But all the tweaking and upgrading of a five-year-old heavily-used computer hasn't been quite enough. The games the kids like to play demand high-end processing, lots of hard drive space and excellent graphics capabilities. The old motherboard and operating system weren't really up to the task, the hard drive had tanked, the computer was officially non-functional, and the patchwork approach of repairing and upgrading no longer seemed like it was the most sensible route. It was time for a new machine.
Noah spent a lot of time researching products, compatibility and pricing. Because some components could be salvaged from the old computer, he figured it would be most economical (and most fun) to build a machine himself. He managed to cobble together the components for a pretty awesome gaming machine for under a thousand bucks Canadian. And this morning the bits arrived. He and Chuck set to work putting it together. As I type he has the assembled tower whirring away installing Windows 7, flashing all its funky multi-coloured LEDs.
Sounds like a clone of my oldest son. He did exactly the same thing 4 years ago.
ReplyDeleteAs a homeschooling teen, my husband did the same thing for the same reason at roughly the same age. He then got into fixing the neighbors' machines for some extra spending money. He saw it as a hobby back then but now he has a career as a software programmer and web developer which supports our family nicely, unlike the music degree he got from the University.
ReplyDeleteWe've never owned a "new" computer. Dh has been building them forever now, and Alex has followed suit, volunteering at local computer recycling program. I'm very excited because for the first time, I have my very own computer, harvested and built here at home :)
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Noah!
My son did this. We had only Apples, so he scrounged parts and bought stuff on NewEgg and Tiger Direct. He's also done weird stuff like building cases out of Lucite...there's a whole "modding" and "overclocking" culture out there that apparently requires 750W power supplies...yikes, no wonder we used to figure prominently on the electricity Hall of Shame...
ReplyDeleteDeborah