Junk's Growing Log

[King Julien]

My concern this year is that I won't be able to drum up clients for computer builds this Christmas since our local economy is dependent on marijuana sales. I was able to build bada$$ systems for people because they had a lot of extra money to throw around. Though my build prices are reasonable, I build enthusiast grade gaming workstations and they are several thousand at the bottom end. I'll try to push game console replacement systems this year but Ethereum coin mining has made mid-grade graphics cards ridiculously expensive and the manufacturers are only now starting to catch up with demand. The massive price drops in X99 mobos and CPUs are helping a little but not enough. I may also push for upgrades this Christmas season. The new GTX 1080 ti cards are seeing a decent price drop and the reference cards are only a little more than a GTX 1070. 1080s are not efficient enough for Ethereum mining with their DDR5X memory. At the bottom end the GTX 1050ti's are not powerful enough for mining and are excellence console replacement cards if someone doesn't care about VR or isn't doing any serious 4k gaming.

You might consider trying to market some mid-end VR systems. I haven't bought it but I put together a VR ready rig for 800-900 bucks without an operating system but I don't buy those anyway. You can make and sell them with a VR kit for 2 grand and it be a fairly good deal while also running most other current games.

You can get the made for VR graphics cards they've come out with recently that run in the 250-350 price range. The rest of the rig is fine for future upgrades to the graphics card when they want more out of it VR-wise down the line as the tech progresses a bit.

I've sold a couple of them over the last few months.

 

[SmithsJunk]

You might consider trying to market some mid-end VR systems. I haven't bought it but I put together a VR ready rig for 700-800 bucks without an operating system but I don't buy those anyway. You can make and sell them with a VR kit for 2 grand and it be a fairly good deal while also running most other current games.

You can get the made for VR graphics cards they've come out with recently that run in the 250-350 price range. The rest of the rig is fine for future upgrades to the graphics card when they want more out of it VR-wise down the line as the tech progresses a bit.

I've sold a couple of them over the last few months.

To the best of my knowledge the cards in that price range, 4GB GTX 1050 ti's, don't run VR even though they're marketed as VR cards. I think the 6GB GTX 1060 is the lowest price card that is spec'd for VR. The GTX 1050's can run VR in theory but are not likely to run it well enough for gaming.

I'm glad you said something. Looks like the GTX 1060 6gb have dropped in price by $75-$150. I'm back in business boys. The compact 6GB GTX 1060 by Zotac is only $259 and is an excellent sise for micro-ATX machines.

Thank you very much. I've been so caught up in cannabis lately I haven't stayed up to date on my real passion.

 

[King Julien]

To the best of my knowledge the cards in that price range, 4GB GTX 1050 ti's, don't run VR even though they're marketed as VR cards. I think the 6GB GTX 1060 is the lowest price card that is spec'd for VR. The GTX 1050's can run VR in theory but are not likely to run it well enough for gaming.

I'm glad you said something. Looks like the GTX 1060 6gb have dropped in price by $75-$150. I'm back in business boys. The compact 6GB GTX 1060 by Zotac is only $259 and is an excellent sise for micro-ATX machines.

View attachment 755591

Thank you very much. I've been so caught up in cannabis lately I haven't stayed up to date on my real passion.

Glad I could help!

 

[SmithsJunk]

Glad I could help!

Nice to find a fellow builder on here.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Glad I could help!

This is probably a dumb question, but are you a PCpartpicker.com member as well? I hadn't built a computer since the 90's till last year. PCpartpicker did for my computer building what this forum did for my growing. Excellent resource, especially the compatibility filter when your putting together a parts list.

 

[King Julien]

I am not, but I'm more of a tinkerer. I get enough requests from people around me for something and I figure out what it'll take to fill the niche for a while.

Sold a lot of mid-end gaming rigs over the years. Most of what I aim for is a computer that will run today's tech for the lowest price and future proof the most important parts to ensure a long, capable of being upgraded, lifespan.

I probably only build 3-4 comps a year though. Living in the boonies it's hard to find too many people that want to learn how to use anything more than a console.

 

[SmithsJunk]

I am not, but I'm more of a tinkerer. I get enough requests from people around me for something and I figure out what it'll take to fill the niche for a while.

