AMD FX 1

Well, I decided it was time to retire Lie-chan from the "wor-khorse" computer spot and "build" a new computer (Lie-chan's Phantasy Star Online 2 benchmark score was below 2000).

So I decided on building my scaled-down bulldozer (AMD FX) build from my Newegg list.... Unfortunately, when I got around to buying it, I had to make a couple revisions before I could buy it. The revision to the DVD burners is not worth mentioning, and so I'll be focusing on the GPU.

I wanted the Sapphire Radeon HD 6770 I had bought for Mei-chan, but Newegg discontinued that one, so I picked out another Sapphire 6770.... When I was going to buy it, Newegg also discontinued that as well, and so out of desperation, I just went with a HIS Radeon HD 6770.

Not to much longer after that, I found that the Sapphire Radeon HD 7750s would have also worked (though I would be concerned about only having one DVI out instead of the two I need... Seeing that neither of my monitors have HDMI or DP in), for a bit less power... After looking at some of the shroud designs, I didn't really like any of them... So I looked at the Sapphire Radeon HD 7770s and the only real problem is that the driver is too new.

So I am deciding on staying with the 6770 for now since it's working decently for me. I get a score within the 3000 range for full-graphic settings in PSO2 benchmark (with Firefox open on the other screen and MediaMonkey playing music in the background), and within the 7000 range for mid-graphics settings (Firefox and MediaMonkey also apply here as well). Can't complain with those scores.

Anyway, with the FX chip (or it's codename "Bulldozer"), it's the 8120 chip... I really don't think I need to go into detail about the CPU itself... It does load up faster than the Athlon 64 x2 (obviously), though Windows still provides an ample amount of unknown slowdown. In Linux Mint 11 (I think it's 11), it only uses 4 cores. I read that most programs in Linux (though I wouldn't also doubt the kernel as well) isn't written to use more than 4 cores. BUT LM11 does use the slightly older 2.x kernel and not the new 3.x kernel, so maybe that has been already addressed. I can pop in any 12.x openSUSE disk I have and see.

16GB of ram.... Which I highly doubt I'll even be using more than 20% of as a rough estimate

All in the slightly crappy "budget" full-tower case that Lie-chan was in (Lie-chan got moved to Mei-chan's old Raidmax case after swapping her CPU cooler from the ASUS Triton to the Zalman CNPS9700 btw)... which was a pretty cramped fit due to the 6770 card. Luckily, I did make it fit (mainly had to move one of the hard drives down) and cable managed decently. Also what was lucky (maybe not really "lucky") was that the Zalman CNPS9900 Max also fit just fine in the case, even with the fan that I mounted on the side panel (though I took it off to reduce airflow interference) which was surprising.

Sadly, the 9900 Max seemed easier to install than the 9700 (I did the 9900 Max first), especially since I installed the 9900 Max outside of the case (before I secured the motherboard to the case).

I had to take the motherboard out 3 times, which was quite annoying.

I haven't done the Windows score thingy yet and I really should. I know I'm going to get dinged on HD, but doesn't everyone? (Well, except those that can afford multiple large SSDs)

I'm planning on getting a Cooler Master HAF X pretty soon to give this build more room and cooling.... Though I'm partially concerned, since on the PSU calculator site I use, at full system load, it will use almost exactly 550 watts if I turn off the LED for the front fan, which is crazy (my PSU is 550w and I really don't want to bump it up any).

I have yet to name this build, and haven't looked at any possibilities either... I really should start doing that.

Phantasy Star Online 2 Character Creator

The Phantasy Star Online 2 Character Creator is fun to play with as amazing as it is. Unfortunately, I don't have a computer powerful enough to run it at full graphics. Oh well.

PSO2 comes out sometime in 2013 and I'm hoping it doesn't just stay in Japan. Otherwise I'd probably be kinda sad.

