Cheap rig update

Hey everyone! So an update on my old rig, I will get some specs up soon, when I get the thing going and some pictures of this beast!

So my current problems are that my ATX 12v rail cable is not long enough to reach the socket in my mobo!! So now I have to wait 2 weeks to a month for some cheap cables from china, bought off ebay for a few dollars...

Once I receive that 12v ATX rail I will finally be able to see if this beast actually works and that the mobo isnt fried or anything. I'm hoping for the best out of this thing. Its quite good for $25, even the case alone is still worth $25.

Until next time everyone!

Building a cheap rig for fun

A few days ago I cam across a local classifieds website that offers free advertisements for people around my area!

This Tuesday I will be picking up a 2 year old Coolmaster case and a 400watt PSU! For only $25! I have to say that's a pretty good deal. I'm not sure if this comes with a mobo as well but I have to start somewhere!

I have found a 256mb PSU for $9 on ebay that I should get around to buying once I get a motherboard to stick in this case I shall be getting in two day!



/fin random post, Im just pretty happy that I have discovered this website! Its actually really good! If anyone is interested its www.gumtree.com.au

New internet = New opportunities.

image credits to: rnsplc.com

About VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

Recently I have finally upgraded my internet to a plan where I can actually brows and use the internet without having to wait about 10 minutes for each page to load... And with that, comes the opportunity to finally try out a VoIP service!!!

Now, you are probably thinking, what the heck is VoIP? Well, let me explain the concept...

VoIP uses an internet connection to deliver voice communications over the internet, rather than your normal copper phone line.

VoIP works by sending 'packets' of data (these packets of data are created by converting analogue signals aka what a normal telephone call uses, created by your voice), Packets are the basis that every internet application uses.

 These packets contain your voice that has been converted into binary form (digital / eg: 10101), then on the receiving end these packets are then converted back into their original form (analogue / your voice) and vise versa. This is the super basic concept of VoIP.

 Making a call using the internet is ALOT cheaper than using a standard telephone connection as this call bypasses your local telephone company and their charges.

So.. If you want to save money and have a decent internet connection, what are you waiting for?

Trying to find a PCI-E card on e-bay...

I come to you today to tell you about my journey into the realms of Ebay, to try and find a half decent GPU for my own computer. for a decent price

From my time on e-bay I have come to the conclusion that some people don't know how to shop around or just have too much money.

I was bidding on a some half decent 512MB ATI, I thought to myself, yea $20 + $10(postage) is more than enough for this card. Oh how I was wrong...

Before browsing e-bay for a PCI GPU I had a look around on www.pccasegear.com to get a idea of how much the cheaper end of the GPU market was. I found several pretty decent 1GB GPU's for about $35-40 as listed here: GPU 1 and GPU 2 Both have decent reviews too! Just to give myself I nice idea of pricing for a second hand, old, GPU so I wouldn't waste money.

This one 512mb ATI gpu beast on e-bay managed to get bidded up to $58! AUD and thats not including the $10 postage! So someone paid $68 for this second hand, potentially faulty GPU when they could have bought a band new one, with a warrenty and that performs better from pccasegear for around $55! I'm beginning to consider just buying a new one from pccasegear if things like this keep happening!

Well, at-least that's one lesson learned. I should sell more old crap on e-bay! I might just get lucky!

Thanks for visiting!!!

In the beginning...

When I first decided to upgrade my computer I thought, well, I have a decent motherboard, all I need is to upgrade my CPU and get a graphics card. - I was thinking of getting a nice AMD athlon 64 X2(dual core) 4500+, that runs around 2000-2200ghz, + a cheap 512/256mb graphics card from ebay.

Currently my computer that I want to upgrade has 64mb intergrated graphics and a 1.8ghz single core CPU (bad I know.)

I thought to myself, well this seems easy! Apparently all I need to do is get the parts and plug them in, update a driver or two and bam! My computer would be able to run some half decent older games. I was planning on spending less than $50. It seemed too easy to be true, so I asked overclock.net....

One thing that I forgot about was the PSU (Power supply unit - this converts AC power to DC power that a computer can use)! I totally overlooked this vital component of any computer! After a bit of research I found out that I have a OEM (basically a cheap original manufacturer type) PSU, that only has just over enough watts to run the parts that is has right now. It currently only produces a small 300 watts.

If I went ahead and tried to just plug in a GPU(graphics processing unit) without realizing about my basic PSU I would have caused all sorts of trouble...

So... The moral of this story is... Even though you might think a good graphics card, some ram and CPU are the main parts of you computer that you need to worry about.. well, you are right... Almost. BUT! You have forgot the thing that makes all of these work! The PSU! Most gaming computers now need a wopping 600-800 watts to power all of their components.

So, with that said. I now need to try and find myself a decent, cheap PSU for my old computer.

or just get a new one lol

Picture credits to: www.dansdata.com

Thanks for reading!

Ever thought about building your own computer? Well, I am and here is a few tips.

After thinking about making my own computer for literately an age I have finally started learning about what is required for someone to build their own computer.
When I first began trying to work out what I would need to learn so I can make my own computer I was scowling the internet all over the place, a lot of the time I was also given conflicting opinions on things such as Should you get a SSD (Solid state drive), use AMD or Itel and things along those lines.
BUT after a week or so, I finally found somewhere great. That said great place is a forum, named Overclock.net. At first I thought to myself Overclock? I don't want to overclock! I just want to learn the basics first! But after creating an account and spending almost 2 hours viewing their forums and reading posts I realized this is the goldmine I have been searching for, for the past week!

There is so much useful information there it is astounding. There are plenty of posts aimed at people just like me, or you - For those who have basically no idea at all. Haha.
Just from being there for a few days, asking a few questions and reading heaps of posts I have found out more than I knew ever existed todo with building your own computer.
In the next few following posts I will be talking about my journey to, First upgrade my pile of junk computer that I currently have, to get a taste of what this is like, and to eventually build a brand new computer!

Above is my practice build - A rig that, one day, I hope to make! But probably by the time I get around to it, this will be outdated. Haha.

Send and receive FREE text messages/picture messages online? (MSM & MMS) - Too good to be true you say?

Well, after finally being able to begin to browse the internet I have found quite a few interesting and useful websites. I have come across one very useful website! This website lets you send AND receive messages via a virtual mobile phone number that you can use from your computer! This website is called Pinger.com, I have started using it and it seems really good! Great for those sign up's that require you to have a phone number, I don't want to be spammed by random people or share my mobile number with a bunch of random websites! Pinger is perfect for this. Just thought I would share this epic website. :) Thanks for reading!