Coded green.

Friday 4 March 2005

Old ugly computers

Pic of the day: At least I don't have a bunch of rusty cars in the backyard. (Although this is probably only because I don't drive.)

New deal, old cards

Because you never get enough of my computers, right? Today I unplugged the ATI Radeon 6800 from my living room computer, and put in the NVIDIA GeForce 3 Ti 200 from the now disabled bedroom computer.

This sounds simple, and it probably is ... for those to whom every screwdriver is a friend, and the soldering iron as familiar as the toothbrush. Actually I did not need soldering or any other form of extreme violence, but this was not obvious for the whole duration of the operation.

The first and worst problem was to remove the GeForce card from its old home. Even after removing the copious quantities of dust, I could not figure out how to take it out, or even how I had put it in. Luckily I had kept the installation instruction in the original package (me throw anything away??). Looking at the illustrations dispelled some of my more fancyful notions.

By the time to skin on my fingers was just starting to get slightly sore from handling the prickly electronics, I decided to try again (and with more conviction) pressing what looked like a small white button at the base of the card. On the illustration, there was no such button on the card. This fueled my suspicion that it might instead be part of the card slot, and might be some insidious device to keep the card attached during the bumpy ride that the manufacturer obviously expects my computer to endure on my bedroom table. Success! The card suddenly came loose, or at least less securely attached. Victory was mine -- for now.

The next step was removing the ATI card from my living room computer. I removed the protective casing (something I had done permanently months ago on the bedroom computer) and quickly found the graphics card. To my very moderate surprise not only the card but also the card slot in the computer looked different. Most notably, there was no small white button. Once again I had to figure out what kept the components so tightly attached. The most disturbing fact of this whole story is that, after finally removing the card, I still have no clue why it was so hard to get out. As far as I can see, I just pulled it out the same way I had tried repeatedly from the start. I feel vaguely like one of those lab animals who solve a problem by trial and error, only to find the next time they are put in the same cage they make the same errors again.

When I packed away the ATI card, I found an ATI card already in the box. I now remember that this smaller ATI card was the one that originally came with my living room computer. I had upgraded to a much better ATI card, only to find that even a pretty good ATI card will not run City of Heroes at an acceptable speed. (Perhaps a really really good ATI card would do, but those are as expensive as cheap computers if not more.) It took me those many months to accept the fact that I had bought the wrong card instead of checking first. From this we can learn that impulse shopping is a bad thing when it comes to computer equipment. (And since when has that stopped any of us?)

The GeForce 3 card - which is so old, it was the reason I bought the bedroom computer in the first place, back when it was not a bedroom computer but my main computer, and brand new rather than the fourth to latest computer in my house - this venerable old relic ran CoH at full resolution with a framerate of 10-12. While a mere half of the cinema level frame rate of my new computer, it is enough to control the character with all due precision, and maintain the illusion of continual movement rather than watching a slideshow. In short, the hardware no longer comes between me and the temporary illusion I crave. Thus, I don't really need the new computer that enabled me to do free up this card in the first place. It's not like I do a lot of computing in my bedroom, you know. And although this may amaze you, it is not like I watch a lot of movies there either.

***

In related news, I bought the expensive Plantronics headset I talked about, the $100 model. It's a bit more than that here, what with 25% VAT. But the microphone is just delicious. Finally I can dictate again. Of course, my throat gives out after ten minutes or so. I rarely speak that long in real life.

Speaking of speaking, by tomorrow I will have installed Skype, although I still don't have anyone to talk to and nothing to say to them. Technology is its own reward.


Yesterday <-- This month --> Tomorrow?
One year ago: Urge to write rising
Two years ago: Delusions of grandeur
Three years ago: Very specific sexual lust
Four years ago: Break the languages!
Five years ago: In other news
Six years ago: Oops. Work.

Visit the ChaosNode.net for the older diaries I've put out to pasture.


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