As the title goes, I finally got a new CPU to replace the one that went kaput. It was quite an amazing feat when I think back on it. I didn't particuarly read up on anything before I went to Sim Lim to purchase my stuff. I only knew basic stuff like, "ok I need more RAM, maybe a bit more disk space, and definitely a good GC to do my assignment". When I arrived at Sim Lim, I totally didn't know what was the best GC to get and was so scared that it would be uncompatible for my GPU assignment, so I only picked those PCs that had nividia inside (because I remembered the cards they mentioned was nividia so....). Together with my Dad who knows nuts about computers, we went through all 3 levels of Sim Lim (4 -6) just to look around.

I was about to select a PC that looked decent, till I came across this small shop in an ulu corner. Took their leaflet, checked out their stuff and it came up around $200 cheaper than most retailers at the main passages. The only disadvantage was the risk if the shop folded before the warranty expired...... lol. After thinking about it for awhile, I decided to return to the shop and got my CPU for $1.2k.

Ouch isn't it. Specs wise, 4GB ram, GTS450 GC, i3 processor 2.9Xhz, 1TB HDD, well... I guess that's more or less the noteworthy stuff. So I happily brought home my CPU and decided to start tinkering with it... removed the HDD in my CPU and was trying to figure out where on earth I could put it in the new case, because apparently it was too small, and it doesn't have multiple HDD drives. LOL uber fail. My dad kept nagging at me saying why didn't I bring my old HDD to the guy and ask him to fix it for me... which I never thought of.

Then came the monitor. After spending half an hour in frustration of why nothing came up, I asked Chef for help and he told me to use a converter. I felt insanely geeky cutting up that plastic sachet, fixing the converter onto the plug and socket and watching the whole screen light up. LOL++

I probably irritated my Dad countless times as I pestered him to take off the case for me (cuz I don't know where he keeps all his screwdrivers -_-), and not knowing what the hell to do to get the CPU up and running, but eventually I figured out how to plug in the old HDD and how to configure the booting (based on vague past memories when Chef helped me reformat my lappy) . Well right now I can choose to boot XP in the old one, and win7 in the new one and I'm feeling happy. I have to say, having more RAM to run win7 is a godsent. My laptop is suffering badly with just 2GB even though they said it was the bare minimum. Think multiple screen hangs before submission deadline. Nightmare indeed.

Now I've just spent roughly 2 hours installing every single crap I can imagine. 1TB is an overkill, especially when I have an external disk that's 1TB as well.... need to get a new mouse. I realised my casing really sucks, too small, no multiple disk drives, and worst is the there's only 1 port where the mouse and keyboard should be inserted. So I had to sacrifice my mouse, and use my laptop's USB mouse to do my stuff now. Lol this is too pathetic >.> shall go buy another mouse asap.

All in all, geeky experience. Thank god I didn't try DIY-ing this entire CPU myself; I would have spent a week just trying to fix the innards and probably end up blowing up the entire CPU when I switch on the power. Many thanks to Chef who helped troubleshoot every single thing I didn't know. Ahahhaa even the most mundane stuff! And now I'm quite tired... >_>

Went out with XJ today. Initially we planned to just window shop. Who knew I ended up buying $90 bucks worth of stuff....... 2 jackets, hair accessories, facial products. Uber window shopping experience. We privately agreed that we should only try to window shop again when we have money, somewhere in December. HAHHAHAHA. But I love my jackets to death, can't stop wearing them. I even wear them at home! Happened to be cold anyway so the feeling was awesome <3

Labels: updates

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