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Video transcoding is CPU-dependent, correct? So I could build a box with a lovely GPU and still be able to run a Plex Media Server?
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| # ? Aug 2, 2012 14:44 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 00:36 |
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beze posted:Can anyone recommend a reliable brand of IDE to SATA converter? On this note, anybody have any recommendations for an IDE-to-USB 2.0 adapter cable that's not complete poo poo? traveling midget posted:Video transcoding is CPU-dependent, correct? So I could build a box with a lovely GPU and still be able to run a Plex Media Server? Yes. GPUs can decode video, but anything vaguely modern supports that (all the way down to integrated graphics for the past few generations). Encoding is almost always a CPU-based process. The integrated graphics on recent Intel CPUs can also handle basic encoding acceleration (just fine if you want to put a big file on your iPad or phone and don't care about perfect quality, not good or customizable enough if you're doing things professionally), but software support for the feature is limited.
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| # ? Aug 2, 2012 15:21 |
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traveling midget posted:Video transcoding is CPU-dependent, correct? So I could build a box with a lovely GPU and still be able to run a Plex Media Server?
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| # ? Aug 2, 2012 15:53 |
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Super dumb question. I noticed my Zenbook Prime is missing a case screw on the bottom. Is it likely a standard screw I can find easily or will I have to deal with Asus? I have never messed with hardware, so I don't know if these things are standardized or what or how to go about finding a simple part like this. 
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| # ? Aug 3, 2012 18:33 |
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RVProfootballer posted:Super dumb question. I noticed my Zenbook Prime is missing a case screw on the bottom. Is it likely a standard screw I can find easily or will I have to deal with Asus? I have never messed with hardware, so I don't know if these things are standardized or what or how to go about finding a simple part like this. Most screws are pretty standardized, but the little ones used in electronics can be hard to find at your local hardware shop simply due to the massive size differences. It's probably okay without one since usually there's a bunch of plastic clips also holding the case of laptops together, but if you're concerned than you could find a screw. You'd want to unscrew one of the others (they look like a torx bit, usually it's a T10 or T20 size on computer stuff), then find one that matches the shaft size and number of threads on the screw, which will be the more challenging part. The replacement doesn't need to be torx, but the size of the screw should match in every other way.
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| # ? Aug 3, 2012 18:46 |
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Dumb question; how much room does a desktop computer need to properly vent off heat? Would it have enough room inside the nook of a desk(something like this)? This is the build I'm talking about by the way, shouldn't be giving off too much heat.
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| # ? Aug 3, 2012 20:55 |
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Cbouncerrun posted:Dumb question; how much room does a desktop computer need to properly vent off heat? Would it have enough room inside the nook of a desk(something like this)?
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| # ? Aug 3, 2012 21:23 |
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Cbouncerrun posted:Dumb question; how much room does a desktop computer need to properly vent off heat? Would it have enough room inside the nook of a desk(something like this)? I think it would be ok. 1. That is a fairly low power build, so it shouldn't get that hot. 2. The desk picture has a mid tower case, so your microATX would have more space around it. 3. If there's no opening in the back of the PC cubby, you could always make your own hole if the temps are higher than you like. The case will block the view of the hole, so it doesn't matter if your DIY carpentry is a little rough.
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| # ? Aug 3, 2012 21:32 |
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Alereon posted:More room than that, you need open space fot the hot air being exhausted out the back to escape, and since that's closed off it will just build up. Look for a desk with an open back behind the tower. I actually do have a desk with a hole in the back, I was just using that as an example. It'll be fine then? Even if the desk is mostly against a wall(maybe 1/4 of a inch away from the wall)
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| # ? Aug 3, 2012 21:53 |
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I want to clone my current (failing) Windows Home Server v1 system drive onto a new drive I've just bought (WD Caviar Blue). However, since the new drive is advanced format, I'll have to use WD's realignment utility. I've cloned the drive before, no issues there. However, my question is, which order do I do this in? Do I realign the new drive and then clone the old drive to it, or do I clone the old drive to the new one and then realign? EDIT: Solved. Just used the WD edition of Acronis True Image, which did it all at once. modeski fucked around with this message at Aug 5, 2012 around 20:20 |
| # ? Aug 4, 2012 05:24 |
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I'm not sure if this is the thread to post this in, but what is a good site for custom Windows 7 themes? I'm not feeling too keen on picking a random site from google that I don't yet trust with stuff that would be going directly into my OS.
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| # ? Aug 5, 2012 07:13 |
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Endymion FRS MK1 posted:I'm not sure if this is the thread to post this in, but what is a good site for custom Windows 7 themes? I'm not feeling too keen on picking a random site from google that I don't yet trust with stuff that would be going directly into my OS. The standard Windows 7 themes allow for weird things, like having window borders black unless they are full-screened and then you get aqua borders. I haven't noticed any performance differences with Windowblinds on a modern PC, as everything is run on the GPU and it integrates completely with Aero.
