Does a higher frame rate (FPS) make a game any better?

I was torn between better experiences upgrading my computer for gaming and other processing tasks and being content with my trusty old ThinkPad T61p.

Building a computer is not complicated at all. What is difficult is determining how you will be using it. If building a computer is on your list of things to do, all you need to do is look at the CPU which you want to use, then choose a motherboard and RAM that will go with it. With regard to the video card, it may be the make or break of your system if you are going to be doing any gaming. When I say "gaming", I mean 3D games which are taxing on you CPU. A good number of casual games, such as Angry Birds, Bejeweled, Plants vs Zombies etc. even some MMORPGs run well on Pentium 4 CPUs even without a dedicated graphics card. However games that are designed to offer realistic imagery, landscapes or even material physics ( ie. reflections on the water, cloth in the wind or even the reflection of objects in somebody's eyes).

I was amazed with the Bioware productions Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Both offered reasonably good graphics, but the most interesting parts of the game were the dialogues and story line.

So would the games be any more fun with better graphics? Maybe. I know for a racing game, graphics make a huge difference in the simulation experience. Personally, I would never try driving at 200km/h, but it is nice to imagine what it would be like.

Depending on the type of game you are playing, a higher frame rate or FPS can make all the difference, from the game being playable to unplayable.

How much do we consume, how much do we waste?

I am astonished me each time I search through my things. I won't deny for a moment that I consume more that I really should, but at the same time, I know I can do with much less in life. Some belonging are related to my hobbies such as building and repairing electronics, others for artistic aspirations, and other objects are in my belongings just for the sake of trying a technology out : graphics tablet,  game controller, touchscreen tablet, dual chamber bicycle pump, induction cooking plate etc.

When I look at how much money and time I have spent, I shudder to think about all the other things I could have done to make myself more interesting. That would include watching popular movies, sitcoms etc so that I would be able to relate to people that much better. 

Books, sketchpads and basic cooking tools are more than enough when it comes to keeping myself busy. Mind you, talking about technology is also a way to relate to people.

Buying a laptop for Back to School

The "Back to School" season is a time when everybody can start anew, define priorities, be more disciplined about past endeavours, or start being engaged about something. While many may dread the back to school specials found at most retailers, other look at the opportunity to get a new computer.

For most, any dual core machine with 2 to 4GB of RAM will be sufficient to surf the Internet, use a word processor ( Microsoft Word,  LibreOffice Writer ) and a spreadsheet like Excel or Calc.

The projects and demands of the past decade are more complex than those from the later part of the 20th century. If you are working in a specialized discipline such as musical composition or graphic design, it would be well worthwhile to look into the business class machines with dedicated GPUs (for graphics) from HP, Dell or Lenovo. Workstations have longer lives and will be suited to any task. If you are going to be typing, I strongly recommend getting a ThinkPad. The T and W series keyboards are second to none. I also really appreciate the the fact that there are fan control tools available.

If gaming, workstations are going to be fine, but the reader should be doubtful of the premise of this paragraph: we are talking about "Back to School" laptops. Nevertheless, I recommend a system with a ATI/AMD Radeon GPU. Unfortunately, the Nvidia hardware and drivers have given me a lot of problems, including severe tearing in video and 3D processing, like playing a game, watching a video on YouTube or in a video player from a local file. This problem has been common on desktops as well as laptops Nvidia GPUs.

I do not agree with the whole of this article, however the point about storage no longer being a concern is quite accurate. I fare quite well with at 64GB SSD. The reason I upgraded to an SSD was not so much for speed, but the absence of noise.

Should I install a Blu--Ray optical drive on my computer?

The prices of Blu-Ray players have been dropping consistently over time, much like those of DVD players about a decade ago. Price should not be my main motivation to get a Blu-Ray drive. I recall in 2004 having bought a DVD burner for 100$ and it was thoroughly used by a friend who inherited it ( I really wanted a copy of some of his films before I took off to travel).

I have yet to handle a Blu-Ray disc. I know that they won't seem any different than DVDs or CDs, however the quality of programming and menus on Blu-Ray is supposedly better.

So is it worth it spending the extra 40-45$ to get a Blu-Ray writer instead of a  DVD drive? Storing information on Blu-Ray is not cost effective with discs being more than a dollar a piece, however you should consider that burning something to disc is not for yourself, but more about sharing your videos. I hate it when I have to put a disc in my laptop!

The cost of a standalone Blu-Ray player is just a little bit more than an internal drive at about 70$. It may be then be a no-brainer for many to just get the optical drive which connects to your computer and can perhaps be used for software or other applications. If you live in place where bandwidth is capped, or can't deal with the mediocre quality of streamed video, a Blu-Ray drive is worth considering.

I hope software distributors will use Blu-Ray to release games in addition to downloading.

