|
Charliegrs posted:Thanks for suggestions I just ordered a APC UPS that's probably overkill but it's a $200 investment to protect my work laptop so it's worth it. If my laptop got fried my company might seriously reconsider work from home 😬 Since the laptop has a battery it’s highly unlikely that would happen tbh Still though if you have crappy power a UPS is a good investment.
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2023 21:04
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 10:43 |
|
|
Charliegrs posted:Thanks for suggestions I just ordered a APC UPS that's probably overkill but it's a $200 investment to protect my work laptop so it's worth it. If my laptop got fried my company might seriously reconsider work from home 😬 Between the transformer in the charger and the battery my understanding is that laptops are decently self protective. E:fb
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2023 21:19
|
|
|
Why did my Kindle Paperwhite go to 0 battery over the course of 5 days of not being used? It was at over 70% battery prior to that. Now it wouldn't even turn on. Thought it was bricked. Plugged in a cable and the screen turned on, saying the battery needs charging before it can be used.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2023 12:43
|
|
|
Is there an update for it? Whenever I've had "sleeping" devices die much sooner than expected it was almost always due to them waking up to do an automatic update and getting stuck at the "must be plugged in to start update" step.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2023 12:55
|
|
|
Shifty Pony posted:Is there an update for it? Whenever I've had "sleeping" devices die much sooner than expected it was almost always due to them waking up to do an automatic update and getting stuck at the "must be plugged in to start update" step. Pretty sure it was in airplane mode. And recently updated. PirateBob fucked around with this message at 15:10 on Sep 13, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2023 15:07
|
|
|
Fruits of the sea posted:AMD is releasing their new mid-high end cards 7700xt and 7800xt tomorrow. Wait until the reviews are out of course, but the way they are priced, there’s a good chance that they will be the best price/performance for 1440p and folks willing to spend a little extra. What ended up being the case for this? I took a vacation right after your post and just got back. I might be going to America in Mid-October so I was considering grabbing a card whilst I'm there, as it appears it's cheapest in the States compared to Europe.
|
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2023 19:41
|
|
|
Qubee posted:What ended up being the case for this? I took a vacation right after your post and just got back. I might be going to America in Mid-October so I was considering grabbing a card whilst I'm there, as it appears it's cheapest in the States compared to Europe. I’d check the GPU thread, but they both look pretty decent. 7800XT does offer a nice boost in performance for not much more money. I’d be careful about buying a GPU overseas, but that’s more of a customs query that I can’t weigh in on with any real advice.
|
|
#
?
Sep 17, 2023 16:20
|
|
|
Best way to verify MicroSD capacities? E: as in I want to check whether I got scammed.
|
|
#
?
Sep 17, 2023 16:35
|
|
|
Rinkles posted:Best way to verify MicroSD capacities? There are two types of sd scam: capacity and capability. For capacity, the most usual scam is that the firmware is hacked to report X >> actual GB for capacity. 1. Make a directory full of decent-sized zip or .7z (7-zip.org) files of any random junk - make sure it's an odd number of total MB (not an exact power of 2 or 10 in size) by adding files as needed, and preferably make it at least 8GB so you don't have to do it often (but less than 1/4 the size the card is supposed to be). Call it test_000. 2. Copy the folder to the sd card. 3. Do a verify or test (7-zip) on the first file you wrote (or all the files in the first folder written). It should pass verification. If it doesn't, the card is bogus. 4. If the space remaining on the card is < folder size, rename the folder adding 1 to the number (e.g. test_001) and go to step 2. Crap cards usually keep the newest data, so if/when it exceeds the card capacity it will overwrite some/all of the blocks in the first file and so when the zip/7zip program reads and computes the checksum/hash it'll get semi-random bits of other files and the test will fail. There are a few programs out there to test SD cards but they tend to be a lot slower than doing this and I can't remember which ones were reputable.
