THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

  • 28 Mar 2024, 10:45
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: 1 ... 10 11 [12] 13   Go Down

Author Topic: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread  (Read 332473 times)

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #550 on: 11 Dec 2013, 15:16 »

I think you can often get around activation oddities by going to phone activation.  If you're using a copy of 8 that has previously been used on another machine, there are a number of official tips here.
The activation oddities aren't on Win8, but Win7, and I think that if I just enter my product key again it should be fixed. How to deauthorize the product key is welcome knowledge but in this case it won't help me because Win7 has only been installed once, even though I'm using it on two computers.

So a Windows activation is only valid for a single computer at a time, as far as I'm aware. As in you're allowed to move it between computers, but how you do that, I've got no idea about.
Didn't I tell you about that? I pulled the system drive out of my desktop computer and jacked it into my laptop. Easy as pie if you've got an SSD.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

pwhodges

  • Admin emeritus
  • Awakened
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17,241
  • I'll only say this once...
    • My home page
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #551 on: 11 Dec 2013, 15:36 »

I pulled the system drive out of my desktop computer and jacked it into my laptop. Easy as pie if you've got an SSD.

That is exactly the sort of thing that will cause a need to reactivate.  The validity check takes parameters from the motherboard, the network interface, the system disk, and a few other bits and bobs (I've got a list somewhere), and if more than a certain proportion of them have changed decides that the computer no longer counts as the same as when it was last activated and triggers a new activation request.
Logged
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important."  (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?"  (from: The Eccentric Family )

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #552 on: 21 Dec 2013, 07:11 »

Windows 8.1 decided it would be best if my laptop is passworded with my Microsoft account instead of the normal user account. Now it is apparently unable to load my user profile and I can no longer access the system.

Fucking class act, Microsoft.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

Pilchard123

  • Older than Moses
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4,131
  • I always name them Bitey.
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #553 on: 21 Dec 2013, 10:08 »

What, so you can't get into it if you have no Internet connection?
Logged
Piglet wondered how it was that every conversation with Eeyore seemed to go wrong.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #554 on: 21 Dec 2013, 10:23 »

At first I thought that was the case, but no, I can't get into it at all.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

Masterpiece

  • Older than Moses
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4,364
  • No time for Claireification
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #555 on: 22 Dec 2013, 05:43 »

Wait, how did that happen?

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #556 on: 22 Dec 2013, 07:47 »

Beats me. I hadn't started up Win8 in a few days and I'd just been swapping the Win7 drive in and out one or two times, so I don't see how the Win8 user profile could have been affected by that.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #557 on: 10 Jan 2014, 11:03 »

The people I'm renting with have a 63-inch tv that I can hook my laptop up to, which is awesome. Windows tells me that it has a resolution of 1920*1080 and a refresh rate of 60 Hz, but when I watch videos on the big screen I could swear it runs at 120 Hz, because it looks way smoother than my laptop screen. But according to the configuration it can't go higher than 60. I don't know if my eyes are playing tricks on me or if the tv is performing some techno-magic that creates 120 Hz output from 60 Hz input. My housemate tells me it's actually a 3D tv, and any 3D tv worth a damn does display 120 frames per second, so I'm pretty sure it's possible.

If it didn't have such dreadful input latency I'd never leave the couch. :P
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

K1dmor

  • Beyoncé
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 731
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #558 on: 10 Jan 2014, 11:22 »

 That's the "techno-magic" from the tv. You have to put it in "PC Mode" so it disables the filters, effects and everything else that will affect the signal from your pc. Try to look in the "Image options" of the tv, or "General Configuration"/"TV Configuration" in the menu. If you know the tv model, you could try checking the instructions manual, or giving a quick google search like: "TV MODEL + PC Mode".
Logged

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #559 on: 10 Jan 2014, 14:26 »

I did make a foray into the configuration menu but it's all in Swedish, and it's not my tv so I don't feel comfortable messing with the options... too much. I looked for a PC mode or game mode but I didn't see it.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

TheCollyWolly

  • Larger than most fish
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 117
  • pressganged into service on a gnome submarine
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #560 on: 16 Feb 2014, 17:19 »

So I took advantage of Lenovo's sale and got a new Y510p for $800! So now we're kind of like eskimo brothers, LTK.

