Best. Wheel of Fortune. Ever.
Posted on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 at 8:59 pm
My wife has taken, recently, to watching Wheel of Fortune. I’m not entirely sure why. It doesn’t really rank all that high on my list of compelling television, you know. Something about undeserving people winning more money at once than I make in a couple months just doesn’t really do it for me. Although, to be fair, I do have to admit that it’s pretty funny when some poor schmuck gets all but one letter uncovered, then attempts to solve the puzzle, and still somehow manages to get it wrong.
Really now. When you’ve got MACADAMIA _UTS, what else did you think the fucking missing letter was going to be?!
But anyway. That’s a story for another day.
The real reason for this post is that yesterday they had the best prize I’ve ever seen. Now, generally, I’m pretty biased against the OMG FABULOUS PRIZE PACKAGE!!! because I know that you have to count the full retail value of that prize as income. And given that you didn’t actually receive said value in cold hard cash, it generally means that you’re going to have to pay extra taxes come April 15. Personally, I think this should be amended in the tax code, as what you technically received was a non-cash item, and therefore its full dollar value shouldn’t be counted towards the amount of real cash you received in a given year. But hey, I don’t write the tax laws. What I’m really getting at is… if I were to be on one of those shows, I’d much rather say fuck the prizes, just give me the cash, so at least I can sock a third of it in a bank account for when tax time rolls around.
But yesterday, the prize for the jackpot round was a $4000 gift certificate to fucking Newegg. How awesome is that?! I would kill people to have a $4k shopping spree on Newegg. It really surprised the hell outta me too, because to me, Newegg always seemed like a place for nerds who have the requisite intelligence to correctly buy, ensure the compatibility of, and properly assemble, individual components into a working computer. I mean, I know they’ve sold stuff like Xbox’s, digital cameras, TVs, ad nauseum, for quite awhile now. But I still always assumed that their primary market was anyone who could read (and enjoy) Slashdot.
Maybe I’m just biased. I mean, my latest order from them had an invoice number of 24,163,023. My first order from them was on August 7, 2001, and had an invoice number of 340,021. That’s right. The total number of their orders has increased by nearly two full orders of magnitude since the first time I ever bought something from them. (By the way, that first order was for a 64mb Gainward GeForce3, which at the time cost $345.00. How awesome is that?!) And back then, Newegg was sort of like this exclusive club for people “in the know.” I guess it just sort of makes me a little nostalgic for a time when Newegg sold just naked computer parts and nothing else, and when you could say “Newegg” in conversation and everyone thought you were making up words. But now they’re marketing on Wheel of Fortune, for chrissakes. Old people just saw an advertisement for them. What use do old people have of an OEM processor?!
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The Before Shot.
Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 at 9:23 pm
My original intent with this post was to compare a few benchmark results from my old computer to my new computer. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always work out the way we plan. And as it happens, the current ATI drivers do not support my new video card on Vista. They technically do “work,” in that they display an image onscreen. The problem is that my new video card is normally underclocked below its full potential, and only ramps up to its maximum speed when absolutely necessary (eg. when you’re playing a 3d game). And apparently the current drivers, combined with my new card, cause Vista to explode when it attempts to switch from 2d mode to 3d mode. Ergo, I can’t currently run any benchmarks without the computer spontaneously combusting.
So a full “comparison” post is not possible, at the moment. So instead, here is a “before” picture, with some benchmark results from my old system. The followup post will come once ATI releases drivers that will successfully transition between the 2d speeds and the 3d speeds
The old system is comprised of the following major components:
Motherboard: Abit AV8 – Via K8T800 chipset
Processor: AMD Athlon64 3000+ @ 1.83ghz (single core)
Memory: 1.0gb DDR 400 (iirc, the brand is Kingston, though I’m not totally sure)
Video: ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 256mb @ 500mhz core / 810mhz memory
3dmark 05 Score: 3,885 3dmarks.
3dmark 06 Score: 1,714 3dmarks.
Both of these were ran with the factory default settings. For the 05 edition, this means a resolution 1024×768; for 06, 1280×1024. No anti-aliasing (AA) and no anisotropic filtering (AF) are also the default. So no “bells and whistles,” basically. Nothing that would be skewed in favor of specially-optimized drivers. Just plain jane results.
