AMD Phenom II system

I’m putting together a system with an AMD Phenom II X3 (3 cpu’s on the chip for you non-tech types). I’m using an ASUS motherboard in an Antec Sonata III case. Pretty nice.

I was frustrated to learn that the Phenom II has some issues running VMware due to some BIOS issues, or was that chipset issues? Anyway, it’s got issues as far as virtual machines go. Guess this will end up being a “single tasker” piece of equipment.

By the way, I LOVE Newegg.com. I got the equipment a short time ago and noticed a flaw / blemish on the Phenom II CPU that would not come off with recommended cleaning. For flawless heat transfer (_very_ important) I guess this is a show stopper. When I contacted Newegg the same day I got the part, they agreed to a return for replacement or RMA on the Phenom II CPU. The replacement just showed up today and I’m putting it through it’s paces on a ASUS M4A78T-E motherboard testing the disk drives etc.

Did I mention that I love Newegg for their RMA process? I could have been left holding the bag on a $125 part but Newegg stepped up and allowed the return. Of course I had to return all the packing material and parts in good condition but on the whole I am very pleased. Thanks Newegg.com!

Just started the burn in tonight and no worries so far. One note: The “live CD” for Fedora 11 X64 version wouldn’t boot on this system, but the “live CD” for a 32 bit Fedora 9 worked great. I’m not installing Linux on this box. Yet.

Starcraft is still playable

Even though the game is..ten years old, Starcraft is a good and challenging game. Playing some today. We won some and lost some. Because it’s so old, the game Starcraft uses 2D sprites which means even a weak or modest graphics card can run the game without significant penalty. There are a wealth of Starcraft Broodwar videos on utube, but if you’re not a gamer they don’t mean much.

We’re no where near good enough to win against the sharks who lurk on battlenet. Some time ago I remember having my head handed to me by a high schooler at an all night LAN party. Guess there is always someone better when it comes to computer gaming. ..we still have fun playing against the computer players though.

Local internet outages

Our internet connection is bouncing up and down a lot these days. At least three in the last week I’ve had to go in and reboot the cable modem and/or the firewall to get the connection back. It’s annoying that Charter Communications charges $58/month for pretty lousy service. I have confirmed with Charter and with our next door neighbor that Charter is doing work in the area. Still the outages are annoying.

Last year I attempted to get DSL from AT&T but they would not provision the line. They were happy to write the contract but in the end they were unable to get service to our subdivision.

I’m pretty unhappy with the higher prices post our 12 month “discount” and the poor service. I’m going to look at another internet provider by using DSLReports.com. One possibility is Wishcom in Spring Grove, IL. Hopefully they won’t have as many outages as Charter does. Bandwidth is pretty good however. Charter speed is 5072.0 Kbps down / 544.0 Kbps up, so when it works cable internet is way better than dialup.

You won’t find Wishcom in the DSLReports link above. Use this other search page to find the “Mom & Pop ISP’s” in your area. Fooled me too, but DSLReports wants their sponsored link featured as well. Can’t say enough good things about DSLReports. It’s an excellent (and moderated) source of advice and reviews about internet, VOIP and wireless providers and business.