I'm sure somebody got this for Christmas. Not sure why though...
Me? I've got maybe 8 vehicles, all of which were built from kits, which had to be ordered online or purchased from a hobby shop (and I have been to most of the shops and know some of the workers of said shops in a 50 mile radius of the house), and can tell you what rechargeable battery (moving to lipos), motor, engine (there is a difference), speed controller, servo, body, starter box, radio....
I can probably name each of those parts. Probably own most of them too,,,
You get my point. Video games. I've played SFII and it's ilk since the arcade scene was hot in the 90's. Most people would just play on their control pad, or, at best, but a controller from Madcatz or Hori (the fact I know the brands already gives the geek aura away). But how many people do you know have gone and built their own arcade stick to play at home? I own 3, all custom, all that needed to have buttons, joysticks, PCBs, LEDs purchased, installed, soldered, wired, and in some cases programmed to work?
El Guapo and El Jeffe. Yes I named them. Don't ask how much they cost...
Like I said, geek.
The one thing I hadn't really done, which seems to be a prerequisite of any geek or nerd, is build my own computer.Not that I hadn't ever grabbed the Phillips head screwdriver and went into a case before, mind you. Back in the days when I graduated, I had the choice of a car or a computer. You can guess which way I went. While I decided on an Amiga 2000 (probably on this side of being a nerd), I had to have extra memory, faster processor card, audio recording card, and a removable hard drive, all of which had to be ordered and installed by yours truly.
In the early '90s, this was a big deal. Just trust me...
Now, admittedly, very few people NEED to build their own computer. If you think about it, computers, as with everything else, are getting smaller and more portable. Most people can get along just fine with a low to mid-spec laptop. Tablets like the Nexus 7 and the ubiquitous iPad are expanding because they provide access to the things most people use a computer for (e-mail, messaging, web surfing, Netflix and the occasional game of Angry Birds or Words With Friends) in an easy to use portable device. Smartphones are getting faster with bigger and brighter displays (watch how many 5 inch phones come out this year), with better cameras front and rear to truly become all in one devices (which, ironically, are used less for making phone calls than ever).
Sorry Apple fanboys....
Even if you need a traditional desktop (and if sales and stocks are any indication, more people than ever don't), you can pop into your local Best Buy or hit Dell's website and get more computer than you need for your daily tasks. So why on earth build one yourself?
Simple answer: Because You Can. Even if you go through Dell or HP and customize one of their computers and have it shipped to you, there's always going to be a level of choice that you can't get unless you build it yourself. Say you're heavy into gaming on your PC. You may want more onboard memory and a separate video card to make sure you can get the highest graphics level on any given game. If you do music production, you may need a discrete audio card that will allow greater control and cleaner sound than your onboard audio from the motherboard. If you do video editing you may need a much faster processor and tons of memory. While your choices may be limited with a mass market seller, if you build your own each specific part cam be chosen based on your individual need. Then there's the customization factor. Want a case with plenty of vents for your cooling fans? Need one with a side window to show off your handiwork? Need multicolor lights in your fans or in the case to match your mood or your lighted keyboard? Feel like building a water cooling loop to keep the CPU chilly while you overclock the mess out of it? You've got to go custom. Do you NEED to do any of this? Nope. But you CAN do it, so why not?
Doubt you can buy this at HH Gregg....
Like I said, geek...
So, that being said, I decided I wanted to build my own computer. The current desktop I had was given to my from my IT manager at my job. He had ordered a mobo replacement for one of our servers, and got a whitebox desktop setup instead. Go figure. It was old, but serviceable Athlon X2 processor, 4GB memory, DVD burner. A step up over the old Dell P4 I had been using (another decommissioned job from my office). The thing was, the computer was LOUD AS F$^K. With no front fan and only a 80mm rear fan, it had to spin as fast as it could to keep the inside cool, even with a vented side panel and my aftermarket cooler I bought (with another 80mm fan, meaning it was still spinning ultra fast). Add to that a no name, barely vented power supply and you have a noisy, but underpowered, setup. I could hear the fans spinning from the upper landing before heading down the steps to the basement. My WHS2011 server, which I had cobbled together from another decommissioned computer (Lenovo something-or-other P4, which I simply added memory, bigger HDD and Gigabit LAN), and stays on 24-7, was nearly silent. This had to stop. I thought about simply replacing the case with something that could take bigger, quieter fans, and maybe the power supply and CPU cooler to make sure I could keep the sound down. But if I was going to go through the trouble of moving a mix of old and new parts to another case, I may as well take the time and just go from scratch all the way and build up a rig that is at least in the current cycle of parts (pretty sure the CPU and the mobo of the other rig had been discontinued years ago). The process of choosing parts, it turned out, was more difficult than I expected.
I get a lot from my father. My name. My eclectic taste in music. The benefits of good audio equipment (if you only knew how many headphones and high end walkmen I went through as a youth...).
One word: SuperBass
The benefits of good video equipment (which is why I'll go plasma over LCD if I'm paying for it). And the incurable need to research any and every electronic purchase for at least 4 months before buying anything, and even after making the purchase fretting over your decision for weeks afterward, even if you love the purchase. It's horrible. My dad obsessed so long over whether or not to get his Pioneer plasma TV (the one that was a step down from the legendary Kuro line) that my mother threatened to order it, have it installed in the den, and dare him to say anything about it. There were articles, reviews, price comparisons, etc around his house for months. He may have printed out close to a ream of paper on the TV and it's comparisons before finally pulling the trigger and buying it. It was frustrating, even for me, since he would e-mail me stuff on his TV. But in the end, he got it, he's happy, and it looks fantastic (I already told my mother when he passes I'm taking his TV). Sadly, he passed that same affliction on to me. Anything I buy has to be researched, reviewed, double checked, cross referenced, vetted by 2nd and 3rd parties, compared, seen, touched, debated, slept on and price matched before my wallet opens. I annoy my friends. I annoy my wife, I annoy myself. I hate it. I can't help it. So I blame my OCD on my father and keep it moving.
Now that we have the prelude out of the way, I can get to the actual build in the nest post. Which, hopefully, won't take another year, unlike any of the other projects I've got to finish (or start) a writeup on...
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