NERD ALERT - new PC built

[Powdertoast]

I've built my own PC's for over 20 years.

Currently, from memory:
PhenomX4, 4 gigs of RAM (DDR3, pretty sure), 700gig SATA, AMD 5770, Xonar D2X (nice) or a Logitech USB headset for sound, I think a 23" monitor. I'm thinking about going to 2 monitors but have to change up my desk area for that. Most of this upgrade was to get Borderlands to run fairly smooth 'cuz I'm a frame rate ho.

[turso]

Been building mine since ever.
Current pc:
Intel Core duo e8500@4.06GHZ
4gigs of 1066 ddr2
2x640GB spinpoint F1s in raid 0
x-fi titanium
club 3d 6850 OC
+stuff

Gonna get a new one(hopefully) later this year which is gonna be something like this:

Intel i7 2600k
16gigs of ddr3
xfire 6850s
hopefully SSD with couple mechanical ones to back it up
+the other stuff.

[Jeronimo]

What the frack are you going to need that 16gigs of RAM for?!

[mobster]

What the frack are you going to need that 16gigs of RAM for?!

Time travel.

[Powdertoast]

What the frack are you going to need that 16gigs of RAM for?!

Time travel.

Heheh! Can't have too much RAM, barring hardware compatibility issues.

[Jeronimo]

Hey, while we're nerding out... Has anyone used or own a Razer Blackwidow keyboard? On the fence over getting one, I hear a lot of good stuff and (as usual with Razer) I hear a lot of bad stuff. Curious to hear direct feedback.

[Powdertoast]

Negative on the Razer keyboard here. I've been using these for a few years with the ability to switch between Dvorak and QWERTY key layouts. Normally I'm using the Dvorak layout.

[jubuttib]

ddr2?

2003 called and they want their ram back.

My rig:

MSI mobo
4 gigs of DDR2, 3.54 in use, most likely in the 400MHz region... =)
Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Radeon 1950 Pro 512 MB
3x internal HD of various sizes (I'm pretty sure they're like 300, 500 and 640GB), been years since I took a look at them...
3x external HD of various sizes (640 GB and 2x 1 TB).

They called me too and they want it all back. =)

[Star Shark]

The weird thing about my new machine is that my video card is more powerful than my whole machine was before.

[turso]

Hey, while we're nerding out... Has anyone used or own a Razer Blackwidow keyboard? On the fence over getting one, I hear a lot of good stuff and (as usual with Razer) I hear a lot of bad stuff. Curious to hear direct feedback.

I have a razer blackwidow, not the ultimate model. It's pretty sweet, so far I have no complaints. Been using it for couple months now. Its buttons are just a fraction farther away from each other which took a bit of getting used to from me, since I've used low profile buttoned keyboards mostly.

[Ironhide]

Sad thing is I just upgraded my computer about 6-7 months ago and it's "okay" to today's standards...

Current Computer....

Operating System - MS Windows 7 64-bit
CPU - AMD Athlon II X4 620
RAM - 4.0GB - G-Skill DDR2-8500
Motherboard - Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-MA790X-UD4P
Graphics - XFX HD5750
Hard Drives - 320GB & 80GB

Computer before the one above....

Operating System -Windows XP Home
CPU - AMD Athlon XP 3200+
RAM - 2.0GB - G-Skill DDR-400
Motherboard - A-Bit Piece of Junk
Graphics - 6600GT
Hard Drives - 80GB & 80GB

[Jeronimo]

Hey, while we're nerding out... Has anyone used or own a Razer Blackwidow keyboard? On the fence over getting one, I hear a lot of good stuff and (as usual with Razer) I hear a lot of bad stuff. Curious to hear direct feedback.

I have a razer blackwidow, not the ultimate model. It's pretty sweet, so far I have no complaints. Been using it for couple months now. Its buttons are just a fraction farther away from each other which took a bit of getting used to from me, since I've used low profile buttoned keyboards mostly.

Cool. Thinking about picking it up for gaming. I hear the mechanical key's are supposed to make you a better typist and all that jazz so supposedly it's THE keyboard to have. Little nervous about some reviews I've been reading about keys being too close together so that everytime you press the space bar (for example) the alt key comes down with it. Also not a big fan of the lack of indent on the caps lock key, that'll take some getting used to. You do any gaming with it? Curious about ghosting issues, I've heard the WSAD keys can have issues registering when shift+alt are pressed as well.

Also got my eyes on DASKeyboard...

[Powdertoast]

Try an n52 Nostromo pad for gaming if you aren't planning on using a joystick or other gamepad at the same time. There's a conflict on my system with the pad on the n52 and a joystick, your mileage may definitely vary.

Looks like there's a new "Tournament" version, and like Razer has a version as well, but my old Belken n52's held up to my gorilla fingers abusing it for first person shooters and Guild Wars for many years. I like the feel, it's easy to program once I got the hang of the software, and highly durable.

Even if you don't get an n52, a keypad like this lets you use your keyboard just for typing on so you don't have to worry about how many keypresses the keyboard will handle simultaneously. You can focus on getting a keyboard that's good for you to type on. 'Course, there's the cost of the keypad, but for me and my bizarre keyboard, it's worth it.

[Solty]

for those who enjoy a nerdy laff...

one of my two monitors died already.... lost the LED backlight....and everything turned a huge of maize...

[Ironhide]

Solty, just RMA the monitor(s) and then sell them. I had 2 LEDs myself from viewsonic and they died after a year. I RMA'ed them and just sold them on craigslist. Won't do LED till the bugs are fixed. At least now with LCDs they have better capacitors in them so they don't die as quick. Also you should never have your monitors at 100% brightness, that's how you burn them out quicker.