Ok, my darling husband has given me the go-ahead to "build" my own computer (i.e., ind what I want LOL) - within reason of course (i do have a budget).

I am looking at an alienware desktop, the aurora one (the basic version of it).

It has a few video card options, and I selected the dual 1.5GB (total of 3GB) NVidea GeForce GTS450 SLI Enabled cards, as it kept my system within price range (omg, i cannot imagine what 16gb Ram is gonna be like!  Can we say DROOOOL - my Muse actually has perked up and said "ABOUT DANGED TIME WENCH!" - she's been mostly comatose the past year...)

Has anyone used this video card before, and if so, how is it performing?  I am hoping to upgrade to Vue 9.5I, but currently I have Vue 7I. (still gotta talk hubby into that...)

I didn't see this particular card on their list, so am curious.

Also, This thing... i guess i'll have to call it my AlienHead LOL... comes with the i7 processor, and i chose this option: Intel® Core™ i7-2600 (8MB Cache) Overclocked Turbo Boost to 3.9GHz

Is the overclocking a really bad thing (the system has that liquid cooling thing)...???

I haven't had the option to even really DREAM about a new great computer in so long that I haven't kept up with the technology...  or pretty much anything... i guess its not just my muse who's been mostly comatose...

I won't be placing the order until the wednesday after next, so there's a bit of time to discuss the best options.  I am still not even sure if hubby will give the thumbs up to the specs I have marked, as the price went from the basic $1,099 to almost $2500... LOL.  I just want to get the best performance for Vue (the pickiest program I own!).... with enough breathing room that I won't even THINK about having to upgrade or purchase another computer for at least 3 to 5 years.

Thanks in advance, and soon... the kitty will actually return and not just peek in now & then!  MREOOOOWWWW

~Meli

(ps, i am returning this overpriced piece of crap to rent-a-center... THANK GOD.  I love the touch screen feature, but that is the ONLY thing i like.  I don't even NEED the touch screen!)

Hi Melika! Good to see you here again!

Firstly, Im not sure that Vue can use more than 1.5gb or VRAM, so dual video cards might be a bit of a waste... (Someone else can offer an opinon on this.)

Secondly, you will LOVE that cpu I would imagine.   I dont think, in my opinion, that you will lose much of the lifespan with the CPU being overclocked, particularly if its done in the store for you, since this will be covered under warranty, also people are gettin those cpus up to around 4.8 - 5.5ghz stable, so 3.9 seems fairly reasonable for a long enough lifespan :).  The only thign that really damges the CPU is heat and Voltage, if its Overclocked by the store, they will have made sure that its running at good levels for those.  Watercooling will DEFINATELY help with the temps, but there is always the risk that it could stop working (the pump) and then you are screwed (unless its under warranty still..)

It is wise to check out some other sites, like tomshardware and techspot on all the hardware you are looking at, and also consider the opinons of others on this site.

Hope this helps you a little bit!

Rich.

Thank you, Rich =D  Am hoping someone can tell me about what Vue uses as far as memory on video cards - why spend more money on something it won't tap into?  I chose the Alienware for two reasons - it comes with the liquid cooling system, and I've wanted one FOREVER. LOL.

The overclocking only worries me some - I had overclocked two of my computers one time before (back before I started doing graphics stuff - trying to get it to work a little better for Everquest... again, long long ago LOL) - and i never really had an issue with it, but I didn't push it to the max.  The overclocking on this isn't the "most" they can do with the system - more like somewhere towards the bottom of the food chain.  I do NOT get an option for NO overclocking... there's two sets of options:  Overclocked only, and Unlocked & Overclocked.  I went with the "best" option of the simple overclocked one as it had the I7 and not the I5 core.  I have NO idea what the "unlocked" means... and as much as I love Dell's little "help me choose" button - it doesn't really explain it, either.  I figure a factory overclocked system is better than my nutty self trying to overclock something (the knowledge on how to safely do this is loooong gone outta my brain)

If a single Video card would work, I'll do that - then I can get the Bose Speakers (j/k LOL).  

For the Video cards I have the following options:

Single Card:

1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 (adds nothing to the cost)

3GB GDDR5 NVIDIA®GeForce® GTX 590 (adds 500$ to the total)

4GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6990 (adds $600 to the total) 

Dual:

Dual 1.5GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 450 - SLI® Enabled [the one I chose]

Dual 1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6870 [Add $250.00]

Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6950 [Add $500.00]

Kinda see why I went with the dual now?  LOL. Even if Vue only accesses half of the total 3GB of video memory, wouldn't that leave the rest available if I happen to be... say... running poser or photoshop at the same time?

And I chose the 1year "omg, i screwed everything up" warranty... protects against stupidity... spilling liquids, dropping things, even power surges (and stupid housemate's turning off the light switch that controls the outlets in this room).  

If, however, my assumption about the extra video card memory is wrong... I can ... no, wait, i WANT that 1.5GB there!  so, it's gonna be the Dual, cus i am NOT paying $500 MORE for the next "step up" in a single card LOL.  I just really want to know how this card and Vue get along.  I only want to pay extra if Vue really hates what I chose and wants, say, the single 3GB one (winces), or the dual HD6870's.  I'd have to lower the amount of Ram I've stuffed into the Alienhead (whimper).  As I said, I do have to stick to a certain budget (the first one I "built" ended up being almost $5,500 and hubby said NO, try again).. and, if I want to upgrade Vue to 9.5I... I gotta keep this reasonable.

I am SOOOO tech-unsavvy.  I have tried looking at things on places like you mentioned, and I swear, my head explodes.  My last computer was designed & built by my brother, but he has since put his foot down and said "NO MORE WINDOWS MACHINES".  BLAH.  He went Mac and refuses to go back.  However, I have this... ability... to "break" computers (thus the extra warranty - when i break them, its always within the first year)... He swore up and down I couldn't hurt his precious Mac... yet, I fried it - in two months.  (oops).  

So, am keeping my fingers crossed... and hoping the options I want are good ones... 

Thanks again =D

~meli

I agree with the comment about the dual nVidia cards being excessive overkill for Vue. There is nothing in Vue that really can take advantage of them. Dual SLI cards are pretty much a gamer tech only. Special effects (explosions, etc.) look really cool on them during the games, but that's pretty much their main usage.

