The Ultimate Rig

~A few weeks ago, my old laptop (a Dell Inspiron 9300, purchased in 2005), suffered a fatal graphics memory failure, rendering it unusable. That computer served me well, lasting throughout my trip to Japan (my entire previous blog was written on it) and during my two-year graduate studies. I quickly acquired a reasonably-priced replacement that should remain useful for several years.

That's great and all, but one thing I would like to build (when I can afford it) is my own desktop computer. No mere run-of-the-mill system, this would be the Ultimate Rig for David. Sure, I could simply buy a high-end pre-packaged setup from, say, Alienware, but I think I'd enjoy the technical challenge of actually constructing my own system from individual components...and it would probably be less expensive.

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been trying to recognize that it's ok to spend money on things that you like. Unlike most of my college roommates, I'm no comp sci major, but I enjoy working with computers. With that in mind, here is my list of components for the Ultimate Rig. This list is only for the present; one of the advantages of not building it now is that the prices for most of these parts will inevitably fall, while newer, better parts will become available if I decide on top-of-the-line components.

This is mainly a working list for my own use and research, so I will likely change or update it in the future. If anyone has any suggestions, please bring them up. For now, I've excluded the motherboard, case, and power supply; I'll work on those later.

CPU: Intel Core i7

One thing I skimped on in my Inspiron 9300 was the processor; if I recall correctly, I bought either the least powerful or second-least-powerful option when customizing it. It was an Intel Centrino chip, built specifically for mobile computing, meaning that it was relatively low-powered. This being the first system with parts I personally selected, I quickly learned that no matter now much RAM you have or how great your graphics card is, if you have an inferior CPU, overall performance may not be as fast as you want it to be.

The two major players in the desktop CPU market are Intel and AMD. My recently-purchased machine, along with my parent's desktop PC that I helped select a few years ago, use AMD chips. Specifically, my current computer uses a Turion X2 dual-core system. I've been very impressed by its power compared to my old Inspiron, but the Ultimate Rig will make no such compromises. AMD chips are generally less expensive, but I've found that they also run quite a bit hotter. The Ultimate Rig will make no such compromises, and will have the awesome power of a quad-core i7...or whatever is available when I build it.

Memory: 8 GB+ DDR3

I don't really have a brand preference when buying RAM; I'll work on that later. DDR3 SDRAM is a new form of memory, an upgrade on DDR2 used by most modern systems (such as my own current PC).

Data Drive: Solid-state (?)

Data drives are an interesting area in the consumer PC market. Most computers use hard disks, which use the same magnetic storage system used in cassette tapes (remember those?), albeit to a far more refined degree. However, hard drives seem to be slowly but inevitably being replaced by solid-state drives. Also known as flash drives, solid-state drives are the data storage mechanisms found in USB flash drives and the ipod nano, among other gadgets. They offer numerous advantages over hard drives: they're faster, more durable, silent, and utilize far less power (meaning they generate far less heat). For example, this solid-state drive consumes a mere 0.15 watts of electricity when active, and only 0.06 a watt when idle.

However, these drives are fairly expensive, and there are some concerns about their long-term storage viability. Still, I think it may be interesting to experiment with multiple drives, perhaps by using a relatively low-capacity solid-state drive to hold the operating system and applications, and much larger high-speed hard drives to hold everything else. Alternately, I may experiment with RAID configurations to boost drive performance and redundancy. I'll have to look into this more, but for now, time is on my side: the cost of solid-state drives can only fall, while the capacity and speed of standard hard drives continue to rise.

GPU: nVidia 9800 GX2 (?)

The graphics processing unit, also known as a GPU or graphics card, is a processor that handles all display options, reducing the load on the CPU and enabling graphical applications far beyond that of an unassisted CPU. If you want to watch a video or play almost any modern game, a good GPU is essential. As with CPUs, there are two dominant players in this market: nVidia and ATI (which is now a subsidiary of AMD). Both make great cards, and I've used both brands at different points.

I'm currently leaning toward nVidia's 9800 GX2, which has 1 gigabyte of dedicated graphics memory and an integrated system for handling on-screen physics. A few years ago, there was speculation that for serious graphical applications, a dedicated physics processing unit (PPU) would become essential, but modern nVidia cards have integrated graphics and physics functions. Still, ultimately it will come down to what's available and reasonably priced when building the Ultimate Rig.

