As my interest in actual computing and hardware grew, I began toying with the idea of building a computer and learning to overclock and things like that. I learned pretty much everything I know from intuition, articles, and reviews on sites like OCIA.net. I finally bought this one with some work money, and I’m joining up on the OCIA.net staff with the hope of sharing my knowledge and learning a whole lot more.
With regard to the… rest of my life, I play soccer and ultimate frisbee, I play jazz trumpet, and I’m a bit of an audiophile. My music taste goes from MSI (Mindless Self-Indulgence, not MicroStar Int’l) to Kings of Convenience and everything in between (except country and some others). Life is good ;)
MSI 975x Platinum PUE (BIOS 7.4), intel E6600 Core2 Duo @ 3.30GHZ : Noctua NH-U12F, ATi Radeon X1900XTX 512MB, 2x1GB Corsair DDR2-667 PC2-5400 4-4-4-12, WD 74GB Raptor, WD 250GB Caviar, Ultra X-Finity 600W Blue, NEC 16x/16x DVDR/W, NZXT. Apollo Orange, 2x UV Cathodes, Logitech G15 keyboard, Logitech G7 mouse : Ideazon Fragmat
My very first computer was a Commodore64. Following some Apple II/c and II/e exposure in high school I moved up to an NEC 386sx16. 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. This was 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 in 2005. Over the last 3 years I’ve gained a fair amount of knowledge concerning overclocking, mostly from trial-and-error and lots of research at sites like OCIA.net
I’ve been involved in Information Technology professionally since 1993. I began my career on an IBM System36 and upgraded to an AS/400 a short time later. With the growing popularity of twisted pair Ethernet and the advent of Microsoft 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 pbx and ip-based telephony, security and firewalls, routing and switching, rf and optical wireless, and even some amateur web development and graphical design, 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 a Network Administrator for a local internet-based print procurement company here in rural PA.
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.
Now I mainly build AMD. I have jumped from processor to processor always wanting the fastest (that I could afford). I have moved from a 1600 XP to a 2000 XP, 2400 XP, 2500 Barton, then 2800 64, 3200 64 (754), and finally to my 3000 64 (939). I am a fan of change, can you tell?
The first computer I ever operated was an IBM Model 360, while I was taking a programming course in college in the mid '70's. It used IBM punchcards, (Do Not Spindle, Fold, or Mutilate) and not including the desk-sized keypunch machine, it was around 4' tall, a dozen or so feet long, and probably used as much power wattage as the average home.
My first really "high tech" purchase was an Atari 5200 console. Real cutting-edge technology for the time. Guess I had over a grand tied up in periphials and games. That was a lot of money in the early '80's.
After a tape drive TRS-80, and a Commodore 64, my first "real" computer was a Tandy 1000EX...about 95% IBM compatable, a smoking 8088 processor, one 5 1/4" floppy drive, a massive 256K RAM... and no hard drive, purchased in late 1985. The Tandy 1000 line was the biggest selling line of computers of all time. A friend of mine bought Windows 1.0 around that time. I thought it was silly, and would never fly...LOL! I was in the US Army in the mid/late '80's, and used some really state of the art stuff, including a 286 laptop with 40 meg hard drive, and could have up to 5 programs on PROMs. It weighed probably 12 or so pounds, mostly because of the heavy steel case. I used another laptop rig that had an EPROM burner.
I was somewhat out of computers from the early to mid-1990's, but finally got back into them in 1997, with a 333mHz PII. And of course, now I'm hooked on building, and anxiously await my next one!
Rig 1: Intel Q6600 Core 2 Quad Processor @ 3.1gHz, Asus P5K Deluxe Wifi-AP Motherboard, OCZ PC2-8000 Platinum Edition 4 gig kit, Zotac geForce 8600GTS, Seagate Barracuda 250 gig SATA 3.0 HDD, Hitachi Deskstar 160 gig SATA 3.0 HDD, Lacie 360 gig external HDD, Rosewill Xtreme 850 watt PSU, OCZ Vendetta CPU cooler, Zalman VF-1000 GPU cooler, Thermaltake Xaser Full Tower
Rig 2: Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo 45nm Processor, Asus P5K64 WS Graphics Workstation motherboard, Kingston PC3-11000 2 gig kit, XFX geForce 8600GT Ultimate Overclock, Seagate Barracuda 250 gig SATA 3.0 HDD, SilverStone Decathlon DA800 800 watt PSU, Apevia X-Supra mid tower
I started with computers back when I was 5 years old. A La Petite Daycare I went to had some Commodore 64's and no one knew how to operate them so I asked where any stuff for them was at. I got some manuals and disks and was able to figure out how to load games etc. on them. I guess I got involved with computers due to my older brother owning a Epson 286 12Mhz(WOWZER!) I pretty much was interested in anything he did, so I sat for hours sometimes just watching him and what he did. He let me play games on it etc. and showed me the infamous DOS commands "CD, DIR, CD.., etc" He was on the local BBS's at the time, so I played some of the older Door Games like Imperium, Trade Wars, etc. A few years later I got 2 Commodor 64's(Outdated then, but I didn't care!) from my uncle. 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 friends houses. I got my first computer back in '96 I think. It was a Gateway P5-133. I learned as much as I could about this PC and how it worked. I helped out at my High School alot with thier computers and helped frustrated teachers. On January 19th, 2002 I became a CompTIA A+ Certified Service Professional.
Main Gaming Rig / Workstation / Multimedia Server (Store ALL my DVD’s on this machine to have “ON Demand” Playback on Zenith 50” HD Plasma) -- Supermicro SC743T-645 Chassis, Supermicro H8DCE Motherboard, AMD Opteron 246 Socket 940 CPU, Corsair 1GB PC-3200 ECC Registered Memory, XFX 7900GT VIVO Video Card, 2x WD 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s in RAID 0 Array, WD 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 1.5Gb/s (backup drive), Samsung Optical Drive with LightScribe, Logitech MX1000 Cordless Laser Mouse, etc.