There's only one problem. The GT755m doesn't appear to... do... anything. Looking into it, and it seems that a bunch of people have had problems with the Nvidia driver and the computer tries to run everything with the integrated graphics. However, the newest driver (.332) forces the computer to use the dedicated GPU when you try to launch a game. At which point the computer dumps everything out and whatever program you were trying to use crashes immediately. :psyduck:

So... I'm currently running it with no graphics driver so that I can at least use the integrated graphics until I can find a solution. Have you been able to get into your account and try any games out, LTK? EDIT: I am running the driver that shipped from the factory, the .327 version. Although I will let you know if I manage to get it working with not driver at all  :-P
« Last Edit: 16 Feb 2014, 18:23 by TheCollyWolly »
Logged

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #561 on: 17 Feb 2014, 04:10 »

I don't think I could help you there. I installed the integrated graphics drivers first and was then wondering why Minecraft ran like shit. Then I facepalmed and installed the NVidia graphics drivers too and it ran fine.

My driver is version 332.21, and a lot of times it will auto-select the integrated graphics when trying to run a game that Geforce Experience doesn't recognise. Then I just have to go to the NVidia control panel and set it to the dedicated GPU. (Don't forget to click Apply.) If for some reason that process goes tits-up for you, you could try to install the beta drivers and see if that changes things. I don't see anything in the release highlights about forcing the computer to use the dedicated GPU, where does it say that?
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

TheCollyWolly

  • Larger than most fish
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 117
  • pressganged into service on a gnome submarine
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #562 on: 17 Feb 2014, 08:22 »

It doesn't say that anywhere in the release highlights, that's just what it does. With the 327 driver, whether I select the GPU in the control panel or adaptive mode, the games use the integrated graphics. If I disable the integrated graphics in the device manager, the games crash because the GPU is (for whatever reason) not functioning. That's what the 332 driver is doing; when I select the GPU in the Nvidia control panel, it actually does what I tell it to and tries to use the GPU. And thus every game I try to launch immediately crashes.

So you're running Windows 8.1 with the GT755m and you can run the 332 driver with no problems? What games have you tried to run?
Logged

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #563 on: 17 Feb 2014, 09:44 »

No, I'm running Windows 7 still. Minecraft, Hearthstone, Far Cry 3 and Just Cause 2 are all working correctly.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #564 on: 20 Feb 2014, 15:33 »

Um. Hmm. NVidia just released new drivers and after installing them, Speedfan a temperature readout of zero degrees on the GPU. Also, the laptop's fan speed seems to be persisting at an unusually high level even after I exit my game. Strangely, restarting Speedfan seems to bring it down to normal even though I am unable to access any fan controls through Speedfan itself. Weird.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

pwhodges

  • Admin emeritus
  • Awakened
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17,241
  • I'll only say this once...
    • My home page
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #565 on: 02 Mar 2014, 15:17 »

I now have a nice new Hyper-V Server 2012 R2, replacing my previous Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.   My "actual" servers are virtual servers that run in Hyper-V, of course (there are two at present: a domain controller and print server, plus a separate everything-Internet server running mail, several websites using various technologies, an SFTP server, and a torrent server*).

I had initially installed the Hyper-V Server as a testbed before setting up a much larger system at work (with clustered hosts and a big RAID-6 disk array).  It has served me well.  But some time after I upgraded my desktop to Windows 8.1, I discovered that the version of Hyper-V Manager that runs in Windows 8(.1) doesn't talk to Hyper-V 2008, only 2012.  Bad move, MS, and a big step back from your generally excellent record in backward compatibility.  First move, dig out an old machine and install Windows 7 so I could control (and in due course export and shut down) my servers! 

