Random Question Thread: Tech

[Qeomash]

So, my computer is normally idling around 40C. I recently moved, and now my computer is idling anywhere from 60-70C, peaking in the high 90s during games. All the fans are working (all 4 case fans), I've cleaned it of dust recently, and it's getting pretty much the same airflow as before...so I'm not sure what is up.

My only thoughts to fixing it are:
1. Buy higher output fans to suck more air in and out.
2. Replace the stock thermal paste that is 2ish years old now. (i7-2600k if it matters.)
3. Replace the stock heatsink.

[Prothescar]

Possible that the heatsink got jostled loose during the move, can fix that just by reseating it and applying new thermal paste in the proccess. I'd suggest replacing the stock heatsink anyway, they're really not very good and even a good $20~30 aftermarket cooler will perform better by quite a bit. This for example

[Ratatapa]

We have an image with clonezilla made from a HDD 160gig

Can i clone that image to an SSD 160gig? or cloning to SSD is not recommanded?

[Meresgi]

Looking to make the jump back to Nvidia for GPUs, right now running 6870's Xfired together. Using HWcompare I notice the GTX 660 has a good 60% boost on the 6870 for some categories, but how does Xfire work into this? I know a single better GPU is usually better then 2 SLI/Xfired gpus together but I want to know just how much better this 660 might be.

Card in question

[Niya]

AFAIK SL/Crossfire is normally about 40-60% faster compared to the GPU running alone. (to avoid misunderstandings: one GPU: 100% performance. Same GPU in SLI/Xfire: 140-160%, not 200%)
So if the 660 is really about 60% faster than a single 6870, you might get only minimal better performance. Though, with Xfire you always have the general problem of micro stuttering and incompatible games, so it could still be worth it.

We have an image with clonezilla made from a HDD 160gig
Can i clone that image to an SSD 160gig? or cloning to SSD is not recommanded?

Possible: yes, as long as the image is smaller (obviously)
Recommended: no. Unless the cloned OS, the SATA controller and the SSD know the TRIM command, you'll get a horribly slow system compared to a "fresh" SSD since almost all space is "full" and the SSD doesn't know which blocks are empty for the OS. And even with TRIM working the garbage collection will probably be busy for hours or days to clean all blocks that were partially filled with "trash". That is, if the OS actually notifies the SSD about the free space without actual need for it (for the OS, the space is already unneeded, so why say it again?)

[Melena]

Lately I noticed the browser on my Galaxy S3 is crashing, probably one to two times a day and I have no clue what's going on. I have about 7gb free on the phone, not rooted or anything. This all started about 3 weeks ago. Any ideas?

[Meresgi]

AFAIK SL/Crossfire is normally about 40-60% faster compared to the GPU running alone. (to avoid misunderstandings: one GPU: 100% performance. Same GPU in SLI/Xfire: 140-160%, not 200%)
So if the 660 is really about 60% faster than a single 6870, you might get only minimal better performance. Though, with Xfire you always have the general problem of micro stuttering and incompatible games, so it could still be worth it.

Yeah, I dug around on google and found this as well

http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index...-power-edition

The Crossfire is roughly 1% worse then the single card, definitely not worth paying $190ish for. That Nvidia Titan looks amazing, too bad it's a grand >_<.

[Prothescar]

Worth noting that Crossfire is horrendous when it comes to microstutter and screen tearing compared to SLI if those sort of things matter to you. (SLI isn't very good either, but not as bad)




Lot of info about why starting at around 29:00 in this video.

[hey]

I'm looking for a new mouse, something like the razer naga molten, but with way less buttons. Their naga hex looked okay, but the lack of separate forward/back buttons seems like it would be a huge pain for web browsing. Any suggestions?

[Takiwaki]

G600, I know you want less buttons but its an amazing mouse. That third mouse button...

[Intervention]

Lately I noticed the browser on my Galaxy S3 is crashing, probably one to two times a day and I have no clue what's going on. I have about 7gb free on the phone, not rooted or anything. This all started about 3 weeks ago. Any ideas?

Were you copy pasting? I believe that's a general bug in the GS3. Supposedly the 4.1.2 update fixed that.

When you say crashing, is it a force close or a reboot. I have a GS3 as well and went through various problems with it.

[jmc]

Thinking about building a desk with a built in computer. Any ideas on where to start researching?

[Mellema]

Lately I noticed the browser on my Galaxy S3 is crashing, probably one to two times a day and I have no clue what's going on. I have about 7gb free on the phone, not rooted or anything. This all started about 3 weeks ago. Any ideas?

Something else to try is go to settings > application manager > all > internet, then clear data and cache, then restart your phone.

[Siya]

May be getting a new place soon and have be.en looking around for internet. So far I've found out im 1.8 miles from a verizon store but according to the website cant get fios. I can get att uverse but only 3Mbps down but as far as i can tell no monthly allowance. And the 3rd place is mediacom which i know nothing about but have 30Mbps down but a monthly allowance of350gb. So im kinda concerned about the monthly allowance being used up by 2 heavy gamers (mmos, fps, league), skype and netflix. Just trying to find out which would be best

[Omniyoji]

May be getting a new place soon and have be.en looking around for internet. So far I've found out im 1.8 miles from a verizon store but according to the website cant get fios. I can get att uverse but only 3Mbps down but as far as i can tell no monthly allowance. And the 3rd place is mediacom which i know nothing about but have 30Mbps down but a monthly allowance of350gb. So im kinda concerned about the monthly allowance being used up by 2 heavy gamers (mmos, fps, league), skype and netflix. Just trying to find out which would be best

I would consider the capped higher download unless you do a lot of downloading (illegal stuff). MMOs and online games don't use as much bandwidth as you think. Skype and Netflix do tho especially if you mean HD video conferencing on skype. Netflix will use about ~3.5 GB per HD movie, ~600 MB (±100 MB) per SD movie, TV Shows use 1.5GB HD/400MB SD.

Doing the math, let's say you watch 2 HD movies and 2 HD tv shows a day everyday. That comes out to 300 GB just for netflix. As for games you might be looking at 500 MB to 1 GB a month depending on game/time played.

*If someone has measured this before post your results. Mine are based on quick online searches.

[Ratatapa]

FFXIV costed me iirc about 5-10gig per month beeing online 24/7

[Siya]

Not much into conferencing, mainly just voice chat. As far as hd netflix does that have to be set? So far its just been default (best quality for the speed @ 30Mbps speed atm) and been ok with that

[Omniyoji]

I haven't used Netflix in quite a while but iirc doesn't it tell you if the movie's in hd in the info section area? If it doesn't say anything it's in SD. Also it depends on the device. I think the Wii for example isn't capable of streaming HD stuff. Anyone know? btw I like your avatar Siya. It's cute *^.^*

[hey]

Been using a Logitech G500 for years. Its reliable and it feels sturdy with the weights put in it. Also has sensitivity buttons built into it as well.

That looks pretty good, thanks.

[Melena]

Were you copy pasting? I believe that's a general bug in the GS3. Supposedly the 4.1.2 update fixed that.

When you say crashing, is it a force close or a reboot. I have a GS3 as well and went through various problems with it.

It just crashes to home screen. It's almost always when loading a page, it will get about 70% there, hang for about ten seconds then back to the home screen.

Something else to try is go to settings > application manager > all > internet, then clear data and cache, then restart your phone.

I'll give this a shot, see if it helps.