Not surprising. Fairly low. When I ran the 3dmark 06 tests, it was actually painful to watch its two CPU tests. These are when it completely disabled the video card, and forces the CPU to render all the graphics. The system averaged something like 1 frame every 3 seconds. Pathetic.
Next up is the Windows Vista Experience Index. For those who don’t know, the overall WEI score is actually the lowest of the 5 separate tests it runs. So no matter how any one part of your computer is, the great big number Windows displays is the chain’s weakest link.
For my old computer, the WEI score is as follows:
Processor: 3.8
Memory: 4.5
Aero Graphics: 4.3
Gaming Graphics: 4.8
Hard Drive: 5.4
Overall Rating: 3.8
The processor was definitely the limiting factor here, probably because it had only one core. I was actually surprised that the RAM managed to get a score of 4.5. Vista supposedly only requires 512mb of RAM. But this requirement is very misleading. You can technically drive from Point A to Point B with a Chevy Nova, though doing so is definitely not recommended. The practical minimum amount of RAM is 1gb. It’s enough to really get by without experiencing horrible slowdowns. And given that I was using the “real” minimum amount of RAM, and the specification of said RAM (400mhz DDR) is roughly 3 years old, it really surprised the hell out of me that it scored as high as it did.
The hard drive was the highest rated part of this system, according to Vista. Here’s a hint about the followup post: the hard drive is the lowest rated part of my new computer.
I was going to also run a benchmark of Quake 4, but apparently Vista has monumentally fucked up its implementation of OpenGL, which means that Q4 (and likewise, Doom 3) don’t work very well. So that is, unfortunately, out of the question. And also, unfortunately, Quake 4 is the newest PC game I’ve got (note to self: Xbox 360 is not the only thing you have that can play games). So it was the only “real life” gaming scenario I could come up with. Damn.
So that’s all I’ve got, at the moment.
The followup post will, as mentioned, contain the matching benchmark scores for my new computer. So yeah. Check that out, if you want to see how thoroughly a new top-of-the-line computer can obliterate a 2-years-old mostly-middle-of-the-line computer.
I’m out.
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OMG CONSPIRACY!!!!11!
Posted on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Fact 1: Contrails are not just the trail of vaporized water that follows the jet when it flies through the air.
It is actually a toxic mix of chemicals that is specifically designed to make the entire world addicted to Froot Loops. The Kellogg Company has a secret contract with the United States government, and with Boeing. This contract states that Boeing adds a special mechanical device onto each of its planes that will dispense this chemical mixture into the atmosphere once its planes reach a certain altitude. The exact makeup of the mixture is top secret – known only by the respective presidents of Kellogg, Boeing, and the United States. But through testing the air on the ground, as well as the air in-flight (all testing occurred during the in-flight movie [Rob Schneider's The Animal, if you must know] so as to make sure the rest of the passengers were thoroughly occupied), we’ve been able to isolate a few key components. The biggest component of the mixture is a chemical that smells identical to the green Froot Loops. The purpose of this is to make all the kids crave Froot Loops, and to make all the adults long for the days before they turned 15 and were legally prohibited from eating Froot Loops anymore. Other chemicals include bull testosterone (which explains why Sammy Sosa’s neck is like, four feet thick), low-estrogen birth control for shorter periods, cat urine, black tar heroin, and a low-calorie sweetener.
Fact 2: The government knows about Bigfoot.
Bigfoot is commonly sighted throughout the northwest states. But did you know that Bigfoot was actually created by the government? It’s true! Bigfoot is the result of numerous government experiments to engineer the perfect soldier. He is invulnerable to pain, he can go for four months without food or water, and he is completely lacking in the ability to know that his sole purpose in life is to get blown up by batshit-insane religious whackjobs who know how to build mines in Iraq. Unfortunately, a half dozen or so test subjects were accidentally released into the Great Outdoors. This happened because a certain member of the lower echelons of middle management decided to celebrate Happy Hour before he left the office. He got plastered, and accidentally forgot to lock the door. And obviously, when you’re in a lab that is genetically engineering the perfect soldier, you probably shouldn’t leave the door unlocked. Because it is embedded in their brain to try to find the best way out of an uncomfortable situation. So that’s what happened. Bada bing. Bigfoot is loose. And gets spotted every couple of years by some yahoos who are utterly terrible at successfully aiming and focusing video camera.