Obvious second move: upgrade Hyper-V 2008 R2 to Hyper-V 2012 R2.  What's this?  The upgrade isn't possible!  Second bad move MS!  I have to do a clean install of Hyper-V 2012.  Oh well, let's have a new machine as well - so one new motherboard and processor later (second motherboard - the first was not the one stated on the box!), I have a new machine ready to run my virtual servers.

OK - export; copy across; import.  Now what?  Ah.  Third strike.  Hyper-V 2012 R2 cannot import servers exported from Hyper-V 2008 R2.  I can only do it by importing into Hyper-V 2012, and re-exporting from there.  You think I'm setting up a third server??  Easy answer, actually - just create new virtual machines using the old virtual disks - as far as I can see the only setting that had to be redone inside the virtual machines was the IP address, as the new network interface is seen as a different device.

Actually, the whole transfer (once the new machine was waiting) took only about two hours (and another two for the torrent data, but the servers were up and running by then), with the 1Gbps network between the machine running at 95% of theoretical capacity, which impressed me.  The performance of the servers is markedly better on the new host than it was on the old one, so that's good - and I'll use the old one (now running 2012 R2 as well) to run a hot backup of the servers, continuously updated, which is a new facility in this version - almost as good as a cheap cluster and RAID combination.

Oh, and I don't think I'll be trying this at work until we replace our current round of hardware!

* Why have I got a torrent server, you ask?  I seed for this site.
Logged
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important."  (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?"  (from: The Eccentric Family )

cesium133

  • Preventing third impact
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,148
  • Has a fucked-up browser history
    • Cesium Comics
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #566 on: 16 Mar 2014, 18:20 »

I'm currently assembling a list of parts for building a new experimental computer for the lab. I'd rather just buy a prebuilt computer, but I can't find one that has three full-size PCI (not PCIe) ports. Since the computer won't need a whole lot of hard disk space (experimental data is stored on our file server which is regularly backed up), I'm considering buying an SSD drive for it. Looking through the specs for the drives, I've noticed that all of them list a MTBF (median time before failure) of more than 1,000,000 hours. If my math is right that corresponds to more than 100 years. Clearly these numbers have to be bullshit, because no modern piece of computer hardware will last that long.  :psyduck:

edit -- oh boy. Good thing this post inspired me to check on the backup task on the file server. I just noticed it was trying to back up to drive G instead of drive F. A 2 TB hard disk was being backed up on a 2 GB USB flash drive.  :psyduck:
« Last Edit: 16 Mar 2014, 18:27 by cesium133 »
Logged
The nerdy comic I update sometimes: Cesium Comics

Unofficial character tag thingy for QC

pwhodges

  • Admin emeritus
  • Awakened
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17,241
  • I'll only say this once...
    • My home page
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #567 on: 17 Mar 2014, 03:48 »

What, it's not set up to email you on failure?
Logged
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important."  (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?"  (from: The Eccentric Family )

cesium133

  • Preventing third impact
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6,148
  • Has a fucked-up browser history
    • Cesium Comics
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #568 on: 17 Mar 2014, 05:16 »

For some reason Windows Task Manager was interpreting the failure code returned from the backup program as a success code.

edit -- I should note this is a new thing; it was only like that for two weeks. Drive C failed in that computer two weeks ago so I had to reinstall Windows and re-set up that task. And yes, Linux would make more sense for the task we're using the fileserver for, but my advisor doesn't like Linux...
« Last Edit: 17 Mar 2014, 05:27 by cesium133 »
Logged
The nerdy comic I update sometimes: Cesium Comics

Unofficial character tag thingy for QC

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #569 on: 26 Apr 2014, 17:40 »

My laptop fans have been behaving really erratically lately. Here are my observations: After exiting any program that was using the GPU, the fan gets stuck on a high speed even after the temperature has gone back to normal. Only when I start up a program that prompts User Account Control does it reduce the fan speed to its lowest level. Other programs don't, even if I, say, run Windows Explorer as administrator, the fan speed doesn't change. I can't fathom why; even trying to start up the program but telling UAC 'No' so it's prevented from running also normalises the fan speed, so what the heck is it doing? 
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

