Random Question Thread: Tech

[Kerberoz]

I doubt it's possible but anyone know a good portable USB BlueRay drive (that can burn DVD also) but that is USB powered only?

If that doesn't exist which external blue ray player you suggest

Thanks

Near-lossless BD-rips fit on an 8GB thumbdrive.

[Taint]

Controller Issue
I play FFXI on 2 different PCs but dual box with windower on each.

On one PC my controller controls whichever game is selected at the time. (top screen)

My other PC doesn't make the change and the controller will stick with one character and randomly change.

Any idea what could be causing this? Both characters use the same windower on each PC.

[Apelila]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to discern the current state of video cards? The fan on my HD4600 is starting to die, I'd rather just replace it since it shouldn't cost that much, any suggestions would be appreciated since the current number systems manufacturers use aren't always as clear cut as they should be. (last time I was serious about hardware was 7 years ago, fuck it all I dont build enough to keep up to date)

[Apelila]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to discern the current state of video cards? The fan on my HD4600 is starting to die, I'd rather just replace it since it shouldn't cost that much, any suggestions would be appreciated since the current number systems manufacturers use aren't always as clear cut as they should be. (last time I was serious about hardware was 7 years ago, fuck it all I dont build enough to keep up to date)

[Isiolia]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to discern the current state of video cards? The fan on my HD4600 is starting to die, I'd rather just replace it since it shouldn't cost that much, any suggestions would be appreciated since the current number systems manufacturers use aren't always as clear cut as they should be. (last time I was serious about hardware was 7 years ago, fuck it all I dont build enough to keep up to date)

The Tom's Hardware Best Graphics Cards for the Money monthly article is usually a decent guide. If nothing else, the hierarchy chart at the end can help you ballpark things.

Depending on how much you want to spen, AMD has a promo going for a free copy of Deus Ex Human Revolution on select products. You can get a 6850 for $140 after rebate + a free copy of that, which would be a pretty solid deal.

[Drunkenmonk]

just got a $600 laptop (toshiba satellite pro L770) that i wasn't expecting to be able to play games on and i'm a pc gaming noob, if i pass reccomended requirements can i expect a good experience? don't want to spend $50 on witcher 2 only to find out for myself

[Isiolia]

just got a $600 laptop (toshiba satellite pro L770) that i wasn't expecting to be able to play games on and i'm a pc gaming noob, if i pass reccomended requirements can i expect a good experience? don't want to spend $50 on witcher 2 only to find out for myself

From what I can see, the model you got uses Intel integrated graphics (HD Graphics 3000 - link has a lot of game benchmarks).

You likely won't pass recommended specs for many modern titles with that. Minimum...maybe, but minimum specs tend to mean dropping -everything- down to the lowest possible, including resolution. To be fair, this is often similar to how the game would run on a console...but from two feet away, it doesn't necessarily look great.

There are still tons of PC games that'd run nicely on it, but for the most part you'd be looking at fairly old titles. It's not even close to the minimum GPU spec'ed for the Witcher 2, in terms of performance.

[Boyiee]

I'm looking to upgrade my sennheiser hd555's (modded to 595) in some way. Any suggestions?

I'm using onboard through a newer motherboard, and amps came into the discussion but ive read its not really worth amping 555's... so then the option becomes new headphones. New headphones are going to run 200-300 I'm sure, and I don't know if it would be worth getting something like that without an amp. So do I buy an amp now? I don't need it to be portable, something that is a DAC would also be nice.

Suggestions? Fiio E9 alone? E7? E9+E7? Something else maybe? lol

[Kerberoz]

$50 is a waste even if you can run it-- PC game prices tend to drop sharply a few months after release.

[Callisto]

Two things I'm trying to figure out:

1) In Win7, is there a way to make it so that I can play games in windowed mode at full resolution without having the top border of the window offsetting it by half an inch?

