Ryan T. Mahler

Gloomhaven Tracker

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 00:00:00 -0700

I made a thing. It’s at mahler.ca/gloom-tracker.

Interesting note, it’s quite easy to deploy GitHub repos to GitHub Pages sites using a pretty simple workflow.

Anyway, back to not posting anything here for a few more years.

#goals

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 00:00:00 -0700

Well… this is awkward. I’m writing a post about setting and keeping goals, and despite my own list of goals and todos always including “write more”, this is the first thing I’ve posted in (checks notes) three years. Ahem - do as I say, not as I do.

Recent events have meant that people are spending a fair amount of time inside. For some this is harder than others, but I can boastfully say the transition has been quite easy for me. Obviously, as a person who already worked remotely, from home, for a company based three hours ahead, I had a big head start. That transition definitely wasn’t easy, in fact, and took months for me to get it right. But this post isn’t about working from home - it’s about not-working from home.

SMART Goals

Okay, we’re going to talk about SMART goals. SMART is, unfortunately, an acronym. I’m not a big fan of these sort of business-speak, feel-good, personal-development-y things, but this one I’ve made an exception for. Simply put, SMART goals are:

Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Timely

Specific. Specific goals are, well, specific. “Learn more” is a shitty goal, because that doesn’t really mean anything. A specific goal would be “learn about the Halifax explosion of 1917”, or “learn to play the guitar”. The more specific a goal is, the easier it is to apply the rest of the SMART criteria.

Measurable. Measurable goals are, well, measurable. (There’s a theme to this acronym.) “Learn to play the guitar” is a shitty goal, because when have you learned to play the guitar? When you can play a G chord? Or when you can play Bloodmeat flawlessly? By adding some sort of metric to a goal, you can set a measurable goal on it. Perhaps you want to reach 80% accuracy on Learn to Fly in Rocksmith. (This post is not sponsored. But it could be.)? Or perhaps you want to memorize 20 chords? Making goals measurable is really what allows you say “I’ve accomplished the goal”. Without it, you’re trying to score on your own moving goalposts.

Attaintable. Attainable goals are, well, attainable. “Learn to play Bloodmeat on guitar flawlessly” is a shitty goal, because let’s be honest - if you’re just picking up the guitar for fun, is that really going to happen? A technical song written and performed by professional guitarists is unlikely to be playable by an average person wanting to learn guitar. What is attainable and what isn’t is very subjective, and will largely depend on just how far into any particular goal you want to go. If you want to play some guitar chords while sitting at the campfire, learning to play a handful of chords by memory is a much more attainable goal, and makes a lot more sense.

Relevant. Relevant goals are, well, relevant. “Learn to play some guitar chords to play while sitting at the campfire” is a shitty goal, because what if you don’t like camping? What if you can’t stand the sound of an acoustic guitar? What if you don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a guitar? If these questions are making you reconsider, it’s possible that this isn’t a very relevant goal to you. Instead, perhaps you’re really into woodwind instruments, and perhaps you only want to invest a few dollars. Maybe you should learn the recorder instead.

Timely. Timely goals are (say it with me now), well, timely. “Learn to play some basic recorder chords so that I can annoy my friends at the campfire” is a shitty goal, because when are you going to whip that bad boy out? Next week? By 2050? Sometime before you die? Without at least some time pressure, it’s entirely possible you’ll never make the time to start working towards the goal. You don’t need to be strict here, but even an approximate timeframe can be good.

“Learn to play some basic recorder notes so that I can annoy my friends at the campfire by our next camping trip this coming September” - now that’s a SMART goal right there!

