Genizues

Thanks it seems as if though he would still like the Thrustmaster better since Ferrari, but I will consider this.

Great and beautiful rig. Cant wait to see more.

PC gamers are the master race, but i do like to watch what is going on in the lesser world of console gaming. But if you could keep and continue to use your pc what console would you get as a secondary gaming system? Yes Wii U counts and it is also my pick for dem exclusives.

This case looks so good. I think i just found my new favorite case

Introduction:
You may have seen me post around quite a bit telling people not to buy the 4GB variants of the 760, 770, 660 TI or 680 or the 6GB variant of the 7970; this is due to a little factor called the memory bus size it's hard to explain it on a technical level while still making it easy to understand so I'll simplify it down to a real world analogy.
 
What exactly is the memory bus?
The memory bus is the pathway that your gpu uses to access the memory it has and is generally measured in bits (8 bits = 1 byte :P ) this works together with the memory clock speed to work out exactly how much of the memory can be accessed per second.
 
So how will it effect my graphics card?
Think of the memory as water and the memory bus as a tunnel, if you need more water than your memory bus will let through then you're going to have to wait a while to wait for that extra water to come through. If your graphics card has memory bus designed for 2GB and your add another 2GB then you've added more water without being able to get that extra water through the memory bus.
 
What about memory clock?
The memory clock is like the speed of the water, if you increase the speed of the water enough then you can push more water through the small memory bus ^_^ the issue is however that you need a pretty large speed increase to access double the water in comparison to before.
 
Conclusion
So if you're buying a variant of a graphics card with double the memory then make sure that either the memory clock is increased or you know you'll be able to increase it (gpu boost 2.0) otherwise all that extra memory (and that extra cash) is wasted. Since memory clocks generally aren't very very high a good rule of thumb is 128bits and 1000mhz effective memory clock per gb (this can change to 64bits and 2000mhz and vice versa so make sure you do your math :D to work out if you're going to be able to use all that memory)
 
P.S.
I thought I'd add in my Titan calculations for any of you mathematicians reading this (attatched as a txt) and by my calculation a titan would need exactly double it's effective memory clock speed to access all 6GB of it's memory that or it's only accessing 3GB of it's memory and since we've already seen the titan use more than that leaving me with the conclusion GK110 only needs half the memory clock to access all the GB which to me is a crazy revolutionary advancement O.o
titan calculations.txt

This doesn't surprise me. Samsung just seems like they just want to be the first ones to market, and don't care about how many losses they take to do so.

it would be cheap too, I was in Kmart today as saw they had a whole heap of mac pros for $20:
 

 
trolololololollollollololololo

For my GCSE project ( secondary school ) in Product design we have to design and manufacture a product of out choice , being a tech and gaming fan i got designing a Gaming Pod/Chair. This project is a year long thing - where we have to spend ages designing and making a portfolio and then eventually manufacturing. I though that some of you guys may want to see how i am going to make it and follow me on my journey. Plus you guys would be an awesome tool for getting feedback on areas to improve. All these stages wont be in huge detail will but just underline the main aspects.
 
Current up to date Images:
 
Guys i have now started to paint the POD and went for Chrome red and black  
 

 

 

 

 
 
Step One : Designing 
 
For this stage i spent hours and hours with pen to paper and using CAD to come up with my final idea/design. As i posted before i had to main designs and you guys actually chose the one which i was going to take forward so here is the CAD and designs for the product.
 
This is my original CAD image of how i wanted the Pod/Chair to look like 

 
In addition in order to ensure that i was making the product the correct size to begin with i used an autonimous 6ft 2 male to place inside my design so that i could correctly size the shape of the chair to fit people of all size 

 
The method in which i am designed to manufacture this product was to create 2 symetrical Faces which i would CNC out and then using MDF struts that would join the two faces together and use bendy plywood to cover the struts and give an area to a place to sit. 
 
 
Step 2 : Cutting out the design
 
After i was sure about all the measurements of design i cut out the design on a CNC machine as this would allow all the parts to be symmetrical and then they would fit together seamlessly ( just like ikea flat pack furniture)



 
i designed the struts so that they would slot into the face of the two faces and then they would only need a bit of Glue to then hold them in place as they would fit so tightly that they would remain rigid.
 
 
Step 3 : Assembling my flat pack design
 
So now that i had cut out all the MDF i could now start to assemble the product. using a hammer and Wood glue i carefully started to assemble the product.
 




 
Then i turned the Pod onto its side where i left the Glue to dry - and the design was beginning to take shape

 
 
Step 4 : Adding Bendy Ply
 
Now that the main shape of the pod was standing it was now time to start adding in the bendy Ply - this will allow for and area for the user to sit on . I used a staple gun to stick the plywood to the face to the MDF boards. Even though the staples can be clearly visible as i will be adding a layer of upholstered (memory foam) over the top to add cushioning to comfortably sit on.I then repeated this on the back of the pod to start adding the roofing of the Pod. I then used an electric sander to smooth off all the edges and blend the MDF and plywood together to create  a clean finish.
 



