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CloFan posted:Hm. I guess I didn't realize you could SLI without a bridge like the olden days. Thanks! Might be worth checking it's not supposed to have an SLI bridge.
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Mar 26, 2021 02:19
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I managed to resurrect an old Lenovo X230 tonight. I never expected it to boot up, but it did, against all odds. Problem is that its hard drive is PGP encrypted and I've forgotten the password. If I remove the drive and slap in a blank/empty SSD, and then put my Windows 10 installer into the USB drive, should I be able to reinstall Windows and reuse the laptop even if I write off the old drive? Or does PGP encryption persist at the hardware/BIOS level or something?
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Mar 27, 2021 19:17
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You should be good to go unless you're locked out of the bios or something
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Mar 27, 2021 22:40
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Do you even need to replace the disk? If its a 5400RPM itd make sense, but Id think the Windows install media would be able to erase it.
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Mar 28, 2021 02:42
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It's still a spinny platter HDD so I wanted to replace it with an SSD I actually wasn't expecting any of this to work and I only got it to boot up for 5 minutes last night so I don't know if it's even stable enough to use long-term I will report back with results EDIT: It worked! I did some quick research and it turns out the X230 only supports Windows 7, with lots of people reporting that they've never been able to get Windows 10 working on these things ever, so I had to create a Windows 7 bootable USB, but everything else went off without a hitch. I got to install the OS, installed drivers with Snappy Driver, and so on. CPU-Z reports that it's an i3-3110M (Ivy Bridge, 2c4t), and I did a stress test to verify that the fan was working and the laptop wasn't overheating (it wasn't). The only problems are that the battery is more than half dead (this laptop dates back to 2013, so no surprise) and that I didn't have any replacement thermal pads for the GPU die so it's actually slathered in thermal paste - it runs a little warmer than the CPU at 50ish C but I don't think it'll overheat, but given that this was my first ever experience opening up a laptop, breaking it down right to the motherboard, repasting the bare dies, and building back up something that hadn't powered on for at least three years, it's a miracle that I've gotten as far as I have. gradenko_2000 fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Mar 28, 2021 |
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Mar 28, 2021 04:11
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So I think the following is more of a hardware question than a tech support or monitor/display question. Im also feeling like the answer should be simply, so Ive decided to post here. In the following setup- -Two monitors -Two dedicated GPUs (same model) -One internal GPU (i7 k series) Is it better to: A) Connect both monitors to one dedicated GPU B) Connect one monitor to each dedicated GPU C) Connect one monitor to a dedicated GPU, and the other monitor to the internal GPU Intuitively, B seemed like the best option. But what research Ive scraped together (often conflicting) suggests Windows 10 renders the full desktop on one GPU before output. So B ends up being the unambiguously worst option. But its unclear if A or C is better because apparently internal, on chip GPUs wont be subject to this issue? And there may be benefit to offloading less intensive second monitor duties to it? Secondarily, is it actually better to disable the onboard video and audio if they arent being used?
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Mar 29, 2021 04:44
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PoizenJam posted:So I think the following is more of a hardware question than a tech support or monitor/display question. Im also feeling like the answer should be simply, so Ive decided to post here. You just plug them into one GPU and disable the i-gpu.
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Mar 29, 2021 04:52
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PoizenJam posted:Secondarily, is it actually better to disable the onboard video and audio if they arent being used? Video yes, especially if you're overclocking. Audio less so, there's no harm in disabling it if you're not using it but it also probably won't really do anything meaningful for system performance.
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Mar 29, 2021 17:19
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Can I get a recommendation for a 2 TB external drive? Also can I get away with a HDD for an external, or do SSDs make more sense? Speed is not a huge concern atm.
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Mar 29, 2021 20:53
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If speed doesnt matter you can just get this. https://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-eas...T&skuId=6406513 $59.99 The 5TB is only $40 though more 
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Mar 29, 2021 21:09
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Personally I only use metal enclosures. USB 3 switching can interfere with 5 GHz WiFi, as well as other types of consumer wireless stuff that works in the 5 GHz range. A well designed controller helps, and so do cables with ferrites on them (the cylinders near the plugs) and a metal case. You'll likely be fine with most unshielded enclosures as well - but in case you lose connection to your USB harddrive when you turn on your WiFi, or you can't use your wireless mouse when you plug in the harddrive, you know where the cause likely lies.
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Mar 29, 2021 21:20
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Edit: Wrong thread.
