Halimaw

Halimaw (monster)… the name I gave my desktop computer. I seldom address it as such since its size is the only constant thing that justifies the monicker.

Well, I’ve just upgraded my PC. It was a long overdue upgrade, but the thing that sent me over the edge was my itch to play Bioshock. And as of this moment, I can once again call it a monster of a PC with pride 😉

I’ve replaced the CPU, Motherboard, RAM, PSU ¹ Power Supply Unit, and GPU ² Graphics Processing Unit with the following:

• An Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.40GHz)
• A Gigabyte P35-DS3P
• 4GB of DDR2 800MHz RAM
• A GeForce 8800GTS with 320MB VRAM
• 750W PSU

I’ve setup a triple-boot scenario of all Windows partitions (sorry still no linux for me). Basically, they’re for my different uses.

1. XP for my DAW ³ Digital Audio Workstation – a partition I tend to very seldom install/uninstall stuff from – hence the stablest of the lot.
2. XP for work and play – literally for work, and most games.
3. Vista for gaming and general usage – since DX10 is available only in Vista.

I have to say, I’m loving the Aero theme. While it’s not as “classy” as OS X, it still is pretty sexy all things considered. Though I find it a bit confusing to use. If I were to describe the method of navigating in Vista, the word “nonlinear” comes to mind. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m used to the straightforwardness of XP and OS X, or simply because they tried to cram Vista with so much shit that it just becomes so confusing. I hope it’s just a matter of getting used to.

I’m utterly impressed by the performance of the Quad-core and the new GPU. It whizzed through Bioshock at maximum settings. I was never the type who was picky with graphics in games, but seeing the game at max settings… wow.

Also I love what the quad-core brings to the table as far as audio goes; I used to have audio engine dropouts here and there, with the CPU constantly at 70-80% when going through my songs with the different virtual synths and plugins enabled. Those same songs running through the multi-core system now peg at less than 15% on each core. Which means I have more freedom to use more plugins simultaneously without having to freeze tracks every so often. I could honestly say that if you’re into audio, and you use a computer for it. Using a multicore is perfectly justified.

Ah yes, Halimaw is in his element.