 
Step 5 : Adding More bendy Ply ( Roof)
 
So as in the previous section i used the same stapling technique to attach it to the MDF , this time i was doing it on the top section of my POD. Then after using the Electric sander i sanded down the edges to blend the MDF and Ply to look like they were a single piece of material.
 

 
NEW :
 
Using a fabric tape measure i was able to accurately measure length of bendy ply needed to go around the bend - i could not do this section in one large sheet as the bendy ply will not bend ( it will but it will put more strain on the material) 
successfully in more than on direction. In addition as i still have wiring to route through the inside of the pod ( for Monitor and Power) i cannot cover up the inside of the POD at this stage. So using a tri square and ruler i accurately   measure out the length of The Bendy ply that i needed,  and then i cut it out.
 

 
 
This section was going to be the hardest section to attach the bendy ply due the severity of the bend. First off all i clamped the Ply into place so that i could fire in a couple of staples to align the Ply , allowing me to use that as a template to then carry on stapling ( allowed me to remove the clamps as well)To ensure that the Bendy Ply did not snap i had to bend the Ply with the Grain - since going against the grain on the bend would of caused the ply to snap, and a snapped material is not what i need  . Getting you of my friends to hold the bendy ply around the bend i stapled the Ply to the MDF and continued this throughout the sheet of Ply.
 

 
As i had excess Material hanging off the side of the POD i used a Saw to trim down the edges ( i had to apply little pressure to the saw as applying high amounts of force will cause the bendy ply to flake and crack due to the grain being under stress , meaning i had to take extra care to prevent this from happening) Then using a Power sander i removed all excess material and blended the MDF and Ply to look as if they were one material. 

 
 
Step 6 : Upholstering the Seat
 
in this section i will be creating the seating arrangements for the POD. In order to do this i will be using a 800ml (wide) by 2300ml (2.3m long) piece of memory foam which i attached onto a piece of Hardwood using Contact Adhesive. I will be doing this separate from the POD and then using Velcro to attach it to the inside of the pod.
 

 

 
Now i will be using Leatherette (black) to cover the Memory Foam - so i started to staple the Leatherette to the under side of the Hardboard.
 

 
 
I  spent a while trying to attach the leatherette without making it creasing , however my attempts failed and i had to think of a new way to perform this section. 
As a result in order to prevent creases from occurring when i added the Seating into the POD i decided to use Contact adhesive to Glue the Leatherette directly onto the Memory Foam whilst it was inside the POD. This stage was quite tricky with just one pair of hands but as you will see from the picture i used some makeshift methods to complete it.
 
Firstly i clamped the Memory foam into place so that it would not move - as if the memory foam moved when i was gluing down the Leatherette this would cause creases to occur. Starting from the Top i sprayed small sections of the Memory foam and Leatherette in the contact adhesive 
 

 
As i wont the glue to remain permanent i needed to spray multiple layer of glue onto both materials.
 

 
Next once the glue had dried i folded down the Leatherette onto the Memory foam and using my hand rubbed it onto the Memory foam - this prevented creases from occurring and ensured that all the Leatherette was stuck onto the foam.
 

 
i continued this method all the way down to the bottom of the memory foam until all the memory foam was covered. The reason why i chose to do it in small steps was to ensure that it was done correctly as if you stick it down wrong there is no going back , since the glue will just rip the Foam up if you try to pull it off ( yes this stuff is very strong)
 

 
Once i left the Foam to rest in the Pod for approx. 30 mins to allow all the glue to set in to the correct shape i removed it from the pod and started to staple  the Leatherette to the back on the board ( that the Foam is attached to ) and upholster the edges ( like wrapping a Christmas present). I unfortunately do not have images of this ATM as forgot to take some but i will have some for you next week.
 
Now the only stage left to complete is to attach the Seating to the POD its self.
 
Stage 7 : Manufacturing a Tray 
 
This step will be based around me designing a Tray that will be able to hold a keyboard and mouse ( or laptop , food plate ) and don't worry it will have a Cup holder  . The Tray will be designed around a arm mechanism -which i have designed but they are very rough sketches so i will do some neater ones and will post them soon)
 
First of all i started with a piece of Wood and cut it into the correct size of 800mm wide ( to match the width of the pod) as this will allow it to then connect to the fold-able hinge system i have designed. Then i hopped onto Corel Draw (CAD program ) and started designing a boarder which would then prevent items from slipping of the edges of the tray. 
 

 
Now i decided to draw the Space invader set that would then go around the Light gathering acrylic just to spice up the Boarder so it isn't boring (every one loves space invaders) and then i was left with some room at the bottom so i Draw in the Battlefield 4 Logo as it is one of my favorite games. I used the Laser cutter to Etch the designs into the surface of the light gathering acrylic , as when light from the TV hits the acrylic it will channel the light out the side to aluminate the designs so they will look as if there are L.E.D s under neigh back lighting it.
 

