`unreal
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LOL well actually this isn't for a real magazine, its for my 'A Level' 6th Form/College coursework for half of my english project. You may find it an entertaining read... or not, so could i have constructive criticism on it please, to evaluate it and improve it. I have to finish off my report on this, and i have to note everything down from my approach of lexical language, to what others think of it.
All under a limited word count :hmph:
Ok this is it direct... hope you can be helpful rather than plain offensive or anything, lol but that isn't halflife2.net style is it?
Computer modification article – Written coursework by Keith Hawkins
When you think of experienced computer users… many different things come to a persons mind, and some people might be stereotypical and call that person a ‘nerd’. Perhaps a nerd to you is a spotty teen who tends to stay in and make friends over the internet, than rather be out playing football in the rain and vandalising bus-stops. Perhaps they also happen to wear big glasses, and have an annoying laugh that sounds like a diseased hamster. Now what about computer enthusiasts? What comes into your head now? Well if you are not sure what is beyond a geek, you might be surprised.
Welcome to the world of computer modification, where it is a strange, but popular growing hobby of gamers alike. The place where computers can look like Christmas trees, sometimes with enough lights to become an aircraft landmark, and have stupidly extreme water-cooling that can provide a whole country without drought. Even PC retailers are attempting to step into the game, by producing pre-modified products. As we start to explore what exactly computer modification is, we can see what actually is involved, and see what these ‘geeks’ do when they get too bored.
This ‘modding’ could be compared to boy-racer tune ups. Take a fairly bad compact vehicle and transform it into a living-breathing speed behemoth. With computers you can now take a standard desktop PC and mutate it into something a lot more interesting… and faster, when you thought its capabilities were limited.
So who actually does all this? You will be surprised with the vast majority of PC gamers that have made good use of their boredom time. Over my research, I have found many different types of people all over the world who actually do this, from porn stars, rap stars to the average computer user. It’s now becoming quite a statement, and it’s a battle to see if you can make it look good and/or ridiculous. Some people go to quite far lengths to show their creativity, and this can often be seen as an art.
Computer modification involves many things. The first light-bulb that springs to mind is actual physical case modifications. Depending on how extreme you are, you may simply put a neon-blue light underneath the case, like the sports cars from ‘The Fast and the Furious’. Some go further, and cut an actual window (with clear acrylic) into their case, and then put lights into the inside to illuminate the interior. Unlike sports cars, it does not contain funky suede textures and a stereo system bigger than anyone’s ears actually need, but it fascinatingly contains circuit-boards. Something you may be able to attract women with, if you try hard enough. Now if you are furthermore eccentric, you will either completely build your own case, or modify it so much that it has no resemblance of the original product. Maybe even both if you don’t have a job! For example, some like to cut the case so much, that they might integrate a theme into the whole of it, such as their all-time favourite game. Or they can put a water-cooling system together, which brings me onto something a little more tasteful.
Ridiculous extremes. Sometimes you can do anything for speed, especially if you got competition. Perhaps you have money to burn, and you have reached the utter epitome of the speed barrier, that maybe God hasn’t even created anything beyond that possible yet. But there’s a way, which is becoming a common technique to get more out of your meaty little box. ‘Over-clocking’ – this is an acquired art, which pushes the computer components default speed setting to higher than what it’s actually manufactured to be operating at. In a nutshell, you can make a Ferrari from a Mini-cooper, if you were really good at this. Too good to be true? Yes, there is a major drawback, the arch-enemy of all overclocking. Heat. Computers are getting so hot, you could keep the whole house warm during winter. The counter to this are cooling solutions, the most common being a ‘heat-sink’. This is a metal grid, combined with a fan, and when the computer heat is passed into the heat-sink, the fan blows cooler air directly onto it. It’s a constant battle. So if you would like to get really good, you are going to want something stupidly extreme, and a bit expensive, such as water-cooling.
Now I know what you are thinking. Water and computers do not go. It’s like locking a fat man in a kitchen, or letting you’re dog drive the car. One way something’s going to get demolished. But you’re a bit crafty; you can actually create a good well-organised water system that can pack an ice-cold punch. Now if you are begging for more ice than a Rap-star on his first payoff, then you can combine a thermo-electric plate between the coolants, and actually keep your processor below 0°C!
Now if that doesn’t satisfy your fascination of how to turn a warm radiator into a domestic freezer, you can use ‘Phase-change’, for where money is no object. This is basically using liquid nitrogen under a controlled manner. Now this really is getting crazy… first water, and now liquid nitrogen – you may have to keep the PC contaminated at a distance to make sure you don’t freeze your foot when it makes contact! Actually it isn’t as bad as it sounds. It costs around £500, but it provides -50° to -100°C, so you can actually get speeds that you can boast to anyone who would actually know what you are talking about.
Its easy to get into all of this, the community is your gateway. Head to popular forums on specialist websites such as www.hardocp.com and you will get to meet more geeks than you can dream of in a Star Trek convention. Alternatively you can buy the materials straight from retailers, such as www.overclock.co.uk – but advice is always better for anything you do.
