"I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!"

Apologies from the title as I have just seen the new Star Trek movie on DVD. Not to mention as I haven't posted anything for a while.

Before I start typing about any development on my next post, check out my new PC which I assembled back in the 4th week of July.

My new i5 3570K, GTX 670, 32GB RAM, and 120GB SSD monster.

My previous computer had issues with the motherboard (which is an MSI) where everything would just hang, even in the first two minutes. It was driving me nuts. So with the help of my tech-savvy brother-in-law, we planned out what items to get and what to salvage from my nutty PC. What CPU to get, the motherboard, how much RAM, the videocard (which was his main thing since he's into PC gaming), and a Solid State Drive (which I pretty much read about it but not see one perform first hand). So I picked up a 2GB EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (which is basically enough for graphic stuff) and 4x8GB G.Skill "Ripjaws-Z" RAM (just in case I start working on files that require more memory) from Newegg.

2GB GDDR5 EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti and 4x8GB G.Skill "Ripjaws-Z" RAM with heatsink.

As for the rest, my wife suggested that I look into Micro Center where her brothers mostly venture for lower prices. To my surprise, the prices where pretty much up within my finances. So I was able to pick up a Corsair Carbide Series 300R case, a Corsair CX600 600watt PSU, a 3rd Gen Intel i5-3570K 3.4GHz CPU, ASUS P8Z77-V LGA115 motherboard (which was $50 off along with CPU), and a 120GB Intel 330 Series "Maple Crest" SSD. I also added 120mm Cooler Master (4-in-1 pack) case fans and a DVI-to-HDMI adapter.

Corsair Carbide 300R and Corsair CX 600 PSU alongside 4x120mm Cooler Master case fans and a DVI-to-HDMI adapter.

ASUS P8Z77-V LGA1155 motherboard, 120GB Intel 330 Series SSD, Intel i-5 3570K 3.4GHz CPU.

Put together everything around midnight since: (a) my 2 turning 3 year old son might get curious and implement damage; and (b) internet traffic for updates after Windows 7 (64-bit) installation isn't as bad as daytime operations.

Completed assembly just before cable management.

Later, I was able to get hold of a 2GB ASUS GeForce GTX 670. This card's a monster, not to mention performance but size as well. You can check out the image below. I've tested it with 3D Mark. Here are the benchmark results between the GTX 550 Ti and the GTX 670.

2GB EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti (top) and 2GB ASUS GeForce GTX 670.

 Everything works more than my expectations. Updated all drivers and firmwares rather than using the ones that came with an installation disk. Heck, the SSD that used to boot in 30 seconds now boot in less than 15 seconds - that's impressive! Installed salvaged peripherals such as my old SATA DL DVD-writer, a 1TB Hitachi SATA HDD, and a 500GB Western Digital SATA HDD.

Then a new problem popped up: Heat. Whenever I deal with 2D images down to it's pixel, the CPU tends to heat up. In my normal operations, it never goes beyond 36°C. Image below shows sensor that it was up at 38°C while the motherboard is at 31°C. On normal circumstances, 40°C is fine. But as mentioned, when dealing with graphics down to it's pixel, the CPU tends to heat up.

Temperature reading through ASUS AI Suite II.

 Then it went up to 40°C. Eventually, I accidentally pushed it close to 70°C which is dangerous (and costly) but was able to bring it down between the high 30s to low 40s. Then my brother-in-law suggested that I get a Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. Purchased, installed (which isn't easy), and attached an additional 120mm Cooler Master case fan which I have as spare. Temperatures suddenly dropped by 10°C (recorded 26°C lowest so far). Now that's cool.

Stock CPU cooler that came along with the i5 3570K CPU.

Cleaned and exposed Intel CPU.

The monstrous Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler. The height alone is the same as a $20 bill.

Installed monster CPU cooler with another 120mm fan.

Lastly, my brother-in-law passed on a 23" Samsung SynchMaster T220HD HDTV which I was able to use as a second monitor. Luckily, the native resolution is the same as my old (and still functioning very well) Dell FPW2005. The Samsung's display doesn't match with the Dell's. But overall, it works pretty well. I even hooked up an XBox 360 for those long render times.

Samsung SynchMaster T220HD on the left, and a Dell FPW2005 on the right.

So now I resume operations and it's much more efficient. With the exception that my little boy wants to play a demo of Bad Piggies and watching Angry Bird videos on YouTube.

Now I move on to Stage Five of my Voltes V project.