Meet The New Computer
Posted on July 28, 2009 Posted by John Scalzi 35 Comments
Here it is, looking vaguely Darth Vadery. It’s a bit bigger than the previous computer, but not obnoxiously so, and while I specified not to have neon lighting jammed into it, they appear to have put it in for free. It’s not the minimalist package I would have preferred, but inasmuch as the whole thing is sitting behind the monitor, I won’t really notice one way or the other on a day-to-day basis.
Aside from the dead hard drive that shipped with this baby, everything is groovy, and it’s up and running. I’ve already played an inaugural round of Unreal Tournament 2004 on it, and am downloading Left 4 Dead even as we speak. I’m expecting many zombie fatalities tonight, my friends.
Man. When is the John Scalzi Memorial Deathmatch scheduled? :D
Grats on the new Imperial Computing Device.
–B.
Now it matches your Coke Zeros.
The startup sound bite ought to be:
“What is thy bidding, my master?”
/Darth Vader
That’s pure evil in silicon. I love it.
Skynet always gives free perks to those who help distribute its remote nodal targetting centers.
I recently went into debt buying my stepson a similar unit.
@3, I wan’ts !!!
So long as it doesn’t start saying “We are honored you could join us,” or “I have you now!”
Looks good, but with that amount of computing power it’s time to give it a game that it can really chew on. Try grabbing the Crysis demo and crank up the details, or grab Supreme Commander and watch it squirm as you get hundreds of units in play at the same time! And, if you like a good sci-fi story, you owe it to yourself to check out Mass Effect; it’s only $20 on Steam right now and a wonderful hybrid of story, action, and character building.
It has a definite Battlestar Galactica look to it.
Does it sound like a TIE-fighter taking off?
Have a similar machine that stays dark because I canna bear the incessant droning hum it requires to stay cool.
My Mac Pro, on the other hand, is silent as the grave, like a computer should be.
V. butch.
who wouldn’t want their computer full of neon? the pinker the better!
That is, indeed, a sweet looking piece of sheenery. But where does the steam vent? How much coal do you have to toss in to keep it running?
Oooooooooooo……….
What kinda of monitor are you using and is that new also???
Can’t say as I recognize the CPU and case on that. No doubt it draws more power than your Microwave Oven though…
I do recognize the cable modem in the foreground and the Dell 24″ LCD with Card Reader and USB ports. Put two of those into SWMBO’s office last year when updating their rather old systems. Sadly, none of them came home…
That looks like my case — I’ve been quite happy with it, and really the blue neon is pretty low-key.
Have you tried if the hard-disk in the dead PC is still functional? If so, the quickest way to get all your Steam games installed is:
1. Install Steam
2. temporarily plug the old hard-disk into the new computer.
3. locate the steamapps folder on your old HD and copy it to the Steam folder on the new PC.
4. Start Steam an log in to your account.
I used this method last time I got a new PC and it worked without a hitch. My steamapps folder is currently 176 Gigabyte in size so even with ADSL it would take me a while to re-download it all.
I have CPU envy.
hey what’s your name on steam? I’m up for some L4D during the weekend
add me, my steam name: Orphoen
I’m up for playing with l4d as well.
Can you give us a number (or an approximation) as to how much something like that costs? Are we talking about $1000? $2000? $4000? more?
Of course, the real question is: What will you name this new beast? These things are important. It sets the tone. (I named a computer HAL once — nothing but trouble after that.)
@23 Rough guess, but Mencken 7 comes to mind.
I’m guessing its Vista 64 on the new box, since you’ve got 6 gigs of ram.
If you had planned to use the premium gametap you might be a bit depressed. However they do make noises about supporting this new-fangled OS sooner or later.
Dude, is there a site that sells downloadable online games? I’m living in Asia with a MacBook Air. She’s a lovely creature, though dull as of late. I’d love to download a game tonight, Red Alert 3. I tried downloading pirated games, but could never get them to work. Set me up with an online site, please . . .
Anyo,
Oooh, yes, now *that* is a computer! And I spy a Coke Zero bottle in the foreground: celebrations are in order…
Dude! You should have bought a Dell!!!
So, what brand of computer is it?
Can you buy n’ download computer games!? If so, what site? Thanks,
Is it wrong that new computers and hardware turns me on?
Incidentally, since you’re a Steam guy and all, if you’ve never played the game Evil Genius then OHMYGOD you should! Last I saw it was only ten bucks, too!
@Dullard: There are actually a number of sites/companies that let you do that. Steam and Gamersgate spring readily to mind, but there are quite a few.
truth is life, thanks for the heads up, dude.
It kind of looks like a baby ED-209
spare parts for thirty years.
who cares if it worked or not.