More WoW and Power Rangers

My warrior has reached level 98 and all of my garrison buildings are upgraded to level 2 (Mine, Herb Garden, Fishing Shack, Barracks, Lumber Mill, Storehouse, Gem Boutique). All that remains is getting to level 100 so that I can upgrade my garrison to level 3. I have the resources and gold necessary to do so, it's just a matter of leveling. My wife has reached level 100 with her druid and has upgraded her garrison so she only needs to upgrade her buildings now. Of course, getting the level 3 blueprints isn't as easy as buying the level 2 blueprints...

I am currently questing in Spires of Arak. I could simply move on to Nagrand now that I am level 98 but I like to run the storyline quests and Spires has a lot of them. I think I've wrapped up 5 or 6 of the 9 storyline quests. I think the quest to get the blueprints for the Salvage Yard is in Spires as well so waiting to come across that.

I think Vol'jin's Pride in Talador is my favorite outpost so far. Nothing like having access to a cannon to rain hell on large groups of enemies. The Smuggler's Den in Axefall (Spires) has been underwhelming thus far, while the Lumber Yard at my Gorgrond outpost allows the summoning of a shredder that is a lot of fun.


The other day I found that the remaining episodes of Power Rangers Super Megaforce was on. Specifically I was looking for the finale, "Legendary Battle", which would feature the return of many past Rangers, including Tommy (who will never be rid of this franchise it seems). SPOILERS Unfortunately, there was little point in their presence, as they appeared briefly helping out civilians (unmorphed, of course) in the aftermath of an attack by the Big Bad (which apparently destroyed the Zords at the end of the previous episode). If you weren't sure who they were, the producers helpfully briefly overlaid a transparent helmet on each of them.

Tommy was a bit of a curveball, as he could have (theoretically) shown up as one of 4 of the 5 Rangers he's served as (the Red Turbo Ranger was obviously not possible, having turned that over to TJ partway through that season). He was teased as the White Ranger, making his initial appearance in a white T-shirt, and even carrying Saba. But when he appeared at the end he was morphed into the Green Ranger.

But it still seemed silly. The Big Bad and his armada were taken down by the Red and Sixth Megaforce Rangers. For some reason there was still an army of mooks left, and that's when the Legendary Rangers (as they've been called throughout the season) finally decided to show up.

See, this is the 20th anniversary of the show (well, technically that was last year, but due to some hiccups, I think this was the 20th season), so Saban had to do something big (the 10th anniversary featured the excellent "Forever Red", while the 15th was "Once A Ranger", the only bright spot in a terrible season). They decided to tease the Legendary Rangers by having the Red Ranger have a recurring dream of all previous Ranger teams showing up, and by giving the Megaforce Rangers access to the powers of Rangers from previous years. This meant that once morphed, they could transform into any previous Ranger.

But the actual Legendary Rangers felt wasted. Sure, it was an army of mooks, but Rangers mow these guys down by the hundreds before breakfast. While it was cool to see every previous Ranger team show up (in a bit of a quirk, some teams were appropriately missing the Rangers whose role Tommy had filled, as he can't be the Green Ranger, White Ranger, Red Zeo Ranger and Black Dino Thunder Ranger at the same time, but both the Turbo and Space Ranger teams were there, even though both teams were mostly composed of the same people and therefore it would have been impossible), only a handful of the original actors appeared. This was likely a money issue, as there are dozens of actors to call back and they would all need to be paid. But the ones that were there barely got any face time. It probably would have been best left as a 2 part episode to try to give each veteran Ranger something to do.

Here's the list of old-school Rangers who appeared (unmorphed or helmetless; the stunt workers in costume obviously don't count):

Jason David Frank as Tommy (Mighty Morphin' Green Ranger, though teased as White Ranger)
Selwyn Ward as T.J. Johnson (Power Rangers in Space Blue Ranger)
Patricia Ja Lee as Cassie Chan (Power Rangers In Space Pink Ranger)
Danny Slavin as Leo Corbett (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Red Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Reggie Rolle as Damon Henderson (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Green Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Melody Perkins as Karone (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger; on Earth for no apparent reason)
Sean Cw Johnson as Carter Greyson (Lightspeed Rescue Red Ranger)
Alison MacInnis as Dana Mitchell (Lightspeed Rescue Pink Ranger)
Jason Faunt as Wesley Collins (Time Force Red Ranger)
Hector David Jr as Mike (Power Rangers Samurai Green Ranger)
Brittany Pirtle as Emily (Power Rangers Samurai Yellow Ranger)
Chris Auer as Robo Knight (Megaforce Sixth Ranger from Season 1)

Steam sales and World of Warcraft

As I mentioned previously, I had $50 on my Steam account to put towards GTA V as soon as Steam lets me preorder it. Then a Steam sale hit last week. I thought for sure I was doomed.