Microsoft Comfort Curve 3000

Although I do appreciate the curve in the keyboard, I feel that I make a lot more mistakes with the Microsoft 3000 Comfort Curve than I did when using my ThinkPad. Furthermore, the keyboard is noisy.
Some key configurations baffle me: My much loved "Context Menu" is now done with a combination Fn+Left Shift; the Pause/Break key has been removed to accommodate the larger Delete key.

For 10$ for a new keyboard combo, I cannot complain, but the last time I was using an external keyboard, the Logitech Access, with its deep keys and traditional layout, I could get through more sentences with less mistakes.

By the way, when using the keyboard is does not appear to be so curved as in the image above.

With regard to the mouse, I have yet to take it out of its packaging : my Logitech  M-BZ105A is quite good. There is a love-hate relationship with the forward back buttons. I think I still prefer my Trackpoint over an external mouse.

A frivolous computer build - Gaming with an AMD A10-5800k - Power consumption and Capital Costs

I had no reason to get a new computer. My main motivation was to quit wasting time comparing prices, looking at benchmarks etc. The 5 year old ThinkPad T61p that I am using now is great. I can play modern games on lower settings, my screen is WUXGA and I can't think of a better keyboard. However, feeling down from a groin injury, I caved into my desire to get a new machine and shopped online.



At first, I was considering a full pre-built system from HP. Although a built system has its advantages as it will work out of the box, it is not what I wanted. The tweaking and is what I take a little pleasure in. Ecologically, a pre-built system is far better than retail, however purchasing boxed individual products is part of the marketing and packaging. Compared to food products, the packaging that will come with individual components is not really a concern. 

I won't deny that I am partial to AMD for the underdog position that it has in the market. It is also true that I am not willing to spend 300$ on a CPU, such as the i7-2600k, which offers no better performance over the A10. The AMD A10 APU definitely looks good when it comes to real world applications. The AMD A10-5800k does not offer the fastest performance across the board, so you may want to look into specific options if you know what you will be doing ( video encoding, 3D modelling etc.). In fact, it appears that the Trinity APU may be all over the map when it comes to synthetic benchmarks.  I will be doing some gaming, photo editing, and some light video work.

So why did I take the plunge and splurge? My goal was to get some pleasure of building a computer, which I find to a very easy and enjoyable task. As far as I can remember, potential problems are not that frequent, but still enjoyable to solve. Mind you, having to send back defective hardware would be a total pain. I will be conservative when overclocking.

The Build

I really should be spending my time programming rather playing games, however there is a an appeal of using a new system.


(personal note - insert photo )

Here is the breakdown :


MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 mATX Motherboard  $60
AMD A10-5800K APU Quad Core Processor Socket FM2 3.8GHZ $120
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL 8GB DDR3-2133 Kit $53
ASUS BW-12B1ST Blu-Ray Writer 12X BD-R 16X DVD+R SATA Black Retail $60
Microsoft Comfort Curve 3000 Keyboard & Mouse Combo USB $10
TP-Link TL-WN350G Wireless Network Adapter 2.4GHZ 802.11B/G 54MBPS PCI $10
Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB SATA 6GB/S 3.5IN 12MS 5900RPM 64MB Hard Drive $70
Case iMicro CA-816BK45 450W  ATX Tower  $41
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink 120mm $23
Gigabyte Radeon HD 6670 800MHZ 1GB 1.6GHZ DDR3 Video Card $45
Card Reader $5
SATA cables $6 ( not necessary as they are included in with the motherboard but good to have nonetheless) 
Total :  $500

I think this is quite a nice build too!



There are a few items that I could have skipped or acquired for cheaper :
iGPU only -> -45$
Blu-ray writer -> DVD drive -$45
DDR3 2133 -> DDR3 1600 -$20
PCI Wifi -> (ethernet cable) -$10
Card Reader (use camera / phone bluetooth or cable) -> -$5
Use the stock CPU fan/cooler  ->-$23 ( I read the stock cooler is relative noisy, so I am going with this review about the Cooler Master 212 Plus Touch)
Total : $355

What items are missing? An OS like Windows 8. I may install Linux to see if there is anything worthwhile for me to make the switch again, however I like to stick to the most common operating system as it gives me the opportunity to assist others if they need help. Then again, Windows 7 has been so solid that I have a hard time imagining people having problems with it.

So will we see budget AMD A10-5800k systems coming out before the Holiday Season ?


Shortly, I will have some photos, benchmark results and screenshots using FRAPS.

News Filtering

Although it should not be an deliberate avoidance, however I would like to have the ability to control what shows up in my news feed. I don't care about celebrities, quacks or murders. Nor do I care about fruity technology devices that journalists are obliged to cover as there isn't much to do other than rehash useless press releases.

News.Google.com : Please allow users to have certain keywords filtered when making searches. Although you can adjust sources, restricting the stories from a given site, it is not possible to limit the certain topics from showing up in the headlines.