Last Wednesday night I added several components to my computer at home. Here's the rundown:
NEC 22" Flat SuperBright CRT monitor: $549
It's big. It has a cool black case. It's really bright. It can display 1920 x 1440 at 75Hz. Need I say more?
BFG Asylum 128MB DDR2 GeForce FX 5700 Ultra 3D Video Card: $219
Before this I had a GeForce3 500Ti. I ran FutureMark's 3DMark 2003 on it before I uninstalled it and it scored 1017 3Dmarks. Then I ran it again after installing the new card. Shockingly, it only scored 552 3Dmarks. I knew something was wrong, so I rebooted. When windows started back up, my video card informed me that it wasn't receiving enough power, and had switched itself over to minimal operating capacity.
"Did you remember to connect the supplementary power supply to the video card?"
Oops. I had just assumed that this video card worked just the same as every other one I've installed. I opened the case, connected the power, and booted again. 3461 3Dmarks. All is right with the world.
Sony 8x DVD All-format Recorder: $150
Now I don't have to worry about losing my data, and I can finally transfer all those home videos of Sid over to DVD. It's nice to be able to record in all of the available formats, too.
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