However, this card runs very hot, hence:

Liquid-Cooling

I really want to try out liquid-cooling the Ultimate Rig. This is one area where experimenting will probably be dangerous, so I'll probably get a liquid-cooling kit that uses pre-assembled parts. The process of liquid-cooling a computer involves attaching flexible hoses from a reservoir of coolant to heat-conducting metal plates that touch components such as the CPU and GPU. The metal plates transfer heat from the computer chips to the coolant, which is then circulated to the reservoir by a pump.

I've never even seen a liquid-cooled system before, so setting one up would be an entirely new experience. Still, I think I'll avoid liquid nitrogen for now, as I like my fingers the way they are.

Display: Multi-monitor

I haven't researched monitors much. When I first bought my Inspiron 9300, it had an absolutely amazing display with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. Unfortunately, I soon discovered that actually running any programs at this resolution caused the computer to run very slowly, even when some of the calculations were offloaded to the graphics card (an nVidia Go 6800, which was great for its time).

My first experience using a display made up of multiple monitors was in the computer lab of UNC-SILS. At first I thought it was strange and kind of pointless, but I soon learned to appreciate the extra visual "real estate". Thus, the Ultimate Rig will have two or even three monitors operating simultaneously. For example, ATI Eyefinity technology is the ability of new ATI graphics cards to optimize for up to six monitors, combining them into a single super-monitor. It makes some programs look amazing! Perhaps I'll go with an ATI graphics card after all, although I'm sure there is comparable technology on the nVidia side. More research is necessary.

Optical Drive: Combo Multi DVD/Blu-ray RW

I remember when I first heard that the Apple iMac lacked a floppy disk drive. I thought it was absurd; how, I wondered, would people transfer files such as documents to and from the computer? I thought it would fail completely as a concept. I was certainly proven wrong: a few short years later, floppy disks are museum pieces. I see the same thing happening in the future for optical storage mechanisms such as CDs and DVDs. CDs are already dying, most obviously in the music industry, in favor of digital downloads. And I think SD cards, which use solid-state memory, will soon replace DVDs and perhaps blu-ray technology as well. Eventually, most data transfer will probably occur entirely in the digital realm, with small flash memory cards for manual data transfer.

Still, an optical drive remains essential. When I went shopping for my new computer, I had two models in mind, but quickly scratched one off of my list when I examined it in the store and discovered that it lacked an optical drive. It was a deal-killer. So, the Ultimate Rig will have an optical drive fully-equipped for reading and writing CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs.

Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio

A good sound card was once an essential computer component if you wanted anything better than the tinny squalk of the computer's built-in sound. However, in recent years, that built-in sound (as part of the motherboard) has gotten very good, to the point where most people would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the native motherboard sound and sound produced from a dedicated card.

Still, there is a difference, and a dedicated sound card will further reduce the load on the CPU. Sound Blaster is the undisputed leader in the area of PC sound cards, and their hardware and corresponding software can create incredible environmental sound effects. Their slogan is "Sounds Best on Sound Blaster", and at least for now, they're probably right.

Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

Yeah, yeah, Microsoft bad, open-source good, etc. But part of the purpose of the Ultimate Rig is for games, and unfortunately Linux lacks support for most of them. Hopefully I'll be able to acquire a discounted or free version of Windows 7 from an educational institution...I have my sources...

Peripherals & Interface Devices

Other parts of a computer that are not essential components but nonetheless are needed include a keyboard, mouse (or trackpoint or touchpad) and so forth. Here are some nifty extras that I'd like to have for the Ultimate Rig:

-Novint Falcon. I first tried this out at a Games4learning discussion at UNC. It's a haptic controller that provides force feedback for various games, making them a whole new experience.

-Razer Imperator mouse. A programmable mouse with adjustable side buttons. I prefer wired peripherals; I wouldn't like having to recharge a wireless mouse or keyboard, and sometimes there are response errors when wireless signals encounter interference.

-Razer Lycosa keyboard. A back-lit programmable keyboard.