Drawing from my own experience, I set a SMART goal for myself back in the fall of 2019: run a 5k (specific) at under 5:00/km (measurable) - an improvement over my previous of ~6:00/km (attainable) - in order to improve my fitness (relevant) by the end of the year (timely). And guess what? …I didn’t make it. I still haven’t, in fact. But that’s okay, and leads me ever-so-nicely to the next subject…

Wimbley-Wombley, Timey-Wimey Stuff

Time is just like, a construct, man. It’s all in your mind. This is something I’ve found is important to remember when setting goals. I wanted to run 5:00/km by the end of 2019 and I didn’t hit that target, but… so what? Really, the “timely” part of setting goals is more about having an approximate expiration date on it. Goals are like canned soup - the expiration date is more of a suggestion anyway. (Legal disclaimer: I just ate soup that was two years out of date and I’m fine, so you probably should too.) If you don’t make it, that’s okay! Just set a new timely goal, and work towards that.

On the other hand, don’t be too loose with your time constraints. I think this is one reason why new year’s resolutions so often fail - because doing something “this year” is just really… nebulous. Smaller, shorter-term goals are going to be easier to track and stick to than larger, longer-term ones. “Run a <5:00/km 5k” is something I can set my sights on in a few weeks or months - “run a marathon” is a significantly larger timescale, and I don’t really have any checkpoints along the way to know how I’m doing. Think of this as thin-slicing your work - by having smaller, shorter-term goals, you can constantly be checking up and checking in on what’s working, what isn’t, what needs to be adjusted, etc.

In summary, set time limits. Then ignore them.

Write Shit Down

Being able to track goals is also pretty important. Without going into the boring detailed analysis of all the various goal-tracking, to-do organizing, schedule-optimizing apps and services that I’ve tried, I will simply jump to the conclusion: I use Evernote for larger, broader-scope planning, and Google Keep for quickly jotting down smaller things. Evernote is used to write down the full SMART of the “<5:00/km 5k”, Google Keep is “Go for a run; Due: today”. YMMV, but I’ve found having a quick-and-dirty app for every day stuff alongside a more journal-esque app to be what works for me.

Motivation

Okay, this the last part of this rambling, I promise. Motivation is a tricky, sticky subject. Some people seem to think that their inability to get things done is just because they can’t motivate themselves. Well, they’re probably right. Any SMART-goal-setting, time-limit-bending, perfect-app-using go-getter is going to get exactly shit all done without motivation. My humble (but loudly yelled) opinion is motivation is a highly personal affair, so it’s likely that reading a million blog posts about a million ways to get motivated still won’t get your ass out of the chair. Find what works for you - I used to be fairly unmotivated/lazy, but by being extremely organized and following some rigid structures, I was able to build my ability to self-motivate, and find that for me, bettering myself on a daily basis is what I find motivating.

And if all else fails, some wise words: you may not want to exercise, but you do want to have had exercised? (Credit to Carolyn) Eyes on the prize, kid. And the prize is the you that finished that thing you always wanted to.

Google Play Music, a music echo chamber

Sun, 15 Jan 2017 00:00:00 -0800

Certain recent political events have brought up the topic of news bias, and how most people live in an echo chamber online - their views parroted back to them since like attracts like, so there is rarely any “outsider” input. I’m not here to talk about politics, but I have found it interesting how the same thing occurs in other, completely unrelated areas.

A few months ago (perhaps a year), I started paying for a subscription to Google Play Music. I had uploaded my music library to it a while ago, so I’ve been using the service for years, but I finally decided to switch to relying on streaming rather than my own curated library. I must say, the experience has been fantastic! With few exceptions, all the music I had previously uploaded was available - to the point where I just ended up removing all my own uploaded content. Initially, too, I enjoyed features such as the highlighting of new releases from artists I listen to, as well as suggestions of new artists based on my listening habits.

Recently, though, that former feature has really started to bug me, and has made me question whether services like GPM and Spotify are really music “discovery” services as they claim to be, or if they’re simply echo chambers designed to sell you more of what you like. I mean, obviously, it’s the latter - that’s what makes them money. If I only listen to RnB, why would I want to be suggested an Eric Clapton album? But what has annoyed me is just how persistent it is in trying to, effectively, narrow my musical tastes. I’m a person of wide musical interests, so I must say that - like getting news from your friends on Facebook, finding new music on GPM is probably going result to in a bit of an echo chamber. I’m probably in the minority, but, if I already listen to The Motorleague, why would I also want to listen to seven other bands that are stylistically similar?

