Syntax
Hello, I am Syntax and I am one of the writers here at the Academy website. This page is a place where I can easily provide myself and others info on computing stuff I find useful. All the computers listed here are better than that junk listed over on vornox's profile. 
Hardware
Below is a list of the computer rigs I have owned over the years and the hardware they use. Strikeout denotes dead/removed hardware, the red year at the end denotes the year the piece was purchased.
SynPC'21 Desktop
Slated to build in August 2018 Q1 2019 Q2 2020 Q1 2021! Parts finally beginning to be ordered November 2020. All parts in and build was completed on Feb 18, 2021 (albeit with GPU from SynPC'12 due to current semiconductor shortage).
Specs
- Case: Lian Li TU150-WA Silver Aluminum Mini-ITX
- PSU: Corsair SF Series, SF600, 600 Watt, SFX, 80+ Platinum
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S chromax.Black
- Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B550-I Gaming AMD AM4
- Memory: G.SKILL Trident Z Neo Series 64GB (2 x 32GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3600 (PC4 28800)
- Storage:
- WD Black SN850 NVMe 1TB
- WD Green WD20EZRX 2TB (Salvaged from SynPC12)
- Video Card:
EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti 2021-2021 (Salvaged from SynPC12)
- ASUS TURBO-GTX970-OC-4GD5
- Permanent video card TBA
- Display (triple, 2 horizontal, 1 vertical)
- 2x 24" BenQ 1080 - 1920x1080
- 1x 21" LG 22EA63 LED - 1920x1080
- Sound: Sound Blaster X-Fi HD (external)
- OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Home
- Peripherals
- Corsair K70 RGB LED Mechanical Keyboard - Cherry MX Brown
- Corsair M65 RGB Laser Mouse
SynTop'15 Laptop
Lenovo ThinkPad T450s purchased on June 2, 2015. Picking out SynTop'15 was like a 6 month process - was searching for a replacement laptop to retire SynTop'08 as it was pretty close to being unusable. Quite a size difference between this and my old laptop. Paid a total of $1,250 for the laptop + a $300 rebate from work.. came in at just under a grand.
Specs
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 x64
- CPU: Intel Core i5-5300U
- Battery:
- 3 cell 23.2Wh Front
- 3 cell 23.2Wh Rear
- Display: 14.0 FHD IPS WWAN
- RAM: 12GB (4 GB onboard + 8 GB DIMM) DDR3L 1600 MT/s (DIMM upgradable to 16 GB)
- Video: Intel Gfx i5-5300U
- Storage
500GB HDD 7200rpm 2015-2018
- 1TB SSD Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SATA III 3D NAND (MZ-75E1T0B/AM) 2018
- 16GB M.2_SSD Single
- 3rd M.2 SSD Slot (Type 2422)
- Wireless
- Intel 7265AC+BT 2x2
- WWAN upgradable
- Other
- 720p HD Camera
- Backlit Keyboard
- Streaming Peripherals
- Logitech C930e Webcam (software)
- Logitech C615 Webcam (software)
- MOTU Microbook II (soundcard)
SynPC'12 Desktop (Retired)
SynPC'12 was planned out for about 3 to 4 weeks before part arrival and assembly on June 6th, 2012. The build was great fun, took about 4 hours, and was the first time I did one since SynPC'02 - 10 years!
Build pictures here!
- Feb 18, 2021 - Officially out of commission. The GPU has been stolen for SynPC'21 until a new replacement can be sourced.