Grognard

  • Only pretending to work
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,155
  • Token Straight White Conservative Male
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #570 on: 27 Apr 2014, 15:37 »

I'd prefer to have the fans running non-stop to not running at all....
especially on a laptop.
Logged
Old enough to know better: Still too young to care.  PONG was my 'gateway' game.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #571 on: 06 May 2014, 15:41 »

Now my battery stopped charging. It can still run off adapter power but the charge level isn't going up no matter what I do. This is probably very bad.

Oh wait, now it's going back up. The solution was to take out the battery and unplug the power and to hold the power button for a few seconds before reinsterting the battery, reconnecting the cord and booting up again. That's the strangest solution that has ever worked for me.
« Last Edit: 06 May 2014, 16:23 by LTK »
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

Barmymoo

  • Mentat
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 9,926
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #572 on: 19 Jun 2014, 11:18 »

This isn't even remotely as fancy as building your own computer, but I just set up my wireless router and I'm feeling quite proud of myself. I researched available broadband deals, and although I took advice from my dad I chose one independently of his suggestion to use the same one, I got a great deal on it, and I set it up all by myself. My dad has basically controlled all my computer-related decisions for my entire life so it was a pretty big deal! Of course now he's cross with me for not setting it up in accordance with his precise instructions, but I don't careeeeeeeeee.
Logged
There's this really handy "other thing" I'm going to write as a footnote to my abstract that I can probably explore these issues in. I think I'll call it my "dissertation."

pwhodges

  • Admin emeritus
  • Awakened
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 17,241
  • I'll only say this once...
    • My home page
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #573 on: 18 Aug 2014, 04:20 »

My present main machine won't be adequate for much longer (4-core Xeon, 32GB memory, 6TB disk).  It can't be expanded.  But I had a major geek-out on Saturday:

I acquired a redundant 8-core Mac Pro 4.1 (early 2009) from work. I also acquired 12 4GB sticks of registered DDR3 memory, left over from a server upgrade.

The Mac Pro 4.1 does not take registered memory, but the Mac Pro 5.1 does. It turns out that they use the same motherboard chipset. It also turns out that it is possible to patch the firmware in the 4.1 so that the 5.1 bootrom can be installed! My Mac Pro 4.1 now reports itself as a 5.1, and is humming along with 32GB of registered memory!

That's the most economical computer upgrade I've ever done.  Already twice the cores I've got now, and the capability to take faster 6-core processors (like the 2012 Mac Pro) and loads more memory (up to 128GB - at a price) when I need them.  But although nearly all my main audio programs come in Mac versions, there are still a few that I'll need to keep the PC running for.

Needs quieter fans....
Logged
"Being human, having your health; that's what's important."  (from: Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi )
"As long as we're all living, and as long as we're all having fun, that should do it, right?"  (from: The Eccentric Family )

Grognard

  • Only pretending to work
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,155
  • Token Straight White Conservative Male
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #574 on: 18 Aug 2014, 21:55 »

nah. with THAT loadout... may as well BRAG. 
like putting 'Glass Pak' and Thrush pipes on a 440.

good job.
Logged
Old enough to know better: Still too young to care.  PONG was my 'gateway' game.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #575 on: 08 Sep 2014, 10:22 »

Ah, damn it. I finally got back to my desktop computer, but my dad bought a new motherboard and processor so he gave his old one to me, which I upgraded my own PC with. But now I plugged in everything and it doesn't work. All fans and hard drives spin up but there's zero graphical output, and the motherboard LEDs are slowly blinking on and off. I probably broke something somewhere. I guess I have to put everything back the way it was now?