Sold a lot of mid-end gaming rigs over the years. Most of what I aim for is a computer that will run today's tech for the lowest price and future proof the most important parts to ensure a long, capable of being upgraded, lifespan.

I probably only build 3-4 comps a year though. Living in the boonies it's hard to find too many people that want to learn how to use anything more than a console.

If you haven't yet, you should try the X99 platform. I know a lot of gamers don't realise how powerful and well equipped for gaming they are. I have 2 riggs with 6850k's in them. My Bullfrog X99 is in pieces right now waiting for a 1080ti but the Raven X99 is running my entertainment system and Oculus Rift. The new X299 platform is f^ckin ridiculously stupid but the last gen is powerful, stable, can SLI dual x16 graphics cards with x8 lanes to spare, and my 6850k's overclock like beasts. I can get a stable overclock of 4.2-4.4Ghz on all six cores. If you can afford a couple grand on a machine, you can easily build a killer X99. I'd stay above the 6800k though its worth $50 for the 12 extra lanes and higher OC. I got into them for their ability to future proof. I still don't regret spending $4k on my first one when Broadwell was brand new.

(I totally feel you on how hard it is to drum up business in the boondocks.)

 

[King Julien]

If you haven't yet, you should try the X99 platform. I know a lot of gamers don't realise how powerful and well equipped for gaming they are. I have 2 riggs with 6850k's in them. My Bullfrog X99 is in pieces right now waiting for a 1080ti but the Raven X99 is running my entertainment system and Oculus Rift. The new X299 platform is f^ckin rediculously stupid but the last gen is powerful, stable, can SLI dual x16 graphics cards with x8 lanes to spare, and my 6850k's overclock like beasts. I can get a stable overclock of 4.2-4.4Ghz on all six cores. If you can afford a couple grand on a machine, you can easily build a killer X99. I'd stay above the 6800k though its worth $50 for the 12 extra lanes and higher OC. I got into them for their ability to future proof. I still don't regret spending $4k on my first one when Broadwell was brand new.

Well I spent 1500 on my current rig 7 years ago. 6 core processor, 32 GB of RAM, 3 GB Zotech GTX 580 later changed out for a 2 GB GTX 960 when I found out that those 3 GB cards had a fatal flaw, and 2 10K RPM raptors that later got switched out for 2 120GB SSDs. So 1K for anything futureproofed far from scares me.

I'm literally a graphics card away from being VR ready I just want to build a completely new set-up due to how old the initial parts are getting. The motherboard and power supply have been powerhouses but between new tech and age it's not worth pouring anything into my old comp except to keep it working.

But I built it with the idea of playing every game I wanted to for 7 years and be a functional gaming rig for 10-12 years so I'm doing alright. Got my 7 years out of it. Never ran into a game I couldn't play seeing as I don't have a VR set-up of my own yet. If it lasts another 3 years and can only run the games that have come out so far then I'll be more than happy.

Getting the VR bug though. Playing Scanner Somber made me really want a VR rig.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Well I spent 1500 on my current rig 7 years ago. 6 core processor, 32 GB of RAM, 3 GB Zotech GTX 580 later changed out for a 2 GB GTX 960 when I found out that those 3 GB cards had a fatal flaw, and 2 10K RPM raptors that later got switched out for 2 120GB SSDs. So 1K for anything futureproofed far from scares me.

I'm literally a graphics card away from being VR ready I just want to build a completely new set-up due to how old the initial parts are getting. The motherboard and power supply have been powerhouses but between new tech and age it's not worth pouring anything into my old comp except to keep it working.

But I built it with the idea of playing every game I wanted to for 7 years and be a functional gaming rig for 10-12 years so I'm doing alright. Got my 7 years out of it. Never ran into a game I couldn't play seeing as I don't have a VR set-up of my own yet. If it lasts another 3 years and can only run the games that have come out so far then I'll be more than happy.

Getting the VR bug though. Playing Scanner Somber made me really want a VR rig.

