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My PC build runs really well, but Windows Vista support ends in 2017. So I'll get a new Windows this year, Before installing it I want to do any major hardware upgrades I might want in the future before that to ensure the install is fresh. Currently I have a AMD Athlon II X4 2.9 GHz and my motherboard is a ASUS M4A77TD that supports Phenom II and Athlon II. I'd like to buy a Phenom II X4 or X6 at 3.2 Ghz or more, the maximum power CPUs this motherboard supports. That would cost about $60-90 used. And of course I'll sell the AMD Athlon II X4 on eBay too, maybe worth at least $20. I'm confident that my PC as-is can handle Win 7-10 without problems, but would 0.3 faster speed and 2 extra cores feel any faster than what I have now? Would it be worth a risky CPU replacement operation and the cost? Schiavona posted:I don't want to pay to rent a modem/router from Comcast anymore. The Networking thread seems to be about stuff that's about six levels above that. What's by best price/performance option for both a combined modem and router and separate ones? They're being sued for this chicanery, but after you upgrade watch out for crap like this. Comcast has a list of devices they say they support. http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/ Having one might help your inevitable support calls go a bit better, so look for ones with features you want. The first time I bought a modem I simply bought the same model Comcast had given me. When I upgraded, I looked at the list and compared reviews, prices, and brand reputation to find the cheapest, best one. I have no fear of used modems, but I recommend it only if the savings are significant compared to a NIB one.
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Jan 28, 2016 20:12
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 I thought that might be the case. What's worse is that I'm an AMD stockholder.I bought some shares in AMD stock when it fell to $5 some years ago, hoping that "Bulldozer" would bring the price back up. Today they're worth 2 bucks.  
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Jan 29, 2016 00:50
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fishmech posted:Do not purchase a new AMD chip. Either keep your hardware as is, or buy a low end Intel chip (i3 or even Pentium) and motherboard and get significantly improved performance. You'd just be wasting your money buying a 7 year old processor for barely any improvement. I decided not to upgrade any hardware, clean-installed Windows 7 64-bit, and upgraded to Windows 10 immediately. The PC runs the same as it did before, but it now has access to more of my RAM (Vista only supports 4 GB, but I have 6) and better support for my SSD. Thanks for the advice; AMD Phenom II x6 CPUs faster than 3Ghz are selling on eBay for $130-150 with lots of bids and I almost bought one. Glad I didn't, so far. ghetto wormhole posted:Is there such a thing as a 4 port USB 3.1 expansion card? Or would that require too much bandwidth for a PCIe slot to handle? Botnit posted:I don't know what an 'archive' HD is, what I'm wanting to use it for is storing a ton of media files. I don't think the speed matters as I'll only need enough to play video for one PC (no streaming over a network or anything) but I'm not sure if 'archive' means it can't even do that. "Archive" doesn't seem to mean anything special. It only goes up to 5900 RPM, as opposed to the average 7200 RPM. I think you will notice a performance difference if you want to use this as your primary boot drive for your OS. If it's a secondary drive, it would matter less. For just playing video it should work, and it'll probably be faster than your external HDs, especially if they are slower than 7200 RPM. (and they often are).
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Feb 10, 2016 16:02
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Oh.  Now that you've explained it, an archive HD would work for my video collection, which has both downloads and DVD backups. After I save a video file, I usually never delete or change it. EDIT: V V V I don't know much, but I think you should just put your new torrent downloads on another drive, probably your main one, until they are complete. After it's done, determine if you really want to keep the file. If you do, put it into storage on the drive, or if not, delete it. This is how I handle all my files, so I can make backups of new files before I put them away. As for seeding it might work, since it's being read and not written, but seeding is like donating-- just do what you can. Ema Nymton fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Feb 10, 2016 |
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Feb 10, 2016 16:29
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Is there a way to safely inspect a random USB of unknown origin? If I find a USB drive on the ground, finders keepers (OK maybe I'll look for the owner). But nowadays just being careful and scanning the drive for viruses isn't good enough. USB keyboard drives and other Bad USB crap can execute without user input. I refuse to give up my freedom to keep free trash, so obviously I'm going to stick these USBs into my computer. What's the safest way? My plan is to boot into a live USB linux OS and then explore the drive from there, since I assume most exploits are meant for Windows. Would that be enough? Are there any Windows applications that can intercept and inspect USB drives? I suppose I can also watch closely for any weird poo poo and restore a backup image to fix everything, or just restore the image regardless to be 100% sure no malware was executed, but it's a real hassle to do that.
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May 24, 2016 17:29
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Imapanda posted:I spilt some loving water on my computer last week (its normally wide open on its side chilling on the floor next to my desk..) and it immediately sizzled, I dont get any response from trying to turn it on, no lights or fans or anything. Luckily from being on its side the water just mostly collected on the bottom with a tiny bit on the CPU cooler and ram sticks.  I... can't tell the difference between real and fakeposts anymore.Good luck. I hope the new mobo fixes things. If not, get a Rasperberry Pi and cry a lot.
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Aug 9, 2016 19:41
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OHSHI Broke my biggest USB 3.0 flash drive when I dropped my laptop.  The laptop is fine, but the drive bent and snapped. The actual flash memory itself works, though. What can I do to create a cheapo case for it? Foil? Taping the broken plastic together?
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Oct 20, 2016 15:45
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Wilford Cutlery posted:Copy the data to a safe place and get a new one. I did that already. But at 64 GB, I wish there was something more I could do with it.
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Oct 20, 2016 16:09
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