Fortunately, the Official Wife decided that the kids' Christmas gift to me would be $60 for my Steam account. Hooray! I haven't added the money yet but I have time. Meanwhile, it was time to go shopping. Here's what I got:

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles Of Mystara This classic arcade beat 'em up is something I have been pining for, ever since the movie theater that had the game got rid of it (note to movie theaters: arcades are still awesome, get better games). I played it Thanksgiving night with JollyChaos, but he hated it. Guess beat 'em ups aren't his thing.

Scribblenauts Unlimited JollyChaos has Super Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS. I messed around with it a bit, it's a fun game. Then it was ruined when I watched TotalBiscuit's video on Scribblenauts Unlimited.

Democracy 3 Another TotalBiscuit video based purchase. Partly because one of the countries he is playing is The Imperium Of Man.

Hammerwatch This is a fun little hack-and-slash dungeon crawl. I haven't spent much time on it but it's a fun time waster. I'll be making a video on this soon I think.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Deluxe Edition Finally replaced Oblivion from my late Xbox 360 (another recent replacement was from EA offering Dragon Age: Origins for free on, well, Origin). Only better as it includes all of the DLC (or at least close to it), which is actually more than I had on my Xbox. Previously I had Knights Of The Nine, Fighter's Stronghold, Wizard's Tower, Vile Lair, and Thieves' Cave (I think that's what they're all called). This also adds the Shivering Isles expansion and more. It's also highly moddable on the PC.

Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition Yes, I have a thing for classic games. This gem I had purchased years ago (over Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II no less!), and some mixup led to its disappearance. So it's nice to finally replace it. It runs on the very old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition ruleset (which I am no longer familiar with; 3rd edition D&D came out in 2000 I think. For comparison, Neverwinter Nights is based on the 3rd Edition rules, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Dungeons & Dragons Online run 3.5 Edition, and Neverwinter is based on 4th Edition. 5th Edition has just been released). Good for fans of Dungeons & Dragons or loves deep RPGs.


On to WoW...

Leveling is slow, given my somewhat limited playing time. I am up to level 95 and I also upgraded my rings to ilevel 540 pieces, and made an epic ilevel 650 necklace, made possible by my Warrior being a Jewelcrafter (I made rings for my wife's druid as well). I mainly want to upgrade my garrison to level 3 but that can't happen until I get to level 100.  I may also not be able to stick with my guild as their raid schedule seems to be Sunday nights and weeknights which is right before I go to work.

Happy Thanksgiving! and other thoughts

Happy Thanksgiving, one and all, from the Dakka household!

I have been progressing somewhat in World of Warcraft. My Warrior (Dakkasmash on Duskwood if anyone cares to know) is up to level 93. My garrison now features a level 2 Mine which is certainly reaping benefits for a Jewelcrafter. Piles and piles of ore. What's better is my wife has her mine up and running and is sending me the ore that she gathers :D

What I really need is to upgrade my Gem Boutique so that I can assign Olin Umberhide and get even more production. Olin is the first Follower you can recruit after building your garrison. He is a Protection Warrior who has the Jewelcrafting profession, so he can be assigned to the Gem Boutique to increase production. He could serve as a bodyguard I think but as Dakkasmash is a Warrior that would be a little silly.

Apparently in order to upgrade my garrison buildings to level 2 (with the exception of the Mine) is to either set up an outpost in a particular zone (I want to say Talador) or reach level 96. So we shall see how soon it happens.

The trailer for Jurassic World has been released. Can't say I'm excited, since the last Jurassic Park film was pretty bad. Apparently they finally get the dinosaur theme park up and running, but forgot that it's still a bad idea to breed predators.

Side note: IGN posted an article this morning asking if Jurassic World really needs a genetically modified dinosaur. ALL of Jurrassic Park's dinosaurs were genetically modified: it was stated in the book and movie that amphibian DNA was used to fill the gaps in the sequence. This is what allowed the dinosaurs to change sex and breed uncontrollably (all dinosaurs were bred female, but some amphibians are known to spontaneously change sex and the inGen scientists didn't do their research), and I seem to remember that being at least part of the reason the T. rex could not see you if you weren't moving (might have been in the book; some frogs' eyesight is predicated on movement if I remember correctly). So someone needs to go watch the movies again.

