In October, when my Laptop turned 5, and started getting a little fritzy, I started thinking about what my next machine should be. I considered getting another laptop, perhaps a MacBook. I really wanted a machine that would not complain if I worked it too hard. Laptops are great for portability, but I don’t really do that much travelling, and when I do, I have my work laptop.

My option B was to buy a pre-built desktop. The retail market has brought the cost of buying a new machine tremendously (I love the Gateway Media Center PC I bought a few years ago), but there are a few things I don’t like about buying from the retail market.

Components cost $1K

1. You get a package deal, which often gives you things you don’t really want or need
2. You are most often tied to a specific Operating System
3. You have limited customization

So, I settled on option C, building my own box. This would satisfy my desire to customize the machine components to my liking, pick my own OS, and select only what I really want. I needed to do a bit of research to see what is the best stuff out there. I found some good articles on what and what not to do and got advice from some friends. At the end-of-the-day, this is what I settled on.

Microprocessor

First things first, I needed to pick a CPU. Intel has been the front-runner in developing chips, so I looked in to their line. Honestly, I didn’t really even know what was out there. I settled on the Intel Core i7 920 processor.

The i7 920 is a 64-bit architecture, so you can add a lot more memory. The clock runs at 2.66 GHz, and has 4 cores (and is able to run 8 threads). That’s like putting 8 processors on one chip. My laptop has 1 core and 1.6 GHz, so this was multiplying my processing power by 16 (Moore’s Law in action).

The processor also comes with a larger-than-life heat sink (the size of a CD spindle) and fan (which sits on top of the heat sink to keep it cool).

Motherboard

Once I decided on the processor, I by default had picked the Intel X58 Express Chipset that I would need to use. I decided to go with the ASUS P6T Motherboard, which supports the Intel LGA1366 Platform. It has plenty of ports (built in Ethernet and sound), and plenty of room to grow (6 memory slots).

Memory

The memory modules needed to be DDR3 and under 1.65V. I wasn’t sure how much memory to get, so I picked a number greater than my current 1GB. So, I made like a linebacker and picked 6. I picked Corsair XMS3.

Hard Drive(s)

I wanted to set up a redundant RAID drive set, so I picked a set of 1TB Seagate Barracuda drives. They have a 32MB cache and run at 7200RPM and the best part was they were under $100 a piece.

Graphics Card

This was a tough one, because there are so many NVidia cards out there from different brands, with different model numbers. It’s a mostly intangible market. The two figures that actually meant something to me were the price tag, and the amount of memory on the card. I lucked out and found a great associate when I went to pick up my order at MicroCenter. He directed me to an EVGA NVidia card that has 1GB of memory for $70. I about crapped my pants when I saw that. A good graphics card makes the world of difference.

Case, Power Supply, and Additional Fan

When I went to the store, I found the Antec Three Hundred ATX Case, and the Antec Basiq 500 Watt power supply. The case has two built in fans, and three spaces for additional fans. I picked up an additional fan for the front for $20.

DVD-RW Drive

The DVD drive I bought was a $20 Samsung OEM Super-WriteMaster Dual/Double Layer 22x DVD±RW Burner.

Keyboard

I picked up a $15 Microsoft Curve keyboard as well. This one is quite ergonomic. Strike one up for M$.

Dual 17″ Monitors & Mouse

I already owned two 17″ LCD Monitors and a Logitech V450 Nano, so I didn’t need to add any additional cost for that.

FInished in Four Hours

Operating System

After using Ubuntu Linux at work for the last year, it was not a difficult choice to make Ubuntu Linux 64bit my core Operating System (I also run a Virtual Box VM of Windows XP inside of Ubuntu).

The Total Package

My shopping trip to MicroCenter was well worth it. The sales associates were very helpful, and it was nice to have the piece of mind to touch and see your product and take it home immediately. The total cost for the trip was $1000.

Okay, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything.  The last month has been pretty darn busy.  The Wagaman Clan migrated from Orlando, FL to Lewis Center, OH (in the Columbus, OH area).  We bought a house and I have started as a full-time freelance web developer.  Currently I am working on a Ruby on Rails project full time until at least half-way through September.  I just started on another short term contract today as well.

Thus far things have been going pretty well in the freelance arena.  I’ve been used to working in the “enterprise” arena, so it’s a little change of pace, but I like it.  To maintain my work records I am over half-way through developing a TimeTracker application in Ruby on Rails.  It keeps records for my work sessions, contracts, invoices, customers, and more.  It’s really cool developing custom software that you can use as well.  It’s teaching me a lot about Agile Web Development.

Well, that’s about all for tonight.  Tune in again, sometime…

The April 2006 newsletter is now out. Come check out the sleepy little man and witness the launch of a website. We’ll put a new batch of photos up here in the next couple of days.

As you know, March was the 9th month of our pregnancy. Kelly kept getting bigger and we wondered if James would ever come. Kelly was induced at 12PM on the 3rd of April. During the UCLA-Florida game were some of the hardest hours of Kelly’s labor, but it was worth it because as of 11:45am on the 4th, we had our handsome little man, James.

We are so happy to debut our James on the wagaman web. Here’s our photo gallery from his birth. If you click on the thumbnail, you can view a larger version of the picture. When you’re done, hit the back button on your browser to view the next picture. Enjoy.

James Benjamin Wagaman came into this world on April 4, 2006 at 11:45am. He weighed 7 lbs and was 21 inches long. We brought him home from the hospital today. We are all getting used to having a new Wagaman in our house, but we love our little man. We will soon have some pictures up here, but until then enjoy this one picture and a video. We promise we’ll have pictures up here in the next day or so.

James first video

We’re still waiting for our little J-Moose. Kelly’s due date was on March 29th; if James doesn’t arrive by Monday at 11AM, she is going to be induced. We’ll put some pics up here of the little man as soon as we can.

Waiting for James to be born is so exciting and scary. We have no idea what he will look like. We don’t know anything about him, but he is so close to us. Oh, the joys and anxieties of pre-fatherhood.