Random Question Thread: Tech

[Purrrfect]

Do nvidia cards (specifically 660ti or 670) have the ability to merge 2 monitors the way eyefinity does 3? I feel like I've heard only amd can handle 3+, but that nvidia can do just 2. Not quite sure I'll ever really use a 3rd monitor, at least not all as one screen. (Contemplating 7870LE/7950/660ti/670)

[Jojimbo]

Nvidia 500 and prior could only handle 2 monitors per card (surround required SLI), GTX 600 cards can output to 4 monitors per card so you only need one for surround (note: you only technically require one but performance will be crap with a single GPU in 5760x1080). AMD cards have been able to output to 3~6 screens since the HD 5000, most HD 7000 can do 4 screens however only two can use DVI/HDMI/VGA, the 3rd and onwards require the use of DisplayPort (or if your monitor lacks it, an active adapter).

Not sure if my merge you mean extended (they act as separate monitors) or SLS (stuff maximises over both), I know AMD can do SLS (eyefinity) using two monitors but nVidia is lagging behind in surround support and I'm not sure if that includes the ability to do surround across two monitors. Although the applications for this are extremely limited, EVE and a few other games support it but FPS and such are unplayable due to the middle of the screen being a bezel, most I used 2 monitor eyefinity for was playing a split screen game on two different full sized 1080p monitor.

[Stromgarde]

Normally get <35c idle with single monitor, <45c with multiple monitors myself.

I feel kinda dumb for overlooking something so obvious! Maybe I should just slap in a cheapo for the second monitor, I only ever run FireFox and video off of it anyway to reduce the load on the main card.

[Jojimbo]

The second monitor takes up <50MB vRAM and increases idle clocks (or screens flicker), shouldn't have any effect on actual load when the card is actually under load and tbh the +10c idle increase shouldn't be hurting the card as it's still a pretty low temperature. Depending on the MB layout and GPU in question adding a second card could hurt temps just as much, except effect load temps as well.

[Elizara]

Ok, I'm thinking about this for later..

My room's kinda small but I do like to listen to my tv with headphones on (my tv has a headphone jack, and if I replace it a headphone jack is going to be a selling point), and have been using a extension cable to do so. Is there a decent pair of wireless headphones out there that's under $100? I don't need bells and whistles, I just need sturdy, works and no wire to trip on.

[Jojimbo]

Sennheiser RS120?

[Elizara]

*looks that up on Amazon* That might work Joji. I'll save up for those. Thanks.

[shen]

Looking for new laptop suggestions. I'm really not the best tech guy and idk where to start looking so I'm asking here. Need a laptop primarily for school but I want a portable FFXI device. Basically I'm looking for something that can run FFXI at decent settings (would it be hard to get something not so expensive that can run it at max?). So basically a dedicated FFXI machine with the benefit of being used for school lol

[Stromgarde]

The second monitor takes up <50MB vRAM and increases idle clocks (or screens flicker), shouldn't have any effect on actual load when the card is actually under load and tbh the +10c idle increase shouldn't be hurting the card as it's still a pretty low temperature. Depending on the MB layout and GPU in question adding a second card could hurt temps just as much, except effect load temps as well.

I've been fiddling with the settings a bit more and it seems you're right; the memory doesn't OC quite as well as the core clock and I need to be mindful of that. Once those were taken into account, I was able to get a stable OC at 1GHz (~20% over stock clock).

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

Hey folks, I'm having an issue with my internet. My family and I remain connected amongst our 2-3 laptops and 1-2 game consoles, however some of my guests can't seem to connect. There's one guest in particular who seems to be victim to this most of the time. However, it had been 3+ months since it gave him trouble. Any insight would be appreciated. Let me now if I can offer any more details.

[Vendog]

How can I turn a .pdf into a format that MS Word can read? or use my scanner to turn it in an MS Word file it seems to only do .tff and .pdf.

[Eldelphia]

Looking for new laptop suggestions. I'm really not the best tech guy and idk where to start looking so I'm asking here. Need a laptop primarily for school but I want a portable FFXI device. Basically I'm looking for something that can run FFXI at decent settings (would it be hard to get something not so expensive that can run it at max?). So basically a dedicated FFXI machine with the benefit of being used for school lol

My 5 year old cheap laptop runs FFXI fine. I can't see you having issues finding something cheap that works

[Buffy]

How can I turn a .pdf into a format that MS Word can read? or use my scanner to turn it in an MS Word file it seems to only do .tff and .pdf.

I like to use http://www.pdfonline.com/pdf-to-word-converter/

but it doesn't do so well with tables and stuff. But pure text > text, it's pretty darn good.

[Vendog]

I need to edit it now but it says read only.

[Buffy]

I need to edit it now but it says read only.

You gotta save it, then you can upload it for conversion.

[Caiyuo]

Hey folks, I'm having an issue with my internet. My family and I remain connected amongst our 2-3 laptops and 1-2 game consoles, however some of my guests can't seem to connect. There's one guest in particular who seems to be victim to this most of the time. However, it had been 3+ months since it gave him trouble. Any insight would be appreciated. Let me now if I can offer any more details.

Are any static dhcp entries setup in the router? If there's not some kind of conflict, there might be too few addresses in the range that was setup for dhcp. For a range like 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.110, there's 11 addresses available and if they're all claimed then the router won't lease an IP to the next device that tries to connect.

[Vendog]

ok I saved it uploaded it and converted it but now when I try to make any changes it wont let me.

[hey]

The second monitor takes up <50MB vRAM and increases idle clocks (or screens flicker), shouldn't have any effect on actual load when the card is actually under load and tbh the +10c idle increase shouldn't be hurting the card as it's still a pretty low temperature. Depending on the MB layout and GPU in question adding a second card could hurt temps just as much, except effect load temps as well.

Yeah, my 7850 idles at 46c (after adjusting the fan speed to half what it defaults to), and i'm not even remotely worried about it. I mean, it feels bad being that hot, but it's not going to do any harm.

[Caiyuo]

I had no idea desktops things turned into fucking space heaters, I only ever had a laptop on my desk but goodlord it gets hot in here now.

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

Are any static dhcp entries setup in the router? If there's not some kind of conflict, there might be too few addresses in the range that was setup for dhcp. For a range like 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.110, there's 11 addresses available and if they're all claimed then the router won't lease an IP to the next device that tries to connect.

Thanks for the response, much appreciated. Seems to be ok now but knowing of possible IP conflicts is helpful.