-Gaming chair. These have integrated speakers and sometimes bass and "rumble" effects. Comfort is also important, especially when sitting down for extended periods of time.

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Well, that's my "wish list" so far. All of these together would probably cost several thousand dollars, but as I said before, the price for most components will only fall, particularly with in the area of microprocessors. Building this system will be a challenge and a fun experience, assuming I don't accidentally fry essential parts when installing them...

Some things make no cents

~I find it difficult to spend money on non-essentials. I'll often subconsciously put off purchases of things I'd like to buy, and then I'll sometimes buy something inferior that displeases me simply because it is less expensive than what I originally wanted.

For example, when I was in Japan, one of the first things I bought was a bicycle helmet (making me one of the only people I ever saw actually wearing one) because I considered it essential. It cost me around $30. However, I hated that helmet -- it was heavy, hot, and looked absurd. Shortly after buying it, I found a much better helmet at a sporting goods store, but it was ~$70. I really, really wanted that helmet...but I already had one, so I put off buying the second one for months. When I finally did get around to buying it, I felt a tremendous weight coming off of my shoulders...both literally and figuratively.

Intellectually, I understand the fallacy of sunk costs, but viscerally, I rebel against the entire concept. Frankly, I'm scared to actually spend money whether or not it's mine; when I bought my car with my parent's help, I nearly had a nervous fit. My body was shaking so much that I could barely stand or sign my name, and I assure you they were not shakes of excitement.

I consider this quality to be one of the great personal challenges of my life that I hope to eventually overcome. Part of it, I'm sure, comes from hereditary genetic factors, part of it from formative childhood incidents, the rest from my own financial realities at various stages in my life. That last part is undoubtedly the smallest; my teaching job paid quite well, certainly more than I've made since, but it in no way diminished my avoidance of spending on something as simple as a bicycle helmet. People like me, I'm sure, haunt the nightmares of those who work for the Department of Commerce, who depend on consumer spending and debt to drive the economy.

One idea that I've found useful is this simple idea: that it's ok to spend money on things that you enjoy. Of course, this assumes that you have some sort of income, but as I said, for someone like me it's still a difficult thought to internalize.

Fortunately, twinned to my fear of spending is something I consider much more positive: the enjoyment of simple pleasures. It doesn't take much in the way of material goods to keep me happy. Despite my high school economics teacher's obsession with the phrase "T.I.N.S.T.A.A.F.L.", I believe that the best things in life really are free.

The LHC Rap

~The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest and most expensive experiment in the history of human science. Its purpose is to smash tiny particles together at speeds near that of light, in hopes that the collisions will momentarily produce new, never-before-seen particles that may help to explain fundamental mysteries of physics, such as the cause of mass and the nature of dark matter.

But that's a bit hard for most people to grasp, so here to explain the LHC better than I ever could is the legendary Large Hadron Rap:



^ This has nearly 6 million views of YouTube.

Some scientifically illiterate morons...I mean, some perfectly reasonable people believe that the collisons caused by the LHC could create a black hole that could destroy the Earth, or open a wormhole into another dimension, etc. Not to worry; this scenario has already been covered. Should the unthinkable occur, this man will take care of it:

^ Who is he, you may ask? He bears a suspicious resemblance to Gordon Freeman, protagonist of the Half-Life games:


As you can see from the short video summary below of the first two Half-Life games, should the LHC go out of control and disgorge horrific monstrosities from a parallel universe, GORDON FREEMAN will do whatever is necessary to stop them.

Half-Life 1 and 2 in 60 seconds:



^ "Blah blah blah, Mr. Freeman."

Terror Beneath the Waves

~It sounds like the beginning of a horror movie, but unfortunately for us puny air-breathing land-dwellers, this is reality:



^ The population of Humboldt Squid (also known as diablos rojos, or "Red Devils")off the West coast of North America is rapidly increasing. The reasons for the increase in their numbers near the surface is still not fully understood, but marine biologists suspect an increase in oceanic dead zones may be to blame.

