2026 // id // two weekends, two warnets, one dead RAM stick

told my family i'm going out to meet friends. they pictured me at a cafe, talking, hanging out. i went to the internet cafe (warnet) instead. two weekends in a row now.

short career context: job applications = reads, no replies. one interview landed on the same day as my sidang kompre (comprehensive exam) — 29 august. couldn't do both.

so weekends became warnet time. not proud of the lie. not proud of the avoidance either. but the PC there works.

my home PC isn't enough anymore. the warnet PC is adequate — smooth framerates, fast internet, zero stutter. the "addiction" isn't the place. it's the competence. things just work.

at home: 15-year-old CPU, one RAM stick died while i was deep-cleaning yesterday. now 8GB single-channel. GPU from 2013.

at warnet: 12th/13th gen Intel, DDR4/DDR5, RTX 5060 or 3050. 100mbps or 1gbps. games load in seconds. discord crisp. obs ready.

home (dying):
  i5-3570 (ivy bridge, 2012)
  16GB DDR3 → 8GB (one stick dead post-clean)
  R7 260X (2GB VRAM, 2013)

warnet A (100mbps):
  i5-12400
  32GB DDR4
  RTX 5060 (8GB)

warnet B (1gbps):
  i3-12100F
  16GB DDR5
  RTX 3050 (8GB)

warnet A brute-forces everything. warnet B downloads a 100GB game in 15 minutes. both run what i throw at them without thermal throttling or driver crashes.

warnets here only install competitive games — valorant, cs2, dota 2, mlbb pc. i play multiplayer co-op with friends. so i come prepared:

• → external HDD (steam library + saves)
• → portable steam (no install, runs off HDD)
• → portable OBS (configured, logged in, ready to stream)

plug in, launch, play. sometimes i wonder if i should actually hit "start streaming" one of these days.

saturday morning: pack HDD, head out. 4-6 hours of co-op — deep rock galactic, gtfo, rafter, content warning. sunday: repeat or rest.

the lie holds. family asks "how was it?" — "good, ate, talked, came home." technically true. just omitted the headset, the discord calls, the RTX 5060 carrying us through swarm waves.

monday: back to applications. more reads. more silence. repeat.

i need money to upgrade the home PC. that's the honest bottom line.

goal: stop renting hours. bring the warnet smoothness home. i5-12400 + 32GB DDR4 + RTX 4060-ish would do it. used market, patient hunt.

until then: external HDD in bag. portable steam. portable OBS. two more weekends, probably.

sidang kompre done. interview missed. applications still out. pc upgrade fund: Rp 0.

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