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2023 05:43
|
|
|
thepopmonster posted:There are two types of sd scam: capacity and capability. For capacity, the most usual scam is that the firmware is hacked to report X >> actual GB for capacity. Thanks. The card seems to be fine. Also I learned that the speed class doesn't necessarily indicate write speed. It's a V3 card, which is rated for 30MB/s, but I can transfer files at 80MB/s (which is still sub HDD).
|
|
#
?
Sep 21, 2023 15:57
|
|
|
I guess I'm finally going to get with the times and get an SSD. I don't buy a lot of PC gear, so I'd like to ask what are the manufacturers, sites and sellers I should avoid. Or tl;dr, best place to shop?
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 00:05
|
|
|
Filox posted:I guess I'm finally going to get with the times and get an SSD. This is a pretty vague question. What’s your motherboard and does it have an m.2 slot?
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 00:12
|
|
|
MarcusSA posted:This is a pretty vague question. What’s your motherboard and does it have an m.2 slot? I'll have to get back to you on that. What I'm really asking is a vague sort of question, a consumer question. Are there sites that have a bad reputation? Or manufacturers who are currently out of favor? Who should I avoid?
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 00:19
|
|
|
Filox posted:What I'm really asking is a vague sort of question, a consumer question. Are there sites that have a bad reputation? Or manufacturers who are currently out of favor? Who should I avoid? For manufacturers you should be fine with anything from Samsung, Western Digital, Crucial, and SanDisk. Safe vendors in the US are NewEgg (but not their 3rd party vendors), B&H Photo, Micro Center, Best Buy, or any other store you've heard of. I guess Amazon too but I've had worse and worse luck with them lately. SSDs come in two major form factors: 2.5" drives that look like old laptop hard drives and M.2 drives that look like a stick of RAM. Go with an M.2 drive if your motherboard supports it and you're looking to install your OS on it. Just be aware that one end of the M.2 drive needs to be held in with a screw so check and see if you know where it is first. Might already be screwed into the motherboard. If not you'll need to buy a screw kit. Also, sincere question, are you sure your machine doesn't already have a solid state drive? Because that would be very unusual for any machine from the last ten years or so unless you custom build a desktop PC that way. wash bucket fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Sep 22, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 01:11
|
|
|
You can buy from Amazon but make sure it is from Amazon directly and not "HonestJiMMyResales LLC" marketplace seller. BestBuy is fine as well, but again avoid marketplace sellers. Newegg is a total shitshow if things go sideways and probably should be avoided. Samsung and Western Digital are both reasonable brands to buy, just be sure to install their SSD monitoring software tools to make sure that the firmware of the drive stays updated. SSDs depend on internal software to keep the drive performing properly and there have been cases of a manufacturer needing to push new firmware (including one with Samsung not very long ago!)
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 01:12
|
|
|
Best Buy US doesn’t have any 3rd party sellers AFAIK. I think they do on their Canada site. Yet another reason I buy nearly all my electronics from them.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 01:17
|
|
|
Feels like the question of "where's a reputable place to buy common stuff online?" is getting harder to answer.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 01:23
|
|
|
Here's the computer, if this link works. https://www.newegg.com/lenovo-ideacentre-720-18apr-90hy0006us/p/N82E16883998636R I bought it in 2019. (A new computer isn't on the horizon at the moment.) Sorry, at work and on mobile. Filox fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Sep 22, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 01:54
|
|
|
Filox posted:Here's the computer, if this link works. Ok looks like that has an m2 NVMe slot for an SSD, and actually comes with a small one installed. What I would do is get this SSD: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB https://a.co/d/h26cQGX And a USB case for it: UGREEN SSD Enclosure https://a.co/d/ahyKdHT Put the SSD inside the enclosure, boot up, plug it in, download and install the Samsung magician ssd software, and run it. At the bottom left there is a data migration option that will clone your current drive over to the ssd, just select your current C: drive as the source and the 2TD Samsung ssd as the target. Shut down, unplug the power, open up the computer, and swap in the new SSD for the old one. After you do that (and plug it back in) it should boot right up but with a hell of a lot more space on the C: drive.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 02:45
|
|
|