Feature request: give me an album or artist you think I won’t like, Google Play.

How to be Fuel Efficient: Drive Less

Sun, 26 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0700

If I bought a Mazda 2 to replace my Yukon XL on the premise of saving money on fuel, it would take 5 years for me to start saving money. At least.

Want to know the secret to actually saving money on gas? Drive less. If you commuted a half hour to work each way over the last year in a hatchback, you burned more fuel than I did in a vehicle that weighs 5200lbs empty and seats 9. Oh, and that includes a couple of 1500km+ road trips in it.

A few notes about how I arrived at this:

5.6L/100km used for the Mazda 2’s fuel efficiency, which is its maximum highway rating
18.007L/100km used for the Yukon XL, which is the average I’ve managed over the last year (6135km driven)
Cost over time based on the average number of kilometres I drove per day over the last year
Cost of Yukon XL is about the purchase price of a 2002 model (which mine is)
Cost of Mazda 2 is cash price, taxes and fees not included, base model
No repair or insurance costs included

Planets in JavaScript

Sat, 31 Jan 2015 00:00:00 -0800

For no particular reason, I made a not-at-all accurate planet simulator in JavaScript, here, with the repo here. Because of its heavy reliance on CSS3 animation, some parts don’t work on some browsers. In particular, changing the orbit period doesn’t seem to work on Chrome 40 (although it does in Canary, Chrome 42).

It’s oddly serene to watch it fullscreen.

Sync for Toodledo

Tue, 18 Nov 2014 00:00:00 -0800

Sync for Toodledo, an app I made in my spare time for BlackBerry 10, is now available! See my Sync for Toodledo page at the top for more details, or get the app here.

A Whole New (Jekyll) World

Thu, 07 Aug 2014 00:00:00 -0700

I got bored, and decided to change from Octopress to Jekyll. Octopress does a lot of things automatically that I wanted to do myself.

But mostly I switched because I was bored.

Five Thousand In Four

Tue, 10 Jun 2014 00:00:00 -0700

From the 5th to the 9th of this month, I drove 5000km (a bit more, in fact) across a good chunk of Canada via the Trans-Canada Highway. Some things happened, and I tweeted about them (in a safe way, of course).

And with that, the 5(ish)-day journey to Waterloo begins!
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 5, 2014

I was guessing between 5 and 7 days to do the trip. I had to stop in Edmonton briefly, but aside from that I had no plans to visit anybody or stop unless the truck needed gas, or for sleep as required. Google Maps showed 59 hours of driving total, for an average of about 85km/h. I was aiming to average a full 100km/h, and actually came extremely close to that most days.

HI MY NAME IS RYAN I ALMOST DIED TODAY WHEN A TRANSPORT TRUCK TRAILER FISHTAILED INTO MY LANE AMA
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 6, 2014

Off to great start - 350km out of Yellowknife (about an hour away from cell service), a transport truck seemed to hit a corner too fast, causing his trailer to fishtail into my lane. I was able to pull right and time my passing such that I went past in between oscillations into my lane. I doubt I would have actually hit it, especially since I pulled right, but that didn’t make the experience any less… exciting, shall we say?

Yellowknife to Whitecourt - 1318km - in one day. Now to sleep. In the front seat of the truck. In a Tim's parking lot. Because I'm classy.
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 6, 2014

Having only ever really made it to Peace River in one day before (about 300km before Whitecourt), this was what I’d consider a successful first day.

Apparently truck seats aren't overly comfortable. So, 4am start to day two!
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 6, 2014

…and then this happened, resulting in a much-less-successful day two. After only three hours of sleep I tried to drive again, but within about 50km knew I was still far too tired, so pulled over for an hour-long nap, which helped immensely (along with the second nap in the afternoon).