Also the trailer for Star Wars Episode VII drops this weekend. Select theaters will be playing it but it should also be available online. This is contributing to my dilemma of having to push to see multiple films in theaters next year, as The Avengers: Age Of Ultron arrives in May followed by Star Wars in December (which is just wrong but I wouldn't want my movie up against the Avengers either). I do have mixed feelings though, given the debacle that was ALL THE PREQUELS. But it's Star Wars so I still feel obligated to go.

Some random stuff

So while I'm working on a couple of videos...

I haven't updated on Pokemon X in some time. I actually hadn't played in a while, but due to some sleeplessness last week I made some progress. I am now up to 6 badges, and finally, all those Pokemon (including my favorite, Blastoise!) will now behave for me (the badges cover me for Pokemon up to level 80). I can also Mega Evolve my Pokemon, which came after the 3rd or 4th badge. The gym leader has the item needed to accomplish this (it combines with a Pokemon held item, such as Blastoisinite) and even gives you a Lucario. Well, technically the Lucario decides to travel with you and she agrees, but whatever. I can Mega Evolve 4 Pokemon: Lucario, Blastoise, Charizard (to Mega Charizard X) and Gengar (the other Pokemon came with their element but I came across a Gengarite later). My team currently consists of Golett (Ghost/Ground), Charizard (Fire/Flying, or Fire/Dragon when Mega Evolved), Lapras (Water/Ice), Lucario (Fighting/Steel), Delphox (Fire/Psychic) and Tyrantrum (Rock/Dragon). I will probably shift things around; now that Charizard can Mega Evolve into a Dragon type I don't really need Tyrantrum. Also it's redundant to have 2 Fire types so I will likely drop Delphox at some point, as well as Lapras (I need to fit Blastoise somehow!). I will probably add Amaura to the team (replacing the loss of Lapras' Ice type and Tyrantrum's Rock type; will need to level up to evolve to Auroros though). I don't currently have a replacement Psychic type but if I can fit on a Dark type that might be OK too.

World Of Warcraft: Warlords Of Draenor dropped last week. I haven't played a significant amount, but my wife and I have played through the intro and have started our garrisons. That seems like a cool feature; you seem to finally be getting some acknowledgement for everything you've done in service to the Horde or Alliance and you are getting your own base of operations. We'll see how far along I get with it.

I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but I have a problem: I want to get GTA V for PC, which doesn't release until January. Fine. Here's the issue: The money that has been allocated might be staring down a Steam Holiday Sale before the pre-order becomes available. Which would really mess up my plans. See, there's a few games I've been pining for recently as well, most notably Chronicles Of Mystara (the old Dungeons & Dragons arcade beat 'em up) and Scribblenauts Unlimited. There's also Shovel Knight, The Stanley Parable, Democracy 3, DuckTales Remastered (the remake of the old NES game), Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon (an homage to '80s action films and Saturday morning cartoons) so, yeah. A Steam sale would probably drain my funds. We'll see how it goes.

My PC's: A history of Dakka's time playing PC games

I guess you could call it that. Here's all the PC's I've had over the years (including family PC's that weren't technically mine). I'll try to recall the details as best I can. Also something of an age test, proof that I am over 30 years of age :)

IBM Intel 286-pased PC (x2)

These were the first sort-of family computers we had (I supposed technically it was the TI-99/4A but that was more of a game console). They were actually issued by my dad's employer and he used them for work, but he had a few games on them. Initially Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud (and Leisure Suit Larry, but I wasn't allowed to play for reasons you can probably figure out) which I was terrible at. The first one had an amber screen monitor with a (built into the monitor!) 5.25" floppy drive (remember floppy disks? Hell, remember 5.25" floppies?) while the second one had a 3.5" floppy drive and color monitor. They didn't even run Windows. They ran MS-DOS (Remember DOS? The last remnants of DOS can be found in modern Windows as the Command Prompt), and an early one at that (no later than v3.3). The second one got a couple more games added to it. There was a Space Invaders-esque shooter called Galactix, which basically had to be reinstalled every time I ran it, and Eye Of The Beholder 2: The Legend Of Darkmoon (based on Dungeons & Dragons), which after a time just quit. So not a great gaming experience, but you have to start somewhere. I'm not sure what happened to the first one, but my dad gave the second one to someone else in the family who upgraded it to DOS 6.22 and even installed Windows 3.1 (which ran very poorly).

