What'd you buy yourself today?

[GhostRyder]

Well finally upgraded to an i7 4770K from my very well served i7 920. Got tired of waiting for Intel to get their high end platforms into line and the upgrade itch was too much. Got a Gigabyte Z87x-UD4H and 2x8GB of Crucial Ballistix 1866Mhz CAS9 RAM, working very nicely so far.

Got to 4.3Ghz @1.25V but haven't had time to OC any further. I'm sure it will go higher with a bit more voltage but load temps are already a bit high at 80C.

Nice build there slh28, if your worried about temps, I would try getting a little more intake that pumps air closer to your CPU cooler, its probably not getting a ton of fresh air because your GPU's are hogging all that sweet delicious air.

I felt the same way with the ivy-bridge E, the performance was not the problem for me, it was the lack of features on that aging X79 chipset. I was hoping a revision like an X89 would have come out and added some missing features, but luck was not on my side. I will be waiting for Haswell-E and going for the upgrade then.

 

[slh28]

Nice build there slh28, if your worried about temps, I would try getting a little more intake that pumps air closer to your CPU cooler, its probably not getting a ton of fresh air because your GPU's are hogging all that sweet delicious air.

The intakes for the H80i radiator actually come in from the rear and exhausts out top. Which still isn't ideal since the hot GPU exhausts come from below.

 

[St1ckM4n]

My 920 is holding on strong! Must resist!

 

[Arris]

Just ordered a Razer Nostromo. Had a Belkin N50 back in the day but you couldn't press 3 keys at the same time. Not sure if it was software or hardware limitation. Having used a program called "Paddy" with Lightroom 5 I'm keen to use this little keyboard with it to improve my workflow. Also keen to minimise RSI/CT on my wrists. Already switched from a logitech mouse to a Kensington Slimblade trackball recently as well to help alleviate the symptoms.

 

[DelJo63]

iPad mini as a travel aid. Using the Goodreader App, the ipad can use SMB file sharing to the PC and import shared content.
The app then copies the entire directory (and sub directories) to create a nice hierarchy of maps, notes, eg
Trip->country->city->data

 

[St1ckM4n]

Arris: what do you use the Nostromo for? I can't imagine using the trackball for gaming, so I assume macro/shortcut use?


jobeard: nice, tablets are a great way to securely store copies of your passport, itinerary, etc.

 

[Arris]

Arris: what do you use the Nostromo for? I can't imagine using the trackball for gaming, so I assume macro/shortcut use?

Haven't received it yet but will see how the Nostromo fairs for normal gaming. But for Lightroom paired with Paddy(https://sites.google.com/site/dorfl68/) I can map slider selections to the keys. So I can press key 1 on Nostromo to select exposure, and have a key mapped to enable increase and decrease via the trackball's scroll, which is done by twisting of the ball (and makes a click to know you are scrolling). Makes it very much like adjusting with a jog shuttle/dial. Also going to setup the scroll wheel on the Nostromo to change zoom level. The trackball is purely for general computer use. Still can't get used to it for gaming. 20+ years of mousing mean I'll probably never dump my mouse for gaming.

Starting to run short of USB ports on the back of the PC though. Got charging cable for the mouse, trackball, Monoprice graphics tablet, printer, Logitech G110 keyboard with its USB port filled with wireless mouse nano receiver, web camera and now will be adding the nostromo to that. Still got 3 or 4 on the top of case though but not as neat as having it all at the back in tied up with a cable tidy.

 

[GhostRyder]

Arris: what do you use the Nostromo for? I can't imagine using the trackball for gaming, so I assume macro/shortcut use?


jobeard: nice, tablets are a great way to securely store copies of your passport, itinerary, etc.

I have friends who game with trackball mouses, personally I cant stand them, but I have a few friends who play shooters, mmo's, and RTS's with them and they love em.

Cool buys, Arris, my friend bought the Logitech version of the Razer nostromo and hes rocking along.

 

[Arris]

Cool buys, Arris, my friend bought the Logitech version of the Razer nostromo and hes rocking along.

Picked the Razer up for £35 on sale at Amazon. G13 is £50+, otherwise I'd have probably gone with the Logitech.

 

[Arris]

Mad Catz Cyborg M.M.O. 7 gloss black (£55 from PCWorld.co.uk instead of the usual £80+)

to pair with the Razer Nostromo.
Hardly ever have to touch the keyboard again when using voice comms to play with friends. Will just sell the Logitech Performance MX as I've hardly used the one on my desktop since switching to trackball for general use.

 

[GhostRyder]

Nice Arris, those mice are sick!
Im rocking my Logitech G19 Keyboard and an old Logitech G5 gaming mouse ive had since high school lol. Its weighted to where I can adjust it for my needs, still sensitive, and I can adjust the sensitivity. I just have not had a reason to replace it yet XD.

I did however buy myself today some sound dampening parts for my computer and some different screws so I can finish off something ive been putting off for awhile on my PC.