It's no Yellowknife sunset, but an Alberta sunrise ain't half bad. pic.twitter.com/XQGQcShYhu
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 6, 2014

Of course, waking up at such an hour did have its benefits!

I am in Alberta! Now I'm in Saskatchewan! Alberta! Saskatchewan! AB! SK! #LLOYDMINSTER #MUNICIPALIDENTITYCRISIS
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 6, 2014

huehuehue. (Lloydminster is on the border between the two provinces.)

Saskatoon's Circle Drive is just as congested as any other "expressway" in any city. Except with more farm trucks. And farm equipment.
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 6, 2014

It was almost surreal to see a crop sprayer tractor cruising along at nearly highway speeds (once the congestion cleared up, that is). You expect to see this out in the farm fields (and you do), but seeing it in the city was pretty… odd.

NO TRANSPORT TRUCK YOU MAY NOT MERGE INTO MY LANE WHILE I AM THERE AS IT VIOLATES THE RULES OF SPACE-TIME.
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 6, 2014

Second close call with a transport truck, happened in Saskatoon. Started merging, but then saw me and ceased their attempt at murder. Too many witnesses, I presume. I feel compelled to mention that, despite two close calls with transport trucks on this trip, I passed hundreds of them without issue (if not thousands), and they are very generally extremely good and courteous drivers.

Upon initial impressions, Regina is a bit like Kitchener. Only... flatter. 100% flat, in fact.
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 7, 2014

It really is. It’s almost creepy.

Winnipeg? More like Windy-peg! http://t.co/L5RRArv5RR
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 7, 2014

It was windy. I am hilarious.

Bought doughnut with sprinkles. Ate doughnut with sprinkles while driving. Front seat is now 28% sprinkles by mass.
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 7, 2014

I am also not very smart.

A fact for @stats_canada - 94% of Kenora's GDP is bait and tackle sales.
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 8, 2014

I don’t like to rag on cities I haven’t lived in, but this place is honestly the most kitsch, fabricated place I’ve driven through in a long time. Every second store sells bait.

Sleep location for tonight: Thunder Bay, in front a conditional No Parking sign with the most confusing conditions I've ever seen...
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 8, 2014

Specifically, it stated “No Parking odd calendar days between 9am and 5pm from November 15th to March 31st”. I would presume this has to do with snow removal, but goddamn. That said, since I didn’t park under a street lamp this time, I had a much better sleep. (Although I did use a suitcase full of books as a pillow.)

Sault Ste. Marie? More like windy-Sault Ste... wait never mind.
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 8, 2014

Sault Ste. Marie was also windy. I am not very good at jokes.

Thunder Bay to Waterloo in one day yesterday, finishing the 5000km in four days. AND THEY SAID IT COULDN'T BE DONE.. or was it shouldn't?
— Ryan Mahler (@ryantmer) June 9, 2014

For context, that was 15.5 hours of driving on the fourth day, stopping at only the 6 hour and 12 hour points it was rough. Managed to do it in a day less than my least guess though, so it was worth it!

But anyway, managed around 14L/100km in fuel consumption (which for a 2002 Yukon XL 1/2-ton isn’t bad), an average speed of nearly 100km/h, and spent $918.04 on gas along the way. Trivia: the most expensive gas was in Thunder Bay. Weird.

This is a weird post.

Beginner PC Builder's Guide

Thu, 20 Mar 2014 00:00:00 -0700

Writing this as a guide for a first-time PC builder. Usually these guides are just lists of parts to put together, but I’m going to try to make this one more detailed and descriptive. Parts listed here go for about $800 on Newegg.ca. For each of these items, go to the Newegg page and click the Specifications tab; that’s where the specs I’m describing are listed.

Some terms before we get started.

A CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the computer’s brain. Faster CPU means faster computer, in general usage.
A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is the graphics card. Better GPU means better gaming performance.
RAM (Random Access Memory) is memory as people know it. The more memory you have, the more you can run at a time without experiencing slowdowns.
An SSD (Solid State Drive) is the modern, faster replacement for the hard drives of olde. Still somewhat new, so still somewhat expensive.

In addition, if you’re a person that is knowledgeable in this area and likes to tell people how knowledgeable you are (the term “neckbeard” comes to mind), understand that I tried to make this as simple as possible. This means there are some pretty big oversimplifications and generalizations. You can argue that CAS latency is critical to get the best performance out of your RAM all day, but the fact is that a beginner won’t give a shit. So before yelling at me, remember that.

Case: Corsair Carbide Series 200R Black Steel / Plastic compact ATX Mid Tower Case

Model

This section is pretty self-explanatory. Just names and stuff.

Spec

Type - ATX Mid Tower: ATX refers (loosely) to the physical type of motherboard that can be mounted in this case. The majority of available motherboards are ATX; other form factors exist, but are much less common. Mid Tower refers mostly to the physical size of the case, which will generally be related to the number of internal bays and space and such. Most “typical” cases are Mid Tower.
Color - Black: It means it’s black. Exciting.
Case Material - Steel structure with molded ABS plastic accent pieces: Most cases are exactly this. Steel for the structure, and plastic for accents and sometimes the internal mounting hardware.
With Power Supply - No: Some cases come sold with a power supply. In general, it’s cheaper to buy them this way, but be warned that the power supplies in these sorts of configurations are generally not of particularly high quality.
Power Supply Mounted - Bottom: Refers to where in the case the power supply is mounted. More “enthusiast” cases typically do bottom, as this means the heat from your graphics cards and CPU aren’t exhausting through the power supply, which can reduce the life of the power supply.
Motherboard Compatibility - Micro ATX / ATX: Related to “Type”. Micro ATX has the same mounting pattern (screw holes), but smaller boards, as ATX.
With Side Panel Window - No: If you want to be able to look at all the pretty internals, a side window is a good idea!

Expansion

External 5.25” Drive Bays - 3: These are where CD/DVD/BR drives are mounted. Also sometimes used for fan controllers, or other front-panel accessories.
External 3.5” Drive Bays - No: Generally used for floppy drives. Not so common anymore (for obvious reasons).
Internal 3.5” Drive Bays - 4: Mostly used for mounting hard drives. The more of these, the more storage space you can install.
Internal 2.5” Drive Bays - 4: Mostly used for mounting SSDs. Faster storage, yay!
Expansion Slots - 7: These are the slots on the back of the case, where your graphics card, discrete sound card, and other expansion cards’ ports will be accessible from the outside of the case. Most mid tower ATX cases have 7.

Front Ports

Front Ports - 2 x USB 3.0, Audio: Pretty obvious. These are the ports on the front side of the case, for easy access. A lot of cases now have USB 3.0 and audio connections for headphones/mic.

Cooling System

Side Air duct - No: Some cases have an air duct on the side panel (the one that opens) that is intended to improve cooling.

Physical Spec

Dimensions - 16.9” x 8.3” x 19.6”: 43 x 21 x 50 cm, for those of us who use a logical measurement system.

Features

Not going into detail on these. These vary greatly from case to case. Some highlights of this one include tool-free design (meaning you wouldn’t need a screwdriver for a lot of the building process) and cabling management systems, which make routing the various cables an easier process.

Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic series TP-550C 550W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply

Model

Again, self-explanatory stuff.

