Battleangel | Personal

There are two main reasons for this upgrade. Firstly, I was unable to play 720p and 1080p video. And secondly, the new faster broadband connection put such a strain on the system when running bittorrent / utorrent that you could barely use the computer for anything else.

I decided to go with a 45nm E8200 CPU and a better than average main board. I also got a new cheap 55nm HD3450 card which accelerates all forms of HD video. Even though the CPU could technically have handled the task. But there are times when you have to do more than just be able to watch video.

Still using the Antec Aria case which admittedly is far too snug for comfort. The 92mm Zalman fan was the largest heatsink / fan that would fit. And with no more than a millimeter to spare.

Main gripes otherwise would be the apparent CPU bug which prevents proper core temp readings. I read somewhere that some E8XXX Wolfdale CPUs had this problem so this must be some version of that.

Other than that the HD3450 does get uncomfortably hot. But it’s no big deal I suppose.