The Hive computer has arrived! Not so long ago when Hive was around 13 cents each I decided to buy a bunch of HIVE with some money I had put aside for a computer. The plan was when HIVE hit a dollar I'd buy a new PC. Last week the price of Hive touched on one dollar and I decided to start shopping. Although I haven't sold any of my Hive yet, I couldn't resist ordering this computer when I found it. It was in my price range and had everything I was looking for in my new trading station!
That big hideous looking light on the top is a cheap speaker I plugged in. The speakers I ordered arrived but there was something rattling around in the subwoofer and when I turned it on I got a loud buzz. So I plugged this cheap speaker in to make sure it wasn't an issue with the card or motherboard. Everything seems to work fine.
So I bought some Hive on exchange and each week I converted some HBD into Hive. From the converted HIVE I split that between adding more HP and adding more Hive to the computer fund. I have officially dubbed this the HIVE Computer! Thank you fellow Hivers! I appreciate all your love and support and in many ways you helped make this possible! If you're reading this right now.... YOU ROCK!
I still haven't sold the HIVE I dedicated to this but eventually I will. I'm not powering down anything this market cycle though and I'm pretty confident I'm going to keep my HBD collecting that APR interest! We'll have to see how high HBD climbs.
New Computer
So the older computers were slow and outdated and it was time for some serious upgrading. It has been a long time since I shopped for a decent computer or researched building them. A lot has changed since the days of building my old Pentium II. That was the last computer I built, a Pentium II.
I considered building one this time, but finding graphics cards can be an issue these days. Someone suggested finding a decent pre-built that would be upgradable with a halfway decent graphics card and that's what I ended up doing.
It was honestly getting to the point that I had to upgrade my system. I couldn't put it off anymore. My main computer was an Inspiron 1750 and it could barely handle the order book on Gemini when I was trading. God forbid I had 3 or 4 exchanges open at the same time. Anything more than three exchange windows open would usually result in a crash or a system so slow I'd want to smash it. Something had to be done!
I ended up finding an Asus ROG (Republic of Gamers) Here are the specs:
AMD Ryzen 5 3400 G
DDR4 8 gb
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4gb6
Wireless and Bluetooth.
AOPEN 23 Inch monitor
Logitech Speakers
My old system was outdated and slow. I think this system may have been overkill. I will say this though, my trading experience is now night and day and I'd much rather have too much power than not enough. I'm not sure how powerful this is by gamer standards but as a shitcoin trader this thing seems to be able to handle anything I can throw at it and that all that matters to me!
Old System
I wrote about the old system yesterday. It served me well over the years. It probaby still has a lot of life left in it for someone that only does basic computing. It was perfect for web design, email, surfing the web. If it didn't raise so many issues trading I'd probably still be using it. I tend to get attached to my tech after awhile.
My main reason for upgrading was lack of power. When ever the order book on different exchanges got to crazy the browser window would sometimes crash. I even had a couple exchanges that I couldn't trade on if there was a pump or it was during peak trading hours. It actually costed me dearly a couple times. For that reason alone the upgrade was worth every dime.
New System
My desk is a bit sparse and the next thing is going to be upgrading my office surroundings. It's nice not having a desk cluttered with wires and laptops though! After I get the speakers worked out and the second monitor installed. I'm going to work on some shelves and lighting.
Likes
The new system is a completely different trading experience. Every exchange loads quickly. I can keep multiple trading windows open with no problems at all. The system is actually overkill for what I'm using it for. I'm good with that though. I may actually start gaming now. Thinking about Cyberpunk 2077. For all intent and purposes I'm liking everything about this computer. I actually forgot how good it feels to work on a powerful computer!
Dislikes
I remember when you used to buy a new computer you would get an encyclopedia sized user manual explaining everything about it. A book about whatever version of Windows was installed and how to use it. Hardware drivers and and backup disks. Honestly, it was way more information than anyone needed. It seems we've reached the opposite side of the spectrum.
I ordered a new monitor, speakers, and PC. Instructions were practically non-existent! Literally plug in devices to computer, plug into wall, press power button.
It took me some time to figure out how to put the acrylic side cover on. I figured out how to adjust the contrast and brightness and the rest of the settings on monitor by trial and error. The speakers are pretty much self explanatory but usually they come with a little paperwork hyping them up. I honestly didn't like the lack of documentation!
The monitor I received was supposed to be 23.7 inches but measured 21? IDK rulers and inches are still pretty much universal. An inch is still an inch last time I checked and a centimeter is still a centimeter. This didn't measure up. Still a nice monitor though for the money. I'm not complaining, just saying...
The speakers were a disappointment. I already sent them back and messaged that I'd accept either replacement or a refund whichever was easier. I'll post an update about that down the road.
For some reason I could of sworn the fans were supposed to have LEDs, but they don't on the one I recieved. Fans working fine though, maybe I'll get an upgraded fan down the road. LEDs look nice but they don't improve performance.
The PC came with a keyboard and mouse. I wasn't expecting that. They probably toss them in as a bonus to impress their customers. I used my old keyboard because it's backlit. I did use the new mouse though and it broke after about an hour of using it. Honestly, I didn't know what happened. It started opening all kinds of tabs as I scrolled over links in my web browser. It wouldn't right click. I'd have to open up task manager to close the browser window each time. I honestly thought I somehow got infected with a virus. After doing some research I discovered it was a faulty mouse. I plugged in my old one and problem solved. If you're going to throw something free into your package, make sure it's quality. I could see that causing more harm than good and being a real nightmare for customer service. Who knows, maybe I just got the one faulty one out of a hundred. It had a cheap feel to it too though.
I will say I did some research on ROG and found mixed reviews. Many people love the products others say the quality is slowly eroding. I liked the price range and features though so I decided to take a chance. So far, I'm loving it outside of the faulty mouse!
Upgrades
Even though LEDs don't improve performance, I'd like to putter around with this computer a little. I used to always tinker around with my desktops and I forgot how much I enjoy doing it. I will be adding more LEDs, better fans, memory. Although if I continue to use it the way I am now, I really don't think memory is necessary.
In Conclusion
Well I don't know what else to say. I'm pretty stoked and pretty excited. For the most part this is my first gaming computer. I'll write a more thorough review on all the products down the road. It's tough writing a good review after only using the system for a few hours. I do sincerely want to thank you all for your support and being a part of making this happen. I've believed in HIVE from the start and knew investing some of the computer money in Hive would be a good move. Sometimes you just have to let go, trust in the universe and see what comes of it! Hive on brothers and sisters! Hive on!
This is post 10 of 31 in this months #HiveBloPoMo