Spec

Maximum Power - 550W: Represents the maximum amount of power this can supply. 500-600W is plenty for most “typical” systems; if you’re planning on having multiple GPUs, might want to look into higher-power ones.
Efficiency - Up to 92%: See next point.
Energy-Efficient - 80 PLUS GOLD Certified: 80 PLUS certifications refer to (simply put) how efficient the power supply is. Greater efficiency means less power lost as heat; in general, there’s no reason not to go for a Gold or above certification. They’re a bit more expensive, but not by much.
Approvals - UL, cUL, FCC, TUV, CE, CB, CCC, C-Tick, BSMI, Gost-R, SABS: A bunch of acronyms letting you know it won’t set your house on fire.
Dimensions - 3.4”(H) x 5.9”(W) x 5.5”(D): The width and height of a power supply are standards, but length can vary. Just make sure there’s enough space in your case for it (although this typically isn’t a problem).
Weight - 4.6 lbs.: 2.1kg

Features

Again, not going to go into these. Power supplies are even less exciting than cases in this regard. (This particular one brags about its capacitors. How enthralling.)

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-970A-UD3 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Finally, getting into the interesting stuff!

Supported CPU

CPU Socket Type - AM3+: The socket type is the physical arrangements of pins on the CPU. The socket of the CPU you buy and this must match, otherwise they won’t work together.
CPU Type - FX / Phenom II / Athlon II / Sempron 100 Series: List of (series of) CPUs that are officially supported. Others (with the correct socket) may work that aren’t on this list, but typically it’s a good idea to stick with what’s here.
FSB - 2400MHz Hyper Transport (4800 MT/s): Ehhh… not gonna explain this. Not overly important. (Well, it is, extremely, but not to most buyers.)

Chipsets

Chipset - AMD 970 + SB950: Ehhhhhhh… same. Not particularly interesting or important to most buyers.

Memory

Number of Memory Slots - 4×240pin: Refers to the number (and type) of RAM slots on the motherboard. More slots means more memory, but 4 is a just fine number.
Memory Standard - DDR3 2000(O.C.) / 1866 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066: RAM speed. RAM can run at several speeds; as long as there is some overlap between the RAM you buy and this spec, you’ll be a-okay.
Maximum Memory Supported - 32GB: Self-explanatory. Not many people require 32GB of RAM, so that’s a fine limit.
Channel Supported - Dual Channel: Most RAM is sold in Dual-Channel kits. Pages could be written on the performance implications of this, but the easy answer is use a dual-channel kit with a dual-channel motherboard.

Expansion Slots

This is where GPUs, soundcards, and expansion cards get plugged in.

PCI Express 2.0 x16 - 2 (x16, x4): Generally used for GPUs. PCI Express 3.0 does exist, and a lot of GPUs support it, but using a 3.0 card with 2.0 will be absolutely fine (since the 2.0 spec is plenty fast enough anyway). The x16 and x4 refer to operating speeds - as long as x16 is there, you’re good for running the latest GPUs.
PCI Express x1 - 3: Typically used for sound cards, USB 3.0 expansion cards, or eSATA expansion cards
PCI Slots - 2: Legacy slots. Not really used by much anymore, unless you’ve got old stuff you need to interface with.

Storage Devices

SATA 6Gb/s - 6 x SATA 6Gb/s: Used by hard drives, solid state drives, and CD/DVD/BR drives. 6Gb/s refers to the maximum transfer speed, and is the current norm.
SATA RAID - 0/1/5/10/JBOD: Most people don’t RAID, so ignore this. However, fun trivia - JBOD stands for “Just a Bunch Of Disks”. (Seriously.)

Onboard Video

Onboard Video Chipset - None: If you’re buying a GPU, “None” is absolutely fine, as the GPU replaces this. If you aren’t buying a GPU… buy a GPU.

Onboard Audio

Describes the built-in audio card. Generally they’re all the same, and are decent.

Onboard LAN

Describes the built-in ethernet card. Same as above; most are up to gigabit (1000Mbps) now, which is a hell of a lot faster than your internet connection anyway.

Rear Panel Ports

Port list. These are where you plug stuff in. Most motherboards have approximately the same ones. On new motherboards, make sure to get one with at least a couple USB 3.0 ports, because why not.

Internal I/O Connectors

These refer to the ports on the motherboard that aren’t accessible from the outside of the case. Big thing to look for here is the USB 3.0 and front panel audio connectors if your case has these connectors on the front (this is where you plug them in).