That motherboard might support only a PCIe m.2 drive, Lenovo’s website is a gently caress so I can’t check.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 03:06
|
|
|
I found a video where someone opened the thing up and there appears to be an m2 connector (unpopulated in the system they have) but I don't see how a drive could be secured there: Maybe there is a clip that's only included when the system comes preconfigured with an ssd.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 03:21
|
|
|
PirateBob posted:Pretty sure it was in airplane mode. And recently updated. The only normal operation for a kindle draining a lot of battery quickly I can think of is if you loaded a ton, like an insane amount of ebooks onto it; the kindle will work on indexing when a new book is downloaded to it, and I found it to be noticeable if you put on a few new ebooks on at a time; but not 70% to 0 battery, unless it was a very VERY large number of books.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 03:51
|
|
|
My early model paperwhite would occasionally just flip out and eats its battery for lunch. Charge it back up and it was fine for months until it would decide to do it again randomly. Had it for years before it started doing that though.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 04:52
|
|
|
Shifty Pony posted:I found a video where someone opened the thing up and there appears to be an m2 connector (unpopulated in the system they have) but I don't see how a drive could be secured there: It might be an M2 slot for short factor cards like WiFi cards 
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 13:34
|
|
|
There's short SSD's too, and "m2 ssd" is stencilled on the board...
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 15:20
|
|
|
Yeah, that could be suitable for a M.2 2230 (30 mm long) SSD. I don't see a way to retain the back of it but maybe it'd work just jammed in there... https://www.amazon.com/m-2-2230-ssd/s?k=m.2+2230+ssd
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 15:31
|
|
|
Rexxed posted:Yeah, that could be suitable for a M.2 2230 (30 mm long) SSD. I don't see a way to retain the back of it but maybe it'd work just jammed in there... Yeah I don’t see how it’s held down? Seems weird.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 16:01
|
|
|
Maybe 3d print a little clip and/or build up some layers of thermal tape under it
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 16:11
|
|
|
I took a picture of my thinkcentre so you can all see the dumb Lenovo solution. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 16:21
|
|
|
strangehamster posted:I took a picture of my thinkcentre so you can all see the dumb Lenovo solution. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 19:02
|
|
|
What do you guys do with your old gaming PCs? I tend to run them until something breaks, typically 8+ years old. Sell them for parts? Recycle? Donation? Or like me and just build up a collection of broken PCs in your garage that you never touch.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 20:35
|
|
|
Fozzy The Bear posted:Or like me and just build up a collection of broken PCs in your garage that you never touch. Pretty rude to come at me like this.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 20:42
|
|
|
I mostly give stuff away to friends and relatives.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 20:44
|
|
|
strangehamster posted:I took a picture of my thinkcentre so you can all see the dumb Lenovo solution. Given this situation without the weird little proprietary clip, I'd probably just use plastic zip ties to make a loop around the SSD and backplate. You could gently tighten it down until the SSD was parallel to the board and that would probably ensure a good connection as long as you don't bump it too hard. Fozzy The Bear posted:What do you guys do with your old gaming PCs? I tend to run them until something breaks, typically 8+ years old. One of my last two desktops, an overclocked LGA1366 Xeon from 2010, went to my younger cousin who was interested in PC games but had no idea how to get started. It's still good enough to run a lot of current games now that he's added in an RX 6600, and hopefully it will continue to be good enough until he has enough knowledge and savings to do better than buy the first laptop he can afford at Wal-Mart. The other, an i5-2500K, I put in an old full tower case with four 5.25" bays and it's now my media ripping/re-encoding station. It's more than fast enough to rip four discs at once and while newer processors can re-encode much faster, the 2500K is still acceptable for my purposes. Old gaming desktops can also make great home virtualization sandboxes or Plex/Jellyfin servers if either of those are something you're interested in. Recent Intel processors with IGPs are particularly good for Plex if you're OK with the quality of QuickSync encodes, since they can handle many more streams than most people are likely to need. If you want a home NAS, you could set that up on pretty much any hardware which is new enough to install the OS and plug in the drives. The biggest concern at some point starts to just be "how much power is this using running 24/7", but the same EFI knobs that allow you to ramp up performance on a gaming motherboard will also in many cases allow you to tune the processor down to mobile-level power draw if you care to do it. If you don't need any of these things, then there are organizations like Kramden which will check out old machines and get them shipshape to do useful work for people who can't afford to buy their own computer. Anything younger than a decade or so has a fair chance of being useful to them. Eletriarnation fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Sep 22, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 21:01