The nVidia 450 actually is kind of old tech now, for a high end video card. If it is possible for Alienware to subsitute a single nVidia GTX 580 for those two cards, that would be a much better video card arrangement.

So that you know, the nVidia GTX 590 is the latest card out, and probably the best in terms of green effiiciency and low noise - not to mention a magnitude jump in sheer processing power. However, few of us can spend $700 USD plus on a video card.

The nVidia 540-560's are notoriously noisy, so that's not a great idea. The nVidia 570 and 580's are now at a significantly lower price, thanks to the release of the 590's, and they are far less noisy than the 560's. Not nearly the processing power of the 590's tho.'

I have a new Gigabyte GTX 570 (Model GV-N570D5-13I-B) (probably the best rated of the 570 series) with as much G_RAM as it can hold, and I'm loving it for both model-building and for Vue.

Unlocked means that you can overclock it further (will void your warranty), Overlcocked but locked meanse that you will not be able to OC it yourself, but your warranty will be unaffected.

From memory, the 2600 is kinda designed to be overclocked, which is why people are getting such good results with it.

in terms of gfx cards.. this one, definately, no questions asked. (bear in mind im in love with the fastest, most powerful hardware there is, and subsequently quite poor :D )

3GB GDDR5 NVIDIA®GeForce® GTX 590 (adds 500$ to the total)

I personally would steer clear of AMD, ATI, had bad experiences with them before and will never use them again.  I would also avoid mac, due to my own personal preferences experiences (not to start a flame war, i just prefer using windows!)

Hope this helps!

Whoa!  If you have the nVidia 590 as an option, by all means, go for that one!!!!!!!!

"and probably the best in terms of green effiiciency"

hahah! oh you :D

Im using a 560Ti, its not as loud as my previous card (a gtx 9800+) but that card was ridiculously loud and I cant comment on the 570/580's

Arnt 590s limited edition anyway? this would probably explain why they have the price hike as well.

Edit, Melika, is there any possibility of you building your own, getting someone else to build you one?

I would have gone for the 590 myself, if it had been within my budget.

Seriously, this is the most powerful and efficient card out there, and it is ultra stable. It uses two liquid nitrogen tanks (onboard the card) for cooling. It should last a long, long time, it has the kinds of processing power for screen renders that Vue will reach late next year (as opposed to the old tech 450's, which Vue 9.5 has already passed by), and it will draw less power on your system.

By the way, I've been building my own machines for about 25 years - I agree with Rich. If it is possible for someone you know to build you one, you probably could save a $1000 or so, and still end up with a fantastic machine.

"it has the kinds of processing power for screen renders that Vue will reach late next year"

please say more on this...

ok, i wont push it then, thanks for the link. 

I hate to say it (i dont want to lose "cool" points) but it sounds interesting :D

Thank you!  - had to delete the prior post for obvious reasons.

tsk, i can only have 3 in SLI? why bother :P  they look awesome, melika, if you wat to read it, its the may 2011 edition on page 24.

Erk, to use the 590 card, i had to go with a better power supply (required the 875w), which added another $50... reducing the RAM to 8GB only reduces by $150.  ERK.

hubby is gonna say no, we're hitting the $3000 mark now, and i REALLLLLY want vue 9.5I!  

I missed the deleted post, so what May 2011 edition of what are we talking about?  You guys completely lost me =D - and Forester, The little "reference" left behind on the boards has intrigued me - but i want to know nothing about that "screen render" part (although am curious, i AM part-feline LOL.. but I understand you being unable to talk about it), but i DO want to know what you meant by "IT" in the line. - were you referring to the 590 Video card? (hoping you say yes, cus it might actually influence hubby into letting me spend a little extra $$ LOL)

I don't have anyone now who can build what I need, so I'm kinda stuck going pre-made... besides, when bro built the last one, it took him 8 months to do it (so he threw in two old 17" flat panel monitors for me).  I looked at Dell's other options (besides the alienware) and after all the customization just to get what i need, I ended up with a price tag of more than this (even with the uber video card).  Unfortunately, the only options I seem to have are those listed above....  

Also, after this coming wednesday, I'm back to my sloooooooooooooooooooooooow laptop, so it's gonna be ripping out hair time to sort through all this.  I WISH hubby could understand that if I built my alienhead the way i want and need it built, then he wont have to get ANYTHING for it for at LEAST 5 years (up till now, i've been about 2-3 years behind in hardware technology anyway; i'm used to it)... 

I wish I could get hubby to see that he was WILLING to spend OVER $3000 in the long run through rent-a-center for a computer that you can get for $600 or less online for me... (i wasn't very happy when he picked it up, and it's been this huge guilt trip sitting on my desk, cus i knew within the first week it wasn't running Vue right, but he refused to return it - until now).

The only reason I'm able to do this - to look and hopefully get a new computer - is because my husband's dad passed away and left hubby some $$ - not a lot, and this money has to cover a whole lot of things, including this computer.... so whatever i get, i HAVE to love it, be happy with it, for many years to come - one reason why I came here... and I HAVE to get him to overlook the fact that right now, i am sitting about $500 over budget on it.

Oh MAN, another danged thunderstorm... i gotta go, gotta shut down this stupid computer.

Back in a while.

Please, can someone or someones list reasons for me to be able to give to my husband as to why i want to spend $500 MORE than I quoted him this afternoon? (besides that ... teaser i saw LOL)

http://www.computerpoweruser.com/DigitalEditions/Archive.aspx

check may 2011 - page 24 for info on gtx590 :)

You could always pull a Cartman? :D

Sorry guys - I do have to work for a living, and its hard to keep up here, sometimes.

#1 - Melikia, you DO want a power supply in the 850-1000 watts range, anyhow, ... for the kind of hardware you're talking about. You always want about 150 more watts than the minimum or the expected demand on the system - its what gives your computer the lifespan it should have. Protects your investment.

OK, there are some things you can do yourself, without almost any hardware knowledge or skills - that will save you money.