AlternateNu fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Mar 30, 2021 |
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Mar 30, 2021 00:30
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Just got an iPhone 12 mini with 5G. I get 200mbit/s at my workshop which makes me want to cancel my landline since I have an unlimited data plan with extra sim card. Anyone got a recommendation for a sub-300$ 5G modem that has at least one ethernet port? All I can find online is 400$+ stuff and it just feels weird that my iPhone, which has an OLED display, 3 cameras, an extremely powerful ARM SoC, and a loving LiDar, and is "only" twice as expensive.
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Mar 31, 2021 09:16
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You might try asking in the Home Networking Megathread
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Mar 31, 2021 14:55
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Not a hardware question but, in this 1978 Sci-Fi novel I am reading, it mentions the person has "a billion words of storage". I do recall, from the olden times, that a "word" is X amount of bytes, but I don't remember exactly. Anyone have that knowledge on hand?
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Mar 31, 2021 16:47
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Depends on the architecture.
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Mar 31, 2021 16:52
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In x86 land, a "word" is still defined as 16 bits with 32 being a "double word" (dword) and 64 being a "quadruple word" (qword). With this definition, we're talking 2 GB (base 10) for a billion 16-bit words. x86 was introduced in 1978 so perhaps that's the best contextual answer 
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Mar 31, 2021 17:10
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Something I found myself wondering after being reminded of it in a different thread: I have not been a Windows/PC guy much in years, but when I last was, it seemed like the great deals on certain CPUs, motherboards, and CPU/mobo combos that used to be fairly common had mostly dried up. Taking a peek at Micro Center's site suggests this is still the case. What happened? For a time, it was fairly easy to find certain mid-level (but still good) CPUs and entry level boards on sale in the $100 range for the combo, but now you can't get a board and CPU together for much less than double that. Where'd the killer BYOPC deals go?
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Apr 1, 2021 06:23
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davidbix posted:Something I found myself wondering after being reminded of it in a different thread: People being stuck at home / working from home all of a sudden severely increased the amount of computers wanted / needed. Along with global chip shortages, all the deals have basically been bought up and stores have little incentive to offer a deal for what little stock they do get. Because anything will sell, even at inflated prices.
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Apr 1, 2021 06:42
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Said CPUs were a generation behind and on a different process than the then newest one. Since they weren't topping any charts they had to be priced very competitively to move. Now current gen and current gen-1 CPUs are on the same process so they're directly competing for fab capacity, which is AMD's limiting factor right now. Therefore, the N-1 CPUs aren't being made like they were before (if at all), and they're more performant than the N-2 CPUs that were the dirt cheap ones, so they don't need as much of a price cut to sell. For a brief while there were things being sold as N-3 CPUs that were actually N-2 CPUs but for whatever reason they still had to put out "first-gen" parts, and you could get them for like half the price of the identical but differently branded version. Plus all the shortages 'n' poo poo.
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Apr 1, 2021 06:47
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I've been getting some great advice in the GPU thread on more case fans for my PC and I wanna pull the trigger, but my question is, do the fans come with their own screws or will I have to look for screws that came with the case?
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Apr 1, 2021 16:19
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gradenko_2000 posted:I've been getting some great advice in the GPU thread on more case fans for my PC and I wanna pull the trigger, but my question is, do the fans come with their own screws or will I have to look for screws that came with the case? Noctuas do, and IMO, theyre worth the money. Im not sure that the Arctics the folks in the GPU thread have also recommended. Ill bet your temps will be better with even just one exhaust fan in addition to your existing intake one. Which case do you have anyway?
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Apr 1, 2021 18:39
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nitsuga posted:Noctuas do, and IMO, they’re worth the money. I’m not sure that the Arctic’s the folks in the GPU thread have also recommended. I’ll bet your temps will be better with even just one exhaust fan in addition to your existing intake one. Which case do you have anyway? I'm pretty sure it's this one https://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=528
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Apr 1, 2021 18:52
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Every single fan I've ever bought have come with screws since the cases generally don't come with them. I had both Nocturas and cheap Artic fans in my server case and can't really tell the difference in airflow. I ended up switching over to only cheap Artic fans when I redid the layout.
