Flux Capacitor NOT fluxing, Engine not running...

Props to those who can figure out the reference ;)

So, I think I've mentioned my computer problems that have developed over the last few weeks. First it was freezing up and rebooting, and it also smelled like something was burning. I called the guy at the shop that I go to and he told me to bring it in because it sounded to him like I had a virus. I had my doubts of course, as to me it didn't sound like it could possibly be a virus, so I decided to wait until my brother could help me over the holidays. I'm very glad I did.

One of the things I did was buy myself a nice new computer case. They can be quite fancy, and they're not just for looks. Most of them are for function as they add better cooling and airflow to keep things from overheating. I got one with a precision machined steel front panel, and the side has a plex-glass window where you can look into it and see everything running. It's got one front fan for pulling air in, and one exhaust fan which glows blue that brings the air out. It's this one right here, except the design changed. Mine doesn't have locks and has a window on the side instead, which they don't show on the website: http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-tj02.htm

Anyway, as my brother was transferring things over to my new case, it took one look at my motherboard for him to realize what my problem was. I had busted capacitors, which meant that these capacitors were losing charge, and if they lost charge, I'd freeze up or reboot.

That meant we had to do lots of research. It was time for me to get a new motherboard. We realized that there were no motherboards that supported my current processor, so that meant we need to get a new processor too. We also realized that I needed to get new RAM because the ram I have now is not campatible with the new board. And my video card? It's an older one, and most new motherboards don't support AGP. They're all coming out with PCI-Express these days. So instead of hunting around for a board with AGP, which we figured would limit me in the long run if I wanted to upgrade in the future, we decided to go for PCI-Express, which meant a new videocard. I'll be getting an AMD Athlon 3200+, DDR Ram, and a Geforce 6800 GS, which is quite the jump from the Athlon 1700+ and Geforce 4MX that I currently have. Whew! At least this way I won't have limited myself into a corner with already outdated technology that is hardly supported anymore.

So, I hope Christmas has all been good for you. My sister is coming tonight as she couldn't make it for Christmas Day and we'll be having another round of present opening for her.

I got lots of neat stuff, most of them being books. Is that really surprising? I got clothes, more clothes, and yet more clothes. Oh yeah, and chocolate. Got some reindeer droppings (chocolate covered almonds).

As for books?:
Harry Potter And the Blood Prince
Deception Point by Dan Brown
Science-Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1 1929-1960 (Collection of sci-fi novellas by different established sci-fi authors)

I didn't get any music this time, but I'll be using some of my spending money on some albums that I want to get.

Here are some pictures of my new case: