Is your PC like your hotrod?

[dmw16]

My girlfriend just doesnt get why I like to make my computer faster with new parts and by tweaking. So I tried to explain to her that it is no different than people and their cars and wanting them to be faster. Do any of you think that this is true? Do you consider your PC to be some sort of hotrod?
-doug

 

[dszd0g]

This probably belongs in OT.

Yeah, don't know know. Everyone hear has racing stripes painted down the sides of their cases and stickers for all the different companies that have parts in the case. We go to computer shows where hot models are showing off the latest models... sometimes even with the case open! Drool!

Sorry, I think there are some slight cultural difference between the two. The general theme is about the same though.

 

[Wolfsraider]

nope i can pick up more chicks on my computer lol

<---broadband

j/k

 

[FatAlbo]

Nope. My computer has less stickers and no spoiler.

 

[dszd0g]

Originally posted by: FatAlbo
Nope. My computer has less stickers and no spoiler.

But it's got to have the racing stripes, right?

 

[Technonut]

My overclocked cars got me in trouble when I was younger, overclocking and high performance computer components don't. My primary rig is watercooled, with an acrylic case showing off the system and waterpump/radiator. I just sold my 73 El Camino, (a Flame Red sleeper) keeping the 97 Blazer SUV and Pontiac Bonneville 4 door. I'm just getting old I guess.

 

[WyteWatt]

No. Computers are much better. Never gets boring because there is always something new on the way and you can never keep up.

 

[T2T III]

My PC isn't a hot rod, per se. But, I do try to keep things semi-current: AMD XP1600 CPU, 60 GB H.D., Ti4200 video, 512 MB of Crucial ram, Philips Seismic Edge sound card, etc.

However, on labor day, we were over at a friend's house. The friend has an old Gateway box (233 MHz) with the assumed parts: 32 or 64 MB of RAM, small hard drive, 15" monitor (that I gave him) and AOL. All-in-all, he probably only has $150 invested in this box which is what he paid for it about 3 years ago. When we were leaving the place, my 8-year-old daughter asked me why our computer was so fast compared to theirs. My wife and I had to tell her that it's because I open the case about every 3 months and do a mini-upgrade to keep pace with the times. I don't need the fastest computer available. Then again, I don't want to have the slowest one, either.

 

[TheCorm]

I have a massive heatsink and fan on my bonnet/hood.....makes driving difficult though..

Now if they made cars easier to upgrade and you could just easily slip in a new engine....and overclock it from a 2.0 to 2.5

Corm

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: dszd0g

Originally posted by: FatAlbo
Nope. My computer has less stickers and no spoiler.

But it's got to have the racing stripes, right?

I can't be the only person to actually have them on my computer

pic

 

[GermyBoy]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

Originally posted by: dszd0g

Originally posted by: FatAlbo Nope. My computer has less stickers and no spoiler.

But it's got to have the racing stripes, right?

I can't be the only person to actually have them on my computer pic

Yes, yes can can be. It's entirely possible to be original these days, although most people aren't.

 

[Rallispec]

i like my car better than my computer though

 

[Red Dawn]

No, it's more like my bitch Actually I would say it's more like my Swiss Army Knife.

 

[Skunk]

I think he means the attitude towards it. Like car guys are always under the hood looking for every little bit of performance boost, or switching to a better performing exhaust etc. Same as most of us are always inside the case or tweaking drivers to get any kind of boost

 

[Jzero]

Not necessarily a hot-rod since I don't try to rip every bit of performance out of my PC, but it is definitely highly-specialized in that I use mine to do so much--TV, Dreamcast, home automation, gaming, work, etc.

But I have often staked the claim that I work on computers in much the same way my father worked on cars, and that if he had been born 30 years later, he'd have learned computers instead of cars.
Of course nowadays cars have so much computers, he doesn't much work on cars anymore

 

[TechieZer0]

Originally posted by: dmw16
My girlfriend just doesnt get why I like to make my computer faster with new parts and by tweaking. So I tried to explain to her that it is no different than people and their cars and wanting them to be faster. Do any of you think that this is true? Do you consider your PC to be some sort of hotrod?
-doug

I made this same comparison to a girl a few weeks ago. 2 funny.

 

[Red Dawn]

Like car guys are always under the hood looking for every little bit of performance boost, or switching to a better performing exhaust etc.

I use to do that but these days it seems like a tremendous waste of time. So what if you can get a few FPS more or a few MHZ more, it really doesn't make as much of a difference as it did a year or so ago.

 

[Skunk]

For me at least its not really the few extra mhz, its the tweaking thats the fun part.

 

[Red Dawn]

For me at least its not really the few extra mhz, its the tweaking thats the fun part.

I guess when you have done it as long as I have and as often it kind of loses it's appeal. I do have a P4 1.6a OC'd to 2.133 but it was as simple as changing the FSB. I didn't even have to boost the Voltage. If I would have had to do anymore than that I probably wouldn't have bothered

 

[Zenmervolt]

Nope, my computer is like a farm truck. I use it for all sorts of crap, I don't care how it looks, it's far from the fastest thing on the block, but it always runs right. Stability is top priority.

*The above applies to my personal ThinkPad, not to the family's computer which I don't really care about and just keep on life support.

ZV

 

[Brutuskend]

Yup!

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: Rallispec
i like my car better than my computer though

Me too. I keep my computer fairly current (it's a P4 rig) but I don't overclock it or have a neon-lighted case or anything like that. Also, I only upgrade stuff when needed, etc. The car on the other hand, is an entirely different situation.

 

[StattlichPassat]

Originally posted by: dmw16
My girlfriend just doesnt get why I like to make my computer faster with new parts and by tweaking. So I tried to explain to her that it is no different than people and their cars and wanting them to be faster. Do any of you think that this is true? Do you consider your PC to be some sort of hotrod?
-doug

Yep! My ride is still bone stock...