...and you can't lose on that new graphics card cause you can stick it in anything. You might laugh but before I built my Bullfrog I was using an Acer Aspire One AO722 11.6" netbook. It had a Bobcat C60 Fury processor, dual core 1Ghz (1.333Ghz turbo for 5 sec at a time), an integrated 1GB AMD Radeon GPU, and I upgraded the RAM from 2GB 1066 to an overspec'd 4GB 1333. It could play Fallout New Vegas on med settings HDMI'd to a 32" 720p tv. I just replaced the mobo, added a copper heatsink and Arctic Silver thermal paste, added an oversised battery, and installed Win 10 on it. Gave it to my Mom because the last Acer laptop I gave her finally died. I gamed on that thing for 6 years until it finally hit a game it couldn't run, Skyrim. One CPU core died the day I finished the Bullfrog. I am obsessed with small machines, and I like maximising old gen machines for friends who can't afford new ones. I will not knock an older system unless it was, of course, sh*t in the first place, lol. My next personal PC will probably be a micro-ATX Z170 with an OC'd i3-7350k, 16GB 3000-3200 RAM, and a GTX 1050ti. I'll probably just sell it at cost to a friend or even give it away. It's good word of mouth advertising.

I understand if you get the Vive, but if you do get a Rift Robo Recall is mind numbing. Imo, ine of the best games ever made and the best example of the capability of our current VR headsets.

 

[Ceveres]

Sh*t!!! I was supposed to have nearly $5k to work with by this weekend, but f^ckin Murphy's Law... was only able to pull off $500.

It's just not enough to get started on this new project. I would buy an inverter but I found out I have the wrong charge controller for a proper solar generator. So I've got to fork over another $200 for a 40amp MPPT controller, $150 for a 1500w sine inverter, $200 for the second 100ah solar battery, and $200 for one more panel, mounting kit, and three way 10awg mc4 extension connector (already have the second panel+mounting hardware+2 2-way mc4 extension connectors coming).

...after all that I can finally start buying all the grow sh*t. I wanted to be into bloom by Christmas but I don't have to. Maybe I should take a couple weeks off from being an OCD workaholic, get very stoned, and play some Fallout 4.

Shit I feel your pain man, with all the outdoor that just came down around here, I'm having a tough time offing what I need to get rid of and it's not nearly the size of your stash lol. It's definitely a buyers market around here right now, but I'm experiencing the same with all the dispos, straight gouging. $15/gram for "Girl Scout Cookies" that taste like hay. $45-50 for mid-poor quality BHO. I paid $45 for a gram of shatter. Even said "Shatter" in big fancy letters on the envelope. Pulled it out to find dark green sugar wax... wtf?? Full of plant matter and chlorophyll.. so my 9-5 doing HVAC is gonna have to do... damn hehe

You've inspired me tho bro, next Spring it's on! My backyard isn't the biggest, and I have to leave a reasonable amount of space for my dog. But I think I'll be able to do 6 big tree girls. Start them indoors and start vegging them early.

You just can't beat the sun. The closest I could imagine is having full spectrum lights on rails with movers, and even then it still couldn't compare. Maybe a hundred COB LEDs in a concave formation with timers that sweep the light from one side to the other the the sun's movement... sorry I'm baked and rambling lmao

 

[SmithsJunk]

Shit I feel your pain man, with all the outdoor that just came down around here, I'm having a tough time offing what I need to get rid of and it's not nearly the size of your stash lol. It's definitely a buyers market around here right now, but I'm experiencing the same with all the dispos, straight gouging. $15/gram for "Girl Scout Cookies" that taste like hay. $45-50 for mid-poor quality BHO. I paid $45 for a gram of shatter. Even said "Shatter" in big fancy letters on the envelope. Pulled it out to find dark green sugar wax... wtf?? Full of plant matter and chlorophyll.. so my 9-5 doing HVAC is gonna have to do... damn hehe

You've inspired me tho bro, next Spring it's on! My backyard isn't the biggest, and I have to leave a reasonable amount of space for my dog. But I think I'll be able to do 6 big tree girls. Start them indoors and start vegging them early.

You just can't beat the sun. The closest I could imagine is having full spectrum lights on rails with movers, and even then it still couldn't compare. Maybe a hundred COB LEDs in a concave formation with timers that sweep the light from one side to the other the the sun's movement... sorry I'm baked and rambling lmao

That's alright, I don't mind rambling. I'm glad your going to start outdoor. Definitely check out the Tree threads if you haven't already. They inspired me.

