New computer, Yay!

I upgraded!

Here’s the modification in the stats for my systems.

Lain:
Athlon 850mhz -> Celeron socket478 2.4ghz
256mb PC133 -> 256mb DDR2700
300watt non-p4-approved -> 300watt p4 approved
Shuttle AI61 motherboard -> Shuttle AB60N mb
3com 3x59x lan card -> built in intel lan card
Yamaha XG sound card -> Realtek AC97 lan card.
(ok, so the last two aren’t really upgrades… I hope to put a SBLive or some better sound card in eventually, but at least the Yamaha isn’t in my system anymore to crash it whenever I plug in the speakers)

Ruri:
Athlon 500mhz -> Athlon 850mhz
256mb PC133 -> 384mb PC133
HP-OEM Asus K7M -> Shuttle AI61 motherboard
No cdrom drive -> 40x IDE drive for ripping cds

The final results?

FFXI Benchmark:
Lores: 1800->2450
Hires: 1600->2100

So, a 33% increase for a 200% increase in MHZ. I suspect that I’m bumping into a limit with my video card, or perhaps the AC97 is eating up some of my CPU power.

I didn’t really try any other benchmarks before I tore my computer apart…

But, Unreal 1: Runs completely smooth in 1152x864 mode. Amazing…
Descent 3: All options turned to max, not a hint of roughness.
I know these are fairly old games, but I still like them. :) I need to find my NWN manual so I can get the blasted cd key off it. e2fsck-ing copy protection.

Also, T minus 4 days till Ratchet and Clank 2 is released. YAY!