prophetik music

so, i've got two big builds in the queue right now. waiting on parts for one, but here's another one where they said it was ok that i post pictures. sphexic, a dude who actually lives near where i used to when i was in grad school, ordered a music PC from me that is pretty kick-butt. he wanted a system that had tons of CPU power now, and the ability to upgrade to nice graphics later once he got into working with cuda-enabled applications like blender. i'm gonna meet him when i hand-deliver it in a few days =) here's the case we're using. you might recognize this from the build i did for xenon odyssey, where i switched from this to a storm scout for portability and red lights. it's a zalman gs-1000, which is still a killer case. here's the parts going into said case, along with my son josh. josh didn't agree with the PSU, saying that i needed a gold-rated PSU. i told him to shove it, since he can't speak yet. cpu: i7-3770k gpu: basic ram: g.skill DDR3 1600mhz 2x8gb sticks ssd: crucial m4 128gb hdd: 1tb WDC black mobo: gigabyte UD5H cpu cooler: hyper 212+ here's the installed cpu, proving that yes, it IS a k processor. here's the installed mobo and cordage. since this case has no side window, i wasn't as concerned about cabling, preferring to keep it loose to allow for more modifications down the line. plus, this case isn't great at allowing for cabling all told. and here's a better picture of the mobo with stuff installed. i'll be installing the OS tonight, so once that's done i can post a video of startup speeds and crazy clock rates.

i'm not comparing it to a pc. i'm comparing the relative differences between the xbox/ps2 and the 360/ps3 to current hardware at the time that it was released. maximum pc said it best - the days of the console beating pc graphics are done and gone. when each of the four systems i mentioned above came out, they had hardware that was able to be comparable to the highest-end pcs available in terms of performance. that will not be the case with this generation. part of that is moore's law, and part of that is just that pcs are so fast. 8gb of GDDR5 ram sounds fantastic but will easily be able to be outstripped by this machine, particularly with all of the background garbage that they're planning on implementing as well. additionally, this system *will not* support 4k gaming, which is ridiculous considering that 4k is already here and will continue to be here for the forseeable future thanks to the hard limit they're hitting with lcd pixel density. 4k has just under the market penetration of high-def back in 2005 when the Big Two came out, but those consoles were functionally able to handle 1080p gaming upon release (although games took a year or two). ps4 can display 4k video theoretically (although the blu-ray drive doesn't seem to have the bandwidth to support it, another gaffe), but the built-in equivalent of a 7850 won't be able to handle rendering that kind of content with any clarity other than just upscaling existing HD content. i realize that most people don't know that almost a quarter of the 360's and PS3's ram went towards the OS that the system runs, but yeah. just because it's a console doesn't mean that it doesn't still have operating requirements for the in-game overlay that the console provides. --- all that said, i was wrong in my initial view of the system. the setup of the cpu - it's a true octa-core instead of two quads or four duals dovetailed together - and the way that the memory controller is integrated into the system is quite interesting and should provide unheard-of bandwidth between the two, hence why they're springing for GDDR5 for RAM instead of standard DDR2 or DDR3. i think we might start seeing some of that tech in consumer motherboards soon too. i'm still underwhelmed at best with the graphics card, though, and the complete lack of eventual 4k support.

here's something that kind of supports what i was talking about (no hard numbers but good info) - www.gamasutra.com/view/news/187037/We_asked_three_PS4_developers_how_expensive_their_games_are.php.

i am amazed - ASTOUNDED - that the hardware is as lackluster as it is. the processor is a 1.6ghz 8-core processor. yes, it has eight cores, but the reliance on parallel processing over raw speed is going to significantly affect production costs. programming in a way that actually utilizes that many cores to get the equivalent of a 3.5ghz 4-core processor (which would be roughly the same cost, all told) is very time- and skill-intensive, and that low of a clock rate is seriously going to affect future work as well. also, the graphics specs are poor at best. they're not even average for a current system, ranking well below current pc standards. lastly, 8gb of RAM seems like a lot now, but with the exceptionally low cost of RAM and the serious lacking in the vRAM department, AND with the memory controller on the cpu, i'd have expected to see more to future-proof the system. i realize this is a 400-500$ box, and there's price points to consider, but this is severely lacking with how cheap current-gen hardware is. i hope the xbox isn't comparable, because that tells me that we're going to be seeing the age of the system in two years, not four or five. edit: also, i'm surprised that there's no backwards compatibility. if the hardware is so much beyond last-gen stuff, why isn't it able to do software emulation a la the C and E models of the PS3? they've already demonstrated that the ability to virtualize an existing system is viable and cheap to do, so why not maintain that to give them a leg up on the xbox (which will surely continue to maintain that functionality)?