Packard Bell Intel 486-based PC

This was the first family computer (in the days before everyone got their own) my mother bought after my parents divorced. I believe it was my freshman year of high school (so 1994) and that was part of the reason she got it, that it would be a helpful tool for school. This was the family computer through my high school years.It ran an Intel 486 DX2 running at 66 MHz (Yes, MHz, there was a time before GHz speed multi-core processors) with 4 MB of RAM (yep, we didn't have GB of RAM at the time), later upgraded to 8 MB, a 420 MB hard drive (no GB hard drives either? Damn! Wait, those are in TB now...), a 2x CD-ROM drive, and a 14.4 kbps modem (You see, kids, back before broadband internets, we had to use a device called a modem, which dialed a phone number through your land line to the service provider... wait, you don't know what a land line is either? Ah, forget it...). This was still before discrete GPU's were a thing. I think it had a Cirrus Logic video chip. It ran MS-DOS 6.20 and Windows For Workgroups 3.11. While it came with a few games, the most notable of which was one called Mega Race, this is the system where I got started PC gaming and began to morph into the computer geek standing before you typing this blog today. The first PC games I ever purchased were Falcon 3.0 (which led to getting the full Falcon Gold package that Christmas) and the shareware for a little game you might have heard of called DOOM (remember shareware? OK, kids, back then we didn't really have Internet and free downloadable demos and such. Shareware was basically getting a demo for a small fee. DOOM shareware, which contained the first of 3 4 episodes, cost $5). I added more games down the line, to my mother's dismay. Warcraft II, TIE Fighter, and Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries, plus the demo of Duke Nukem 3D (included on the disc with the very first issue of boot magazine, the precursor to the excellent MaximumPC). Unfortunately it was tough getting to play on a computer that had to be shared with everyone else, plus it aged pretty quickly. I had a few games that I bought that I pretty much never played due to aging hardware (Betrayal In Antara and Blood come to mind. I think I left those with a friend).

Side note: I remember spending around $70 on a shiny new 33.6 kbps modem towards the end of this computer's usefulness. We were using AOL and I figured this would help out, you know, faster speeds and all. First, Packard Bell apparently used motherboards with insanely tight expansion slots (this was the old ISA architecture, for the record). Even tapping it with a hammer didn't help. Second, once we finally got the damn thing in, I was never able to get it to work. These were the days before Plug and Play (well, technically Plug and Play existed, but it was in its infancy so it wasn't too reliable), so you often had to manually deal with I/O conflicts. It had a conflict with the old modem, unsurprisingly, but I couldn't just go and rip it out as it was also the sound card. So money wasted. thanks, Packard Bell.

Gateway Intel Pentium-based PC

My dad got this in 1996. It ran a Pentium processor clocking in at 166 MHz (insanely fast at the time), with 16 MB of EDO RAM, a 2 GB hard drive (if memory serves anyway), a 4 MB Matrox Millenium GPU (THIS IS A THING NOW!), a 28.8 kbps modem, and either a 4x or 8x CD-ROM drive. It ran Windows 95, the last Windows OS where DOS mattered (it was still hanging around in Windows 98 but it was barely relevant).

My time on this computer was limited. While an intelligent person, my work ethic in school, well, sucked. So I was often heavily restricted on video game time outside of summer. Still, I managed to get some games on there. Mechwarrior 2 (with the Ghost Bear's Legacy expansion), Quake, and Police Quest 4 come to mind. My dad had Fury3, Eurofighter 2000 and Myst (I hate Myst). I think I had worked my way up to Star Colonel in MW2 (yes, that stood for Mechwarrior 2 years before Modern Warfare 2 came out. Deal with it). Anyway, my first online gaming experience came on this PC, in the form of Multiplayer BattleTech:Solaris.

eMachines AMD Athlon-based PC

My mom got this after I graduated high school. It rocked an AMD K6-2 at 300 MHz (later upgraded to the 350 MHz version), 32 MB of SDRAM (later upgraded to 96 MB and then 128 MB), a 2 MB ATi 3D Rage  GPU (later upgraded to a 16 MB 3dfx Voodoo 3), a 2 GB hard drive (later had a 20 GB drive added in), a 24X CD-ROM drive, and a 56k modem. It ran Windows 98. I don't think I had too many games on here, mainly Baldur's Gate, but after my brother got it he used it as a gaming system. Quake II and Quake III were featured. I believe he had the original Thief as well.

Compaq Pentium-based Laptop PC

Bought this cheap off ebay. Pentium 133 MHz, 16 MB RAM, 1 GB hard drive. Swappable floppy drive and 4x CD-ROM. Mostly played old DOS games on it. Sound didn't always work.

Compaq Intel Pentium II-based Laptop PC

My mother bought this sometime after the emachines. I'm having a hard time remembering the specs, which is sad since I used to have it, but I think it was a Pentium II at 333 MHz, 156 MB of SDRAM (which is a weird number, I know, but for some reason that's what happened), a 10 or 20 GB hard drive, CD-ROM, and a 56k modem. I messed around with it a bit but mostly stayed away from gaming. Probably explains why I can't remember the specs/

IBM Pentium II-based PC

My then-girlfriend's father had this while we were living with him. Pentium II 400 MHz (I think), 64 MB of SDRAM, 2 MB ATi 3D Rage II (later added in a 4 MB 3dfx Voodoo as a strict 3D card. Yes, that's how it was done then). I forget how big the hard drive was, and how fast the CD-ROM drive was, plus a 56k modem. I added an external CD burner as well. It ran Windows 98.

Starcraft, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, and X-Wing Alliance, especially notable as this is when I began online multiplayer for real (joining The Rebel Alliance, originally as DashRendar01, then changing my name to Solid_Snake). I also had MechCommander, Diablo and a few other games.

HP Pavilion Intel Pentium 4-based PC

Aha! Now I remember the model! This was truly my first computer, as I bought it myself. I even remember the date: September 11, 2001. I think the towers had just fallen. Anyway, this was something of a mistake, as, possibly being distracted by the days events, I walked into CompUSA and bought more or less the first package we came across. It had a Pentium 4 running 1.3 GHz, 128 MB of PC600 RDRAM (Remember RDRAM?), later upgraded to 256 MB, a 32 MB nVidia TNT2 (later upgraded to a 32 MB GeForce 2 MX400, then a 64 MB GeForce 2 MX400. I'll explain in a bit), a 40 GB hard drive, a 48x CD burner and 16x DVD-ROM (remember when mulitple optical drives were a thing? Hell, they aren't necessarily even standard anymore), and a 56k modem. It ran Windows Millenium, later upgraded to Windows XP. It also included a 17" monitor, printer, keyboard (which I actually still have) and mouse.

This computer did give me some problems. The original had a sticky power button, and one day it stuck completely. I had just upgraded to 256 MB of RAM and to the 32 MB GeForce 2. My girlfriend asked why I replaced a 32 MB graphics card with a 32 MB graphics card and had to explain that not all GPU's are created equal. Anyway, so I had a replacement plan with CompUSA. I brought it in and had a replacement within a week. Unfortunately, it was back to stock. So I trudged on with the replacement as-is until the hard drive failed. The next replacement got the upgrades, albeit with a 64 MB GeForce 2.

It was also briefly used as a Freelancer server.

Dell Dimension 4600 Pentium 4-based PC

Not only the model, but the number too! My soon-to-be-wife helped me get this shortly before our first anniversary. Pentium 4 3.0 GHz with Hyper-Threading, 1 GB of PC2700 SDRAM (later upgraded to 2 GB), 80 GB hard drive (later adding a 40 GB hard drive as well), 128 MB nVidia GeForce FX 5200 (later upgraded to a 256 MB GeForce 6600), a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card, 19" CRT monitor (it was 19" CRT, 17" CRT or 15" LCD. Which would you have chosen?), keyboard (which I still have) and mouse (I do tend to go through mice). Also a 48x CD burner and 16x DVD-ROM. Ran Windows XP. Notable as the last computer I purchased with a floppy drive and modem. At the time I couldn't quite bring myself to give them up, and they were cheap options. Of course, I ended up never using them. The floppy drive was eventually removed as I needed its power adapter for the second hard drive. I eventually bought a 1 TB external hard drive as well.

HP Pavilion Pentium 3-based PC

Got this when my mom no longer needed it. Pretty much the same as my other HP, but with a 933 MHz Pentium 3 and PC100 SDRAM. I added in a GeForce MX-4000 card as well. Ran Windows Millenium but upgraded to Windows XP.The only PC I've killed in a fit of rage (it was pissing me off and I slammed my fist onto it. Did you know hard drives are sensitive to shock? I do).

Dell XPS M170 Pentium-M based Laptop PC

I helped a friend of mine purchase this as his first new computer in several years. It has a Pentium-M 2.2 GHz processor, 2 GB of SDRAM, a 256 MB nVidia GeForce GTX 7800M GPU, a 120 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, 16x DVD burner, and a 17" 1920x1200 screen. Runs Windows XP Professional. This computer eventually became my wife's when my friend opted to buy an Alienware laptop several months later (never got my hands on that one though). It was pretty solid for a while, though one of the weakness of laptops (limited ability to upgrade) eventually caught up to it. Had a couple of issues that Dell covered under warranty (not impressed with their customer service btw) when first, one of the fans went out and it would overheat (took 2 weeks of telling this to Dell before they finally said the fan and heatsink needed to be replaced. Duh.) and after that the GPU failed (Dell was much more agreeable this time). We still have it although it doesn't see much use anymore (I may start using it here and there as it's the only Windows XP system we have now).