Physical Spec

Form Factor - ATX: Already explained, mostly.
Dimensions - 12.0” x 9.6”: Obvious.
Power Pin - 24 Pin: Back in the day, some were 20 Pin. “Back in the day” being like… 1998.

CPU: AMD FX-4130 Zambezi 3.8GHz Socket AM3+ Quad-Core Desktop Processor FD4130FRGUBOX

Model

Brand - AMD: Really only two, AMD and Intel. Generally (and I’m being very general here) Intel aims for a slightly higher performance (and price) bracket.
Series - FX-Series: This is what should match the CPU Typesection under the motherboard’s Supported CPUsection.
Model - FD4130FRGUBOX: Try pronouncing these phonetically for fun.

CPU Socket Type

CPU Socket Type - Socket AM3+: Needs to match the socket type of your motherboard, otherwise you’re going to have a bad day.

Tech Spec

Core Name - Zambezi: I think they misspelled Zamboni. Not important except for the hardcore-est of hardware enthusiasts.
Multi-Core - Quad-Core: More cores is better, generally speaking, but more cores is also more expensive, generally speaking. Quad core is pretty much the sweet spot right now in terms of price and performance.
Name - FX-4130: Another fun one to pronounce phonetically. And another one that isn’t overly important.
Operating Frequency - 3.8GHz: Higher frequency is faster, but creates more heat. Think of the CPU like a river, and water is the work you want to do - more cores means a wider river, higher operating frequency means higher current. Both result in more water being moved, just in different ways.
L2 Cache - 4MB: Ignore
Manufacturing Tech - 32nm: All
64-Bit Support - Yes: Of
Hyper-Transport Support - Yes: These
Virtualization Technology Support - Yes: Things

RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL

I hate how convoluted RAM specs are.

Model

Brand - G.SKILL: Most are somewhat ridiculous.
Series - Ripjaws Series: Most of these are reallyridiculous.
Model - F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL: Oh what the hell.
Type - 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM: Ah, this is important. This refers to the physical type. This should match the memory requirements of the motherboard (in general, new stuff will all be DDR3 SDRAM, which all has 240 pins).

Tech Spec

Capacity - 8GB (2 x 4GB): How much RAM you’re getting. the 2 x 4GB means it comes in two 4GB modules. Remember that your motherboard has a limited number of slots for modules.
Speed - DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800): As long as this is within the list of memory speeds supported by your motherboard, you’ll be good.
Cas Latency - 9: Nobody
Timing - 9-9-9-24-2: Cares
Voltage - 1.5V: About
ECC - No: These
Buffered/Registered - Unbuffered: Specs.
Multi-channel Kit - Dual Channel Kit: Should match the Channel Supported spec of your motherboard. Not strictly required, but I don’t want to start a flame war about the relative merits of this.
Heat Spreader - Yes: It’s like a radiator for your RAM, because you’re that hardcore. (Helps with heat dissipation, most have them.)

SSD: SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5” 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Solid-state drives are more expensive than their mechanical counterparts (hard disk drives, HDDs), but worth the price difference.

General

The usual stuff.

Physical

Form Factor - 2.5”: SSDs are typically 2.5”, whereas hard drives are 3.5” for desktops. Just make sure your case has enough internal 2.5” drive bays for the number of drives you want.
Capacity - 120GB: Amount of space. Because SSDs are more expensive, they also come in smaller sizes for their cost. That said, worth the speed tradeoff. Memory Components - TLC: Ignore.
Interface - SATA III: SATA III = SATA 6 Gbps. Just make sure your motherboard has some connectors for it, which most modern ones will.
The rest of the fields in this category can be ignored, or are obvious.

Performance

SSDs are fast. Some are faster, some are slower, and this is where the differences will be shown. Unless you buy a really cheap one, they’re all going to be what can only be described as “damned fast” compared to hard drives.