Thanks alot guys... kinda risky putting my article here since it can be 'pirated' but i don't think it's too likely.
All under a limited word count :hmph:
Ok this is it direct... hope you can be helpful rather than plain offensive or anything, lol but that isn't halflife2.net style is it?
Computer modification article – Written coursework by Keith Hawkins
When you think of experienced computer users… many different things come to a persons mind, and some people might be stereotypical and call that person a ‘nerd’. Perhaps a nerd to you is a spotty teen who tends to stay in and make friends over the internet, than rather be out playing football in the rain and vandalising bus-stops. Perhaps they also happen to wear big glasses, and have an annoying laugh that sounds like a diseased hamster. Now what about computer enthusiasts? What comes into your head now? Well if you are not sure what is beyond a geek, you might be surprised.
Welcome to the world of computer modification, where it is a strange, but popular growing hobby of gamers alike. The place where computers can look like Christmas trees, sometimes with enough lights to become an aircraft landmark, and have stupidly extreme water-cooling that can provide a whole country without drought. Even PC retailers are attempting to step into the game, by producing pre-modified products. As we start to explore what exactly computer modification is, we can see what actually is involved, and see what these ‘geeks’ do when they get too bored.
This ‘modding’ could be compared to boy-racer tune ups. Take a fairly bad compact vehicle and transform it into a living-breathing speed behemoth. With computers you can now take a standard desktop PC and mutate it into something a lot more interesting… and faster, when you thought its capabilities were limited.
So who actually does all this? You will be surprised with the vast majority of PC gamers that have made good use of their boredom time. Over my research, I have found many different types of people all over the world who actually do this, from porn stars, rap stars to the average computer user. It’s now becoming quite a statement, and it’s a battle to see if you can make it look good and/or ridiculous. Some people go to quite far lengths to show their creativity, and this can often be seen as an art.
Computer modification involves many things. The first light-bulb that springs to mind is actual physical case modifications. Depending on how extreme you are, you may simply put a neon-blue light underneath the case, like the sports cars from ‘The Fast and the Furious’. Some go further, and cut an actual window (with clear acrylic) into their case, and then put lights into the inside to illuminate the interior. Unlike sports cars, it does not contain funky suede textures and a stereo system bigger than anyone’s ears actually need, but it fascinatingly contains circuit-boards. Something you may be able to attract women with, if you try hard enough. Now if you are furthermore eccentric, you will either completely build your own case, or modify it so much that it has no resemblance of the original product. Maybe even both if you don’t have a job! For example, some like to cut the case so much, that they might integrate a theme into the whole of it, such as their all-time favourite game. Or they can put a water-cooling system together, which brings me onto something a little more tasteful.
Ridiculous extremes. Sometimes you can do anything for speed, especially if you got competition. Perhaps you have money to burn, and you have reached the utter epitome of the speed barrier, that maybe God hasn’t even created anything beyond that possible yet. But there’s a way, which is becoming a common technique to get more out of your meaty little box. ‘Over-clocking’ – this is an acquired art, which pushes the computer components default speed setting to higher than what it’s actually manufactured to be operating at. In a nutshell, you can make a Ferrari from a Mini-cooper, if you were really good at this. Too good to be true? Yes, there is a major drawback, the arch-enemy of all overclocking. Heat. Computers are getting so hot, you could keep the whole house warm during winter. The counter to this are cooling solutions, the most common being a ‘heat-sink’. This is a metal grid, combined with a fan, and when the computer heat is passed into the heat-sink, the fan blows cooler air directly onto it. It’s a constant battle. So if you would like to get really good, you are going to want something stupidly extreme, and a bit expensive, such as water-cooling.
Now I know what you are thinking. Water and computers do not go. It’s like locking a fat man in a kitchen, or letting you’re dog drive the car. One way something’s going to get demolished. But you’re a bit crafty; you can actually create a good well-organised water system that can pack an ice-cold punch. Now if you are begging for more ice than a Rap-star on his first payoff, then you can combine a thermo-electric plate between the coolants, and actually keep your processor below 0°C!
Now if that doesn’t satisfy your fascination of how to turn a warm radiator into a domestic freezer, you can use ‘Phase-change’, for where money is no object. This is basically using liquid nitrogen under a controlled manner. Now this really is getting crazy… first water, and now liquid nitrogen – you may have to keep the PC contaminated at a distance to make sure you don’t freeze your foot when it makes contact! Actually it isn’t as bad as it sounds. It costs around £500, but it provides -50° to -100°C, so you can actually get speeds that you can boast to anyone who would actually know what you are talking about.
Its easy to get into all of this, the community is your gateway. Head to popular forums on specialist websites such as www.hardocp.com and you will get to meet more geeks than you can dream of in a Star Trek convention. Alternatively you can buy the materials straight from retailers, such as www.overclock.co.uk – but advice is always better for anything you do.
Thanks alot guys... kinda risky putting my article here since it can be 'pirated' but i don't think it's too likely.