|
|
|
Fozzy The Bear posted:What do you guys do with your old gaming PCs? I tend to run them until something breaks, typically 8+ years old. One I turned into a NAS box. My more recently decommissioned computer is, uh, sitting in the closet as it has been the last 5 years. I tend to run my computers for so long (that one in question, about 9 years) that I don't think they'd resell for very much, nor would I want to foist such old parts on someone. So yeah we're garage storage buddies.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 21:15
|
|
|
I tend to Ship of Theseus my gaming computer, and I'll put the recently replaced but still serviceable components on SA-Mart for cheap. Someone will have a use for them, and gaming computer components tend to be plenty powerful enough for basic uses even a decade out. Shifty Pony fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Sep 22, 2023 |
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2023 21:42
|
|
|
So I am heavily considering a 4090. I was uhming and ahhing over the 7900 XTX, but then I read a bunch of comments online about how nvidia tech is currently way better (mainly with regards to their DLSS technology). I was sitting there for ages trying to determine if I wanted to get the best bang for my buck, but then I realised, gently caress it: this is the first time in my life where I'm financially comfortable, I have zero responsibilities, and I've never spoiled myself with a top-of-the-line GPU. I've always been a penny pincher when it comes to computer hardware. I've had my GTX 1080 since 2018 and it has served me well. I figured, $1700 spread over the course of five years is well, well worth it. $28 a month for something that gives me so much enjoyment, I'd subscribe to that train of thought. I imagine I can sell my 1080 for $100 or so, and I can do the same to the 4090 another 5 years from now. Anyone want to slap some sense into me? Is there a better alternative? Can I spoil myself?
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2023 18:54
|
|
|
Qubee posted:So I am heavily considering a 4090. I was uhming and ahhing over the 7900 XTX, but then I read a bunch of comments online about how nvidia tech is currently way better (mainly with regards to their DLSS technology). I was sitting there for ages trying to determine if I wanted to get the best bang for my buck, but then I realised, gently caress it: this is the first time in my life where I'm financially comfortable, I have zero responsibilities, and I've never spoiled myself with a top-of-the-line GPU. I've always been a penny pincher when it comes to computer hardware. I've had my GTX 1080 since 2018 and it has served me well. I figured, $1700 spread over the course of five years is well, well worth it. $28 a month for something that gives me so much enjoyment, I'd subscribe to that train of thought. I imagine I can sell my 1080 for $100 or so, and I can do the same to the 4090 another 5 years from now. Spoil away, the 4090 is a magnificent card and will last you a good long time (probably over multiple CPU upgrades too). It is the 1080 Ti of its weight class, value-wise.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2023 19:53
|
|
|
Cross-Section posted:Spoil away, the 4090 is a magnificent card and will last you a good long time (probably over multiple CPU upgrades too). It is the 1080 Ti of its weight class, value-wise. I disagree that it represents anywhere near the value of a 1080ti but yeah 4090 is fine. Personally I'd be too afraid of buying one and then having the 5xxx cards come out like next year but if you need a card you need a card.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2023 19:58
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 10:43 |
|
|
VelociBacon posted:I disagree that it represents anywhere near the value of a 1080ti but yeah 4090 is fine. Personally I'd be too afraid of buying one and then having the 5xxx cards come out like next year but if you need a card you need a card. See, the scrooge in me puckers up at this comment and then I think about just getting a 7900 XTX as it will be more than good enough, and then if 5000 series cards are the second coming of Christ, I could jump ship without feeling like I'm shackled. I also do not respect nvidia as a company any more and hate giving them my money and would rather give it to AMD.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2023 20:05
|
|