 

[slh28]

Got a GoPro Hero 3 Black. Prices have really come down lately, probably in anticipation of the Hero 4 but the Hero 3 Black is good enough for me for the moment. Also got lots of their essential (and scandalously overpriced) accessories and ordered an external mic. Stay tuned for the videos!

 

[St1ckM4n]

Nice! I have that one too, gift for my bday.

Prices came down a little bit since Hero3+ is now available.

The mounts I use most are the handlebar/pole and suction.

 

[slh28]

Quick update - went for a nice drive on a Sunday morning with the GoPro down empty A-roads and country lanes. Thought I had some really good videos but there was a constant hissing sound which drowned out all the car noise.

After some playing around it seems that you can't use the GoPro with an external mic while charging! Pretty lame really... especially as that was probably the last sunny weekend of the year!

 

[Arris]

Nexus 5. Very nice so far but missing the notification LED from the Nexus 4.

Edit: Notification in same place as Nexus 4. Just hadn't seen it light up for anything

 

[Dawn1113]

The cracked bridge pick-up on my '93 Stratocaster finally got to me, so I went ahead and bought me a new set of pickups.

They're Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials. You get a clean, crisp, twangy sound off them. I'm liking them so far.

I've uploaded an .mp3 file here to give you guys an idea as to how they sound. Pardon the terrible playing. I'm trying to sound like Eric Clapton on the track, but I end up sounding like a dizzy two-year old with broken fingers, instead.

The quality of the recording (mix down using Audacity) is less than ideal -- and the single coils make for a lot of hiss and buzz, as expected. I toggle through all three pickups during the course of the track -- but mostly use a combination of the neck and middle.

Save for two sections where I use a Fender wah-wah pedal -- and some fill-in and rhythm overdubs where I use some delay and a phaser pedal, I do everything stock, straight to the amp.

 

[slh28]

Very nice tune!

I'm starting to get into video and audio editing, and audio editing in particular is a lot more difficult than I thought. Things like wind and background noises are quite hard to get rid of without distorting the whole track... but then maybe that's because I'm using very cheap equipment at the moment Anyway here's a video I made with the GoPro:

edit: The youtube link isn't working because I think the stupid autocorrect changes the lower case I to an upper case one. So here's an adfly link.

 

[LNCPapa]

Dead link for me slh

 

[slh28]

Dead link for me slh

I tried embedding it and linking it but I think it's because Youtube is down... check back later!

 

[Dawn1113]

Very nice tune!

I'm starting to get into video and audio editing, and audio editing in particular is a lot more difficult than I thought. Things like wind and background noises are quite hard to get rid of without distorting the whole track... but then maybe that's because I'm using very cheap equipment at the moment Anyway here's a video I made with the GoPro:

I know what you mean about getting distortion on audio recording. I think that is to be expected when you record "wet" -- that is, with a microphone pointed toward the source of the sound. You don't get as much distortion when you lay tracks down "dry": when you plug -- say -- a guitar straight into the console. You could try that, if it all possible. (I use a Fostex four-track recording console -- yup, analogue!)




Also, another work around is to mix and render the original track in stereo as you add new tracks or pieces of overdub. You then never work on more than three tracks running separately. That seems to minimize distortion when editing for mix down.


Tried the link, too, slh, but yeah, I think Youtube is down at the moment.

 

[St1ckM4n]

slh28 I've found that even with the waterproof housing, wind noise is too high. The only time I hear engine is if I give the pedal some pushing.

You'd probably either need an external mic in the engine bay, or if you're just cruising in a standard sedan cut out the audio altogether and pair it with a nice musical track.

 

[slh28]

Thanks Dawn1113, but most of my videos are going to be of driving or sports so not sure I can carry around large audio recording devices!

slh28 You'd probably either need an external mic in the engine bay, or if you're just cruising in a standard sedan cut out the audio altogether and pair it with a nice musical track.

That video was using an external mic stuck to the rear bumper, and even with a furry windshield there was still quite a lot of wind noise. I think I'll try sticking it in the boot next time and hopefully that will pick up some of the exhaust noise without any wind. Not going to dub musical tracks over the sound of my V10 though

 

[wholesalestunna]

Well finally upgraded to an i7 4770K from my very well served i7 920. Got tired of waiting for Intel to get their high end platforms into line and the upgrade itch was too much. Got a Gigabyte Z87x-UD4H and 2x8GB of Crucial Ballistix 1866Mhz CAS9 RAM, working very nicely so far.

Got to 4.3Ghz @1.25V but haven't had time to OC any further. I'm sure it will go higher with a bit more voltage but load temps are already a bit high at 80C.

I'm jealous... That's a sweet rig! Congrats!

 

[St1ckM4n]

Hmm, well I've heard of people modifying their skeleton door, putting it on a suction cup on the car somewhere, and running a mic to the engine day. Alternatively, you could always just buy a standalone sound recorder and do the whole 'movie clap' thing to get them in sync?

And lucky you, V10! Highly jealous, I just have a 6-cyl haha.

 

[learninmypc]

Not today, but I bought myself a iPhone
& finding it pretty interesting since its my first apple product.