Gateway DX4300 AMD Phenom II-based PC

This is a computer my friend got as a backup when his other computer was down for repairs. He gave it to me when I built him a new system. It has an AMD Phenom II x4 running at 2.66 GHz (it's a quad core, my first multicore system) with 8 GB DDR2 SDRAM, a 1 TB 5400 rpm hard drive, an ATi Radeon HD 3200 (upgraded to an 896 MB nVidia GeForce GTX 260) and a 16x DVD burner. It runs Windows 7. This eventually became my oldest son's computer while he was living with us and is now sort of my youngest so's computer (he uses it to watch WALL-E every night) and is the guest gaming computer.

Gateway LX Series Intel Core 2 Quad-based PC

This was my friend's computer after he got rid of his Alienware. It briefly became my wife's computer to replace the aging laptop. It has a Core 2 Quad 2.66 GHz, 8 GB DDR2 SDRAM, a 650 GB hard drive and a nVidia GeForce GT 120. It ran Windows Vista. It started having an issue with randomly rebooting so it's been cannibalized.

Omega Game Tech Ed Mk.I Intel Core i5-based PC

First system I ever built. My friend decided he was all set with off-the-shelf desktops and wanted a custom built system. So we took to Newegg. It has an Intel Core i5-750 2.66 GHz with 8 GB DDR3 1600 SDRAM, 1.5 TB Western Digital Caviar Black 7200 RPM hard drive, 1280 MB GeForce GTX 470 graphics card, all on top of a Biostar motherboard, powered by a Cooler Master 600W power supply, with a DVD burner, all wrapped up in a Lian Li aluminum mid-tower case (with side window and blue LED front fan). Runs Windows 7 Home Premium. I eventually added in a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ CPU cooler with 2 fans and overclocked the CPU to 3.3 GHz, although it apparently didn't stick (I blame the crummy motherboard. Lesson learned). This was my PC for a time when my friend decided he wanted a laptop as his backup computer, and is my wife's current system.

Omega Game Tech Ed Mk.II Intel Core i7-based PC

Second system I ever built; based on a Maximum PC design. My friend wanted an upgrade, so to Newegg we went. Ordered an Intel Core i7-2600 (sadly not the 2600K which allows overclocking) with 8 GB of DDR3 1600 SDRAM, a 2 TB Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, a 120 GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD, a 1280 MB nVidia GeForce GTX 570, all on top of an Asus motherboard, powered by a Corsair 750W 80-plus Gold certified power supply, all wrapped up in a Cooler Master HAF 922 mid-tower case with a Blu-Ray/DVD burner combo drive. Ran Windows 7 Professional. Eventually became my PC (which I am still using) when my friend decided he wanted another laptop instead. Not the same computer when it started; the stock CPU cooler crapped out and was replaced by a Rocketfish cooler (best I could do on short notice), the SSD died within a few months (never replaced, since it was a nice performance boost but was not mission critical), the hard disk failed (replaced by a 1 TB Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM hard drive; not a big deal since I still have the external drive), and it runs Windows 7 Ultimate (which I had purchased for a PC that was ultimately never built).

Extra Life update and Power Rangers follow-up

Damn, didn't realize how long it's been.

Anyways, mysterysquick and I had our Extra Life live stream last weekend. Great fun, and this far raised $430 combined for Hasbro Children's Hospital! So thanks to everyone who donated and/or watched, we really appreciate it. I am currently working on a highlights reel to put on my YouTube channel.

I promised a follow up to my Power Rangers blog, so here are my favorite team up episodes:

Honorable Mention:"Shell Shocked" (Power Rangers In Space)

Doesn't really count since the Space Rangers aren't teaming up with another Power Rangers team. Instead, in a bid to remain relevant, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the rather sad live action ones from the Ninja Turtles series) appear first as mind-controlled villains, then helping the heroes. It actually ended up being surprisingly entertaining

5. "To The Tenth power/The Power Of Pink" (Power Rangers Lost Galaxy)

This two-parter teams up the Space Rangers with the Galaxy Rangers and kicked off the (usually) annual tradition of teaming up This Year's Rangers with Last Year's Rangers. As you might have guessed, the Pink Rangers feature rather prominently, and (SPOILER) culminates in the death of Kendrix Morgan, the Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger (first Ranger to die in the line of duty; handled bloodlessly to keep it kid friendly).