Oh, of course. My RAM is incompatible. I totally forgot about that. Well... it doesn't appear in the list of supported memory types but it's 1333 MHz DDR3 memory so knowing only that it should work...
« Last Edit: 08 Sep 2014, 11:08 by LTK »
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #576 on: 11 Sep 2014, 05:14 »

Okay, it wasn't the RAM, changing it to a compatible type does nothing, nor is it the GPU or PSU. I slotted my old motherboard back in and it works fine so I must have broken something on the other one. Damn! First time I actually break a component while installing. Or it might have been broken already, I don't know.

It looks like it's in a boot loop of some sort, as the CPU phase leds all come on at the same time, then turn off. When they turn off, the CPU fan also stops spinning. Then the leds come on again and the fan starts, and then they both stop, ad infinitum. Does anyone know if either the CPU or motherboard are salvagable?
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

hedgie

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,382
  • No Pasarán!
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #577 on: 11 Sep 2014, 08:24 »

Only way I know of testing them is to use compatible "known good" parts with each, and seeing if it works.  Not always viable unless one is a hoarder || knows someone who has a repair shop with such components just sitting around.
Logged
"The highest treason in the USA is to say Americans are not loved, no matter where they are, no matter what they are doing there." -- Vonnegut

Grognard

  • Only pretending to work
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,155
  • Token Straight White Conservative Male
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #578 on: 11 Sep 2014, 12:02 »

my wife made me clean out my hoard....

all those pretty 386 and 486 PCs just gone...  :(

she let me keep anything less than 10 years old; but that wiped out 80% of my collection.  :(
Logged
Old enough to know better: Still too young to care.  PONG was my 'gateway' game.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #579 on: 21 Sep 2014, 08:39 »

Okay, what the heck is happening now? I upgraded my laptop to win 8.1 and now a lot of my programs are displaying in a lower resolution: Steam, Skype, Opera. They're all fuzzy. It went away when I installed a new version of Opera but that doesn't work for the other ones. I don't get it...
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

Masterpiece

  • Older than Moses
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4,364
  • No time for Claireification
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #580 on: 21 Sep 2014, 09:42 »

That's the resolution upscaling doing its work. The way to change that is by sliding the slider to "smaller":

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #581 on: 21 Sep 2014, 10:45 »

Okay that's weird. Of course, if I make it smaller, every program that was too big becomes right-sized and every program that was right-sized becomes too small. Ticking the 'Let me choose one scaling level' box seems to bring everything back to normal, though. Thanks for the tip!
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

Masterpiece

  • Older than Moses
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4,364
  • No time for Claireification
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #582 on: 21 Sep 2014, 13:48 »

No problem.

SubaruStephen

  • Scrabble hacker
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,319
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #583 on: 22 Oct 2014, 13:11 »

Question about watching vids over the Internet, and DVDs.

When I watch YouTube vids or DVDs, or shows I downloaded from iTunes, on my 8 yearold desktop, the frame rate never goes above 23fps.
It's not equipped with a graphics card (the motherboard is doing all the work), would installing one increase the fps?
Logged
A "buttload" is an actual measurement, next time someone tells you that they need a buttload of something, tell them 126 gallons might be a bit too much.

snarkyone

  • Bizarre cantaloupe phobia
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 241
  • Who knew the grail wasn't dishwasher safe?
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #584 on: 22 Oct 2014, 13:22 »

Question about watching vids over the Internet, and DVDs.

When I watch YouTube vids or DVDs, or shows I downloaded from iTunes, on my 8 yearold desktop, the frame rate never goes above 23fps.
It's not equipped with a graphics card (the motherboard is doing all the work), would installing one increase the fps?

Yes, but with an 8yr old pc, I'd be sure to get a very VERY inexpensive one.   A lot of places will have bargain bins.  You can likely get something far superior to your motherboard GPU for $10-20.  If that.
Logged
"No one cares how much you know, till they know how much you care.

