Episode 30 - Computers Part 3

Apreche

We spent most of the podcast talking about video cards. There's a lot to cover there. So I figured we could all tell our video card stories.

My first IBM computer had a 1MB crap video card built into the motherboard. It could play old DOS games like a mofo until Voodoo starting becoming necessary.

The first computer I built I got the Diamond Viper V770 with a TNT2. It was literally the day the TNT2 came out. I had previously considered the TNT1, but I held out for the TNT2 and I'm glad I did.

Now I have a Gainward GeForce FX5900. It does everything I need. Sure, I can't crank everything up to 100%, but I don't care. I get enough frames in every game. And more importantly, I can write OpenGL apps in Linux and they rock.

Pilitus

My first computer I built myself, when I started learning about computers, was a Matrox G450. I used this card basically until I stopped using the computer last year, adding a dual monitor to get the most use out of it. I am a continual user of Photoshop and Indesign, so I have little need for a gamer video card.

Now, I forget what I have, its the one in a Powerbook.

trogdor9

My last computer--A crappy Dell laptop with a broken neck (the thing that holds up the monitor)--has an ATi Mobility Rage P. I have no idea what that means, other than I can't play any 3D games on it. This computer, the one I'm on now, has an ATi X300, I didn't know much about video cards, or that I would be interested in Linux when I bought it. It's a fairly good video card--in Windoze. In Linux, however, it's crap. I second what you guys said about ATi graphics cards in Linux. It took me forever to figure out how to get the driver working, and it doesn't work so good after I got it.

Jameskun

I just had to comment on the fan setup. Most people will just want to keep it pretty balanced, and negative pressure will provide better cooling as you stated. However I think you are overlooking the benefits that positive pressure can provide.

Dust can be a killer to computers, dust buildup puts an insulating blanket on all the hardware potentially making things run hotter. A negative pressure setup is the worst situation for dust, because it will be drawn in through all the cracks and holes in the computer. If you want to keep your machine dust-free, have your fans configured to have a slight positive pressure and put filters on the intake. This way, the air will flow out of the cracks and holes that don't have fans on them, keeping the dust from seeping in. Of course, if the filters get clogged, it can turn the pressure around, and too much positive pressure won't have good air flow.

For a lot of homes it isn't as big a deal, especially if you keep the PC up higher, and attack the dust with some compressed air when the dust builds up. But if you are like me and have a lot of pets, or if you are a smoker, or if the computer is going into some other bad environment, positive pressure combined with filters can help keep your computer running longer (just keep those filters clean ;p)

Rym

I suppose it depends a lot on how you care for your computer and where you live, like Jameskun said. I have no pets currently, and clean my case out with compressed air about once a month (in addition to performing basic checks on fans, connections, etc...).

Positive pressure is great if you like low-maintenance. ^_^