For example, you can insert your own memory sticks into the computer's motherboard with no worries - a "no-brainer." And, since memory is really, really cheap, you can purchase the minimum necessary now, and plan on picking up more later. [ edit - RAM is just a couple hundred dollars for 8-16 GB, depending on what  you get. For example, for your system - a pretty high quality RAM of 8 Gb is just $130 shipped at no cost from Newegg, if you are in the USA.] )

So, buying less ram now for the tradeoff to a great video card is well worth the tiny little effort it would cost you.

There are just two things to keep in mind regarding RAM. The most important is that all the RAM in the motherboard must match. (And second, there are some little quibbles about "quad channel", but it is easy to deal with that when the time comes.)

So, my personal advice for staying on a budget would be to go for the great video card, and take less RAM for now.

Another possibility is to ask Alienware what it would cost for the box with no video card. A video card also is a thing you can insert into your motherboard yourself with no worries to it.  You could get whatever you want now in the way of the box (sans video card), and then purchase the Gigabyte 570 for around $350, or the Gigabyte 580 for around $535 from Newegg.com. No tax, and no shipping cost if you are in the USA (and not in California - regarding the tax.)

Both cards would be great (absolutely wonderful) for several years. They are not the 590, but they are great cards, and at the cutting edge of the technology right now.

(t-storm is over LOL... past few days we've had them and they last only about 15 minutes or so)

Ok, so the extra power is a go...

I do know how to pop memory sticks in... but the thought of buying the wrong thing scares the tar outta me.  This is included in the base price of the machine - 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz - looking deeper, it has 4 memory slots - i am assuming that with the 8GB option, it ships with 2 4GB memory sticks, with 2 slots available? (btw, quad channel doesnt seem to be an option listed LOL)

Oh hey, i just found the "chat with a dell rep" button (k, i'm slow)... lol... i'll do this when hubby is here, and ask about a special order - to get the 570 or 580 video card instead of the 590, and be able to ask about those memory slots and how they're set up. The thought of trying to get a video card in by myself scares me.

By "matching" (on memory sticks), does that mean the brand name also has to match or just the Dual Channel DDR3, 1333MHz, and the exact same amount of GB per stick? (i assume with dual channel, you have to have two evenly matched sticks?)

And thank you all for your time - i know you are very busy people, and I'm probably one of the most clueless folks out there... it's probably a lot like trying to teach a puppy how to fly a kite.

My friends and family think its strange that I know a lot about computers (mostly software) but I am completely clueless about things like this... 

By matching, we really mean down to the Brand.

Buying the appropriate memory is easy, and I would help you.

Installing a video card also is not difficult. For a high-end card, there is a power cable with either four or six pins (or eight, but probably six pins in this case) that must plug into the back end (or the top) of the card. The pin connectors are set up so that it can only go one way - no worries.  There will be the appropriate power cable coming from the power supply, and it almost always will have a little tag on it saying "PCI Express."

To install a video card, you first plug in the little power cable. Then you set the card into the slot on the motherboard, pressing downward until the card clicks into place. Then, there usually is a bolt that you screw into the metal tang at the head of the card, that locks the card to the computer case. Typically, you require a Phillips screwdriver for this. And, that's all there is to it. Another "no-brainer."

And Melikia, if you are capable of operating Vue to any decent effect at all, you are intellectually and physically capable of installing a video card - LOL!

There will be a DVD or CD with the video card, you put it into the DVD player, and let the autorun bring up the process for installing the card's software drivers. These days, the software does all the work, and you just have to follow the few on-screen installation instructions. Honest!  That's all there is to it!

Actually, if you can operate Vue and make a decent scene, you are physically and intellectually capable of building your own high-end computer.  But that's another story..........

Lol.. Me building a computer! Fuuuuunnnny. :) I can dissassemble one, I can tell if it's the power supply or the hard drive that's dead, I can pop memory sticks in; once upon a time I even did install a video card (and replaced a power supply...) but I've been suffering memory loss - and it's been getting progressive. Not a good thing to have when you're trying to figure out wires. Sorry, on the iPod right now. Hubby and I discussed it, and we'll likely discuss it many times over the next few weeks until it gets ordered. We took the monitor I wanted off the list, put it down to 8GB ram, and went with the awesome video card. We can find a good monitor around here (I think... I thought Alaska was remote- apparently the mountains of Virginia are the middle of nowhere! Hehe) It made the cost actually lower than the original estimate... But we'll keep playing :) Hubby works 12hr shifts on the weekends, and has to be up by 5am, so I'll be heading to bed here soon... Will check back tomorrow :) Once again, thank you :)

Well good luck to you!

If you need help with RAM additions in the future, we'll help. All we need to know is the make and model of the motherboard, plus the model of the CPU you end up with.

Awesome!  You all rock... and I mean it, totally wonderful people! =D

I am SOOOO excited!  I still haven't nailed it all down, but hubby finally looked at me last night and said "get what you want, but remember what you said - you don't want pressies from now until doomsday!" (i still have to keep it within reason)  Basically, when I am ready for a new system - years and years down the road, he will end up with the one i'm getting soon LOL.  He also said he'd get me Vue 9.5I for our wedding pressie (we're finally filing the legal paperwork... i've resisted for 4 years... i had a failed (legal) marriage and didn't want the same thing to happen again.  I'm ready now, so we'll legalize it on our "anniversary" - July 1st).  

Hubby's a little bummed, cus now HE wants an alienware laptop (lol - alienbaby) and budget just won't allow it.  I told him give me time to start making $$ with my business (i have several art galleries here who are begging me for my work... but this dinosaur has left me... well... BLEH) and I can pay him back for this new system (and then I'll get pressies again! yay!)... and then he can get what he wants as far as laptops are concerned.

Also, as soon as this system arrives, the laptop i have (with the cool touch screen feature, but is slow as mollasses in deep winter in antarctica) becomes HIS - I will have absolutely no claim to it.  NO PROBLEM! LOL.  I rarely boot it up anymore anyway...  He just wants it for his classwork and iTunes anyway. 