Specs
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 x64
- Case: LIAN LI PC-V352B Black Aluminum MicroATX
- CPU: Intel Core i5-3550 Ivy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo) LGA 1155
- Display (dual, vertical)
- 21" Acer X223W LCD - 1680x1050 2009
- 21" LG 22EA63 LED - 1920x1080 2014
- Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-M Pro LGA 1155
- PSU:
Thermaltake TR2 W0070RUC 430W 2012-2020
Thermaltake Smart BX1 450W Bronze SLI 2020-2021
- Thermaltake Smart BX1 550W Bronze SLI
- RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
- Wireless: Qualcomm Atheros AR5008x
- Sound: Sound Blaster X-Fi HD (external)
- Video: EVGA 01G-P3-1556-KR GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) FPB 1GB 192-bit
- Storage
- Hard Disk Drives:
- OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3 120GB (SSD, internal)
- WD Green WD20EZRX 2TB (internal)
- WD Passport 500GB (external)
- External Media:
- Peripherals
- Corsair K70 RGB LED Mechanical Keyboard - Cherry MX Brown
- Corsair M65 RGB Laser Mouse
SynTop'08 Laptop (Retired)
Dell Studio 15 (1535), ordered online in August of 2008. When I originally ordered it, I pretty much maxxed out all the hardware as much as I could. It even came with a copy of Microsoft Works and Dell Video Chat! The laptop had a good run for a little under 4 years - worked great for me through my last few years of University. The laptop battery was completely dead and held no charge, and the webcam failed probably 6 months into owning it. Some The Boze got spilled on the keyboard at a party and the keys were sticky for about 2 years. It was also have major problems playing any sort of games or CPU intensive programs so that is why SynPC'12 was commissioned.
2012 October - laptop back into full use as a DJ laptop. While it was in service, it performed quite well! Re-retired in June 2015
2016 July - Recommissioned as a server / data backup computer. Putting that hard drive to use!
2017 September - Retired for the final time and officially shelved. No longer required for backup.
- 2018 November - Dismantled and scrapped. RIP.
Specs
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 (Running at 4GHz total)
- Battery:
- 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion 2008-2012
- 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion 2012-current
- Display: 15.4" Glossy - 1280x800
- OS:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 2008-2012
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 2012
- RAM: 4GB DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
- Video: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 w/ HDMI Output
- Storage
- Hard Disk Drives:
- Western Digital Scorpio SATA - 320GB, 5400RPM
- External Media:
- CD: 6X Slot Load Bluray ComboDrive (Bluray Read Only)
- Other
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam 2009
- Integrated Finger Print Reader
- Integrated High Definition Audio
SynPC'02 Desktop (Retired)
SynPC'02 Desktop computer was originally purchased and assembled in July 2002. Since then, many parts and pieces have been replaced and added due to them dying and what-not. For the most part, at the end of it's run, most of the original components were still in working order and running great.
- June 2009 - Officially out of commission. All the parts have been stripped and scrapped. RIP.
Specs
- CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1700+ (Running at 1.47GHz) 2002
- Display: Samsung SyncMaster 750S (17") CRT Monitor 1999
- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-7VRXP KT333 2002
- OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (2002) SP2
- RAM: 4x256MB DDR = 1024MB total. 2002
- Speakers:
Koss SWEL/115 2003
- Logitech Z-4 2008
- Video:
Geforce4 MX 440 2002
- Radeon 9800 SE 2006 (Running Latest Omega Drivers)
- Input
- Keyboard:
Logitech Internet Navigator 2003
- Microsoft Digital Media Pro 2007
- Mouse:
Logitech MX 500 2002
- Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000 2007
- Storage
- Hard Disk Drives:
- Western Digital Caviar SE (80GB) 2006
- Maxtor DiamondMax (20GB) 1999
- External Media:
- CD: LG GCE-8525B CDRW 52X32X52x 2002
- Floppy: removed 1999
Software
Below is a list of software I use / support. It's more of a personal list, but can benefit others. :D
General
OS Tools
- O&O ShutUp10: Kill all "spy" processes on Win10
- Process Explorer (System): See what is running on your computer at any given time in tree-view.
- SIW (System): System Information for Windows.
- PrivacyTools: Great guide on what you can do to protect your privacy online.
Instant Messaging
ICQ 1996 - 2001
MSN / Windows Live Messenger 2001 - 2012
Skype 2012 - 2015
- Discord
Music
- Ableton: DAW.
- Last.fm: Music scrobbler.
- MP3Tag: ID3 tag editor.
- Rekordbox: DJ library management.
- Spotify: Media streaming service (has pretty much taken over from downloading/playing MP3s as of 2018)
- Winamp: Media player. Yes, I still use Winamp.
Active Worlds
- AW Enhanced: Essential software; makes Alphaworld stomach-able.
- Chatbot: Basic chatbot.
- YASBB: "Yet Another Survey/Building Bot", great for quick object updates that would normally be a repetitive, boring task.
Modeling
See also