made a character called prophetikmusic. i am enjoying this. i would love free pokemon if people have spares.

guh i need to download this TONIGHT. i am so excited! i will post a username as soon as i can.

i need to get back into this =) i play on the xbox. let me know if you're up to play.

lol =) no worries dude. i will update my amazon list with the stuff my non-computer family members got me. it's too bad it didn't work out that we could see each other - i was hoping to but the weather just didn't cooperate. thanks, man =)

is anyone else still waiting for their gift? seems like most have gone out already.

i would play again with people if they were online and i could talk to them.

and here i was worried that i sent them to the wrong address =)

really any processor with decent speed would be solid. if you figure 8gb of RAM is like 50$ and a decent motherboard is around a hundred, that gives you between 175 and 225 to spend on a CPU and still have cash for tax and shipping. you should be able to find an i5-3570 for around 210$, which is a quad at 3.4ghz, and is Ivy Bridge so it's as new as it gets. if you want below that, there's a ton of sandy bridge models around that price too. spend a bit more and you can get a quad with hyperthreading, which is eight cores and even better. you won't need a cooler unless you're folding or something that's multi-core AND long-term. the normal cooler should be good if you use real thermal compound. i recommend intel for music purposes, since they just blow away amd in most price/performance metrics. for RAM i usually use G.SKILL - their 2x4gb kits are great in terms of performance and i've never had one crap out on me. for a board, msi sells an H77 board (the G43 i think) for well under a hundred that's pretty solid. it can't be overclocked but is a great board and msi's cheaper offerings tend to be pretty nice. i have been impressed with their sub-100$ offerings recently.

the hardware or the dressings?

first track is still one of my favorite chillout tracks on my ipod.

mine's 'mailed' via email as of yesterday...check your mail, dude!

mine's fully digitally mailed, so i'll send it out as soon as i remember when i'm home. having a newborn just makes you forget everything else

9800GT will run on basically any PCI-E 2.0 slot, and should run on PCI-E slots as well. How much are you looking to spend? RAM is cheap - if you don't know why you'd want better RAM than just G.SKILL's standard 2x2gb or 2x4gb packages, you shouldn't get it - but there's lots of options for other stuff.

this is pretty awesome. i'm enjoying it.

there isn't two deal threads. one's a history of builds and computer questions, and one's a specific deal that i am running. similar topics but definitely not the same thing.

kenogu labz got a slightly modified version of the first system in the thread, in a storm scout case. check it out here. there are dancing cats!

i just want to point out that it's super hilarious how everything goes full circle. someone quoted neblix in this thread a few posts back as their guy that they learned computer stuff from. neblix learned from me. it's the ciiiiiiiiircle of liiiiiiiiiife! anyways, COMPOOTAHS -------- http://i.imgur.com/Do3dz.jpg sorry for the crappy picture - my phone's camera is only kinda ok. this one's clearer but smaller. modular PSUs are just so expensive nowadays for what you get. i could have done more cleanup but wanted to leave it a bit loose for additional stuff down the line. also, those cronos SDDs are fantastic. i've got a video of it restarting - that is, from windows to off back to windows again - in under 25s, after graphics drivers and everything are installed. not bad at all. my only complaint is that they lack the nubs that allow for snap-in SATA connectors to stay connected no matter what. it might have been my cable, too, so maybe they're flawless =) really a nice tight system. the only issue i encountered was that i underquoted the shipping cost by almost 40$ (40lbs to washington is apparently more than 40lbs to ohio ), but kenogu was nice enough to cover the difference. he can post specs if he wants. edit: yes, those are cats dancing around sheet music. a friend of my wife's family made a quilt when we were married. i build computers on it.

there are some kick-ass games on there, though, so it's not THAT bad =) DA:OU will be pretty sick, as is ruse and SoaSE. and they'll run like butter on that system when i finally get to build it!

if we have questions for our person, should we send them to wes, or what?

i still play. my username is prophetikmusic.

i didn't get a pm if we're supposed to.