Ear wax, that's nasty. It's $30gr for good shatter around here. I'm only buying the press because I need to do something with all this weed. I've still got to trim my final harvest and I'm running out of places to put it. I need to have a mechanic take a look at my van and find what's causing my rough idle, gonna check if he'll take weed in trade for labor. Probably not, I bet local mechanics have more weed than they can smoke right now. I've replaced half my engine trying to figure out the problem and I'm stumped.

 

[Rcubed]

I don't know if you tried one yet but you can get bluetooth OBD2 scanners for next to nothing and download Torque lite for free. It will probably tell you what's up with the idle. It's helped me enough so I could fix the idle problems I've had and I'm no expert grease monkey

 

[SmithsJunk]

I don't know if you tried one yet but you can get bluetooth OBD2 scanners for next to nothing and download Torque lite for free. It will probably tell you what's up with the idle. It's helped me enough so I could fix the idle problems I've had and I'm no expert grease monkey

I have a nice scanner, no Bluetooth. My van isn't sending an error code so it's useless. I've replaced the intake manifold gasket, upper intake gaskets, injectors, coil, plug wires, plugs, pcv valve, pcv hose, MAP sensor, air filter, and the vacuum lines are good as far as I can tell. Most people wouldn't even notice it but it's bugging the sh*t out of me. She's running a hair rich, has a barely noticable rattle at idle, a slight shudder in acceleration once in a while, and I get a whiff of fuel sometimes just when I shut her off. I'm ready to replace the computer and then the injector harness, but before I drop another $900 I'll have my mechanic look at her. Couldn't be too many other things. Maybe a plugged cat or bad O2 sensor. I'm tired of guessing. So to the mechanic for an eval she's going. I'll replace the head gasket or drop a new engine in her if I have to. Hopefully it's not that bad though.

 

[Rcubed]

Sounds like you got it handled. I've usually found bad O2 sensors to be the culprit but they should throw a code.

 

[SmithsJunk]

Sounds like you got it handled. I've usually found bad O2 sensors to be the culprit but they should throw a code.

...and that's the b*tch of it. That's why I need to take it in. This is a problem beyond my shade-tree skills. What I'm really afraid of is that it's going to stump my mechanic too. Here's to hoping his $50k diagnostic machine can read what the OBD2 can't. He's a pretty good mechanic and he's also not the cheapest in town. Most of the other mechanics in town are complete f^cktards who can't change a rotor cap or in the case of my van will get lost trying to find a rotor cap, and I wouldn't trust them with an oil change.

Thanks for trying to help.

 

[King Julien]

...and you can't lose on that new graphics card cause you can stick it in anything. You might laugh but before I built my Bullfrog I was using an Acer Aspire One AO722 11.6" netbook. It had a Bobcat C60 Fury processor, dual core 1Ghz (1.333Ghz turbo for 5 sec at a time), an integrated 1GB AMD Radeon GPU, and I upgraded the RAM from 2GB 1066 to an overspec'd 4GB 1333. It could play Fallout New Vegas on med settings HDMI'd to a 32" 720p tv. I just replaced the mobo, added a copper heatsink and Arctic Silver thermal paste, added an oversised battery, and installed Win 10 on it. Gave it to my Mom because the last Acer laptop I gave her finally died. I gamed on that thing for 6 years until it finally hit a game it couldn't run, Skyrim. One CPU core died the day I finished the Bullfrog. I am obsessed with small machines, and I like maximising old gen machines for friends who can't afford new ones. I will not knock an older system unless it was, of course, sh*t in the first place, lol. My next personal PC will probably be a micro-ATX Z170 with an OC'd i3-7350k, 16GB 3000-3200 RAM, and a GTX 1050ti. I'll probably just sell it at cost to a friend or even give it away. It's good word of mouth advertising.

I understand if you get the Vive, but if you do get a Rift Robo Recall is mind numbing. Imo, ine of the best games ever made and the best example of the capability of our current VR headsets.

I originally was interested in the vive and that's all I've sold to people because in my personal opinion it's the most capable unit on the market at the moment.

For myself though I'm waiting until next gen VR systems come out in a year or two. I'm still just not that impressed with the games they've got out there for what the unit costs. I'd love to play some of them if I had one but I also would be pissed if I had bought one and those games were all I had available to me.

