Sweet.

It allows you to add the attachment immediately, or “Remind Me Later” so that it prompts you if you try to send without the attachment in place.

Carry on.

As always, building a new PC requires the integration of a few primary components which are listed in the order I generally consider them. Although in this case, I bought the power supply first. The same unit I used to replace the noisemaker that was my previous PS, the 500W OCZ supply from NewEgg, was once again available for $39.99 after MIB. Anyhow, the list goes…

1. CPU
2. Motherboard
3. Memory
4. System Disk
5. Video
6. Power Supply
7. Case
8. Optical Drive
9. OS
10. Peripherals

Much detail and rambling on after the fold… you have been warned.

CPU
So the intent of this machine was to replace our downstairs computer. This is the machine K uses throughout the day and we both use for photo editing and management. Photoshop and IDImager are both power hungry applications using significant CPU and memory resources respectively. While my box is primarily tested by video intensive gaming, K’s is tested primarily by Farmville^[1]. Anyhow, more than graphics power, I wanted multi-tasking and CPU power to be the primary concern. Price, as always, was a major factor. I went to NewEgg and grabbed all of their current prices for Intel^[2] processors. These came in three flavors based on the socket they supported: 775 (Pentium 4 through Core 2), 1136 (i3,i5,i7) and 1366 (i7 and someday theoretically i9). I plotted the CPU speed (in GHz) vs. price for each socket type to look for the classic hockey-stick pricing curve.^[3] Since all of these CPUs have multiple processor cores, it seemed appropriate to consider that, so I also multiplied the speed by the number of cores for a sort-of equivalent horsepower. Here are the two graphs:


Since both Photoshop and IDI are multi-threaded apps, I gave a bit more weight to the ‘multiplied’ graph. Also, since I wasn’t terribly concerned about future-proofing (since CPU upgrades are pretty easy) I steered clear of the lowest price 1366 model and went with the modest i5-750 for just under $200.
Motherboard
After searching around for features of interest and trying to get a bit of future proofing on the mainboard (since changing out the mainboard is essentially building a new computer), I settled on the mid-range Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3P. This board supports SATA3 (6GB/s) and USB3.0 as well as the requisite 1136 socket and chipset. This was the second most expensive component at just under $150. I’d say more about this selection process, but much of it is gut feel and review surfing. My last several builds have been on Asus boards, but they just seemed to be too pricey for the feature lists. Knowing that I wouldn’t be subjecting the machine to wanton overclocking, many of the spiffy features tailored to that crowd were irrelevant.
Memory
Easily the most upgradeable component in a computer, I spent the least amount of time thinking about RAM. I looked for the maximum speed the mainboard could support and bought as much memory as my current price point could afford. I traded slightly on price to get chips with a slightly faster than normal latency. Once the machine was built, I let the internal setup choose the speed so I’m not currently using the maximum rated values. The parts are rated to 1600MHz and C7 latencies, but are clocking at 1333 and C8. I haven’t spent any time to tweak this, since the extra stability is welcome for this machine^[4]. I ended up with 4GB of 1600 speed RAM (Corsair CMX4GX3M2A1600C7) for $115. I knew I wouldn’t be buying less than 4GB since I was planning to install Windows 7 64-bit right from the start. The mainboard supports 2 banks of dual channel RAM, so I bought a 2×2GB kit. Two slots are open for a quick boost in the future.^[5]
System Disk
I looked at buying a Solid-State-Drive (SSD) to install the OS and swap space for the speed advantage, but the cost for these drives is still unreasonable for this application. Just like for CPUs I plotted the capacity vs. cost for both conventional mechanical HDs and SSDs.