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| # ? Aug 5, 2012 18:05 |
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grumperfish posted:I use Windowblinds because I am a literal manchilde, and it offers a ton of easy configuration options via Skinstudio. Wincustomize is a good site for themes as it integrates with Stardock's software suites. Customize.org and Skinbase also have a bunch of WB/Windows 7 themes. I usually use MikeB314's (paid) WB themes as they're extremely comprehensive and well-tested. Ohhh neat, thank you.
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| # ? Aug 5, 2012 18:19 |
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Every now and then Skyrim gets a bit choppy, then fixes itself. I didn't come to this conclusion for any good reason but I wanted to see if it might correlate with SpeedStep so I left up a graph of my CPU core clocks and vcore in HWiNFO64 while running the game for about an hour. I don't actually know if a system would allow itself to throttle in spite of good temperatures and subpar performance but from looking at the graph it sort of seems as though it is. My vcore gets below 1.000 at times with the game running. Temps stay below 54. Is it actually okay for this to happen? I could see the processor underclocking if nothing is going on and immediately pushing back up when it needs to. Maybe my intermittent choppiness issues could easily have more to do with something else, like ENB working out great and then poorly depending on factors I can't identify on-screen. Or simple memory leaks. I thought I'd seek an educated opinion. Edit: vvvv - Sorry about that. I didn't intend for this to become a troubleshooting post rather than a question but it really turned out to be one. I'll post in the right place after I attempt some fixes on my own. Cavauro fucked around with this message at Aug 6, 2012 around 01:21 |
| # ? Aug 5, 2012 23:13 |
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Cavauro posted:Stuff
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 00:09 |
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Cavauro posted:Every now and then Skyrim gets a bit choppy, then fixes itself. This can be (sort of) normal behavious for Skyrim, since the world is divided up into giant invisible cubes to make the game less memory intensive and reduce hard drive thrashing. Moving to the edge of one cube triggers a new set of cubes to load, which will definitely cause a temporary spike in cpu usage and possibly stuttering, especially if your hard drive isn't terribly fast or you are running a heavily modified game. There's also issues with lighting and shadows in certain interiors, but that may have been patched by now. I would definitely take a closer look at any mods or changes made to the .ini files before moving on to the cpu or hardrive, but as Alereon said, more context/info is always good. There's probably a performance/modding thread in the Elder Saints forum which could be helpful.
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 01:53 |
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are riser cards interchangable between different PII/PIII dell optiplex? i have some of the low profile ones but i want to replace the riser card with an ISA slot one. the cheaper riser cards only fit the desktop/tower model. will it still work if i just leave the top off
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 03:18 |
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I'm a first time builder and put together a new computer but have an old IDE optical drive. Are the adapters for them to plug into the mobo worth getting, or should I just get a new cheap drive and data cable?
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 13:31 |
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Leoben posted:I'm a first time builder and put together a new computer but have an old IDE optical drive. Are the adapters for them to plug into the mobo worth getting, or should I just get a new cheap drive and data cable? Get a new cheap drive, it won't cost too much more than any other option to hook up the IDE drive such as a convertor or a IDE add-on card.
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 13:35 |
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ACID POLICE posted:are riser cards interchangable between different PII/PIII dell optiplex? I'm going to say... maybe? If I remember right the chipset is on the main board. I had a PPro and a P3 Optiplex and the risers certainly looked the same. I imagine you'll have better luck if they're from the same generation though. P2s and (early) P3s may even have the same chipset, it's been a while since I looked into that kind of thing. Desktop/tower shouldn't matter, I wouldn't think.
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 13:48 |
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SPECS Case - Primary: Fractal Design Define R3, Backup: Antec Sonata II Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 CPU - AMD Athlon II X4 620 4800+ SSD - Crucial M4 Internal HDDs - 2 1TB WD Caviar Black, 1 2TB WD Caviar Green External Backup HDD - Antec enclosure, 500GB WD Caviar Green RAM - Corsair DDR2 6GB: 4 slots, 2x2GB, 2x1GB GPU - Current: MSI Radeon HD 7850 Backup: ATI Radeon HD Asus EAH4870 DK/HTDI/1GD5 Operating System - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit DVD Drives - DVD-RW, DVD-DL writers Power Supply - Corsair tx750w Displays - Dell U2412M 24" wide(1900x1200), Samsung 2243bw 22" wide(1680x1050) Fans - stock Fractal x2, stock Antec I've noticed the OS run off my SSD takes notably longer to start up, I'm wondering if there are things I need to do in the BIOS to optimize my SSD. I also just got a new GPU and am wondering if I should consider overclocking it or my CPU. Finally I just got the Dell U2412M and wondering what I should do to optimize/calibrate it. Corte fucked around with this message at Aug 8, 2012 around 00:42 |
| # ? Aug 6, 2012 20:53 |
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Not entirely sure if this is the right thread to ask in, but here it goes. I'm looking for a wireless PC gamepad. Neither newegg nor Amazon proved helpful for searching for particular features. Ideally, I'd like a pad with a PS3-esque layout and one of the smaller USB receivers. Any suggestions?
