Back in the butt-kicking for Goodness!

At long last the new rig is up and running nice and stable.

Specs (for those who care):
Intel core i5 2500k 3.7ghz quad-core processor
Intel dz68db lga 1155 socket mobo
1TB(x2) Western Digital Caviar Black hard drives configured in RAID 1 (mirrored)
16 GB G-skill ripjaws RAM @1333mhz
EVGA nvidia geforce 550 ti PCI-express video card with 1GB GDDR5
Lg blue ray burner

Sucker runs fast even with a bunch of proprietary intel utility apps in memory.

Much to my shock and joy, my existing NWN files worked smoothly and seamlessly in the new rig!! Didn't have to reinstall and barely had to change any settings. Adjusted CPU affinity from -2 to 2 and upped maximum memory from 64 to 512... Never seen NWN run this smooth, and for the first time ever, my PC was at less than 90% CPU utilization when running NWN!!

Very exciting

Very nice set up ya got there, good to have ya back as well

Yeah, man... good to be back online. The hassle will have been worth it. Especially when my new wireless keyboard and mouse, and 23" widescreen monitor come in

De butts of Evil will await my bootprint!

Hampsters and Rangers everywhere, rejoice!

Welcome back Master of Mechanics !

Look forward to seeing you with my limited playtime sometime in the future

eeriegeek wrote:Hampsters and Rangers everywhere, rejoice!

Perhaps as a fan of older musicals, this could could read Rangers and Hampster Time (ie; Rogers and Hammerstein).....

WB! Am trying not to be sad on how fast Tech becomes obsolete.

Oh, no lie... I got my money's worth out of the old rig.... it was a single core processor..... such a thing is nearly myth now.... it was almost 8 years old. If I have any input on the issue, my new rig will last me that long as well.

daveyeisley wrote:Oh, no lie... I got my money's worth out of the old rig.... it was a single core processor..... such a thing is nearly myth now.... it was almost 8 years old. If I have any input on the issue, my new rig will last me that long as well.

No kidding. A little help and some machines can last a long while.

I game and build on my 5 year old laptop.

My old desktop, which I used for gaming, building, and originally running Aenea, I've had for 9 1/2 years. It's still running.

The server machine, which was refurbished, has been online for around 3 1/2 years already, I think. Even then it was harder to find a good single-core machine running Windows XP (it's what the OS the game was designed for, and already compatible with my home network stuff).

My first system lasted 5 yrs (96-01) before all software became impossible to run on it, but it NEVER crashed. The second lasted 8 yrs (01-09), and have had this one since.

Each system ran worse than the one before, although the components are more advanced. At least I was finally able to get out of the CC debt from the fiasco of the last purchase, so if this one needs replaced, I may be able to do so.

Lovely new rig, Dave! And I assume you're running Win7, then? If so, that's amazing that it ran NWN so readily, without the XP guest OS.

I keep thinking that if and when I have to get a new system, I'll have the XP virtual machine set up in Win7. Although I'd really rather just have XP all the way again, I'm not sure how practical that would be, as more applications require Win7 and DX11. My HP XP system is nearly ten years old now, it's been a champ, only thing I've ever had to repair on it was replacing the hard drive once. (Fortunately I've long been a backup obsessive, so hard drive failure is a minimal problem.)

Glad to see your issues resolved, and you'll be able to get back into Aenea!

(About three more months and you might see me around more again, all I've been able to do is a bit of writing on my story every once in a while.)

AFAIK, Win XP will no longer be supported; a reason why I am happy this crowd got me into Win 7 almost as well as before.

Support for XP would not be any issue if it's on a dedicated machine for some specific older application (like 's) or one that never goes online, as the XP SP3 OS is very stable.

But yeah, on a computer for general use, one needs to be able to surf the net with the most recent safeguards and use other applications that require the newer OS.

I'm glad that I've been hearing that Win7 is getting its bugs worked out, and may be another good OS. My husband has it on his computer, and it's close enough to XP for me to navigate (and troubleshoot/instruct for family and friends), after one gets past the incessant file permissions.

I'll tell ya, Ramana, I've been using Windows 7 with Aenea for a bit now, and I have encountered no bugs - in fact, my pc in the basement cave runs it the best i've ever seen it (and it's not a tremendously powerful machine).

Yup, Win7 is more resource efficient, and more stable than XP (as long as you have the correct drivers and Win7 service pack 1 installed).

I loved XP to death, but after so much great experience with win7, I will never go back.

Win 7 is superior in just about every way.... you just have to get used to where things are.

I completely agree, dave! I refused to give up my XP machines, till I was submerged in the wonderful world of 7, and now I don't really like to use XP anymore!

Wonder if we'll feel that way about 8?

Win 8 wont really hit its stride for home desktop users until tablets are in more widespread home use. Its optimized for touchscreens, so if you have a standard mouse/keyboard setup for input, you would probably end up switching win8 back to the win7 desktop mode anyhow.

Dont get me wrong, they are doing some awesome stuff with the GUI, but until you have a touchscreen, most of the improvements are minor.

One other exciting bit is the integration with xbox 720 and windows 8 phones.... imagine it sort of like how apple devices are all designed to play nice with one another and you will get the idea. Microsoft is finally getting the hint.