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Apr 1, 2021 20:53
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gradenko_2000 posted:I'm pretty sure it's this one Cool. Yeah, so if you wanted to get as much airflow as possible, I'd put two 140mm fans up front and move the 120mm to the back. You could also replace the included 120mm, but I don't see the harm in trying out this setup and seeing if noise levels and temperatures meet your needs first. If FCKGW's experience hold true, you shouldn't need to worry about screws. As far as fans go, I'd recommend these: https://smile.amazon.com/ARCTIC-P14-PWM-PST-Pressure-optimised-dp-B07GZJY4TM/dp/B07GZJY4TM/ref=dp_ob_title_ce https://smile.amazon.com/JBtek-Blac...ctronics&sr=1-3 (Splitters for the Arctics if needed) or https://smile.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-A14-PWM-Premium-Cooling/dp/B00CP6QLY6/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=noctua+a14&qid=1617307736&sr=8-3 (Which include a splitter)
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Apr 1, 2021 21:10
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admiraldennis posted:In x86 land, a "word" is still defined as 16 bits with 32 being a "double word" (dword) and 64 being a "quadruple word" (qword). hey sorry, I never came back in here and thanked you. Thank you for the information, Admiral Dennis!
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Apr 1, 2021 21:22
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nitsuga posted:Cool. Yeah, so if you wanted to get as much airflow as possible, I'd put two 140mm fans up front and move the 120mm to the back. You could also replace the included 120mm, but I don't see the harm in trying out this setup and seeing if noise levels and temperatures meet your needs first. If FCKGW's experience hold true, you shouldn't need to worry about screws. Thank you for the advice. I've just ordered a pair of the Arctic fans and a splitter.
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Apr 2, 2021 04:27
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You can actually daisy chain those fans, they dont even need a splitter (I use the 90mm version in my server case)
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Apr 2, 2021 06:49
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FCKGW posted:You can actually daisy chain those fans, they dont even need a splitter (I use the 90mm version in my server case) right but don't I need a splitter so that I can still use the fan that came with the case? so it'd be like: * CPU fan goes into the CPU header * Arctic fan 1 is daisy-chained into Arctic fan 2 * Arctic fan 2 goes into the splitter * the included case fan also goes into the splitter * the splitter goes into the case fan header
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Apr 2, 2021 06:58
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Ah, not sure. I assumed your motherboard came with more than one case fan header.
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Apr 2, 2021 07:09
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gradenko_2000 posted:right but don't I need a splitter so that I can still use the fan that came with the case? so it'd be like: Note that lots of case fans are simple 3 pin DC fans, where most noctua/etc fans you buy online are fancier PWM fans. You can't mix the two types on a single splitter (well, technically you can, but the DC fans will run at 100% speed the whole time). The difference is DC fans vary their RPM by adjusting the DC voltage, PWM fans keep the DC voltage fixed and instead vary the RPM by shutting it entirely on and off at varying frequencies in electronics right on the fan motor. Both types have their pros and cons but are ultimately roughly equivalent. The main advantage PWM has is it allows the usage of a fan hub with an auxiliary power source to control many more fans than can be powered by a typical motherboard fan header. The limit on a motherboard header is usually 3 fans of either type, but if you have a PWM hub with a SATA power plug as its power source it can control dozens of fans from a single header.
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Apr 2, 2021 12:17
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Not a new issue but something I've just gotten round to thinking about - my PC case is an old Coolermaster Silencio that has a front USB 3.0 port. The connector for it is a standard male usb cable and because I don't have a matching header on my motherboard I've just run it out of the back of the case and into one of the back USB ports, which works fine although it ties up one of those ports which isn't ideal. The relevant USB 3.0 front panel header on my mobo (MSI B450 Tomahawk) is a 19 pin one. Is there an adapter I could use to connect these directly? I've tried searching but all I'm finding are 19 pin to 20 pin adapters for USB headers. Edit: and of course as soon as I post I find something that looks better - I think this should work? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005Y81RW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glc_fabc_KQQPJTQM8V4HTXR3GJR3 Party Boat fucked around with this message at 10:10 on Apr 3, 2021 |
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Apr 3, 2021 10:08
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I have a Lenovo P53 that is experiencing very strong thermal throttling in games. Outside games it can happily hover at 90-100C temperature on high performance power plan, at 4 GHz. In games, it rapidly throttles to <1 GHz and stays around 50C in temperature. If I set the power plan to balanced, it hangs around at 3GHz and 50-70C at consistent (lower) FPS. What do I do to reduce the thermal throttling at high performance power plan? It just seems far too aggressive and twitchy at throttling. Edit: Oh, Intel has some Xtreme Tuning Utility - turning thresholds down so that it current throttles before thermal throttling fixed it! Now I have nice consistent perfornance. EssOEss fucked around with this message at 10:04 on Apr 4, 2021 |
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Apr 3, 2021 10:32
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So I just had a weird crash on my 3+ year old desktop, followed by being unable to boot. Is there some sort of "download to USB" diagnostic tool I could get to try and figure out what's wrong with it? Not sure if I can get it to the shop.