The two plots are in the same units with the regression line to show the real difference. Sure, you get a blazing improvement in random access time and throughput, but the speed will cost you a 50x cost premium. It’s also clear from the graphs that the base price of a mechanical HD is about $50… regardless of size. The SSDs clearly haven’t found their floor yet, as no knee is apparent in the curve. The vertical spread at each capacity point is due to the various speed grades (this is true of both plots actually). You can also see how good the linear fit is for the SSD data, while not so good for the HDs.^[6]
In the end, the machine being replaced already had a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black with a SATA2 interface as the storage drive, so it was reused.((It’s worth noting that the price on this drive is essentially unchanged since its purchase almost exactly one year ago: right at $99.99. Granted, it was purchased at a rather impressive sale price, but it’s worth noting how flat the drive market has been since then.))
Video
Due to the central living room location of this box, and the low-graphics intensive activities. I re-used one of my silent video cards from my gaming box. It’s a Gigabyte 7600GS which is not generally available for sale any more. They’re only $30-$50 or so on eBay.
Power Supply
As discussed above, I purchased a 500W OCZ modular power supply. I love that I can keep the power cable hydra at bay by only populating the required interconnects. NewEgg boasts a power supply calculator, but it’s rather conservative based on others I’ve used (and my own calculations). Still, the configuration described above with an extra drive and two more sticks of RAM comes up with a 451W supply. The 500 should be plenty.
Case
For several computer builds now I have used Antec cases, but they seem to have diverged from common sense lately. The power supply is, by definition, the most power hungry component in the PC. All energy used anywhere in the machine passes through that box. Even with the higher efficiencies being achieved it is a very warm component. In many cases, the power supply fan is the primary exhaust mechanism for the chassis. Last time I checked, warm air rises, so power supplies should be mounted at the top of the chassis exhausting air out of the chassis. The OCZ supply above is designed to use a single large fan that occupies the entire bottom (or top) surface of the supply with the exhaust side simply a grill. ^[7] All of the Antec cases in the size and category range I was interested in mount their power supplies on the bottom. Some even do so in walled off separate enclosures within the case. This might make sense if I’m building a multi-fan or water cooled behemoth, but to reduce noise, I want the most efficient passive cooling arrangement possible. I also wanted a side-vent for the CPU fan as I have shown this to make a huge difference in cooling at high-load conditions… which keeps the CPU fan speeds as low as possible. ^[8]In the end, I went with a fairly inexpensive case from a brand I knew nothing about. It had the features I wanted and has turned out to be a decent, if somewhat cheap case. This was the final purchase for the new box, the HEC 6AR6BB2F for a mere $48+$20S/H. The chassis uses a mount rail which is identical to the case I was replacing, so the hard drive didn’t even need to be remounted. I had to re-assemble the main power switch into the chassis as it had come loose during transit. In addition, the side door has a nice double latch and backup captured thumb screws system to remove it without tools. Unfortunately, the CPU fan duct doesn’t quite line up with the CPU cooler, and could be about an inch longer. Still, it’s better than nothing.
Optical Drive
The Sony DRU-800A DVD/R/W Combo drive from the old machine was reused in the new one. This required utilizing the PATA interconnect in the new machine instead of pure SATA, but this is no big deal.
OS
As previously noted, the box is running Windows 7 64-bit. So far I’m rather impressed actually. I’ll have more on OS installation, assembly and other impressions in a later post. This one has already exceeded any reasonable length for a blog post. The OS was purchased last summer as part of Microsoft’s big Win7 pre-release push. Professional upgrade license for $100 back then ($130-175 now depending on licensing). I really appreciate that MS has packaged both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions as part of a single license.

Bottom line w/OS: The new computer cost < $650^[9] and is by any reasonable definition state-of-the-art. It is not the bleeding edge, by far, but it has pretty impressive bang for the buck. You would struggle to get an equivalent machine from Dell or another OEM, for this price, but then you wouldn’t have to put it together yourself… more on that another time.

1. Which BTWs is surprisingly CPU intensive. Apparently, code execution efficiency is not a primary concern when they’re objective is to keep you online as long as possible. CafeWorld is even worse.
2. I use Intel because I always have. Although that is an arbitrary reason to select something, it does narrow down the search options dramatically.
3. The Intel pricing curve is typical of many electronics manufacturers and has been noted for years.
4. It should also keep the temperatures and therefore fan speeds down
5. Having observed Win7-64’s idle RAM usage, that upgrade may be sooner than I planned. It regularly runs at 1.5GBs utilized, about 0.5-1GB more than XP. However, since XP (32-bit) could only address 3.2-ish GB of RAM, it’s about a wash.
6. This is probably due to the fact that the HD data does have a significant bend and varies quite a bit with advanced features… such as 10k RPM. The colors in the HD plot are different cache sizes, this doesn’t have as much impact as it once did on prices.
7. This also reduces noise, since the whirring of the fan must propagate through the power supply itself to escape the chassis.
8. It makes sense that putting the coolest room temperature air right on the CPU inlet would keep it cool… duh.
9. about our NY State Tax Return

Here are some highlights:

No snow park would be complete without a snow-bunny… ^[3]

More fun in the snow in Nate’s gallery.

More pics of Rachel added too.

