really REALLY need ot get back to art, sigh
been very extermely crappy past 3 years or so, and got too much for me hence not been around. not by choice, but by necessity :(

Anyway both my PCs died almost at same time, really putting spanner in works , ugh
I was budgetting for replacing one PC this year, and hopefully upgrading my CS4 Extended to CS6 extended, but, that's all went to buggery :P
"Best laid schemes..." no damn kidding!! hehe

So thanks ot the family new art PC is getting built and I HOPE, need, to get back to creating

Motherboard- ASUS P8Z68-deluxe/Rev3
CPU- Intel i7-2600k
Case: Coolermaster HAF-X
RAM- 16 gig RAM, 1800 Corsair
Video- Nvidia 450GTS 2gigs ram
Hard Drive- 2 TB HD
Optical drive- Samsung Sh-B123L DVD BLue-Ray writer
PSU- Corsair Modular 850 TXM

expensive, ouch :( but about same price as my last Art rig.
Always worth it in the long run to buy good, durable tools, be they digital or steel.
 I'll slap my 3 drives form old art rig into it with all their data.

video cards, well I preffer to wait to the price drops and the board's size and power consumption drops way WAY down. freakin size and draw of the new ones is alway snuts, 3 years later and they are tiny and way more reliable!
ie not paying for big video card.

I love intel/ASUS combo, they always last (long as you dont leave the PC off for 6 months, lol)

need the big PSU since i'ts going to have 4 hard drives and one day will perhaps slap in new video card.

actually not using my old rig was what helped bring it down, as the CMOS battery drained :P
anyway it's motherboard was "finicky" and I needed ton more RAM anyway for the complex scenes I try and build, very off putting dealing with very slow loads etc of huge scene files. 
My attempt to save money on game rig was...well I should have been more "finicky" myself, lol, but art rig is built to spec at least, maybe get it by Friday :)

WOOHOOOOO!!!  Congrats, Silver!!!!

I had no idea that if you didn't use a system for a long time, it could go "kaput"....

good thing to learn =D

Sounds like a great rig coming your way... then comes the fun of reinstalling things ;)

Ta! :)

Well, it shouldn't drian but after years of use the CMOS batteyr can, it keeps the BIOS set, so if it drains, you may have to reset the BIOS (drives, date etc) every time you start the PC up!

CMOS battery is cheap and easy to replace, used to make/fix PCs but stress is literal poison ot me now, sorting those PCs out ended up with me sick and sweating like I had run a marathon in the Sahara, urf
But fixed 'em enough that cousin's kid and my bets mate can get use out of 'em for a while, but no way I'd trust those rigs for much longer.
And as said the sheer "weight" of my scenes, even when optimized was at the limitsof that PC, so really needed 16+gig RAM system and the motherboard in that one only could take 8 max

well I have ot say reinstalling is, usually fingers crossed! so much easier nowadays :) Windows 7 I have to say is again fingers crossed! usually so smooth and with cable broadband updates are so fast
compared ot the old days, having to go through BIOS, partitions, tearing hear out sorting weird conflcits and THEN you had the joys of instlaling as well :P
VESA drivers....shudders

trying to fix/upgrade horrible, lousy computers liek HP, Compaq's etc was horrendous, argh!!! they deliberately designed those damn things ot use non-standard parts and systems, to make you use their overpriced upgrades
ie, the hard drive cradles were non-standard you simply couldn't fit in a normal hard drive without special parts...so we used bits of wood, epoxy you name to get around that crap ;)

Glad to see you back. We've missed you. Looking forward to more of your posts.

Hey Paula hugs :)

and sorry for the typos et, symptom of the illness, amongst other things (dysphasia, too), my hands hurt like I've been punching brick walls, so it doesn't help with the typing :P
Just had hot shower and taken painkillers so get relief for an hour or two, so that's why at times I'm not as bad...just can't live in a shower, lol

Art and RPG gaming are the only things I've ever had any luck or success with in this life well, had good family, which probably is why I am what I am, rather than one of the huge number of ignorant, vicious nasty scumbags we call "Neds"...really tragic when you see sooooo many youngsters with absolutely no brains, self respect, decency etc, sigh.
Usually end up dead before they are 50 from knifings or alcoholism, pal's nephew died aged 28 form alcholism, because now, it's not just super strength dirt cheap booze, they mix it with Valium and Tramadol...dear God :(
And plenty who are innately good or talented, get nowhere because of the blights of poverty, fear etc that are endemic here. Many are too scared to "lift their heads above the parapets", to show they have talent, in the face of the scumbags omnipresent scorn etc.

My best mate, his Dad was a grade A asshole, my pal is incredibly talented artist (drawing), but to his dad that was "for poofs!" (i..e homosexuals) and beat him. ugh. And his Dad was a nothing, he wasn't a hard man he was just a wee frustrated bully. 
By comparison, my grandpa was huge man, hard as nails (ex-bouncer, and he literally could bend 6 inch nails with his hands) but was gentle and very funny and granny was one of the most sweet funny people I have ever know, a real laugh riot, so my family was full of humour, art, playing cards and games with each other etc.
Just cause yer poor doesn't HAVE to mean you are broken or worse...it is not easy though. Few folk have such good families in such trying situations
 Thing is, Marvel comics has a studio in Glasgow, and if my pal had been let live his dream (he adores comic art) I'm pretty sure he'd be earning a fortune working for Marvel or the like. At least now he's thrown off the crap of his Dad, and enjoys tattooing and taken up falconry, something he's wanted ot do since youth as well!
I'm not sure of a US equivalent, does Detroit have slums? Sort of if someone from decaying "rust belt" of US slum takes a falcon into his daughter's "show and tell" class :P
Really proud of my mate :)
A LOT we went to school with are dead.

Anyway back to art and RPG...
So those are only things I've ever had any luck with, being published, noted etc, and love writing tutorials etc to help folk :)
So being forced into not being able to do that...on TOP of having already lost damn near every other thing I did in life, sucked...big...very big.

Mum's in hospital again, oddly, that's a relief, because I know she'll get care and come out miles better. She has COPD or as I was taught, emphysema and heart failure (plus diabetes, spinal damage/partial paralysis and arthritis).
distressing seeing yer Mum suffer like that :/
Dad's dementia (not Alzheimers, different) increases, some times he's lucid, other times his mind slips back 30 years

Anywya back to more fun and origijnal topic ;)

Anything I have missed particulalry I should "gen up on"? :) I was playing aorund a wee bit  for short while with the Vue10 prerelease, but I'm well out of form
I bought Dax Phandi's book, and couple of tutorials by GeekAtplay form C3D
anything you'd recommend I look into?

Glad to see you back Steven. Hope things get better for you soom!  :-)

Hey Vege'! :)

me too :P

how's your own health been, mate? if ya don't mind me asking?

It's been good to date. Thanks for asking.  :-)

Cool, long may that continue :)

Good GAWD, that case is ENORMOUS! :P

keep expecting the frikkin thing to say "Hello Professor Falken, would you like a game of Thermonuclear War"?

still sorting it out takes time to reinstall THAT much data/apps!