2) Also in Win7, I keep getting Realtek pop-up notifications saying that my speakers have been unplugged, when they have not been. There's no interruption in audio playback of any kind so I'm assuming the connection of the jacks is fine, but I have no idea what keeps making it think they've been unplugged.

[Drunkenmonk]

From what I can see, the model you got uses Intel integrated graphics (HD Graphics 3000 - link has a lot of game benchmarks).

You likely won't pass recommended specs for many modern titles with that. Minimum...maybe, but minimum specs tend to mean dropping -everything- down to the lowest possible, including resolution. To be fair, this is often similar to how the game would run on a console...but from two feet away, it doesn't necessarily look great.

There are still tons of PC games that'd run nicely on it, but for the most part you'd be looking at fairly old titles. It's not even close to the minimum GPU spec'ed for the Witcher 2, in terms of performance.

actually thats not my model my bad, http://www.hhgregg.com/toshiba-satel...em/L775D-S7228
this site http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/ says im way over minimum

[Callisto]

I've used Satellites for my last two laptops myself, they're great general-use machines but when trying to play new games, the GPU is invariably going to hold you back at some point, especially with something like Witcher 2.

[Isiolia]

actually thats not my model my bad, http://www.hhgregg.com/toshiba-satel...em/L775D-S7228
this site http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/ says im way over minimum

Ah, a Fusion machine. It's better, but still can barely manage to run moderately current titles at low detail (benchmarks in a review of your laptop). The minimum GPU spec'ed for the Witcher 2 is an 8800GT with 512MB of RAM.

Direct comparison for those is somewhat hard, but if you look at the relative performance of the Fusion GPU to the GT 240 in this article, then look at the performance of the GT 240 relative to the 8800/9800GT in this one, you can kinda get an idea.

[Jojimbo]

1) In Win7, is there a way to make it so that I can play games in windowed mode at full resolution without having the top border of the window offsetting it by half an inch?

There is a way using autohotkey and disabling the thing that prevents the border from going off screen (or removing the border). This may work

Some games allow you to use windowless border mode in their settings

[Boyiee]

Had to plug my keyboards/mouse into my monitor since I moved my desk setup around, think I saw some keyboard lag yesterday so I want them plugged back into mobo. I need usb extensions, but not sure what to get from monoprice. Regular and A male to A female are the same thing right? Should I get usb 3.0 extensions? I do have a couple 3.0 ports on my mobo, but will it really matter for mouse/keyboard. They are cheap as shit so price dont matter.

[Jojimbo]

Some USB2.0 Drives will gain a small speed improvement when used with USB3.0 but it isn't that noticeable iirc, a Mouse/Keyboard won't gain anything by being connected to USB3.0 though. I would assume that regular = M to F, but couldn't see anything labeled regular on monoprice (although it was a very quick look).

Semi related Q, but does anyone know what is safe/not safe to use on USB slots in monitors (u2311 here) and unpowered USB hubs? The ports at the back of my mobo are full and that's with keyboard using PS/2 and I read on a product description/safety (online; not something I own) that the device shouldn't be used with monitors as it can cause damage.

[Boyiee]

Guess I'll just grab 3x10ft of 2.0 then.

[Mellema]

Guess I'll just grab 3x10ft of 2.0 then.

Unless you absolutely need 10' length to reach your computer, I'd go with a shorter extension. Unassisted USB signal can travel about 16' (technically it's 1500 ns or less response time). With extension and keyboard you're at about 13'. If the quality of the extension is a little lacking or over time damage to the cords may raise the resistance and the signal may time out before it's received.

[Boyiee]

Oh well. Bought 10feets last night. Could always order some 6ft as well, or a couple 3ft 3.0.

edit: fuck it, bought more. Can't hurt having some 10ft and 6ft extensions around. Only costs 5$ for like 50+ feet anyway. Gonna add 2x 6ft 2.0 and 1x 3ft 3.0 to the order.

[Boyiee]

starting to retorrent my audio collection as lossless. Is there any easy way to do this, or specific site to use, cause it is pretty annoying searching for each artist flacs.