On the learning involved with my new computer.
Well, I finally replaced my aged POS system with a new one. Not having a huge budget, I went to Best Buy, picking up a non-bleeding-edge machine, but still one that made my old computer seem like a pocket calculator in comparison. What I'm running right now is a Compaq Presario SR5130NX, running an AMD AthlonTM 64 X2 (Dual Core) 3800+. Officially, it lists itself as a paltry 1.6 ghz, although it runs much faster than my 1.8 ghz Athlon XP. It's running the 'standard' 1gb of RAM, though I most definitely want to upgrade it to 4gb. I also need to get a much larger HD; I'm already running close to full, and I haven't copied over my RPG rulebooks yet, and they take up 5 DVD's! For my computer's DVD drive, I've got a Lightscribe Multi-drive, which is cool. I need to do some research, to find out if the drive can etch a design on any disc, or if I need to buy special ones. I did buy an NVIDIA Geforce 8500 GTS video card, at 512 mb. This is all fairly normal, for the most part; no learning curve required. But it's running Vista, which takes a bit of getting used to. One of the downsides is a lack of hardware backwards-compatibility; I can't uninstall it and replace it with XP. So far, though, the only annoying factor is it CONSTANTLY asking me if I really want to do something! And I don't know how to turn it off.
Although my video card is SLI capable, I won't be able to take advantage of the fact. Neither my case or my mobo can load a second video card, which is sad. Still, I can run games that I couldn't run on the old machine, like Elder Scrolls 4, or that would crash all the time, like Half Life 2. All in all, I like my new machine, and Vista isn't nearly as bad as advertised. At least, now that Itunes works with it now.
Although my video card is SLI capable, I won't be able to take advantage of the fact. Neither my case or my mobo can load a second video card, which is sad. Still, I can run games that I couldn't run on the old machine, like Elder Scrolls 4, or that would crash all the time, like Half Life 2. All in all, I like my new machine, and Vista isn't nearly as bad as advertised. At least, now that Itunes works with it now.