MSI X38 Platinum (BIOS 1.3), Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.0 GHz, OCZ Vendetta 2 HSF, 2x VisionTek Radeon HD3870 in Crossfire, 3x 2GB OCZ Gold PC3-10666 9-9-9-20, WD 74GB Raptor, WD 500GB Caviar, PC Power & Cooling 750w Silencer Crossfire Edition, Lite-On 20x DVD SATA, Lian Li PC-V1110 Chassis, Vista Ultimate 64
My very first computer was a Commodore64. Following some Apple II/c and II/e exposure in school I moved up to an NEC 386sx16 at home. My last Intel-based computer was a Gateway Pentium-Pro 200 which was also coincidentally my last OEM-built desktop computer. I moved to AMD with the Athlon 900 Thunderbird, and followed up a year or two later with an XP 2000+ Palomino, the first system I built strictly with overclocking in mind. I moved through several different configurations of XP-based hardware until making the jump to A64, and currently maintain four AMD-based computers in the house. I’ve been involved in Information Technology professionally since 1993. I began my career on IBM System36 and AS/400. With the growing popularity of twisted pair Ethernet and the advent of Windows 95 I made the switch to PC-based networking and haven’t looked back. Following the natural progression of workstation to server to network administration in addition to many other aspects of IT such as telephony, security, routing and switching, I’ve had the opportunity to gain experience in a diverse range of technologies. I’ve held certifications in Microsoft, Cisco, Citrix and others over the years, and am currently employed as the IT Manager for a local internet-based print procurement company here in rural PA.
My real PC experience and love of hardware came in the fall of '98 when a buddy (thanks compumaster - aka compy) helped me build my first PC with parts from a PC show at the state fair grounds. I was hooked after being stepped through the parts of the mainboard and what they all meant.
It was a cheap beige box with an AMD K6-2 266, Biostar mainboard, 128mb RAM, 6gb Quantum Fireball HDD, Diamond 2D card, Turtle Beach soundcard and later added a Voodoo 3dfx card to it. Ahhh like a first love.
Long story short, mid way through college I learned the difference between buying upgrade components and paying rent. So upgrades came fewer and further between and I pretty much got out of the "enthusiast" game for a while. Not entirely of course, but off the active path. Then a glorious day came when while working on freelance writing the opportunity came up to write for OCIA.net. So I jumped back in with a vengeance. The first thing to do was do a full re-build of "Olorin" in order to be able to test. Olorin has been my nick/handle since my first build, so it kind of stuck.
AMD PH II X4 955BE 3.2 AM3 OC'ed to 3.60, Gigabyte GA-770TA-UD3 770 R, G.Skill 4gb (2x2gb) DDR3 1600, Sentey Arvina GS-6400 Case, Raidmax HYBRID2 RX-730SS 730W, XFX Radeon HD 5770 1gb, HDD0: OCZ Solid 2 Solid State Drive 60gb, HDD1: Samsung Spinpoint 7200rpm 1TB, HDD2: Samsung Spinpoint 7200rpm 1TB, Asus Wireless NIC.
My job also introduced me to networking technology and storage technology and I am an enthusiast for both of those as well. I am currently sitting on an i7 platform attached to a file server rocking over 4TB of storage space. I even went so far as to build a “server room” in my attic where all my gear sits in an environmentally-controlled closet.
When I am not being a total computer nerd, I also enjoy watching the weather. Meteorology is my other big passion and I follow it year round. I am a SKYWARN storm spotter, and hope to do my first tornado chase this spring. I also really love the outdoors, traveling, and Miami Dolphin’s football.
Intel Core i7 930 @ 3.8 GHz, Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme HSF, ASUS P6X58D motherboard, Kingstong 6GB HyperX T1 Series DDR3 2000, EVGA GeForce GTX 260, 3x 64GB Intel X-25 Extreme SSDs in RAID-0, 1TB Samsung Spinpoint HDD, Rosewill 1000w PSU, Antec Nine Hundred Case
When I was younger, I never got into computers much. You could say I was a late bloomer. My dad came home one day with an old 486 Tandy running a menu driven DOS operating system. Later we upgraded it to Windows 3.1. I remember always playing Jetfighter 3 on it. My folks then got me a Compaq pushing an Intel Pentium I 200mhz with MMX. Back before I knew anything, we attempted to get a new video card and more RAM put into the machine. The local store we took it to managed to burn out the motherboard. Now that I know a thing or two, I can't believe they could have pulled that off unless they spilled something on it. After the Compaq got too old, we decided to get a Gateway with a Pentium II 233 mhz. I used that computer for a long time. It even outperformed a buddies K6-2 333 mhz machine. But that was before AMD knew what they were doing. That is probably when I got into building my own. I started building my computers with AMDs when the slot processors were out. I used that old Gateway case for as long as it would last, until I had to upgrade the PSU, which didn't fit.
I started with computers back when I was 5 years old. A La Petite Daycare I went to had some Commodore 64s and no one knew how to operate them. The teachers found some manuals and disks which I used to figure out how to load games. I guess I got involved with computers due to my older brother owning an Epson 286 12Mhz(WOWZER!) I was interested in anything he did, so I sometimes sat for hours just watching him use the computer. He let me play games on it and showed me the infamous DOS commands "CD, DIR, CD.., etc" My brother was on the local BBSs at the time and I played some of the first multiplayer Door Games like Imperium, Trade Wars, etc. A few years later I got two Commodor 64s from my Uncle. Even though the Commodor 64 was outdated for its time I didn't care. Shortly after, my brother let me keep his 286 for almost a whole year. This is where I learned all kinds of stuff about the computer. As the years went by I didn't have a computer but was still involved with them at school and friend's houses. I got my first computer in 1996. It was an Gateway P5-133. I learned as much as I could about that PC and how it worked. I helped my High School alot with their computers and frustrated teachers. On January 19th, 2002 I became a CompTIA A+ Certified Service Professional.
Workstation: Gigabyte GA-Z68MA-D2H-B3, Intel 2nd Gen Core i5, 4GB DDR3 1600Mhz, 60GB Vertex 2 SSD, Samsung SH-222AB DVDRW, Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Main Gaming Rig / Multimedia Server (Store ALL my DVD’s on this machine to have “ON Demand” Playback on Insignia 55” LED-LCD HDTV) -- Supermicro SC743T-645 Chassis, Supermicro H8DCE Motherboard, 2 X AMD Opteron 246 Socket 290 CPUs, 8GB PC-3200 ECC Registered Memory, PNY GTX 260, 8 X WD 250GB 7200 Black Edition SATA HDD in RAID 60 Array via Adaptec 3805 PCI-E Controller, Samsung SH-S162L DVDRW, Windows 7 Pro 64bit
