Fabulous Crysis 2

I decided to treat my new graphics card to something that would show its abilities. The relatively new Crysis 2 game was on offer at GAME for just £15. Also, they had just released the DX11 graphics update with the High Resolution Texture Pack. Worth a look at, I thought.

I was amazed at the graphics quality and performance. Even when zoomed in. Motion blur too. Impressive stuff! The latest in computer gaming and virtual reality. Watch New York crumble.

What I didn't expect was the gameplay. As I was drawn into yet another impressive scene, I was learning about the suit and tactical visor and finding out the best way to dispose of each enemy. As you ran, the graphics display kept up with you. Even on Ultimate quality settings there didn't appear to be any lag.

I'm going to enjoy this game. I already know it.

Moving up to mid-range graphics

For the last 18 months I've been enjoying my £55 ATi Radeon HD 4770 graphics card which has served me faithfully during that time displaying any game I wanted, though some of the latest ones at reduced detail.

However, as it was my 60th birthday last weekend I decide to treat myself to a new DX11 mid-range graphics card.

I did my research and decided that the new AMD Radeon HD 6850 was what I wanted. Amazingly, a deal for a XFX Radeon HD 6870 at about the same price (£127) was on offer so I took that instead. By coincidence I'd already upgraded my PSU last month to a Be Quiet 530W so I had the extra power to drive it. I was worried though that the extra heat generated would mean more noise but luckily the new card is as silent as the old one, especially at idle.

After my history of problems with XFX video cards, I swore I wouldn't buy another one, but this card seems to be the real deal. Even without any overclocking, it does 17,166 3Dmark06 and 3,826 3Dmark11. This is a major improvement over my old card and takes me into the mid-range of modern gaming cards.

When in doubt, re-flash the BIOS

I seem to have had a few strange issues recently that were apparently caused by an out-of-date BIOS. Just the simple though risky operation of re-flashing the BIOS to the latest version, has fixed the problem.


Problems like updating memory in old systems, where the latest purchased sticks of memory aren't accepted by the motherboard, installing a new CPU (Processor uCode missing), unreliable booting with integrated graphics, etc. have all been fixed by newer BIOS versions. I've always been a bit hesitant to perform BIOS updates as if it goes wrong can be the quickest way to trash a motherboard. So carefully checking the exact make, model and revision of each motherboard is essential. Always get your BIOS update from the motherboard manufacturer's website as the are many 'tweaked' BIOSes out there which could cause problems. Read and follow the instructions carefully. Some like DELL can actually be done from within Windows, some directly using a DOS program from a floppy and others direct from a USB memory stick.

Not upgrading to WHS 2011

I will not be upgrading to the latest Windows Home Server 2011 version. Microsoft's removal of the Drive Extender and folder sharing across drives plus the extra memory resources required means I will just continue to run the original Version 1 with PowerPack 3 on my DELL PowerEdge SC440 with just 1Gb of memory.

It is a pity that Microsoft has given up on the technology and the product. Certainly the software Drive Extender technology could be used elsewhere such as Small Business Server or even Windows itself. WHS would also seem to have a useful future as the centre of your digital home. Without hardware and the enthusiastic support from the community it will probably die.

Microsoft's Windows Small Business Server 2011

I've just completed my first Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2011 installation. It has been a successful exploration of the new features and wizards of Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010 and Sharepoint 2010. Though I'm impressed that most of the server software management functions are readily available to the novice user some of the settings, logs, reports, etc. have been buried even further into the depths. Email in particular is difficult to monitor. User's file replication and sharing sharing appears easier to configure with wizards to move this data, email storage are readily available and easy to follow.

The full Microsoft Outlook licences have now been removed completely and replaced by Outlook Web Access. No problem for novice users but Outlook aficionados will struggle to accept this will be forced to buy a Office 2010 version that includes the full program. Pity as most client computers now come with acceptable Word and Excel Office 2010 Starter variants.

All-in-all, a good upgrade from Microsoft for small companies who want to manage, secure and protect their data in an affordable, integrated package.

The Lure of Quad Core

I've always been a proponent of having more than one processor in a computer. Right from the early days of my Intergraph TD3 workstation which had two original Intel Pentium 90MHz CPUs and ran the first version of Microsoft's Windows NT. The ability to multi-task and the benefit of improved response time was immediately obvious. You could continue to work while printing or formatting a floppy.

Now, I'm convinced that quad core CPUs are almost the bare minimum for effective working. Both my admin and games systems both have four cores and the responsiveness is even better than dual core. Fast true quad core processors like the new Intel Core i5-2400 and plenty of memory is the way to go. Things just happen when you want them to.

DELL Vostro 460 and RAID

I had to order three new DELL Vostro 460 desktops for a business customer. To upgrade the basic configuration from 2Gb to 4Gb of DDR3 memory costs £60 plus VAT and to add an extra 320Gb hard disk drive to each costs £120 plus VAT. I decided to buy the extra bits myself at £18 per 2Gb stick of Crucial memory and Samsung 320Gb HDD for £30 each. In total for three systems saving myself over £500. Now the difficult bit, fitting the extras and reconfiguring to RAID 1 Mirror.

Adding the RAM was relatively easy of course, but fitting each extra hard disk drive less so. DELL mounts their hard drive in proprietary rails which they don't sell separately. However, you can screw the extra disk into to space for the optional optical disk drive. There is a 3-1/2" bay available but the SATA power lead won't stretch that far. And I don't think that business customers are going to upgrade to Blu-Ray drives that soon.

Then press F2 to go into BIOS and set the SATA device controller option to RAID. Save and install Windows. When complete, start the Intel Rapid Storage Manager and select protect your data by creating a volume. Wait a couple of hours and you have data protection at the desktop level for minimum outlay and trouble. Magic!