Wednesday, this thing goes back... THANK HEAVENS.  a week from wednesday, I get to order my Alienhead (hmmm, may have to rename it... we'll see what kind of "personality" it comes with)! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

Hoping I can figure out how to do a system restore on this one back to factory settings... if not, I will deactivate all my programs, uninstall them, remove all passwords (already removed everything not "needed"), and let RAC deal with the rest.  The least they could do for all the stinking money we've poured into them.

Word to the wise, folks - touch screens are cool to play with, but so far, i haven't seen much "accuracy" with the feature for graphics work.  I have used a variety of methods trying to get it to be more accurate, and the best I've come up with is my wacom stylus - and it STILL "blows".  I know, this is my opinion, and perhaps some of the newer ones are better - and those who have them may have had better luck... but until I can see one be accurate while I use photoshop - NEVER AGAIN.  :P  Totally not worth the extra $$ for me.

Anyways, its my housecleaning day, and I have totally kicked butt at it (still doing laundry, still got sweep... still gotta clean the upstairs bathroom - yeck... but got a host of other things I've been avoiding knocked outta the way)... so, before I sit too long and become a limp dishrag... back to it!

Once again, thank you all, and special heart-felt thanks to you, Forester!

Brightest Blessings to you and your families,

~Meli

Sounds great! good luck melika! I hope you get the pc that you are busting for and congratualtions on your wedding :D

Let us know when you start making artwork again and when you get it and tell us how it runs!

Sure thing! (sorry, back to chores for me LOL)

Interesting read. And hope the new "machine" is all that you hope it will be. :-)

I used to be a died-in-the-wool Dell person (havd extremely good luck with durability and average to good performance from them). But my last venture to buy a new PC (after having my latest Dell for about 5 years) went sour when I got irritated over the narrow selections for options they had.

That's when I decided to build my own machine which outperformed any option I could get from their Dimension series for a cost of over $1,200 less. At the time, for example, you couldn't even configure a PC with an SSD drive. I've had mine over a year now and very happy with it. I had always appreciated Dell cases for their ease in working in but my Lian Li case is pure genius compared to theirs.

I also joined PC MECH forums for assistance.

So, to bring the comment somewhat on topic, I initially configured my PC with 8 GB of 1666 RAM (at a somewhat expensive price). During Christmas, at either Newegg or Tiger Direct (can't remember), stumbled on a huge sale and got the second matching 8 GB at just over $100. So, what you were told about memory is spot on, I would guess.

You'll have to post a pic of it when she's finally "providing the white noise" at your house (wink).

The narrow options are annoying in some areas, not so annoying in others... i am totally NOT ready to go the "build it myself" route.  

And will post a pic when she arrives... boy I can't wait.  I've been bouncing all over the house now for the past two days.

I've one more choice to make now, for the same price overall, i can choose either a 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability, or a combo deal of blue-ray... here ... easier to copy/paste LOL... BDROM; DVD/CDBurner) and DVDRW... THIS is the last real choice I have to make LOL.

Wow, factory restore on win 7 is Waaaaay easy!!!! :) old computer is packed up to go back tomorrow. On the pod right now cus I'm too lazy to pull out the dinosaur of a laptop lol. Hubby gave me the thumbs up on the uber video card, AND the 16 GB memory! And is STILL gonna get me Vue 9.5 inf! he also has doubts we'll find the monitor I want in the next two days (trips to a small city about 25 miles away and then the next day about 100 miles? into staunton, va)... So I may just get to get that wicked cool 24" ultrasharp hd monitor! One more week til order day!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!! bounces!

Your enthusiasm is frightening ! LOL. (I'd be excited, too).

The biggest (most expensive single) item in my system is the monitor--the only Dell item I got, their 27-incher.

Oooooooooooo.... The 24" was the biggest they'd let me choose... Probably a good thing, though lol. Cool thing is is our 37" tv can hook up to the computer... If I REALLy wanted to! But that would require me moving my desk to the living room... Nah, I'll just love my computer with her 24" screen lol. But wow, yours is HUGE! Bet you can see that two time zones away ;)

BTW, what beloved mountains...

Mountains in Virginia :). I have, after many MANY years of roaming, found the place the I want to call home for the rest of my days :). I had thought Alaska was it, I TRIED anyway... But the winters were just too harsh for my body & soul. I do miss the Aurora... There is no describing the feeling that comes over you when you witness that magical event first-hand. I also miss the 24/7 daylight in summer as well. I miss the fact that spring there happens very very quickly - if you sit still for a few short hours, you can actually watch the leaves grow bigger on the trees. But I dont miss the bitter cold, the mosquitos, the wildfires, the yellowjackets, and the fear every time I stepped outside that there was a bear ready to set me lol. There's bears here, a bobcat roams the neighborhood, deer are everywhere... But every day, I look across the front yard and see the mountains. Every day I walk the dog in the back yard and look towards the south and see more mountains. It's so picturesque!!! Want to see this area? Look up Hot Springs, VA and the Homestead. I live outside of the actual town, in another tiny hamlet, but less than 5 miles from it. This whole area is rich with history, rich with beauty -even in the middle of winter! Ok, we gotta get going, today we go get our iPhones!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ps, the only drawback here is the limited shopping... Even Covington doesn't have much except a walmart and a few other places lol but it's good... We're saving to buy a house.)

Interesting. Thanks for the info.  When I worked for the Army Security Agency (and later, INSCOM... Intelligence Command), I was stationed at a tiny little-known army post (field station) in Faquier (sp?) County (near Warrenton). On the way to Skyline Drive. Faquier County was horse country...LOTS of rich horse owners. And I drove out to Luray Caverns one day. I like those mountains.

I actually, though, grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. About 20-25 minutes from Grandfather Mountain, Short-Off, Mile-High Swinging Bridge, Linville Gorge, Boone (etc.). In fact, about 10 minutes away from where a lot of "Last of the Mohicans" was shot (Lake James and near Morganton).

A lot of people refer to the Appalachain chain as not really being mountains but I've never felt that way...especially when you start hiking them. LOL

I like the mountain laurel in those mountains.

Anyway, just had to ask.  :)

PS: I finally broke down and got rid of my 3-year-old Sony Erik. phone and bought an iPhone 4. I LOVE that phone !!