At any rate, these carnivorous calamari can grow to be seven feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds. They have razor-sharp beaks, toothy flesh-rending tentacles, color-shifting camouflage, and keen intelligence. They can swim as fast as 20 miles per hour, and can actually leap out of the water to skim across the surface. They also travel in packs (shoals, to use the proper term) of up to 1,200. Last December, three SCUBA divers in the Sea of Cortez were killed when they found themselves in the middle of a Humboldt Squid shoal feeding frenzy. All that was left of them was air tanks and shredded wetsuit chunks.

For the love of god, if you're going diving with the squids don't forget your spear gun, preferably the kind that shoots explosive-tipped spears. Better yet, travel in a nuclear submarine. The kind with torpedoes and depth charges.

The David...He Returns!

~Sorry for the long absence, folks; I'm blaming it on computer problems. But now that I'm back online, by way of apology I offer this video performance of the Legend of Zelda theme song...played by Tesla Coils (no no, not those Telsa Coils):



I don't deal well with unemployment; but then, who does? In his book Man's Search for Meaning, philosopher (and concentration camp survivor) Viktor E. Frankl described the phenomenon of "unemployment anxiety", in which an out-of-work individual develops an increasing sense of detachment from their own life. This is because in our modern world, the ego (here used in the psychological sense of what makes you you) for most people is defined by one's occupation. What one does with their time is a critical factor in how we as humans evaluate each other, both consciously and unconsciously, and more importantly, how we self-evaluate. I venture that this is still more the case with men than with women, as men tend to define themselves (and other men) more by occupation than anything else.

This is especially acute in the United States, a nation built on individualism, entrepreneurship, and can-do attitudes, where long-term unemployment is often regarded as the result of laziness or some other character defect. Everyone sympathizes with the downsized worker, but if that same person is still out of work after a year or so, it's obviously because he's a lazy bum who's not working hard enough to find a new occupation, etc. While such an attitude may contain kernels of truth, such broad generalizations can be very destructive to both individuals and society during times of economic depression.

Hence, prolonged periods of unemployment can lead to increasing feelings of worthlessness. Even more ominously, recent studies indicate that the psychological scars resulting from long period of unemployment remain even if one is later employed in the long-term. Such formerly unemployed people have higher levels of overall anxiety and statistically earn significantly less than those who have never been unemployed for long periods of time.

I bring this topic up not so much to comment on my own situation (or lack of situation, in the Dickensian sense), but rather because it has interesting sociological ramifications. More and more jobs are being outsourced to other countries; it used to be the factory jobs, but now outsourcing is increasingly shifting to information technology jobs (remember the "information economy"?). Barring a massive societal shift, it's reasonable to predict that, regardless of the business cycle, our nation will see increasing numbers of well-educated but unemployed people.

Just this morning, I read an article about how ever-increasing numbers of new college graduates are finding themselves overqualified and under-experienced for most available positions. The total percentage of jobs requiring a college degree has not increased all that much in the past few decades, while the percentage of Americans holding college degrees continues to inch upwards (along with overall student debt). Businesses can (and do) respond/benefit from this by imposing increased educational requirements to positions that formerly did not require such credentials, but this can only go so far before it drifts into the realm of absurdity (e.g. requiring entry-level lab assistants to have Ph.D.s).

I have no solutions to the socioeconomic issues that this problem engenders, but Frankl does offer ways to counteract the malaise and depression caused by unemployment anxiety. He suggests filling in one's time with meaningful activities. What this means differs from person to person; an outgoing person may become involved in volunteering or politics, while others may immerse themselves in intellectual pursuits or personal projects.

So what am I doing with my time? Being an introverted soul, it would be far to easy to fall into the trap of distracting myself with the endless entertainments available to me; if I wanted to, I could simply ignore my problems by immersing myself in games, novels, movies, television, and so forth. I'm trying to avoid that as much as possible. So, between scouring job boards and listservs and following up on leads, here are some things that I've been up to:

• Learning to play the electric guitar and keyboard
  
• Reading through a chemistry textbook and actually doing all the exercises
• Experimenting with digital photography and image editing
• Learning American Sign Language
• Expanding my culinary horizons by trying new foods and recipes
• Listening to different kinds of music and new artists than what I normally listen to
• Exploring new places near where I live by walking and driving (sadly, cycling near my apartment is tantamount to having a death wish)