Environmental

Power Consumption (Idle) - 0.045W: a.k.a. About 1/150th of a mechanical hard drive.
Operating Temperature - 0°C ~ +60°C: Don’t boil it, and don’t freeze it.
Operating Humidity - 5% to 95% RH: Also don’t use it in the rain.

GPU: SAPPHIRE 100364L Radeon R9 270X 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

I take it back. GPUs are much, much worse than RAM.

Model

Brand - SAPPHIRE: This is where the terms “GPU” and “graphics card” separate. This graphics card is made by Sapphire, whereas the GPU is decribed in the Chipset section below.
Model - 100364L: Obvs.

Interface Interface - PCI Express 3.0 x16: This is the slot it goes into on the motherboard. Don’t be too concerned if it’s PCI Express 2.0 or 3.0 - 3.0 is faster, but very few (if any) current cards actually hit the limit of 2.0 anyway.

Chipset

Chipset Manufacturer - AMD: Same company that makes the CPU!
GPU - Radeon R9 270X: This is the GPU model. There are tonnes of these. When somebody asks what video card you have, this is what you’d tell them.
Boost Clock - 1070MHz: Mostly ignore.
Stream Processors - 1280 Stream Processors: So, know how quad-core means a wider river? Try 1280 cores. No, the number of GPU cores is not directly comparable to CPU cores, but more is better here in the same way.

Memory

Effective Memory Clock - 1400MHz (Effective 5600 Mbps): Faster is better - this is the speed of the memory on the graphics card itself.
Memory Size - 2GB: Size of the memory on the graphics card itself. This is faster for the GPUs to access than system RAM, so more here means better gaming performance.
Memory Interface - 256-Bit: Ignore.
Memory Type - GDDR5: Ignore. They’re all GDDR5 anyway.

3D API

Everything is DirectX 11.2ish and OpenGL 4.2ish now. Not particularly important.

Ports

Make sure any monitors you want to connect have one of these types of connectors. Typically HDMI is the easiest option.

General

Max Resolution: Make sure the card you choose is capable of driving that enormous, high-resolution monitor you bought.
Eyefinity Support - Yes: AMD-specific technology, not overly important for most.
CrossFireX Support - Yes: AMD has CrossFireX and nVidia has SLI; both allow for using multiple cards together. Unless you’re a hardcore gamer that can afford two top-end cards… just don’t.
Cooler - With Fan: Most are fan-cooled. Really low-end ones can be passive (just a heatsink), and some are liquid cooled, but these are rare.
Slot Width - Dual Slot: Takes up two Expansion Slots on your case. Also beware that on most motherboards, a dual slot card will block one of the expansion slots (usually one you won’t need, but worth being aware of).
Operating Systems Supported: Usually Windows. Very few manufacturers make Linux/Mac drivers.
System Requirements - 500W (or greater) power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connector recommended: Graphics cards are the biggest power consumer in a typical desktop, so make sure your chosen power supply has enough power to run it.
Power Connector - 2 x 6-Pin: They all are. Well, some aren’t. But most are.
Dual-Link DVI Supported - Yes: 2006 called.
HDCP Ready - Yes: 2010 called.
Card Dimensions - 8.98” x 4.29” x 1.38”: Strangely enough, this one can actually be important. Some cards are extremely long and will have a hard time fitting in your case.

Features

Each card has about a billion features, and half of them are just marketing fluff anyway.

Packaging

Typically come with some cables to connect it to the power supply and monitor(s).

Conclusion

Holy shit, that’s everything. This is a very, very summarized view. I tried to give a brief comment on things that are relevant to beginner/novice PC builder to attempt to make it a bit simpler. But it’s still pretty goddamn complicated, so I recommend always getting a friend who has experience in the area to give you a hand!

Hello (Octopress) World!

Tue, 25 Feb 2014 00:00:00 -0800

In my effort to constantly be changing my site, it’s now using Octopress. Thanks to Oliver Cardoza for the tip!