Random Question Thread: Tech

[Kerberoz]

Just pulled the stock fan w/ intel paste off an i7 from oct 09. Powder underneath.

onry.

[Boyiee]

No way, IC Diamond.

[Decy]

Has anyone here ever tried using http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ to build a PC? Started out just using it to keep track of what components i might want to use but they priced me at £820 for:

Case
Choose Your Own Case - Details Complete

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7-2600S Quad Core (2.8GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard
ASUS® P8H67-M LX SI (NEW REV 3.0): M-ATX, USB 2.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, 2 x PCI

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)

Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 430 - DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 320 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 270MB/sR | 130MB/sW)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply
600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£59)

Processor Cooling
TITAN FENRIR EVO EXTREME HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£39)

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Firewire & Video Editing
3 Port IEEE 1394a Firewire PCI Card (£9)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

How does this seem to you guys? would i be better going it alone and making it myself?

[sruon]

I helped drwaffles build a computer for his birthday using pcspecialist.co.uk, the price seemed decent, however he ended up with a few issues that required sending it back a few times, faulty PSU iirc. Don't think it's enough to say they suck but... you never know.

@Build
Seems like a waste to get a 120GB SSD while cheaping out on the graphic card, other than that the build looks decent, may want to get a triple kit instead of double kit to make use of Triple Channel for the RAM as well.

Final comment : if you can build it yourself, it's a lot better and cheaper.

[Isiolia]

I helped drwaffles
Seems like a waste to get a 120GB SSD while cheaping out on the graphic card, other than that the build looks decent, may want to get a triple kit instead of double kit to make use of Triple Channel for the RAM as well.

Sandy Bridge is only dual channel for RAM, IIRC.

SSD/video card would depend on the focus of the system - I definitely agree that, for gaming, it'd make more sense to either go with a smaller SSD or leave that as a later upgrade (assuming that the build is on a budget), and instead pump more cash into the GPU.

[Decy]

Im thinking i will likely need to go higher on the GPU yea, its for my university course so .. 3DS max, maya 3D, games desin as well as HD video and audio recording and editing.. Any other advice?

Thanks for your comments so far.

EDIT updating the graphics to :

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX560 Ti - 2 DVI,HDMI,VGA - DX® 11, 3D Vision Ready

Brings the price up to £1000

Assuming i can individually search and purchase each item for cheaper, is this acceptable for what ive talked about above?

thanks again

[Senji]

If you are planning on overclocking, I would bump up your PSU to most likely a 700 or 750. If no ambition to, then a 600 will be fine. If SLI down the road, even bigger.

If your game design is anything like modeling, you will want better ram.

You can also get a blu ray burner on sale for the same price as a blu reader and a separate dvd burner.

[Dooom]

Not sure if this is right place, apologies if not, I'm in kind of a hurry. Is there a way to view an old version of a page I viewed on Firefox?

[Cephius]

I assume you mean a webpage before it was updated? On firefox, not that I know of, but you can search google by typing in "cache:http://domain.com/url" to go back in time a bit

[Dallius]

so i finally bought a new laptop (i haven't bought a new computer since 2000)... i bought it specifically to play games on (ffxi, wow, etc.), i also have a ps3 (yes i played ffxi on it) long story short, i got the alienware m11x (windows 7 64 bit) with an internal BT adapter..

i had hoped to use my ps3 controller with the little thumboard on my laptop while playing (would connect the laptop to my tv via HDMI or an actual monitor cable), so far i've been unable to get the damn controller to work, or even find a program that would let me use the internal BT antenna (i've tried motioninjoy but they keep telling me to buy a dongle).. am i better off getting a BT controller meant for windows? or am i just being stoopid and missing something?

i'm kind of attached to the ps2/3 controller (played ffxi on it since 2005ish) any suggestions on what i can do to remedy my situation?

[Isiolia]

There aren't many native bluetooth gamepads outside of the PS3 and Wii, and nearly all that are around are cheap crap meant for pairing with cell phones.

You can try to get the PS3 (or Wii) controllers working with non-official drivers.

If you're not completely set on using the internal Bluetooth, however, you could consider a Logitech controller - their gamepads are Dual Shock copies (same stuff they sell with different guts as PS2/PS3 controllers), and they do offer a wireless model, it's just not Bluetooth.

Another option for a PC gamepad is the 360 controller. You can use wired models, or MS makes a USB wireless receiver to use the wireless ones (can find it by itself in non-retail packaging, or buy the "for PC" kit, which is a standard 360 controller + the receiver). The end result is kind of a mixed bag - if you want to use the triggers as buttons, not additional axis, on games that don't directly support the controller (most newer cross-platform games do, FFXI does not)... you need 3rd party drivers.


Personally, I don't have a lot of experience with it - I have a 360 wireless receiver using the official/built in drivers, and that covers about everything I want to use a gamepad for on my PC. I did mess with the PS3 controller stuff at one point, but it was more of a hassle than it was worth to me.

[Dallius]

Isiolia, thanks for your reply... idk why i was hung up on BT, and not just getting a wireless controller, /facepalm

i think i was so set in using the ps controller with the little thumbboard attachment, and just kinda got stuck in BT mode from there...

edit: fixed the spelling

[Ace-o-fire]

I'm looking for a really good pair of headphones for under 100$

Ive been looking at Sennheiser but I'm a bit lost when all the tech stuff comes up.

Needs: Noise cancelling or reduction, good for gaming/music

ive done a bit of googeling, but haven't found any solid reviews from real people to convince me

[Cephius]

Sennheiser are the best by far but they're expensive. You get what you pay for. I have the Logitech G35 headset, they're pretty good albeit a bit heavy.

[sruon]

Steelseries 5H V2 here, love them.

[Boyiee]

I'm looking for a really good pair of headphones for under 100$

Ive been looking at Sennheiser but I'm a bit lost when all the tech stuff comes up.

Needs: Noise cancelling or reduction, good for gaming/music

ive done a bit of googeling, but haven't found any solid reviews from real people to convince me

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD5...4144135&sr=8-1

noise cancelling is dumb

[Kerberoz]

Things to avoid when shopping for headphones:
- noise cancelling
- "surround" headphones
- "gaming" headphones
- celebrity endorsements
- headphones with software
- wireless
- Bose/Monster
- built-in mic (will cost 5x more than standalone mic)
- most "features" in general are only found on shit cans

[SephYuyX]

This is all you need:
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Heads...183433&sr=1-29

Been using it for almost 10 years now.

[Kerberoz]

Stupid win7 question: How do you change the "sort by..." menu options for everything, and not just one folder? For example, so that "Date modified" would always show up instead of the fucking useless "Date"

[Cayos]

Right click > Sort By > More... > Click the box that says Date Modified.

Edit: Oh wait, this only does it for one folder. Isn't Date Modified the default for every folder anyway?