Phrozen

NAS - Network Attached Storage

Hardware

1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

1 x Intel Pentium G630 Sandy Bridge 2.7GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G630

2 x Kingston HyperX Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model

1 x CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

4 x Western Digital Red 3TB SATA3 64MB Cache 3.5in Internal Hard Disk Drive HDD (Part#: WD30EFRX)

Software

FreeNAS 8.0

I tried FreeNAS as it has been widely publicized. It is based off BSD UNIX and is lightweight. Actually it is too light weight. In order to use other advanced features such as torrent client, audio services, etc you have to install plugins. These are a super pain in the ass, nothing anyone without moderate to advanced knowledge of BSD UNIX could do.

NAS4Free

NAS4Free is lesser known and has a web server, torrent client, audio services all ready to go out of the box. It worked great but whenever I would transfer multiple files at the same time all the transfers would crap out. I also ran into tons of problems with file and folder permissions working properly.

Windows Home Server

Windows Home Server worked great. No permission problems, all the apps I want, and it handles multiple file transfers like a champ. Now don't get me wrong I am not a fan of Microsoft's ethics and business practices, but until Google or someone else makes a better product this is my choice.

I am running RAID 5 so there is 9TB of usable space on this array. On CAT6 cable with 9K MTU jumbo frames I am maxing out my gigabit network at about 110-115MB/s. (10MB/s you figure is going to overhead)

Epic New PC

Merry Christmas to Me!

I took advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday for all it was worth. Below are my specs.

2 x GIGABYTE GV-N660OC-2GD GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Intel Core i7-3770K Processor - Quad Core, 8MB L3 Cache, 3.50GHz (3.90GHz Max Turbo), Socket H2 (LGA1155), 77W, Fan, Unlocked, Retail (BX80667i73770K)

Kingston SH103S3/120G HyperX 120GB Solid State Drive - 120GB, SATA III, 2.5"

2 x Kingston HyperX Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model

1 x COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.14 ST3000DM001 3TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

1 x CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active ...

1 x SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD500BW 2.5" 500GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

1 x ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

1 x ASUS Black Blu-ray Burner SATA BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS

1 x Biostar CABLEUSB3.0 USB 3.0 Cable Bracket

1 x ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

1 x COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP 120mm Case Fan 4 in 1 pack

1 x Corsair Vengeance K90 Black/Metal USB Wired Gaming Performance, MMO Mechanical Keyboard

1 x HT | OMEGA STRIKER 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card

3 x ASUS VH242H Black 23.6" 5ms HDMI Full 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor W/Speakers

New I7 Machine and NAS box at idle. NAS sips 23W so I7 sips 50W. Yes, it sips power!

I7 and NAS power consumption playing Crysis 2 at specs shown in next photo (Basically Max load).

For you home gamer's that's 6.2 megapixels

Yes that is Surround Gaming FTW!

L4D2 5760x1080p

Bioshock Infinite 5760x1080p

Full Size:
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/882978104787193925/5D81000DE61FCF364D76174AB8E17396087F4FEE/

Got copper?

Back mount for Zalman CPU Cooler

GPU #1, Soundcard, GPU #2

Shot from top of case where CPU hot CPU air exits the case

Final Fantasy VII

FF7 was a good game but I still can't get over how lame it was that Aeris dies. For me it ruined the game and I can never play it again till this plot is rewritten. I am surprised that remake of this game has not been made yet. There are tons of fan remakes of games and FF7 being one of the best video games of all time this really shocks me. I mean there have been a lot of mods for the PC version of the game including updated graphics and textures but Aeris still dies. Even 15 years later thinking about this game that still pisses me off.

Perhaps a remake will never happen, especially since FF14 was a huge flop. Some people say "oh don't cater to the fans, Square Soft wanted the game that way, blah blah" Well with the massive petitions that went on in the late 90s obvious I was not the only person that was upset. Also you have to support the fans, we are the ones with the money that are buying the game.

I just ordered a used copy of FFXIII for Xbox 360, I will see if I like it or not. Sadly there is no PC version of the game yet so I will have to deal with the 720p game play and 520p cut scenes. : )

Classic Game Remakes

I wanted to take some time and pay tribute to some awesome classic game remakes.

Sonic Fan Remix

This game supports all modern resolutions and a wide variety of controllers. It was made by amateur fans for fans and is truly amazing.

http://sonicfanremix.com/

Sonic HD 2

This was also a fan remake and has more of a cartoon look. It took many years to complete and was done by amateurs also just like Sonic Remix. The sad part about this is the lead programmer left the project and took all of the source code with him. Because of this any future work had to be halted as there is no engine to work with just the graphics and audio work.

http://s2hd.com/

Zelda

The below image is only a concept done by Billysan291, it is my dream remake. Perhaps it will happen one day.

HyperSpin

What is HyperSpin? Well put simply its a front-end for all our your video games. Check out the video below for a quick idea of what its all about.

Currently version 2.0 is under production. This new version will add tons of exciting new features including my favorite widescreen support! I think a lot of people will use this on their Home Theater PCs which are all 16x9.

Currently the problem I am running into is a lack of good system themes. There is a pretty big following with this and I think this will be resolved soon.

You are able to utilize multiple images with your themes. I thought I would show off the best versions of the various media I could find below. They are truly amazing!

Below is my project status:

Nintendo Entertainment system:

Box Art: 2D, 3D

Cart Art: 3D

Wheel Art: Minted Complete

Videos: FLV 480p, MP4 480p