Aside from ACS I’ve been working franticly to get StickyThemes up and running. After a tough week it’s finally there! The design was done a while ago, it was always a case of getting around to coding the design and integrating a shopping cart. Go ahead and check it out. My plans is to release any WordPress or templates that I create, either for free or a small fee. StickyThemes will also review blogs and recommend them to visitors – this is a free service that we will be offering.

(more…)

Between the time of buying these parts and completing this build log, times have changed and I’m sure people will question the title ‘Performance PC’ with only a DX9 card featuring in the build. At the time of purchase, DX10 was underperforming, was grossly overpriced and the problems that came with the backward compatibility were not worth the risk. That is why I decided to opt with a high performing DX9 card which was proven to be a good all round performer and great ‘bang for buck’. The Radeon X1950 Pro is a great card, and as I own an Xbox 360 for pretty much all of my gaming needs, I needed a card with dual outputs, a large amount of memory for rendering and large screens, and HDCP - which could still perform well in games if the need arises.

The card provided by Sapphire, came with everything you could possibly need (even DVI-VGA adapters). It’s a good looking unit, and is double sized, so it does take up a considerable amount of space in the case. The installation is straightforward and hassle free too!

(more…)

Finally, the AjaxControlToolkit is a wonderful download which provides many controls that you can simply add into your applications, so I decided to install these too. Unfortunately this isn’t an automated installer, however it is very straightforward (usually) unzipping the files and then adding the .dll to the Toolbox and Voila, we have our controls ready to use. Although this wasn’t the case, when I tried to add the .dll to the Toolbox the controls wouldn’t show up, despite being ’succesfully added’. After selecting “View All” it appeared that although they had been added, they were grayed out! So why was this? As anyone would do in this situation, I headed over to Google and found some possible fixes. This led to me deleting all of the .tbd files relating to the Toolbox, thus rebuilding it within Visual Studio 2008, which was to no avail.

(more…)

Firstly - the new project, dubbed ACS. I cannot disclose too many details for obvious reasons at this stage; however I will say that it is in light of the ‘green’ age that we’re experiencing at the moment. It’s a web site which I think allot of people my age will use to generate a bit of cash from unused gadgets. The project itself is the full package - logo design, site aesthetics and dynamic scripts, login facilities, checkouts and administrator backend. Luckily, the client has given me scope to select the technology and design as I see fit. (At the moment I’m leaning towards ASP.NET as I need an excuse to try out my new Visual Studio 2008 install!). At the time of writing, the logo is complete as well as the site design - I have attached a teaser image to this post, more will follow as the launch gets closer!

(more…)

Installing the Processor

The processor selected for the build is a Q6600 SLACR (G0 Stepping) Quad-Core Processor from Intel. This will give good performance all round and will eventually be running at 3.0 Ghz + with a slight overclock. In order to install the processor onto the motherboard, the pins are simply lined up and dropped into place, it is important that no force is applied at this point. With the processor in place, the latch is placed down and locked into place.

(more…)

Preparing the Case:

I mentioned the choice of case being the Lian Li PC-7 in black. From these pictures you can see that it’s a quality made case finished in black brushed aluminium. From the pictures you can see the case comes with all of the screws that you need. Our first step is to examine the case, make sure that all the fans are in order and not broken in transit. Once I had checked for any damage I was ready to fit an additional 80mm fan. This will sit in the top of the case and exhaust warm air of the top in the form of a chimney. For the job I have found a Zalman silent fan which should shift a good amount of air. In total this means we now have a case with two 120mm shifting the air through the case as well as an exhaust fan to blow air out of the top.

Pictures after the jump.

(more…)

Microsoft did informed me on the phone that the average turnaround on a defective console stood at 25 days which was quite a hard pill to swallow as I had only just picked up Lost Planet as my latest game purchase. However, I was shocked to find out that my replacement console arrived just two weeks later (Pictures after the break). The replacement service I experienced was very swift and I was more than happy with what I received back from Microsoft.

Along with the console, I also received a questionnaire to comment on the service, a 1 month free Xbox Live Gold card and an info sheet reminding me to re-sync my wireless controllers. I wasted no time in firing up the Xbox 360 and giving it a spin; it worked flawlessly and seemed somewhat quieter than my previous box I purchased almost a year ago. I think this was down to the lottery I played when Microsoft was using two different disc drives in their console.

The 1 Month Xbox Live card was a nice touch but as a Live subscriber anyway it only equates as an extra two weeks free, however if you had a RROD and you didn’t subscribe to Live you would no doubt be more appreciative of the gesture from Microsoft - who knows you might get hooked on Xbox live during this month and shell out for a whole 12 month subscription!

(more…)

I will be documenting the build on here in parts, with pictures and any problems that I encounter. Hopefully some people may find it useful if they are looking at building their very own computer, or are just interested in some real-life pictures of some hardware!

What are the System Requirements?
I am seeking high end desktop performance, a PC that can handle masses of intensive applications without any problem. I will require Windows Vista Home Premium, as well as XP Professional so a dual boot system is required, with lots of storage for backing up work.

I’d like a future proof system so I won’t need to upgrade for a fair while. High end graphics are not a priority but I’d like a good performing DX9 card as I think I will move to DX10 when it starts performing better than DX9! I will need all peripherals (Mouse, Keyboard, and Monitor) with an important factor being ergonomic design as this will become my main work station.

(more…)

So there I was; happily playing away on Lost Planet when my beloved console froze. It wouldn’t respond to any operations - not even the guide button, forcing me to hit the power button on and off. I thought nothing of it and proceeded to load up my saved game and continue playing Mission 3 of Lost Planet. (The game is great by the way, lots of action packed battles!). The game froze again, and again, and again. I touched the console as there has been much talk about overheating Xbox’s on the internet - to my surprise the console was only slightly warm. I had all of my windows open so the air circulation was fairly good. I proceeded to turn the console on again after five or so crashes, and that’s when I saw it – the 3 red lights on the Xbox’s usually green ring.

I’ve had my console since November of 2006 where it was purchased for the pretty penny of £280 (the premium model), and apart from its noisy disc drive at times I’ve been delighted with it. Great games, amazing online play and Xbox Live have completely swayed me from my once loyal following of Sony’s PlayStation offering.

(more…)

So what can you expect to see at CarlMason.net?
That is a difficult question. I would generally expect posts with a technology inspired background - I am a Web Developer by trade so I will be talking about my latest projects and developments as well as recommending any upcoming websites that i come across in the vast open space that we call the Internet. As an avid purchaser of gadgetry and hardware I will most likely provide my 2 cents about any latest acquisitions along with pictures that may aid people who are interested in purchasing the items themselves.

(more…)