4. "Reinforcements From The Future" (Power Rangers Wild Force)

This one (might also have been a two-part episode but I haven't seen it in a while) brings the Time Force Rangers in to help the Wild Force Rangers counter a new threat: Mutant-Orgg hybrids. It also teams them up with Bennett Ransik, the villain from Commando Time Force, who is now a good guy it appears.  After the action dies down we are treated to a nice little get-together among the new friends.

3. "Thunder Storm" (Power Rangers Dino Thunder)

The Dino Thunder Rangers team up with the Ninja Storm Rangers. But first, Mesagog and Lothor team up and mind-control the Ninja Storm Rangers (at least the Wind Ninja Rangers), giving us some awesome Ranger vs Ranger action. It also featured one of (in my opinion) one of the most epic morphing sequences outside of an anniversary show. Plus we get to see villain vs villain!

2. "Once A Ranger" (Power Rangers Operation Overdrive 15th Anniversary Special)

This one was overshadowed by the fact that it took place during what was arguably the worst Power Rangers series ever. Rita and Zedd's (i.e. the villains from Mighty Morphin') son Thrax (no idea when this happened) is back for revenge and manages to de-power the Overdrive Rangers. Sentinel Knight brings in a team of veteran Rangers (Ninja Storm Blue Ranger Tori, Dino Thunder Yellow Ranger Kira, Mystic Force Green Ranger Xander, SPD Green-but-promoted-to-Red Ranger Bridge, and most awesomely, Mighty Morphin' Black Ranger 2, Adam). In addition, Alpha 6 makes a return to bring the Morphing Grid back online and restore the Overdrive Rangers. This is also probably my all-time favorite morphing sequence, with each classic Ranger getting their moment.

1. "Forever Red" (Power Rangers Wild Force 10th Anniversary Special)

The remnants pf the Machine Empire from Power Rangers Zeo (in this case, they are old Big Bad Beetle Borg costumes) return to resurrect Lord Zedd's Zord Serpentera. Word of this reaches Tommy (who is somehow retaining his Zeo powers) and calls in the Red Rangers (and a Sixth Ranger who happens to wear red) to take them down. This was originally supposed to be a two-part episode; the second part was to feature each Ranger call in their Zords. this was nixed due to money concerns, as the Zords were no longer featured in the toy line and would have been expensive to produce. However, what we got was still awesome, featuring:

Jason (Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger) Yep, Jason is back and he kicks ass!
Tommy (Zeo Red) As opposed to Mighty Morphin Green. Or Mighty Morphin' White. Prior to Dino Thunder Black.
TJ (Turbo Red) Another former Tommy role.
Andros (Space Red) Also advance scout
Leo (Galaxy Red) Late to the party
Carter (Lightspeed Red) Sent to retrieve Cole
Wes (Time Force Red) Got a job at his dad's company
Eric (Time Force Quantum Ranger) Got to ride along because he happens to also wear red
Aurico (Alien Red) Space Ninja Ranger hitched a ride with Leo
Cole (Wild Force) The hero of the story for the most part. Gets showed up by Jason early on.

Omega Game Tech rides again!

So since you're probably confused by that title, Omega Game Tech is what a friend and I came up with as a name for a PC repair business with an emphasis on gaming computers. I had my sister design some logos, and we built a couple of systems, and that's as far as it went.

My friend built his system and assisted with building another for a mutual friend (and is actually the PC I am using right now). I built a prior system for that friend (which my wife is currently using. This guy likes new computers.) as well as a system for another friend (a very budget build) and that was it. Until this week.

My sister-in-law wanted to get a budget gaming PC for her son's birthday (he turns 13 tomorrow if memory serves). She asked her oldest son (he's almost 24 and a bit of a geek himself) about it who directed her toward me. So after getting the budget and realizing I had to work in a monitor, I came up with this.

So not a lot of legwork for me, simply picking a MaximumPC bundle on Newegg. But it came with nice discounts and allowed me to work within the budget. For those who don't want to look, here's the parts list:

• Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite White (aka Imperial Stormtrooper)
• CPU: AMD FX-6300 Vishera 6-core APU Black Edition 3.5 GHz
• GPU: Sapphire DUAL-X AMD Radeon R7 265 2GB
• Motherboard: Biostar TA970 AM3+ ATX motherboard
• PSU: Corsair CX-500 500-watt power supply
• RAM: Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR3-1600 8GB
• SSD: Crucial MX100 256GB
• HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM
• Optical Drive: Samsung 24x DVD burner
• CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
• Monitor (not pictured): Samsung 22" 1080p LED monitor
• OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit

I'm mostly happy with the parts. The motherboard is not one that I am crazy about. I used a Biostar on the first computer I built. It's been solid but is sorely lacking in some areas (like overclocking). But again, discounted. Fits in the budget. Also I prefer Intel CPUs and nVidia GPUs but this is a budget build so you take what you can afford, and getting a 6-core proc for that money is not entirely a bad thing.