Fact 3: UFOs and aliens don’t exist.
Alright, well, aliens exist. And a veritable cadre of them keep my lawn mowed. But you know what I mean. People have been speculating about extraterrestrial intelligent life, and the existence of “unidentified flying objects,” for a good long while now. But the truth is, they simply don’t exist. Any reports you’ve heard to the contrary are utterly false. Also, [GOVT MESSAGE NUMBER 11159] YOUR GOVERNMENT LOVES YOU and [GOVT MESSAGE NUMBER 20498] CONTRAILS, BIGFOOT, AND ALIENS ARE A MYTH. YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN CONTRAILS, BIGFOOT, AND ALIENS. PLEASE CONTINUE LIVING YOUR LIFE WITHOUT ANY THOUGHT TO CONTRAILS, BIGFOOT AND ALIENS.
[GOVT MESSAGE NUMBER 00912] PAY YOUR TAXES BY APRIL 15 OR YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO FINES. YOUR WONDERFUL GOVERNMENT RELIES ON TAXES TO PAY FOR THE WAR IN IRAQ, WHICH HAS GENERATED ASTRONOMICAL AMOUNTS OF DEBT FOR THE COUNTRY AND HAS TO BE PAID FOR IN SOME MANNER. SO PAY YOUR TAXES. PLEASE. NO, BUT SERIOUSLY. PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES, YOU CHEAP BASTARD. GOD FORBID WE ADMIT WE MADE A MISTAKE, SO LET’S GET SOME MORE POOR KIDS KILLED.
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Changed already.
Posted on Saturday, March 3, 2007 at 9:17 pm
I haven’t even finished purchasing all the new parts for my computer, and already it’s changed. I already bought the motherboard, memory, and CPU cooler. I’d ordered that portion of it a couple weeks ago.
But Newegg keeps screwing around with items and prices, so even now (as I wait till my next paycheck) I’m not entirely sure what CPU and video card I’m going to get.
As far as the CPU goes, within days after my previous post, AMD released the Athlon X2 6000, which is their first 3.0ghz part. So I’m kind of thinking about going that route. Sure, it’s a bit overpriced compared to some of their other stuff, and arguably I could buy a cheaper part and overclock it to the same speed. But I have utterly terrible luck with overclocking. I don’t know if I just always happen to get the chips that don’t overclock well (there’s always a bad one in every batch), or if I’m just not doing it right, or what. But I never can overclock much more than a few megahertz without everything going to hell in a handbasket. So I’d much rather spend the extra money to get a guaranteed 3ghz part, rather than take my chances with a 2.6ghz chip that (from previous experience) won’t go any higher than that.
Even aside from the new X2 6000 being released, the previous processor I’d planned on getting, the X2 5600, suddenly jumped in price by nearly $100 for no apparent reason. This price jump came AFTER the newer CPU was released… which makes no sense. It’s since gone back down to pretty close to what it used to be… but the 6000 chip has also dropped quite a bit as well (to only $10 more than the highest price the 5600 hit). So barring any more random price jumps, I think I’m going to stick with the 6000.
And then we come to the video card. I was fully planning on getting the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX, which is (at least until the end of the month) the biggest and best video card that ATI makes. But since making my original post, Newegg has completely dropped nearly all variants of that card from its website, leaving only one left that’s in stock. And the one that’s left is quite a bit more expensive than the ones they had just a few weeks ago.
So now I’m thinking of getting the (much cheaper, but still nearly as capable) X1950 Pro. It’s just a touch over half the price of the XTX, and essentially the only difference is that it’s clocked a little lower and doesn’t have as many pipelines. But given that I don’t use my computer for playing shooters nearly as much as I used to, I figure this isn’t as big of a deal now as it would have been a couple years ago. Plus, when I was at Fry’s today, I bought the Zalman FC-VZ9 video cooler. So even with my horrible luck with overclocking, there’s a chance I may be able to push the Pro level card to something much closer to the XTX card. Which will be nice.
So that’s that. Sorry for continuing on so long about my new computer parts, which I’m sure most of you don’t care about. But my wife said I should make a new blog post, because i hadn’t made one in awhile, and I really couldn’t think of anything else to write about.
You go away now.