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Apr 11, 2021 12:17
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Artelier posted:So I just had a weird crash on my 3+ year old desktop, followed by being unable to boot. Is there some sort of "download to USB" diagnostic tool I could get to try and figure out what's wrong with it? Not sure if I can get it to the shop. If you have access to another PC, Id try making a Windows 10 USB installer and then using WinRE to try fixing the startup issue. Windows 10 Installation Media: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-installation-media-for-windows-99a58364-8c02-206f-aa6f-40c3b507420d WinRE: https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/w/windows-recovery-environment.htm or https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/performance/use-winre-to-troubleshoot-startup-issue
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Apr 11, 2021 12:54
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My boomer parents need a new desktop PC to replace a very, very old Dell. The plan is to get them another Dell and a 27" screen to go with it. Use case is basically general web surfing and spreadsheets, plus some light photo/video archiving. I could possibly kill two birds with one stone here by getting them a Dell "All-in-one" PC. For example, https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/inspiron-27-7000-black-all-in-one-with-bipod-stand/spd/inspiron-27-7700-aio/na7700ejxlh (not picking this particular model, but just linking for those who don't know what they are) But, I've never bought/used an all-in-one PC before. I'm somewhat skeptical about having the screen be part of the PC, for repairability reasons. But I guess with the cost savings, they could get an extended warranty (heh). Has anyone here bought or serviced a Dell All-in-one, and if so, what are your opinions on them? edit: hmm apparently even the 27" AIO screens are only FHD (1080p), so, forget it pmchem fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Apr 11, 2021 |
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Apr 11, 2021 19:47
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pmchem posted:My boomer parents need a new desktop PC to replace a very, very old Dell. The plan is to get them another Dell and a 27" screen to go with it. Use case is basically general web surfing and spreadsheets, plus some light photo/video archiving. All-in-ones are okay for the footprint but at upgrade time, yeah you're right; you basically have to toss the whole unit since the interior is essentially a laptop motherboard (designed to fit the AIO) strapped to the back of a monitor. I'd discourage anyone from buying them unless they're okay with spending more at every upgrade. I'd keep an eye on https://www.techbargains.com/ for Dell sales. Right now it looks like it's mostly laptops and alienware with RTX cards but a couple of times a week they'll have dell and/or dell outlet deals listed. I actually did get my dad a 27" 1080p screen and he's happy with it because his vision isn't great but you'd be a better judge of what your parents would like. He's also on an old Dell i7-4790 optiplex that got replaced at an office I do work at. I'd say the only thing you HAVE to get your parents is a computer with a SSD. With that it will barely matter what the hardware is, it will always feel fast (although I usually spec out an i5 with 8GB of RAM at minimum beyond that). edit: woot has some refurbished lenovo SFF units right now with haswell. Not sure if that would fit the bill and how you feel about refurbs, but might be worth a look (they're now owned by amazon so if you have prime it ships free): https://sellout.woot.com/offers/lenovo-m93-sff-intel-i7-desktop
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Apr 11, 2021 20:18
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Almost 3 years ago I bought my parents a matching pair of Dell Optiplex 9020 AIOs. A bit on the old side but seems to suit their needs just fine. I got them refurbed from the Dell Outlet and they were like $340 each. I manually replaced the HDDs with SSDs and added 4GB RAM modules to up the total to 8 apiece. So it's worth your while to check the outlet. EDIT: Forgot to mention I got 50% off via Brad's Deals.
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Apr 11, 2021 20:41
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pmchem posted:My boomer parents need a new desktop PC to replace a very, very old Dell. The plan is to get them another Dell and a 27" screen to go with it. Use case is basically general web surfing and spreadsheets, plus some light photo/video archiving. Maybe easier to just get them a Chromebook and a monitor, add mouse and keyboard if wanted. Depends on how much you want to help them run windows. Google photos, docs (and other online alternatives) basically cover all the bases.
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Apr 11, 2021 23:22
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LRADIKAL posted:Maybe easier to just get them a Chromebook and a monitor, add mouse and keyboard if wanted. Depends on how much you want to help them run windows. Google photos, docs (and other online alternatives) basically cover all the bases. I assume the parents are fairly accustomed to windows. You can always strap a thin client to the back of a monitor as well, kind of a homebrew AIO without some of the inherent issues.
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Apr 11, 2021 23:33
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