So I got started. Prep the case:

Start by installing the motherboard standoffs. It doesn't bolt down directly to the case; it rides on these little guys. This case came with a tool to help screw them in tight; if your case lacks such a tool, get some needlenose pliers.

Then I prepped the mobo.

It's easier to install the CPU and RAM right now while the board is on a flat surface rather than standing on the case.

This is the most nerve-wracking part of building a PC for me as CPUs are pretty sensitive and often the most expensive part (though not necessarily in a gaming computer, especially a budget build. That's reserved for the GPU).

RAM is easy, just unlock the clips and snap them into place. Now, CPUs typically come with a heatsink and fan as well.

I have to say, AMD's stock heatsink is beefier than Intel's, as is the fan. That said, we also have the Hyper 212 EVO, which is the best bang-for-the-buck heatsink on the market right now. So there's only one thing to do with the stock cooler.

Into the trash (in this case the diaper pail).

I then snapped the rear I/O shield onto the case.

I was suprised as a lot of cases come with one, which then has to be discarded so that it can be replaced with the one that comes with the motherboard. Thanks for saving me a step NZXT!

Then I bolted in the motherboard.

The mobo actually has a bracket already installed to accomodate the stock AMD cooler (Intel coolers use plastic pushpins that snap into the motherboard; bravo AMD for having a sturdier cooler as well). This had to go to make room for the Hyper 212.

You can see once that was gone I installed the backplate. Then I installed the graphics card.

I am pleased to see that it came with a dual fan cooler. I have used EVGA boards in the past (I mentioned my loyalty to nVidia right?) but I will likely look for a GeForce card with a better cooler next time.

I popped in the DVD burner next.

Just pop off the faceplate on the case, slide it in and bolt it down (it's somewhat toolless as the brackets lock it into place as well). I then started getting a bit lazy with the camera. I installed the HDD and PSU.

I skipped the SSD for the time being as it turns out Crucial doesn't include a drive bay adapter (my OCZ did, but it also crapped out within 6 months...) Now it was time for the Hyper 212. Start with the thermal paste (I use Arctic Silver 5).

Just a little BB-sized dab. Now for the beast.

That's no moon....

It comes with a 120mm fan (set to push out the back, venting the hot air; you could also reverse the rear case fan and set the Hyper 212 fan to push cold air onto the heat sink if you wish). A second fan is pretty cheap and works insanely well for what amounts to a $50 cooler (push-pull is very nice; I use it on my wife's computer with the old Hyper 212+).

Once I got a drive bay converter I installed the SSD. I had to move the hard drive as the power cables needed more space to work. I connected the SATA cables, all power cables, all the headers I could (there's sadly a USB 3.0 port on the front of the case that went unused as there was no motherboard connection; perhaps there's an adapter I can get to connect it to USB 2.0 but that kind of defeats the purpose...). Unfortunately i didn't have time to pretty up the cables so it looks like a serpent's nest. If we ever install front fans (there's room for 4 more fans on the case) I will have to try rerouting some underneath the motherboard tray and tie up the rest.

Booted up with no issues and started to install Winblows Windows!

The Omega Game Tech TK-421 (ok, even I thought that was kind of lame...)

A couple of notes:

I did not connect the hard drive SATA cable right away. I read a while back that Windows Vista would get a little wonky if it saw two drives and would install the OS on one drive and the system volume on the other. This means if one drive was removed (say, installing a larger capacity HDD) it rendered the system unusable and required Windows to be reinstalled. It may have been fixed but I still take the precaution (it takes no time to connect the cable afterwards).

The Hyper 212 EVO ended up a little tall for this case. Everything seemed to fit flush as far as I can tell so perhaps the case is not as deep as reported. Others have reported this problem while still others find it fit just fine. So keep that in mine; you ideally want a pretty deep case for a skyscraper-style heat ink (and you want this heatsink). My PC uses a Cooler Master HAF 922, and I highly recommend it as it is huge and will more than easily accept it. I went with the NZXT Totally-Not-A-Stormtrooper as it was part of a discounted package. I recommend Corsair cases if you have the money and Cooler Master cases if you don't.