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 21:12 |
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Agnostalgia posted:Not entirely sure if this is the right thread to ask in, but here it goes. There are drivers available that let you use a PS3 controller directly with a PC through a Bluetooth receiver. They can be a bit of a pain to set up, but if you already have the hardware, it's free to try. If you want a plug-and-go option, the Logitech F710 is a carbon copy of the Playstation layout, has one of the nano-receivers that's barely bigger than a USB port, and it's recognized as an XInput controller (so anything that supports a 360 pad will work automatically with zero setup).
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 21:44 |
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Space Gopher posted:There are drivers available that let you use a PS3 controller directly with a PC through a Bluetooth receiver. They can be a bit of a pain to set up, but if you already have the hardware, it's free to try. Unfortunately the Motioninjoy drivers prevent any of the wireless mice I've tried from working, but that gamepad looks like a good bet. Thanks.
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| # ? Aug 6, 2012 23:11 |
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I've currently got a 3.00 GHz AMD Athlon II x4 640 Processor for my computer - my simple question is whether or not this should be able to run modern games, like Battlefield 3 or Skyrim, running at "High" quality, provided I get the necessary graphics card (such as a Radeon 7850)?
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| # ? Aug 7, 2012 23:02 |
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ActionPlatypus posted:I've currently got a 3.00 GHz AMD Athlon II x4 640 Processor for my computer - my simple question is whether or not this should be able to run modern games, like Battlefield 3 or Skyrim, running at "High" quality, provided I get the necessary graphics card (such as a Radeon 7850)? BF3: Yes with no caveats. Skyrim: Probably not unless you tweak CPU-heavy graphics settings like shadows. The magic Google is "<game name> CPU performance scaling".
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| # ? Aug 8, 2012 06:41 |
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Factory Factory posted:BF3: Yes with no caveats. BF3 multiplayer on the other hand is a big difference on larger servers. I noticed a huge difference (10-15fps gain) going from a Q9400 to an i5-3570K, both with a Radeon 6950.
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| # ? Aug 8, 2012 06:45 |
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Got a 965BE on a ASUS M4A87TD with 4GB of RAM in dual channel config (2 2GB sticks). I decided to pick up another 4GB but now that it's been delivered, I realise that I ordered a single 4GB stick rather than another 2 x 2. The brand and model are otherwise the same (Kingston KVR1333D3N9). Are there going to be any performance or compatibility issues with me just sticking the additional single stick of RAM in?
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| # ? Aug 8, 2012 10:01 |
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Ragingsheep posted:Got a 965BE on a ASUS M4A87TD with 4GB of RAM in dual channel config (2 2GB sticks). I decided to pick up another 4GB but now that it's been delivered, I realise that I ordered a single 4GB stick rather than another 2 x 2. The brand and model are otherwise the same (Kingston KVR1333D3N9). I haven't worked with varying sizes of DDR3 myself, but it looks like it should work. The motherboard manual (here: http://support.asus.com/download.as...lWYrI9wlNIYHAaa) suggests that you can use different amounts of memory in each channel, it will be able to use one channel as dual channel and one as single if they're different sizes (if I'm reading it right). So, you'd miss out on dual channel from the 4gb dimm which is a small performance hit, but it should work as long as the memory timing is the same otherwise. Here's a snip of the page in the manual (page 1-9): 
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| # ? Aug 8, 2012 12:36 |
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I hope this is the best place to ask this, but I have a 5th gen ipod video, 30gb. I'm PRETTY SURE the hard drive has poo poo the bed. Is there any way to confirm this, and if so where can I find reliable information on how to replace it? I put the ipod away for a while but back when it first poo poo the bed I did multiple resets and restores through itunes and went into diagnostic mode a couple of times, but it sort of dead-ended and I kept having to reset it to get out of diagnostic mode. Right now its got a black and white "do not disconnect" screen as it is plugged into my laptop. I've seen some youtube videos of people pulling these things apart and I looked at a couple of tech forums but they seem to be filled with ads/plugging for other websites. I figured I'd come to the forums that I trust. If there is a better place for this question, please redirect me. e: Nevermind, moving over to Inspect your Gadgets... TheFrailNinja fucked around with this message at Aug 8, 2012 around 15:23 |
| # ? Aug 8, 2012 14:50 |
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After updating to the newest Catalyst XP drivers, my display has started going wonky with the brightness. It'll get darker, then lighter, seemingly at random, both in games and in Windows. Anybody know what might be causing this? I have a Sapphire HD5750 1GB.
