Some Goodness Not Related To Linux

In my spare time, I game on my gaming PC.  Once upon a time, I had a gaming laptop.  It's not been used for close to 2 years, as the graphics card went bad.

This particular system is an Alienware M17x R3.  I was torn between getting the same graphics card (the GTX 580M, a dedicated mobile graphics card) or upgrading to something like the 680M or 780M.

It's taken me this long to decide.  I decided to stick with the 580M, knowing that this card will probably also go bad within 1-2 years (they are not long-in-the-tooth).  Why the 580M?  Because I didn't feel like hacking the laptop to get the 680M or above to work.  They aren't plug-n-play and require some effort to get to work.  I wanted no fuss.  Plus, the 580M is now a lot cheaper...I got this one for $125, whereas 2 years ago, they were running twice that.

The card I bought was still in it's original packaging, (ie, it was new).

It arrived last night and I spent most of my evening installing it and then struggling with the laptop.  There was another issue that I had issues fixing.  The damned battery was drained.  In this system, it appears that the system throttles down when the battery isn't working.  The system was very slow and at first I thought I had grounded something within the internals of the system when I had it open.

I studied up in my spare time at work tonight, got home, removed the battery from the system, rebooted the system and it acted like it was a NEW system!  Before then, it would refuse to install the many system patches waiting for it, as well as auto-updating programs such as Steam, Origin, and other programs.

I'm glad I decided to try that first, as I was almost ready to try to re-install the OS.

A new battery is on the way.

I will attempt to game on this system this weekend.  I've it tethered to my 27" iMac (using it as a extra monitor, a neat trick that Macs can do).

The card appears to be working well.  If it dies within a year, I'll consider upgrading, as some of the newer cards last longer.  If it lasts two years, I'll consider buying another 580M.

At some point, I should consider running Linux and using the Steam Linux client.

Alienware TactX Mouse - Replaced

My Alienware TactX mouse has been acting weird lately.  It has been acting erratic.  If I move it slowly to the left, it warps to the left or may not move at all.  I think the cord has a short in it, creating an intermittent connection.  It is not the mousepad, nor the DPI settings.  I used a standard Dell mouse (laser mouse with multiple DPI settings) and it works fine.  Sometimes the TactX mouse works fine, other times it doesn't.

I've e-mailed Alienware support, as there's an entry in their online knowledgebase that directs the user to try certain things and if they're still having issues, to e-mail them with the issue that's being experienced.  The mouse is less than a year old (it is still under warranty).  I was hoping they'd respond and replace the mouse, but they haven't responded.  I'm not sure the issue will even be fixed, as I think it's a design issue that won't be fixed by just replacing the mouse with a new one that still has the faulty part.

The TactX mouse is soooo damned nice, but it needs to live longer than a year for users to be happy.  This isn't an issue that I'm only experiencing, either.  I saw many complaints when searching Google and my favorite Alienware forums.

I replaced the TactX with a Logitech G700 wireless gaming mouse.

The G700 is badass.  It is physically bigger and heavier than the TactX.  It is more configurable, as well.  It is rechargeable, has a AA-sized battery that can be replaced, has 5 DPI settings, up to 5700 dpi, can be used while charging or when the electronic environment is unfriendly toward wireless devices, has internal memory, and each button can be mapped independently.  It has powder-coating on the sides of the mouse, which a really like.  It has performance settings that can dictate how much power is used.

The only thing I'm wary of is the SetPoint software.  I'm installing it now and will play with the mouse tonight and throughout the week...I'll update this post with my thoughts in about a week.