

Please remember that this is not an official release, do not use it on production machines. AllTechRelated will not be responsible for any damage caused. Anyways, happy testing!

First, find the two photos you want to fade into one another. Make sure they are the same size. Open both of the photos as layers.

Select the top layer, and go to Layer –> Layer Mask –> Reveal All.

It should look something like this:

Now click on the layer mask in the layers Dialogue.

Select the Gradient tool. Make sure the foreground color is black, and the background color is white. The gradient tool should be set on fg to bg, and linear. Drag from one corner to any spot you want, applying a  gradient to the mask.

And there! It’s done. You might want to shorten the amount you drag, and play with the amount of gradient, or the type.

Scratch is a bit of an “educational” programming language. One thing I find great for beginners is that is has a user interface, thus allowing you to not have to memorize a lot of code. At first glance, it looks a bit “childish”. Don’t let that fool you. I saw a couple examples, and I was completely amazed with what they did. I’m not joking when I say someone made a Super Smash game on it. Scratch has a “drag and drop” concept. You drag the blocks together, and make the sprite do things. It’s a great way to learn basic programming fundements. Here is an example of a game I made.

As I am a programmer, it is sometimes frusterating for me to do something that isn’t listed on there. That’s the only problem with a drag and drop system. But hey, that’s the fun of being a programmer, so you can eventually find a way around it.

One more thing that I found great about scratch. There’s a share menu. You can share you creations onto the Scratch website on scratch.mit.edu. The site uses java to view those Scratch projects you have created. Here is an example of a project I made and uploaded. Fighter vs Fighter. I must warn you though, it lags a bit. I would suggest downloading the source code and viewing it with Scratch. That’s another great thing. You can download the files that people made and edit them.

You can download Scratch from the Scratch website. Scratch works on both Windows and OSX, and it also works on my Ubuntu.

Happy Scratching! (No, I don’t mean that literally).