Besides...The next generation units are almost certain to have a lot of the bugs worked out and I'm not a fan of bugs in anything that costs more than found on the side of the road.

 

[SmithsJunk]

I originally was interested in the vive and that's all I've sold to people because in my personal opinion it's the most capable unit on the market at the moment.

For myself though I'm waiting until next gen VR systems come out in a year or two. I'm still just not that impressed with the games they've got out there for what the unit costs. I'd love to play some of them if I had one but I also would be pissed if I had bought one and those games were all I had available to me.

Besides...The next generation units are almost certain to have a lot of the bugs worked out and I'm not a fan of bugs in anything that costs more than found on the side of the road.

I can't speak for the Vive, but except for a couple driver issues when I first hooked it up, the Rift is bug free. With the price drops it's down to around $540 w/touch and the 3rd sensor. I like the Rift community because we are a bunch of defiant modders raging against the machine. If someone won't make a game VR for us, then we'll crack that sh*t and do it ourselves. I know very little coding but I'm good at incorporating other people's work into solutions. There is only one game I've had problems with running and it was buggy as f^ck in non VR as well because it was even too early for beta release. I'm a Bethesda open world junkie and they have large modding communities. They've already VR'd Fallout New Vegas and Skyrim for Oculus. It takes a third party VR driver and a little work to get them up and running but it's worth it. My only gripe is it's hard to integrate the touch controllers into mods but it'll happen eventually. I have to give alot of credit to my graphics card for all the smooth gameplay. I'm running an EVGA GTX 1080 FTW hybrid in the Raven and I'm saving for an GTX 1080ti FTW 3 hybrid for the Bullfrog.

(This is when she still had the guts I put in the Raven. Haven't done any pics with the Asrock Taichi mobo since she isn't finished)

I may just buy the Vive and hook her up to my Bullfrog or more likely swap the FTW into the Bullfrog and install the FTW3 into the Raven. I'm partial to the combination MSI X Power titanium mobo and Seasonic Prime titanium PSU.

(Here's the Raven X99, I name them because it's easier than trying to spit out system specs when talking about them. I name every unique build. I know I sound like a f^ckin dork but it works.)

The next X99 micro-ATX I want to builld will be the test control system for the automated grow I'm designing. I'll be using a Thermaltake Core V21 case with either an Asrock or EVGA mobo and a reference GTX 1080ti.

Maybe I'll use it for the Vive... I'm only buying the Vive on two conditions, if Bethesda and Oculus can't work out their bullsh*t and the if new Vive gun is universal to all/most FPS games. (That gun is sick and I would gladly fork over $650 for it.)

 

[Farmer P]

You play any call of duty? I play on playstation. I'm ok at blackops 3. I play Infinate warfare some but like blackops better.

 

[SmithsJunk]

You play any call of duty? I play on playstation. I'm ok at blackops 3. I play Infinate warfare some but like blackops better.

Nope, never been a COD fan. I liked Medal of Honor though. Wasn't big on the FPS games while using a controller. The touch changed all that. I'm a dead shot with a rifle and pistol so I devestate some sh*t with the touch controllers. Something like that Vive gun would be even more bada$$. If COD goes VR and uses the motion tracked controllers, I will definitely play.

 

[SmithsJunk]

You play any call of duty? I play on playstation. I'm ok at blackops 3. I play Infinate warfare some but like blackops better.

I want to play Player Unknown Battlegrounds but my internet speeds are prohibitive. I was pissed when I downloaded Warhammer End Times Vermintide with all it's add-ons and found out it doesn't play offline. Spent around $100 and couldn't play it. I offered to pay for upgraded speeds but my cousin is stubborn and won't go for it or let me bring a second phone pair in from the lines. Even if he did, the max we get is around 700kBps and I don't think that's enough for online VR. If I get into my buddie's place next year his speeds are like 50x as fast. It'll be on, and I'll be able to utilise my dual ac connection.

Meanwhile, my final Kush harvest is dry. Got some nice buds from it. These flowers have only been machine bowl trimmed no touch up. Not bad. Did 20-30 turns to get them tighter. Should be some fiery wheelie weed with the extra ripening time.

I'm gonna load a bowl now to check it out. These nugs will be my primary rosin press victims.