I was going to type more, but I guess I got lazy or something lol

The link if you want to download it and tinker with it for yourself. I do forewarn you that it's all in Japanese...

openSUSE 12.2 Milestone 2

The themes thing actually works... It's just that I need to find a GTK+ theme to mod, since the window itself and the contents are separated into two (window border and content). But it makes me happy that I am that much closer to upgrading into a version that hasn't reached end-of-life. ☹ Poor 11.3, I will love you as long as I can. (LOL)

Haven't been able to test the GRUB2 trick (need the DVD or net install disk... preferably the DVD, since I've never been successful with net installs)

Otherwise, the only other differences is all under the hood, so I can't really say a whole lot about them I'll have to do some further testing and see how it is, but not at the moment. I was mainly just curious about the theme thing more than anything.

openSUSE 12.2 News

Holy crap it's already at Milestone 2! I just happened to be going through my G+ Feeds and,bam, 12.2 Milestone 2 news right in my face! (Well, maybe after a bit of scrolling down, but I still wasn't expecting that)

So they finally integrated GRUB2 as the default bootloader (assuming you install from DVD) But in my case, I would need a test-bed hard drive to test it out on. I think I have one... I don't remember, it's been a long, long while since I've done anything (which is probably from all the way back of 12.1).

I am definitely interested in the release and may read more about it tomorrow. I'm hoping the themes get fixed, since I like (not lake; LOL, I'm a bit tired) dark themes (it's not as brutal on the eyes to stare at unlike the default theme). That's one of the reasons I haven't switched yet, despite 11.3 already reaching it's end of life this past January (the other is just migration issues such as getting fstab written up, aesthetics, and other miscellany in the settings and such).

I'll write more when I know more.

Lie-chan and Mei-chan Upgrades 3

I actually found the source of the voltage leak noise. It was actually the PSU all along. But since the PSU is at the bottom of the case, I can't hear it from the bed like I used to (not to mention the room has to be below 20C anyway.

I looked at a modular PSU and since the 24 pin and the +24 are in roughly the same location as the where it is now, I decided to scrap that idea.

So the upgrade stands as the SATA optical drives (either BD or DVD), and a new card reader since the current one is almost 10 years old and can't read SDHC/XC cards. Even though I'm not really worried about it (and openSUSE doesn't support exFAT format anyway), the black bezel would look nicer with the black colour of the case (verses the cream colour of the current card reader bezel). I used to have a black bezel for my current card reader but I have no idea what happened to it, since it was 9 years ago when I got it and built Ziggy. Oh well.

Hard drive noises

Well, Shizuma's HDD started giving some weird noise (it did it twice, so it's not a fluke), so I decided to keep her powered off most of the time now since I don't exactly have the money to buy another and clone it.

My only problem with having her shut off is that I lose my FTP, since OS X 10.6.8 has a easy, built-in FTP server. I can set up an FTP server within openSUSE 11.3 (and I've done it before), but it's just so awkward, and when I had to reinstall on Triela, for some reason, the FTP was very finicky.

I was "forced" to setup Firefox Sync (though I really didn't want to use it) to ease the discomfort of not being able to use Firefox on Shizuma. I kept the sync tabs option unchecked though... I don't want to have to deal with the tab groups opening and closing when I don't really need them.

It would be nice if Firefox Sync also took care of installed addons, but oh well..
Well, I hope I can muster up some money soon and get a new HDD for Shizuma and get that process rolling... Maybe I should check the option to power down the HDD when possible (whatever OS X calls it, if it has it...).

Lie-chan and Mei-chan Upgrades 2

Oh, couple things I forgot, first is the Wifi card and the second is that voltage leak noise.

When I was going to play music and get updates while I do other stuff, I noticed it couldn't access the repositories, and that's when I noticed there was no Wifi. I rebooted with no avail, and tried moving it to the PCIe slot above the graphics card which disabled my graphics... I moved it back and no Wifi, I tried a regular PCI Wifi card and it also disabled my graphics, so I just did a hard wire connection and found some updates, after installing them the Wifi worked. Weird. I want to say it might have been a power issue, but I don't at the same time... The only difference in power is the case fans, since the Raidmax case just had the 80mm and 120mm LED fan, and the CM has the two 140mm and the one 120. Whatever though.

I've left the PSU on and haven't noticed the voltage leak noise, I usually notice it when it is below 20C in the room, but I haven't noticed anything so far. I might have heard it when I woke up in the night, but I could have imagined things, hard to say.

Well, I'm much happier with the new CM case.