Misc Pictures

[QuadCore]

Just a few misc pictures. First here's a couple of me. These are greyscale because I originally took these for an online dating site (I think I mentioned my dating trials and tribulations before ), and I was having trouble hiding some of the redness when I'd smile for the picture, so I just made them all greyscale.


The facial hair is no more, that was just an experiment.

Here's some video card upgrade pictures. I did this this past week. I like to play computer games, the really graphically complex type that requires powerful video cards. These cards are actually computers on to themselves, with their own processors, and as much memory as the average desktop computer. And as games become more complex, video cards have to become more powerful to keep up. I also play with a small group online, on a private server (I moderate for a tech site and we have our own game server), and as the other guys upgrade their hardware, it sort of "forces" everyone else to keep up with the Jone's. Unfortunately, upgrading the video card often means also having to upgrade the powersupply. Since the powersupply is essentially supporting two computers when the video card is under full load, it needs to have a higher capacity then usual. In these pictures I'm replacing an MSI 8800GT video card and Fortron 500 watt powersupply with an EVGA GTX 295 video card and Corsair 850 watt powersupply. The full potential of this video card will really come into play when I rebuild the whole machine later with a faster processor.

This is how it looked before the work started:


And here's the original video card:


Here's a closer view:


Here's the box the powersupply came in:


And here's the powersupply that came out of the box:


Old vs new powersupplies:


The box the video card came in:


New video card installed:


It's a really tight fit, barely clearing the lower hard drive on the right:


The old card I then put into my Linux machine, which is what I use for most normal day to day stuff (email, web browsing etc) to replace it's old failing card that probably wouldn't have seen the end of the year.

And that's it for now. On the drawing board for later this year - rebuilding the whole machine

[David Pascoe]

wow there is some serious engineering there in your PC. I used to play computer games but in recent years seem to have totally stopped. It must be cool to configure the PC and see the gaming performance improve.

Thanks for posting your pics too, it does take a bit of braveness to do so. You look great in these shots !

[CrabbyCathy]

I agree!

As for the computer pics..... even though I have no clue. All I know is my new Dell is overheating and I'm going to Best Buy/Geek Squad on Tuesday.

[Aurelia]

Hi Steve,

Commenting on someone's appearance can easily cause offence, which is the last thing I would wish to do, but I really am astonished by the difference between the portrait photos. Perhaps it's just me, but in the coloured avatar, I think you look 50ish but trying not to show your age whereas in the grey shots, you look young, edgy, and seriously handsome. It is wrong to judge by appearances, but ... Wow!

Hi Cathy,

Sorry to hear about your computer overheating. You might be amused by a bit of highly technical insider info I recently acquired. The battery in our Compaq notebook suddenly died and we got a warning not to use the laptop until we had purchased a new battery. A clerk in the store we bought it from said it was my fault because batteries must always be removed when using a laptop plugged into mains power and I had destroyed the battery.

A clerk at another store said that was all nonsense and the simplest remedy was to wrap the battery in plastic so it was waterproof and put it in the freezer for perhaps half an hour, then it would probably work perfectly again. I stuck the battery in the freezer but then didn't have enough courage to let it back into the computer, so have just been operating the computer on the mains, with no clock and messed-up timings. After a month or more, I finally took the battery out of the desk drawer and gave it a try, when it immediately began recharging and worked perfectly.

I am, of course, not suggesting that the freezer is the answer to all computer problems, but you never know.

Kind regards,

Aurelia

[QuadCore]

Thanks guys Yeah that color pic has been severely resized down in order to use it as an avatar, so it doesn't look as good as the original, which wasn't the greatest to begin with. I think it may be time for a change

A freezer would probably help with Cathy's overheated machine if she could somehow leave it in there while running.
Is it a laptop? What are it's temps?

[QuadCore]

Here's what that original photo was like preshrunked

[QuadCore]

Updated my avatar image It's hard to find one that looks ok after shrinking it. This one is based off of this picture:

[CrabbyCathy]

Thanks guys Yeah that color pic has been severely resized down in order to use it as an avatar, so it doesn't look as good as the original, which wasn't the greatest to begin with. I think it may be time for a change

A freezer would probably help with Cathy's overheated machine if she could somehow leave it in there while running.
Is it a laptop? What are it's temps?

It's a laptop and I don't know? It's brand-new, and the fan is running constantly, and it's extremely hot when touched, esp. the bottom part of the "frame" surrounding the screen. Blah.

I'll be in the freezer tomorrow, thanks!

[QuadCore]

Thanks guys Yeah that color pic has been severely resized down in order to use it as an avatar, so it doesn't look as good as the original, which wasn't the greatest to begin with. I think it may be time for a change

A freezer would probably help with Cathy's overheated machine if she could somehow leave it in there while running.
Is it a laptop? What are it's temps?

It's a laptop and I don't know? It's brand-new, and the fan is running constantly, and it's extremely hot when touched, esp. the bottom part of the "frame" surrounding the screen. Blah.

I'll be in the freezer tomorrow, thanks!

You might need to take it in, but first lets check a few things. Do you shut it completely down, or just hibernate it? If you open Task Manager, and go to the Performance tab at the top, what does it show for CPU usage percentage?

[Aurelia]

Updated my avatar image

EXCELLENT!