GarandMarine

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,307
  • Kawaii in the streets, Senpai in the sheets
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #585 on: 03 Dec 2014, 20:11 »

My roomie gave me a big pile of compute guts, so it's building time sports fans!
Logged
I built the walls that make my life a prison, I built them all and cannot be forgiven... ...Sold my soul to carry your vendetta, So let me go before you can regret it, You've made your choice and now it's come to this, But that's price you pay when you're a monster with no name.

GarandMarine

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,307
  • Kawaii in the streets, Senpai in the sheets
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #586 on: 04 Dec 2014, 16:44 »

$366 shipped for a 750W PSU, 2gb Radeon hard drive (with two free games! Fuck yeah!*) and a pretty cool case from DIYPC, along with a Cooling Master Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Set. Oh, and Windows 7. Built onto a MSI K9A2 with a Phenom X4 Black Edition CPU and 6 GB of RAM, only downside to the board is it's DDR2 and it's max RAM is 8 GB. I'm also plugging in the HDDs I have handy for about 660 GB... but that's easily upgradeable later. I solved the issue of a monitor by going "Oh yeah. I own a TV." Oh and a CD/DVD burner. 'Cause.

*On investigating none of the games are very awesome, boo.


The rest of my build involves a nice new desk to hold the computer machine and my other entertainment stuff, and a big comfy chair. In and around $460 out the door, which is half what I was planning for my build period.

Eventual upgrades:
Max out RAM
2 TB hard drive
Consider grabbing a cheaper Crossfire capable card to add to the array (I can run up to four VGA cards on this board. Holy fuck right?)
Sound card
Logged
I built the walls that make my life a prison, I built them all and cannot be forgiven... ...Sold my soul to carry your vendetta, So let me go before you can regret it, You've made your choice and now it's come to this, But that's price you pay when you're a monster with no name.

Masterpiece

  • Older than Moses
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4,364
  • No time for Claireification
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #587 on: 04 Dec 2014, 17:22 »

I'm not a fan. It sounds like a one-gen upgrade to my PC tower, which I built in 2010, and will have outlived its purpose in a few months when I will have saved up enough to build the beast I have in mind.

Masterpiece

  • Older than Moses
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4,364
  • No time for Claireification
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #588 on: 04 Dec 2014, 17:25 »

Also, TV screens are just monitors with bigger pixels and more space between them unless you have a higher res screen. And, last time I heard, having a maxed out graphics card (à la GTX 970 or the like, I'm not up to date with version numbers) is preferable to a crossfire setup as it will be far superior and will not introduce micro-stutters which crossfire or SLI does.

GarandMarine

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,307
  • Kawaii in the streets, Senpai in the sheets
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #589 on: 04 Dec 2014, 21:10 »

Well I posted a full response to this, but it apparently got eaten by a grue.
Logged
I built the walls that make my life a prison, I built them all and cannot be forgiven... ...Sold my soul to carry your vendetta, So let me go before you can regret it, You've made your choice and now it's come to this, But that's price you pay when you're a monster with no name.

GarandMarine

  • Awakened
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10,307
  • Kawaii in the streets, Senpai in the sheets
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #590 on: 10 Dec 2014, 18:17 »



Battle station ready!
Logged
I built the walls that make my life a prison, I built them all and cannot be forgiven... ...Sold my soul to carry your vendetta, So let me go before you can regret it, You've made your choice and now it's come to this, But that's price you pay when you're a monster with no name.

Masterpiece

  • Older than Moses
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4,364
  • No time for Claireification
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #591 on: 11 Dec 2014, 05:34 »

You're gonna break your neck playing on this machine! Ergonomically, a screen should be as close as possible to the table surface.

osaka

  • Scrabble hacker
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,438
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #592 on: 11 Dec 2014, 06:15 »

Maybe GM intends on playing laid back and from a distance, in which case that doesn't sound like such a horrid placement.
Logged
Meh, if you have to run fsck, you're already fscked.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #593 on: 11 Dec 2014, 06:53 »

Sounds like a horrid viewing angle though.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

celticgeek

  • GET ON THE NIGHT TRAIN
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,697
  • Linux Geek
    • The Celtic Geek
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #594 on: 18 Apr 2015, 17:25 »

Aaarrrgh!  Hard drive died yesterday. 