You ARE in for some happy days ahead. wink

Ahhhhh, north carolinian :). Was born there, but didn't have the pleasure of being raised there... But even though I lived closed to the ocean growing up, I feel most at peace in the mountains. Gentle mountains, that is :). I also love anything historical..architectural and lives of people... Holding antiquity in my hands...It's awesome :) Right now I can hear the cows lowing in the distance, but the sound is echoing around the valley. Few vehicles this time of night; I am enjoying the breeze, growing cooler... The windchimes and the sound of the leaves on the many trees dancing and singing with their lively tune. As you can tell, I love it here. We've lived in this area for 8 months now... And I've chosen the house I want us to buy... It's three lots over, actually lol. Am hoping it'll be available when we're ready :) anyways, this has nada to do with the thread :). You can be sure I'll post pics of my UFO?? Hmmmmm.... A name'll come to me. :). Still making final choice on that glow light color on the case.... Thinking red... It might not be as obnoxious on my eyes lol. Oh, I turned in the other computer today... YAY!!! :). I told the lady we've been dealing with that if someone like myself comes in needing a computer for 3d aplications, I totally did NOT recommend that one. If, however they only did say... The things available in adobe CS products... It was perfect. Anyway, housemate & his kids just got home, so I gotta scoot. Will keep y'all updated on the progress for those interested :)

It's, in my not so humble opinion, one of the most beautiful places on Earth! There is so much diversity here with plants and wildlife, not a day goes by that I'm not amazed at SOMETHING! Lol. Computer has been ordered, and I'm now waiting rather impatiently for it to arrive! Could arrive as early as the week following the 1st, as late as the 8th lol. I also got to order vue 9.5, and hubby insisted I order it on the DVD instead of the download; it should arrive next Wednesday. I can't blame him on the DVD; I dunno how many times in the past year I've had to re-download Vue 7 because of external hard drive issues. He had to listen to my fussing about it lol. I have a new external HD now, but he wants me to have an "official" hard copy of the program. As for the computer, we did end up going a little over budget, but HE was the one who added the 140$ mouse/keyboard bundle - he liked the look of them (rolls eyes). We couldn't find a comparable monitor to the one I really liked at Dell around here, so we ended up getting the one at Dell. He also insisted I go ahead and get the 16gb of memory from the start so I wouldn't have to deal with it later. I explained to him what you all taught me about the video card, so we DID go with the beautiful 3gb GTX 590 card. Now, I just have to be patient until my preciouses come in... Boy this is gonna be a looooooong few weeks! On top of waiting for this, on the 1st, hubby and I get to sign the paperwork making our marriage of the heart actually legal; we leave the next morning to go visit my parents a few days and pick up the rest of our things out of storage there... Not looking forward to the travel time, but I do miss my family, so it'll be worth it :) Anyways, that's the update!!!! Can't wait to play in Vue 9.5 :) :) :). I took a BUNCH of pics last Tuesday on our way to fish (and while fishing) - mostly for reference photos so I can try to recreate some of the natural beauty of this area. :). ~meli

Great news melika!  I hope it turns up on the 1st at 9.00 sharp :D

Your hubby sounds like a hero too.

He is my hero :). I used to call him my knight in rusty and dented armor, but now I call him my knight in shiny but well-used armor :). I doubt the computer will arrive on the 1st; Dell told us the earliest it would be shipped was next Wednesday, the latest would be on the 1st... and I have to wait on fed ex or ups after that lol. But, even the waiting isn't bothering me - what's a few weeks when I've waited over 10 years to get an alienware? Lol. When I first started looking at alienware systems, every time I "built" one, it ended up costing more than $20,000! I never thought I'd be able to get one! (compared to 20K, 3K is a heck of a deal lol) What's gonna "kill" me is having the Vue DVD and NOT being able to play with it!

Nearly everytime I got something from Dell, it arrived more quickly than stated. Not sure if that holds true for AW but...cross those fingers.

And congrats on the hubby instead of the "hubby" (grin).

Wow, some big changes in your life this year !

Lol, thanks :). We picked the spot finally, a beautiful place across a swinging bridge and down some rocks onto this little rocky area with the river... Stream? Running so close you can feel a bit of the spray as it tumbles over the rocks. As for alienware/Dell... No experience here, but the guy said it could ship as early as next Wednesday or as late as the 1st... So Nooooo idea. Am hoping I'll be pleasantly surprised :) I am sooooooo excited! And yep... The past year has been full of changes... We've been out of alaska a year as of this past Tuesday :). even more change is in store... But I'm facing it head-on .... And trying not to flinch lol. Can't wait til I can post pics again... Not just of the computer, but of the beauty around here. I might even be persuaded to post a wedding pic. I don't photograph well, so I rarely show my actual self anywhere... But for this I MAY make an exception :) ~meli

I'm always down for the pics...it always helps put a "kind of a face" on the members here. Besides, I dabble in photography and photographs of the area would be interesting for that reason alone.

Then, there's the new PC wink ! LOL

Lol! I love taking pictures, but my old digital camera died... Think I dropped it once too often (oops). I'm planning on creating some packs for the free section of pictures of this area for references or just for folks to play with. Most of what I take picture-wise is just for reference photos... Something catches my eye and I literally itch to try to recreate it. I'm always taking pictures of things like rocks, moss, sand, dirt, trees, or individual plants... And then I'll also do scenery photos, or pics of old cool buildings... The older it is the more I want to capture it. I just wish hubby would drive a bit slower sometimes.... Lol! Most of the pics I take while we're driving around are for reference, and 90% of those end up "trashed" because it ends up way too blurry. But, I have fun with it :) I'd love to see some of your photos :)

I have a lot of "texture" photos myself. Hi-Res stuff that looks like it would be useful for texturing. Tree bark, various bricks, stones, rust, cracks...well, you get the idea. LOL. Of course, like most things with me...they "collect dust".