 

 
NEW
 
Since i wanted the Acrylic to sit into the tray so it was flush with the surface of the Wood i had to route out a 3 mm deep template ( same as the acrylic boarder). Using Corel Draw i designed the template for the router to cut out:
 

 
using just the simple pen tool ( to make straight lines ) using the dimensions of the Acrylic boarder i set this to route out of the tray ( 800 mm x 400 mm) 
 

 
However as my schools router is not the most advanced it uses a really old CAD software called 2d design ( which is terrible and really hard to use) meaning that it is really hard to be accurate with the drawings . Even though i had already made the drawings in corel draw they they have to be re sized to work with the router. after that was all done i set the router to cut it out.
 

 
However the router ( as it is not as accurate as the laser cutter) i could not get the acrylic to sit into the wood as the router had cut it out to the wrong dimensions. I tried this on 3 occasions and still did not work so i had to change the way in which i approached this situation. Unfortunately i forgot to get pics of this stage. Using the corel draw designs above i altered them to cut out a 3mm thick piece of plywood which had the area around the outside ( to fit the acrylic into ) cut out. Then i would stick this onto the surface of the wood tray. ( i will get images of this stage next week) 
 
Now i had to make the arms that would hold the tray in place. Using the laser cutter i cut out two identical 3mm thick templates which would then go over the top of the Wooden arms to give it a better finish. 
 

 

 
The templates have an array of holes in so that the tray can be altered to different heights depending on the size of the user. Then using these as a  template i cut out two wooden arms manually and then used a Belt sander to smooth off the edges to be flush with the acrylic.
 

 

 

 

 
After this i then used a pillar drill to cut out the holes in the arms which would allow metal connection on the tray to slide and be bolted in to hold the tray securely into place. Sorry i forgot to get images of these last couple of steps for this bit but i will get some and update you with them by the end of next week.
 
Next i had to route out a slit down the center of the tray to slot the metal pole into. marking on the diameter of the pole i used a Hand router to cut out the slit accurately. 
 

 

 

 

 
Next i needed to create a thread on the end of the metal pole in order to supply and area for the bolt to attach onto , using a TAP set ( and all the muscle my small body has ) i used the TAP set to thread the ends of the Metal pole. In addition i needed to use a thicker metal pole which would be used to attach the arm to the POD itself , so i used the same steps.
 

 

 

 
Using a contact adhesive glue i glued the metal pole into the routed out slit , then now it was time to cover up the face of the tray. Since i had usde up 3x 800x400 mm plywood sheets with the router that had all failed , i needed to use one of the failed attempts for this section. Therefore as you can see the face of the wood has the routed out design into the wood. In order to cover this i cut out a 800x400mm 3mm plywood sheet ( via the laser cutter) and then stuck this using PVA glue onto the face to cover up the imperfections.
 

 
I have actually completed and attached both the arms and the tray to my design but forgot to take images of these final steps so i will get some snaps and update this next week so you guys can see
 
 
 
TV/Bracket NEW!!
 
Thankfully i am nearing the end of this long build and it is now time to start to add the bracket to the POD. Since the inside of the POD is hollow i had no secure pieces of would that i could simply attach the bracket to , like you would a wall at home. Therefore i had to create a makeshift wall inside my POD to attach the bracket onto. First i had to un-staple the piece of Bendy Ply so i could get to the section where i would be attaching my bracket. In addition i had purchased a 3m long HDMI cable to go through the POD ( through the cable holes which i cut out right back at the CNC stage ). 
 

 
Now i cut out a 800mm wide piece of thick wood which fit snugly into the inside of the POD and would allow me to securely attach the bracket onto. After using a ruler to ensure i was mounting the bracket into the center of the wood i marked on the correct area to drill my bracket holes. Then using a drill i simply drilled out 2 mounting holes for the bracket and securely attach the the main body of the bracket onto the wood . Now it was ready to be installed into the POD.
 

 

 
Meanwhile i marked out two holes that needed to be cut out in the side of the POD ( MDF faces) that would allow me to attach the bracket inside. Using multiple drill sizes i made a pilot hole and then the correct sized drill piece to create  hole to insert the screws, this allowed me to make sure the screws were straight. Then using a Larger drill piece of made a counter sink hole to allow the screws to sit inside the MDF , this allows me to then fill over the holes when it comes to painting the POD.
 

 

 
Now i had the Bracket installed i needed to re-attach the Bendy ply. In order to do this i had to mark on a square area to allow the Bracket to come through the Bendy ply. I then cut this hole out and stapled the Bendy ply back into place. In order to make the hole look more Aesthetically pleasing i cut out a Hollow square out of black acrylic on the laser cutter and used contact adhesive glue to stick it onto the bendy ply. PS. the glue is still wet in the images and it will not leave that horrible marking around the edges when dried and sanded away.
 

 

 

 
I have actually also put in a plug socket box and electrical cabling to supply and area to plug in the TV/Monitor but these images will be coming in the next update. 
 
 
 
Last Images:
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Feedback and Improvements:
 
i am fully open to comments and any improvements or features you may want me to add . so just pop a comment below and i will reply.

WHY YOU SO PRO, YOU SIR IS A INVENTOR.