However, I now have a nice, new 2 TByte hard drive, updated to Linux Mint 17.1.  My last backup was only a couple of weeks ago, so I am back in operation, and I'll be in pretty good shape, after I get all of the 494 Gbytes from the backup folder transferred onto the new hard drive. 
Logged
a 'dèanamh nan saighdean airson cinneadh MacLeòid
We Wear Woad When We Write Code
Ní féidir liom labhairt na Gaeilge.
Seachd reultan, agus seachd clachan, agus aon chraobh geal.

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #595 on: 05 May 2015, 16:05 »

I've been trying to fix the problems with my scroll wheel - it's mainly scrolling erratically in Chrome, not in other browsers or programs, it only happens on my desktop computer and not my laptop, and on my desktop computer the scroll function of other mice is functioning correctly - and everything I do seems to make it worse. Right now, instead of scrolling 3 lines with each scroll wheel tick, it's scrolling 1 line with each 8 ticks.

I'm getting closer and closer to smashing this mouse with a hammer with its infuriating behaviour, which would be a shame because the mouse movement itself is better than any mouse I've had.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

Caleb

  • Bling blang blong blung
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,141
  • Dewey Decimal Vessel.
    • Blog
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #596 on: 13 Jun 2015, 12:01 »

Apparently the newer PCI Express 3 cards are backwards compatible.

So my older rig has PCI express 2.0 16 slots but I would be able to get a newer card.

How can I tell what card would work best on my older rig?  I don't really want to work on building a new one.

ASUS P8Z68-V LE LGA 1155 Intel Z68
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge Quad-Core 3.3GHz
8 GB ram
1 x CORSAIR Gaming Series GS800 800W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready

Current Graphics card is a GTX 560 TI
Logged

Caleb

  • Bling blang blong blung
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1,141
  • Dewey Decimal Vessel.
    • Blog
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #597 on: 13 Jun 2015, 12:33 »

Specifically I am looking at GeForce GTX 970 .

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487088


Logged

LTK

  • Methuselah's mentor
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5,009
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #598 on: 13 Jun 2015, 14:31 »

Are you me? That's almost exactly my system, only difference being the motherboard and 2 less gigs of RAM. It's getting up there in years but I didn't think I'd have to worry about new hardware breaking compatibility yet. Lucky that's not an issue.

If you ask me, the GTX 970 is a bit on the pricey side but I hear that nowadays it's the best bang for your buck. I've been considering picking up a second-hand card of that model in the near future, enthusiasts are always throwing those out on ebay the moment something better is available. If you're on a tighter budget and your gaming demands aren't too stringent, the GTX 960 is a good choice as well.
Logged
Quote from: snalin
I just got the image of a midwife and a woman giving birth swinging towards each other on a trapeze - when they meet, the midwife pulls the baby out. The knife juggler is standing on the floor and cuts the umbilical cord with a a knifethrow.

94ssd

  • Only pretending to work
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2,101
  • Hadouken
Re: The PC-building/hardware knowledge thread
« Reply #599 on: 09 Sep 2015, 15:38 »

I'm going to bring entertainment to this thread by being someone with almost no computer knowledge - I almost spent probably way too much money to get more RAM put in my computer. By almost, I mean I had actually made an appointment at tech services on campus to install it because they'll do it for cheap, and was going to go to Staples to buy it tomorrow.

And then I discovered that it was actually an HP background program that was ruining everything and after ending the process for it (even though it was showing only 1% memory usage on the task manager) my computer has plenty of memory to suit my needs. I'd tried other things like switching from Chrome to Firefox because it uses less memory, and closing background processes frequently. But apparently that HP service hides its memory-hogging in a Windows process that you can't actually close on the task manager.

Only goes to show - Google before you spend.
Logged
Pages: 1 ... 10 11 [12] 13   Go Up