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| # ? Aug 8, 2012 17:17 |
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SplitSoul posted:After updating to the newest Catalyst XP drivers, my display has started going wonky with the brightness. It'll get darker, then lighter, seemingly at random, both in games and in Windows. Anybody know what might be causing this? I have a Sapphire HD5750 1GB. Check that dynamic contrast is disabled on your monitor. AMD also has "Vari-Bright" that's supposed to reduce mobile power consumption; if the drivers are really confused, it might somehow be enabled on your system. On Win7, the checkbox is under Power->PowerPlay; I don't know about recent XP drivers.
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| # ? Aug 8, 2012 17:25 |
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I've got an AMD A6 3650 CPU on an ASUS mobo, but to run dual-screen I had to use an old GeForce 6400 PCI-E card. Is it possible to let the APU simply use the card as an output, rather than let it be the device used by the system for video? The Lano outperforms it easily but I need my spoiled-brat monitor setup  Also, when pairing a video card that's compatible with the Radeon HD series (the 6670, 6570 and 6450 according to the box) can I buy an inexpensive 1GB card from Newegg, or do I need an AMD/Radeon brand proper to have it work together?
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| # ? Aug 8, 2012 22:04 |
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Ragingsheep posted:Are there going to be any performance or compatibility issues with me just sticking the additional single stick of RAM in? Rexxed posted:I haven't worked with varying sizes of DDR3 myself, but it looks like it should work. The motherboard manual (here: http://support.asus.com/download.as...lWYrI9wlNIYHAaa) suggests that you can use different amounts of memory in each channel, it will be able to use one channel as dual channel and one as single if they're different sizes (if I'm reading it right). So, you'd miss out on dual channel from the 4gb dimm which is a small performance hit, but it should work as long as the memory timing is the same otherwise. Here's a snip of the page in the manual (page 1-9): Alereon fucked around with this message at Aug 8, 2012 around 23:37 |
| # ? Aug 8, 2012 23:35 |
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Hmm...looks like I'll just pony up for another stick then. Also is there a difference between SATA 2 and 3 cables? I jus got an Samsung 830 SSD but it didn't come with any SATA cables. I do have some from when I built my pc but I'm not sure if they're 2 or 3.
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| # ? Aug 9, 2012 01:31 |
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Ragingsheep posted:Also is there a difference between SATA 2 and 3 cables? No.
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| # ? Aug 9, 2012 01:35 |
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Space Gopher posted:Check that dynamic contrast is disabled on your monitor. AMD also has "Vari-Bright" that's supposed to reduce mobile power consumption; if the drivers are really confused, it might somehow be enabled on your system. On Win7, the checkbox is under Power->PowerPlay; I don't know about recent XP drivers. I can't find such an option. It's as if the picture, aside from turning momentarily darker, also gets softer and less defined. It's really odd. It only started happening after I updated the drivers. I don't have morphological filtering enabled, either. Edit: Figured out the problem and the solution, I think. It seems to be a bug in the 12.6 drivers, where Dynamic Contrast is on by default. I had to change the setting manually in the registry, more specifically HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video\xxxxxxxx\000x\DynamicContrast_ENABLE_DEF. Edit: gently caress, didn't work.
SplitSoul fucked around with this message at Aug 9, 2012 around 19:33 |
| # ? Aug 9, 2012 02:19 |
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Ragingsheep posted:Hmm...looks like I'll just pony up for another stick then. I was curious about this too, I got a new board in yesterday with two SATA cables, a red one and a black one, they were packaged separately and the packaging on the black one reads "THIS IS FOR SATA III!" Haven't needed SATA III up until yesterday, got a SATA III ssd with the new board. I've seen red, blue, orange and black cables. Never knew if the different colors denoted anything. On a completely unrelated note, looks like I got a defective board with an exposed choke. Haven't installed anything yet.
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| # ? Aug 9, 2012 12:15 |
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In theory, a SATA cable is a SATA cable. In practice, a cheaply-built SATA cable will poo poo itself and not pass a clean signal at higher speeds.
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| # ? Aug 9, 2012 12:38 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 00:36 |
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I have here a dead Acomdata 120GB external hard drive. Is there any reason I can't just rip the piece of poo poo out of the enclosure and put another drive in there that works? In related news never mail a hard drive via UPS EVER EVER
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| # ? Aug 11, 2012 13:30 |
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