Lol, same here. Not hi res, although I've discovered this iPhone will do hires, though. Not a good setting when you're in motion, though... (I ended up with "ghost" effects hehehe). I have a folder on my external crammed full of nothing but "texture" photos... Walls, floors, dirt, bark, leaves... You name it, it's probably in there! Between all the pics I've taken and stored on there and all my zipped poser stuff, it takes up about 1.5 TB of storage! Photos (including the non-"texture" ones) take about 25 to 50 GB... If not more lol. I get the strangest looks when i'm walking around and suddenly stop, crouch down, shift around to keep my shadow out of it, and then take pictures of say... Walmart's floor, or a parking lot... Hehehe. I don't care! Hubby used to get frustrated at me, and I bet a little embarrassed by my actions until he saw me put some of my "texture" photos to use one time. Now, he helps me seek out things like that - peeling paint, bricks, rocks, etc. Now I'm educating our housemate - HE still scratches his head at his "sister" (me). He's patient with my actions, even though I'm pretty sure he's gone from "suspecting" I'm nuts to being sure I am lol. But, along with hubby and housemate's family - not a single one doubts my abilities to create beautiful pieces of artwork! (I doubt myself - a lot. I think it's part and parcel of being artistic - you tend to be your own worst critic!). Housemate has begged me for the last year to make a few pics for him - I just wish he'd quit changing his mind on what he actually wants lol. Hubby was so proud of the "gone fishin'" pic I did that got entered into a gallery in Alaska (back when I only had Vue 6 ... Not esprit... Crud, brain not working - it wasn't esprit, and wasn't infinite or xstream... Complete? Grrrrr lol)... I still look at it and see the flaws (boulders that appear to be barely hanging on to the side of a mountain for instance)... But knowing what I know now... I am very proud of that image as well. You see, I did something very complicated (to me lol) to create it... I had to create my height map by hand, and then my materials distribution map by hand - two things I had never attempted before. I also pushed myself by creating mixed & layered materials. I'd attempted them a few times while in Peggy's LVS classes, but nothing nearly as complicated as this thing was! If I recall, I ended up with over 20 different material zones just on the foreground landscape lol. But, hubby took that framed image and it's hanging over the fireplace in the "place of honor". "mom" - (housemate's mom, but his family has "adopted" us)... She's been showing the images i've made & posted on facebook to people she knows around here... She told me almost all of the gallery owners around here keep asking her when I'm coming in with some of my work for them to display & sell! She also told me the ones not asking are those she hasn't run into when out & about chuckles. For the past year, I've been very artistically frustrated. A fine art painter with ideas, and no canvas, paints, or brushes.... The past few months with the computer I returned - was the worst. A painter with finger paints and butcher paper as an example. VERY frustrating! Now, I will have to relearn Vue... Quite a few things changed from 7 inf to 9.5 inf! I think I'm gonna bite back my irritation at the abysmally slow laptop and boot it up and read & re-read vue 9.5's info again and again... Hehehe. Then, I'm gonna see how well it handles Geek @ play's awesome video tutorials and attempt to figure out all these great new features :). I'm terribly excited about being able to "sculpt" caves and overhangs, etc. Maybe by the time my new "baby" arrives, I'll at least have some idea of what's new and how to at least start accessing and using these cool things! Ok, enough of a tome for now... Gonna go boot up "lappy" and try not to rip my hair out hehehe.

Hehe, your long post reveals your impatience. I don't mean, impatience in a bad way but impatience like a child waiting for Christmas. LOL

And, yes, you're not the only person to get sideways looks...hehe.

Well, at least you're an artist without the materials at the moment instead of an artist who lost their vision. smile

Lol! So true! It'll be kissmas in July! And also true about the loss of materials instead of vision... Many times this past year I had feared my "muse" had deserted me for greener pastures! The few times I managed to find that spark, I TRIED so hard to hold onto it, to push through the frustration of that (explosives deleted by me before posting) computer... And just couldn't manage. So, I sketched out my ideas and stuffed them into my idea folder. Mind you, my hand drawing skills aren't all that, so when I dig through that folder and try to decide what I want to tackle, it's the handwritten notes on the edges that tell me more than the sketch actually does most of the time lol. Ughh, back to cooking dinner for at least 3, possibly up to 5. I just love how I get promised I'll be told in reasonable time how many folks will be here to eat! Fiesta Mac is, thankfully, as easy to make for a small crowd as for a few, and freezes nicely, so I made enough to feed quite a few lol.

Haha...I have to tell people something similar all the time. Because I do graphic design work, they think I'm able to draw. Even my stick figures are out of proportion. I have to tell them I can take (and modify) existing images/text/shapes and lay them out in a somewhat reasonable semi-gratifying design but don't ask me to draw ANYTHING!

I'm afraid I can empathize with you--when it comes to crowds, I seem to be the cook in the house. Mostly, we cook together for ourselves but if there are more than 4 eating, I get called in.

LOL @ "explosives"...

Lol. Only ended up with 4... I love to cook, so no big deal there. As long as others do the dishes! Hehehe. I actually got asked by security in walmart once what I was doing crouching down and taking pics of their floors and the metal on the shelves! I explained as best as I could, but he still went away with a perplexed look on his face! I've been told time and again I need to figure out a way to explain what I do in two or three short sentences, and in basic English lol. Yeah, like I can manage THAT! I will, one day, compile a newbies guide to the computer graphics and arts world, complete with a lexicon of the terms we use. Problem is, the more -I- learn, the more I realize how little I actually know. It took me months and switching case workers when I was working through vocational rehab to get them to understand. It finally involved my second case worker coming to my house and watching me work, asking questions along the way before she grasped it. After that, though, they stopped trying to "pigeon-hole" me, and created a whole new category for me. instead of me job-shadowing in places I had little interest in and trying to get me to sell my crafts at bazaars, they started steering me towards starting my own one-woman company. They had never come across someone like myself before - due to my particular "problems", I don't function well in public settings. But when they ran all kinds of tests on me, they were amazed at what all I could do skill-wise. What was so funny to me was the career aptitude test I took... I scored extremely high in everything from law to handyman stuff and then some. But my top two scores were in art and, strangely, botany & horticulture. That last one cracked me up, cus I tend to kill plants when I try to grow them! They were also amazed at what I could do even back then, with only a year of poser under my belt, and just having gotten vue 6 esprit.... And I was completely self-taught at that point! But thanks to them, I've had classes in Photoshop and indexing through the university, and some online classes with Peggy Walters to jumpstart me in Vue. I've also taken classes there at LVU(?) for other things - poser (basics), and one in UVMapper (didnt complete that one cus of issues going on, but I still have all the lessons saved, and intend to retake it and get my certificate lol). Ugggh, rambling... And sleep meds are kicking in, so maybe now I can fall asleep...