1. We’ve been getting steady amounts which have amounted to very little significant accumulation. This was finally a storm that dumped a significant amount over a few days.
2. A population of over 100,000 if I recall the bracket.
3. Who has since melted enough that it lost its head. Apparently this was the cause of some significant distress for one of Nate’s playmates.

And another for you to enjoy.

As always they are all available in the gallery.

Here is a list of what I’d like to take some time to write about… as a promissory note and a to-do list.

1. R is growing fast. We have a 1 month growth chart pic and many more. I will get these online soon.
2. N continues to be a joy. He’s learning so fast now I’m not sure school will be ready for him in two more years. He’s working on reading and spelling simple words. He’ll be 3 in May.
3. Snow! We finally got real winter weather here in central NY. Pics of outdoor snow constructions will be coming soon.
4. New PC research. With our tax returns burning a hole in our bank accounts, I’ve begun the process of specing out a new machine for K. We also need to get Win7 installed before N wipes out our much-more-difficult-to-secure WXP household PC.
5. New PC constructed. I’m using it now to write this post… and will use it to edit the pics to post them. I owe you comments on Win7, and performance of the new machine. Not to mention the build process itself. Must keep installing stuff if I’m going to get into a position to clear out this list.

Ok. Must get back to installation.

As a result of this I have several random observations:
A) Watching The Manchurian Candidate (1962) while heavily sleep deprived is especially surreal. It also gives you crazy violent dreams, so I wouldn’t recommend the overall experience. ^[1]
B) I’ve now completed Bioshock which I started back in December. There was about a three week hiatus, but I made a pretty hard push to finish it over the last few days/nights. I really have to applaud the writers and designers for writing a compelling storyline with reasonable psychological and ethical hurdles. The scenery is very dark and bloody and combined with adult dialog, the game is rather squarely rated “R”. However, despite this, it rarely seemed gratuitous like other shooters I have played (and generally stopped playing). There was suitable opportunity for a ‘thinking player’ rather than a ‘rapid reflex’ player to ambush/evade/out-think the enemies with sufficient moments of sheer combat chaos to keep the heart going. I have Mass Effect waiting in the wings, but I think I’m going to evade game-commitment and install NFS:Undercover next. ^[2]
C) Every time I read another article about the plasticity of the brain, and the growing field of neural-mechanical interfaces I really feel like I’m in the wrong line of work. I am continuously amazed at how remarkably flexible and adaptable the brain is at integrating with new inputs. This is reinforced by watching N learn to spell, associate numbers with objects and generally become more sophisticated physically and mentally every day. We’re starting this road again with R, and so quickly she develops reactions to certain stimuli.

1. Great movie though. Angela Lansbury as the manipulative Mrs. Iselin is fantastically dark.
2. Yes, I purchase and play games well after their initial release dates. Both Bioshock and Mass Effect have recently released sequels. I do this to keep my PC costs in check and to get a true bargain for my entertainment budget. I think I picked up Bioshock for about $10, and got a ridiculous number of entertainment hours out of it.

One more in the gallery.

Regardless, she’s still a sweetie.

And lest you think we forgot our other photogenic child…

(For those of you following on Facebook, realize that K has set up her notes to grab our blog feed automatically. Rather than harass you with all of my (Chris’) crazy rantings we’ve narrowed it to only grab the family update posts… like this one.)

“Static electricity is a simple form of electrical energy. Every time you walk across a carpet, touch a doorknob, and get a spark it’s because you were splitting electrons. When you move, you generate an excess of either positive or negative charges on your body. Upon touching something conductive, the excess electrons are trying to find an electron of the opposite charge in order to neutralize themselves. So, an imbalance in electrons creates a difference in potential, which may cause an ESD event that may cause damage to circuitry.”

This is so fundamentally wrong it just hurts my brain. First off, in the Standard Model of elementary particles, electrons are indivisible. Even if you could split them, doing so by casually walking across a carpet would result in a significant release of energy. (Note, the annihilation of a single electron would be essentially unnoticeable from an energy release perspective, but if it happened as easily as simply walking across a carpet, we would have serious problems.) The amount of charge one can feel dissipating on a doorknob is on the order of 10^18 electrons. If they were really combining with “electrons of the opposite charge” (aka positrons… or antimatter electrons) this would result in a significant antimatter explosion. Something on the order of 100-200 kilojoules. Enough to heat about 40 kilograms of water one degree. Or for the 10 grams in the tip of your finger… pretty much vaporization. (Somebody please check my math on that.) Regardless… ouch.

I sent a correction. I’ll be interested to see how well received it is.

1. That’s ElectroStatic Discharge for you non-technical acronym types.