It is done.

It was time to upgrade the computer. I ordered all my stuff and it arrived in about two days.

It's been a while since I've had a chance to do this, so I was very excited.

Here's what I started with.

This isn't about upgrading what I had, this was building a new computer from scratch.

After getting the motherboard in the case, next I placed the CPU and the huge heatsink that sits on top of it. Don't forget to plug in the connected fan or it could melt.

This is after I snapped in the RAM chips.

Next was the power supply.

Don't forget to add the mean dog.

After putting the drives in, you get this mess of wires and circuits shoved in a box. I just put the cover back on so I don't have to look at it. It's scary.

I did all this between the hours of one and three am.

So far, everything is going great. But I haven't turned the power on yet.

When ordering, I failed to check my hard drives. The old hard drives I had planned on using were not the right type. Cari and I ran out and purchased a new hard drive. We also picked up Windows Vista. I figured I might as well start fresh with a new system.

The next day I installed Windows. My surround speakers weren't all playing. Working this problem took a few hours. This was not fun anymore.

Then I needed some data off the old hard drives, still in the old computer. This created a lot of back and forth with cables. After I almost broke the new computer, I decided I needed a break. I was very frustrated.

Finaly, I got the sound working, I got all the data where it needs to be, and I have a new computer that runs fast!

That's how I spent my last two days and nights. Putting it together is easy. Replacing a machine that I have used the past five years is frustrtating.

That's five years of tweaking settings and installing software that I was replacing in one sitting.

Everything works great now.

For those of you not brave enough to have looked in your own computer, enjoy the photos.