Well, that's certainly some background !

These days, I tend to buy books (mostly photography books) and read them for learning. And I have a year subscription with NAPP for their group of classes (this year). But other software learning needs (Poser and Vue) take a back seat (because I actually use the photography/Adobe Creative Suite just about daily) in my job and on the side for a little extra money.

But, as I approach retirement, I might find some more time for things...

grins I, too, but books more than anything else to expand my learning... The classes were "required" for voc rehab as part of my "plan". I think they really wanted to see what I actually knew how to do in Photoshop - and as they had bought the creative suite 4 for me, they wanted to make sure I could USE it lol. InDesign class (and the UVMapper 6 week course) were the only two where I didn't have much, if any, prior knowledge going in. In both the photoshop & InDesign classes, I ended up helping the professor with the students who were struggling. I still have trouble with vectors, but they no longer fill me with fear lol. After those classes, they purchased the entire series of Adobe's Classroom in a Book to match the software that came in the CS bundle. I've been slowly (very slowly) working my way through those. It didn't help that I accidentally left the entire series in storage at my parents this past summer... But, next weekend, we'll be getting them along with all the other stuff we had to leave there (my vue book, my poser book, books on lighting, etc lol). One of my favorite books I found just before we left alaska and bought - 100% Photoshop - ended up getting so damaged last summer I have to replace it :( - note to self, don't let daughter near my books when I'm working through them with a tall glass of grape juice.... I dunno how she did it, but 90% of the pages are stuck together or illegible. Quite depressing, but I will get it replaced lol. What's your current favorite (educational) book?

Strange...I just sold my Classroom in a Book series (3) for CS3 on eBay a few weeks ago. LOL And I just finished http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Landscape-Photography-Footsteps-Masters/dp/0240812433/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309016383&sr=1-2 last week. Before that, http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Black-White-Photography-Techniques/dp/0470597755/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309016471&sr=1-1 and (LOL) before that, http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Photographic-Composition-Creativity-Personal/dp/1933952229/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309016518&sr=1-1

I'm reading one called, "Winning Photographs" now. BUT the one I'm looking forward to is the one I just got from Kelby Training, http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Retouching-Techniques-Photographers-Photoshop/dp/0321725549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309016597&sr=1-1

(long links...)

I was wondering about that new Vue book that just came out...thought I'd wait and see what might be said about it in here.

Maybe you have a knack for that sort of stuff. wink My best frined was an MP (military police) in the army and decided to change to computers about 30 years ago and he fell into his niche. He's an MVP for MS (Outlook), gets all their software free, is one of the top "helpers" at Experts Exchange, and works in the same organizatioin as I do (except he gets paid more than $100,000 per year). Some people just have a knack for certain things. smile

Wow, that's quite a list! I'll have to check them out! As for having a knack.... I dunno about that. I'm just very VERY stubborn, and when I really want to do something, or learn something, I'm like a gator clamped down on it; I refuse to let it go! I feel that a day where I haven't learned SOMETHING new is a wasted day. My motto is, Life is growth, Learning is growth, without learning and growing there is no life. What I learn could be something as simple as a new technique to remove stains, or as complicated as, say, vectors in Photoshop lol. Sometimes, the new thing takes me by surprise - a reference said on a tv show that I look up, or an "old-timer" telling me some folk wisdom (like spring thunderstorms wake up the snakes - dunno how true that one is, but sounds good to me!). Other times I seek out the knowledge. My family calls me the queen of useless trivia... But they're quick to ask me questions on just about any subject matter. The problem for me is I cannot seem to stay focused on any one thing for long - the exception being computer graphics & art. I "hop" from one project or learning experience to the next, usually with little rhyme or reason behind it. It's frustrating at times, but on this path of self-learning, I've picked up quite a few "unusual" skills or bits of knowledge. I also have the tendency to take a kid, find out what they're interested in, and then we learn whatever it is together. Right now, my housemate's daughter visits twice a week, and we spend time exploring and learning local plants. I'm working on compiling a picture "book" for kids of local plants (with pics we take together) as we discover them and learn what they are. I've a feeling that even long after she's tired of this project, I'll continue on. I have a hundred different projects I work on at any given time, in various stages of completion. Again, that focus thing.... Lol. It used to drive hubby nuts, as he's one of those who starts & finishes something in somewhat of a timely manner, but he's learned - this is just the way I am, and no amount of complaining about it is going to change that fact! As of right now, I have 4 windchimes I'm in the process of making, two sets of "fairy wings", two bulletin board systems I'm decorating, a shadow box I need to paint & create artwork for, 4 picture frames I need to repaint & fill with my artwork, a bunch of dried herbs in paper bags I still have to put in glass jars (I make incenses and potpourris, too)... And that's just what i can think of off the top of my head. Yes, I am bipolar, with I believe a bit of ADD thrown in. Combine a manic episode with the ADD and I'm like a bee hopping from flower to flower.... Right now, as I type this, my mind is going over the next step in all those projects and then some, as well as staring out at the clouds, wondering how to recreate them in Vue, watching the birds flitting around, wishing I knew what kinds they were... And a bunch more. Any wonder I'm an insomniac? I can't get my mind to slow down... Lol! I had to be one of the most frustrating people to teach in school.... Unfortunately, darling daughter has inherited all of this; it's one reason she's homeschooled. The school system had no idea how to handle a kid with both brains & a high creativity quotient. Add in the fact that she's a kinetic learner, super-sensitive emotionally, and learns really fast - she'd end up bored to tears, and daydreamed so much she'd lose track of time & place. She does a full day's schoolwork now in two or three hours, tops - and makes straight A's. All because at home, we work WITH her "proclivities" instead of fighting them. Once I have custody of her again full-time (hopefully this fall, but my mom keeps fighting me on it with some lame excuse or another), I'm adding in another "class" - poser. :). I want her to learn anything and everything she needs to know, and things she WANTS to know. Erk, I'm rambling again lol. Sorry!!! Ok, maybe not terribly sorry... ;). But, will shush for now, and boot up lappy and go back to watching videos of Vue :). By the time it arrives and computer arrives, I want to be able to have at least a basic knowledge of what's changed between versions and how not only to access them, but USE them. I am so excited!!!!! And hubby has convinced me that when I'm able to, to post one of our wedding pics. He knows how I hate having my pic taken and viewed by others, but as he said, no matter what goes on that day, I will still be the most beautiful bride he's ever seen... Lol! I'm NOT all that! But, he does give me confidence.... And I love him, so I can get past my own self-image and let others see what the camera happens to capture.... Besides, it'll be one of the very few times I let a pic of myself be posted anywhere online! Ok, off to watch vue videos and tutorials :). A million thanks to geek@play for their totally awesome video tuts! Right now, they're keeping me semi-sane while I wait....

