Tag Archives: OCC

Oh No, Not The Tubes!

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Earlier this morning, I was busy updating the news @ OverclockersClub.com when I ran into an issue… every search result on Google said “This site may harm your computer”. Figuring it was a bug in Firefox or an extension, I finished what I was doing. Then I fired up IE, and got the same thing.

It was true, the Internets was broken. Well, not all of them… just Google. The issue was quickly fixed, and Google eventually issued a update via the Google Blog. The issue, human error. A URL of ‘/’ ended up on the filter list, thus blocking every single URL possible.

Full Circle

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You may have noticed things are a bit quiet around here as of late. Part of the reason, as most of you already know is because I work two jobs and don’t really have a lot of time to really do much of anything. In the midst of my already busy schedule, I decided to take on a third job. Wait, I’m not as crazy as you think… or maybe I am.

After a lengthy conversation with an old friend, I have decided to work for… wait for it… OverclockersClub.com. Yes, there have been issues in the past between myself and certain people that are thankfully no longer associated with the site. Those issues are behind us now, and we’re working to make OCC an even better community.

So, what will my involvement there be? Due to my already busy schedule we agreed that it would be best if I was not on the review staff. After all, I’m a “Mac guy” working at a PC enthusiast website, and there is no way I could commit to any kind of deadlines with my schedule. Dave (aka Bosco) asked if I would mind helping out the news team by posting items to the front page. So I guess I’ll be focusing on software, Mac, gaming, and internet related stories… i.e. the same kind of crap I have been posting here on d3rbuts1d.com for the last several years. :p

Where will this go from here? Who knows… maybe nowhere if they decided I suck as a news editor. :p

New System

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So, it’s been an incredibly long time since I last built a PC, or really done any kind of hardware work. Heck, where I work we have to wait 2-5 days for a union electrician to come and install a new HDD in a removable rack, and if we try to do the two minute job we’d get a grievance filed on us. It sucks, but thankfully I spend my days stuck inside of PHP code and an Oracle database.

After making the switch to OS X, I really didn’t think I’d ever be inside a PC again. Oh, sure, I opened up my Mac Mini and added some memory and swapped out the HDD, but that’s no big deal. Well, a few weeks ago I had a mysterious package arrive at my doorstep. After ensuring there was no white powder or explosives inside, I opened it up to find half a computer system courtesy of Dave, an old friend at OverclockersClub.com.

With the parts he sent me, and the graphics card I received from the OCC Christmas Contest, I had the beginnings of a damn nice PC. Just needed a few more things and it’d be good to go. Once everything was ready, I dusted off my old custom Lian Li PC70 Disturbed case, and shoved all the components in.

And, nothing… no video, no error beeps, no post, nothing. My first build in ages would power up and proceed to do nothing. A few hours later, I had given up. Actually, I thought I may have damaged the CPU or motherboard when installing the heat sink.

This afternoon, I decided to give it another try. Took the video card out, and nothing. Took the memory out and the system beeped at me. Hmm… so I put the memory back in, put the video card back in, and magic the system booted. Stupid PC! :p

So, now I’m up and running. Vista (Ultimate 64) is grinding away downloading the first round of updates, all 84 of them. I now find myself wondering, what the heck am I going to do with this system? My wife chirps in often with the same question. Truthfully, I have no idea. I’m not crazy about Vista (or the much improved Windows 7)… everything I do these days is on my Mac.

Perhaps I should blow it away and install Linux (it’s been a while since I’ve messed with Slackware). Maybe this will become a test web server, or some kind of FTP/file server. Though it really would be a waste of that Radeon HD 4870. Hmm… MythTV maybe?

I Won A Sapphire Radeon HD 4870

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Back in December I was talking about the 2008 OverclockersClub.com Christmas contest, where they gave away over 50 prizes including a fully loaded Intel Core 2 i7 gaming system that I estimated the worth around $5K. Sadly, I didn’t win the gaming rig… well, to be honest, I don’t know what I would have done with it. :D However, I did win a pretty slick video card.

Thanks to OCC I now have a brand new Sapphire (ATi) Radeon HD 4570 video card with 512 MB GDDR5. Just so you know exactly how much of an upgrade this is, the video card in my current system – yes, despite being a Mac user, I still have an old AMD64 rig – is a VisionTek X1550 256MB (DDR2) AGP. I didn’t even know video cards were using GDDR5! When did 3 & 4 come out?? Ok, so it’s been a good 5 years since I built a PC. I’ve just not had any reason to build a new rig.

Enough talk, right? I’m sure everyone wants to see the prize now… so here it is.

Now, I just have to figure out which end plugs into the motherboard, the power, and the video cards. :D

OCC Folding@Home Contest – Coming Soon

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Hot off the heals of that awesome Christmas contest, OverclockersClub.com will soon be running another contest of similar awesomeness. This new contest however is aimed at those that run Folding@Home for the OverclockersClub.com Team. More specific details about the contest, including prize information, will be announced sometime in the next few weeks.

Do you have a PS3 or a computer running Windows, Mac, Linux, Unix, BSD, or some other operating system? Good news, you can run Folding@Home, and participate in this contest! :) There is more to it than just this contest though. You see, Folding@Home is a research program that is looking to find a cure for cancer and various other diseases. The program is designed so that when you aren’t busy using your computer (or PS3) it’ll run as a screen saver or background process. After it’s up and running, you’ll probably notice no difference with your system, unless of course you enable the screen saver option. ;)

To join the OCC Folding@Home Team, simply plug in 12772 when it ask you for a team number. If you have any questions, or need any help getting it running feel free to drop by the OverclockersClub.com forums, or leave me a message in the comments.

I’ll let everyone know when more details about this contest are available.