So my new computer is 'ready'

The computer I mentioned earlier, is ready.

Robb gave me a Mobo, RAM, a CPU, a heatsink, and a graphics card. I attached the RAM, the CPU Heatsink, and the Graphics card.

I also purchased a new case that can fit all of this, as the one I had could not. I purchased a PSU that can power the monster GPU. Robb sent along a M2 SSD he had, that I plugged in. I also purchased my own SSD, and later, will purchase a HDD. I scavenged a optical drive from one of my dead computers, as well as numerous wires I'd need to connect all these things to one another. I purchased 2 HDMI cables, along with 2 HDMI-to-DVI converters. 15 minutes before I began writing this, I realized I do not need one set, but, that having it, would enable me to easily upgrade to 3 monitors later.

Everything is thus connected and ready. Mobo switches are properly set, PSU is set to 115 volts, and is currently set to the 'off' position.

When I am done writing this, I'm going to unhook one of my monitors from this computer. I'm going to then grab a spare keyboard, and spare mouse I have. I'm going to plug them all into the new computer. I'm then going to plug in the proper power plug to the PSU.

Then I'm going to flip the switch on the PSU.



Let me go off on a tangent for a moment.

There's a problem with all of this.

I'm convinced it wont work.

Oh sure, I'm estimating a good 37% or so chance that it WILL work. And my hope is as follows:

I flip that switch, and the computer does what a lot of em do when that happens, whurs on for a second, then turns off. Then I hit the button on the front of the case. Having correctly connected the case to the mobo, and, the mobo to everything else, the computer purrs to life. It's as slick as ice and fast as a schumacher. It purrs like a kitten, brings me nothing but joy. Installing the OS is easy, simple, and fast, and getting fully back online (including logging into google, discord, facebook, and all the other basics) is just as easy and fast. I'm able to download 4 full video games overnight (things like skyrim, civilization, stellaris, or mass effect) and wake up tomorrow to a fresh new computer just waiting for me to have fun.

Sadly. I doubt that will happen.

See, when I switched to linux, I wanted to make sure the game I was playing at the time, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII, would work on linux. Everything said it should. So, I switched. And, it did! It continued to work right up to its final-ever patch. When it broke. Why did it break? unclear.

Also, Minecraft broke. Worked for a bit, then, rip. Middle of a game, stopped working. Minecraft's problem was related, somehow, to "Vulkan". While I may know enough to operate Linux, I'm really not all that sure what that is, but, I do know, that officially, my current/old graphics card can not handle Vulkan.

That didn't stop me from running some stuff that required Vulkan, but it certainly did stop me from running other stuff that required it. My suspicion is that whatever broke RTK13 will be fixed if I can get a better Graphics Card.

...however...

I'm not sure. I'm the most recent person to try to play the game on linux (and write about it on protondb) so it is very possible that the game will, in fact, not work on my new computer.

This, would be a bummer.

Additionally, some of the other games that do not work for me, may continue to not work (properly) on the new computer. Stellaris has an entire megathread about it.

But, I would at least be better off than I am now...

...If the computer works...



See. I may have plugged in something wrong. A lot of those case plugs are tiny. 1 prong thick! My case is also very snug, but very wide, meaning that it was very hard to see what I was doing. Maybe one or more of them went into the wrong slot. I did consult the MoBo manual, but I've been known to make stupid mistakes. That goes as well for everything else I had to plug in. Not to mention that there is still a ton of cords in the case just kind of, hanging there. Clearly this case was designed for a computer made 20 years ago. It fits. But it does not fit well. And I don't have many options for what to do with all this spare cabling. It's quite possible that one or more of them will end up in a place they should not be, and damage, if not destroy, the computer.

Assuming I've plugged in all the cables right, I could have destroyed the MoBo. I put the CPU in myself, along with the heat sync, and graphics card. It's quite possible that at some point in the past 6 months I managed to damage one or more of them.

And all of that assumes that the electrical power the machine would need to suck out of my old and poorly-wired electrical sockets won't flip the breaker.

Even if it does work, I will need to re-organize my entire desk to somehow make it fit.




So I have a computer that probably can't play the game I want, probably will flip the breaker, probably will not even start, and probably will catch on fire the instant I flip the PSU on. Or. At least. That's what I've somehow managed to convince myself. It's why I'm not rushing to finish the computer, and it took this long.



Regardless.

Today seems like an excellent day to try the new computer. So. If everything goes to plan, that's exactly what I'll be doing as soon as I finish this post.