Yeah, I need to visit the Geek site.

After that brief (smile) interlude, I have a lot of respect for you hubster! While I can't say I'm free and clear of having projects in the middle of completion, I can say I try to limit them--after all, after retiring from the army, I had to have picked up some OC disorders about neatness and task completion. I tend to like everything in its place. I had a project to do for work last weekend (overtime) that required some woodworking and it was really nice to have a neat workroom with all that I needed right where I knew it was (and a wife who said it was OK to renovate my workroom a few years ago and buy whatever tools I needed for it).

And, ROFLOL, I even have the remnants of a wind chime (where the wood rotted) that I need to restring and hang my own self (LOL).

But, I've let the yard go for too long and now I'm working every weekend to restore it to something to be proud of. At $6,500 (and counting), it's coming along slowly. Today I'm filling dirt between the gaps of the new sod and the pro-metal edging I lined the entire yard with. On my second wheelbarrow load of dirt and only about an eighth of the way through the two football fields of ediging I need to fill against. And it's always not now in Atlanta !

So, that's one thing that stops my hobby pursuits...

PS: My daughter and I don't get along very well. As I tell the story, she grew boobs and became a beech... rolling my eyes.

giggles  Sounds like your wife is like my hubby, patient overall =D

OC tendencies... i'm that way without having been in the military (they told me i was TOO SHORT!)... but I am always cleaning the house - not from germ-phobias, but because I like things to be in their place. My craft area tends to be more of a mess than any other place, only because I always have a project or two on my work table!  But, the rest of the area - everything neat and tidy and in its place.

 Yards... agh, don't get me STARTED on that!  We're renting, and so we're only allowed to do soooo much... but trying to get the two men who live here to MOW!  yeesh. (to give them credit, though, the days they manage to have free it tends to rain...) Every time I walk the dog or step outside for anything, I'm pulling up some weed or another out of the few flower beds here.  

Unfortunately, that OC tendency doesn't always extend to finishing something in a timely manner... I've had to teach myself to let that one go, because my health is always fluctuating (bad days, good days, etc).  If I have an actual deadline, however, health be darned... I'm gonna finish it on time.  I'm also the one who ends up showing up for appointments up to an hour early.  (Dad was military, and boy howdy if us kids were late for ANYTHING)

Your yard sounds like its coming along beautifully, though... pics when its done?? =D

As for your daughter... mine is turning 14 this year... actually in less than a month, and according to my mom, has turned into the moodiest thing on the face of the planet.  You and your daughter may not get along very well right now... but keep trying.  Girls NEED their fathers even when they refuse to admit it.  My own teen years, I rejected my dad so often I'm pretty sure he was afraid he'd never be close to me again... but I settled down eventually, and he's still one of my favorite people on the planet - and he will never stop being my super-hero.  all i can say is... just keep reminding her no matter what's going on in her life, you love her no matter what and you'll always be there for her - and follow through with it. =D  it'll pay off in the long run.  Of my parents, my dad was always the one I could count on to keep an even head, no matter how angry he was at my actions.  my mom tended to turn into a banshee.. "you... WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?! HOW DARE YOU!" while my dad would (USUALLY) sigh, tell me he'd talk to me in a short while, go out and mow some grass or whatever else he could do to calm himself, and then he'd come back and sit and discuss what was going on.  Not to say he's perfect... he's as apt to roar as be calm over something... but he always TRIES, and now that I'm older, I have to appreciate that.  My mom & I are like oil & water - probably because we're so much alike that we dislike the same traits in each other!  (You're a BEECH!  no, YOU'RE the beech!  LOL)

I think (changing subject) one of the reasons I have fallen in love with this area is the fluctuating temps - you can have a few days of intense heat, and then it breaks, and like today, chilly enough I have the windows closed and am thinking of dragging out a pair of sweat pants!  At my mom's, its much like there in Atlanta... starting in early June, the heat rises and doesn't ever seem to go away... until the beginning of october!  Last summer was one of the most miserable heat-wise I have lived through... after having lived in Alaska for almost 6 years straight, stepping off the plane into a heat index of 115... i was ready to run back inside the terminal and HIDE.  WIthin the first few days at my parents, I had suffered severe heat exhaustion, not once, but several times.. and then came the sunburns.  And all that was WITH my parents have a pool, and me being in it ... a LOT.  We also had A/C on the school bus we were living on... in?  and it cracked me up how often people would "stop by" to "talk".  The main house didn't have A/C, but my parents & bro realized that it would take my husband a while to adapt (he's lived in Alaska all his life...) - but it wasn't HIM who needed the A/C... it was ME LOL.  That first week was sooooo horrible for me.  Recovering from a cold I caught the day before we left, coupled with a severe temperature difference (it was 60 degrees when we left alaska...), excitement from the move, spending time with not only my daughter, but our young cousin as well - and if 1 child has a ton of energy, two has two thousand time that... 

What's kind of ironic is I lived in Athens, GA, for a while in my early twenties.  The heat never fazed me... now, any time the temps soar above about 86 or 87, I have to be extremely careful, or I end up with heat exhaustion and sickness.  Hubby just goes "I'm thawing out still!"  

Evenings and early mornings are best for yard work on hot summer days ;)  Be careful and don't go all ninja on the yard! grins