Random Question Thread: Tech

[jmc]

Edit: Googled a bit; Is the Fire and Nook the only real competition?

Depends on your price range..... I absolutely love my Asus Transformer tablet, and i think its one of the best android tablets out on the market. Asus has a new quad core tablet coming out soon, so i'm sure you can pick up a transformer for a good price.

Hell, I think it currently $350 at microcenter.

[Jojimbo]

Asus Transformer Prime is getting released Dec 19th iirc, $500 + $150 for 32GB ver and keyboard

It would probably be cheaper to look into getting a netbook (although they do weigh a bit more), especially if planning to do any amount of word processing (suppose gen1 transformer + keyboard could work though)

[hey]

What are some more reasonably priced alternatives to iPad/2? Sister just wants one because of word processing / netflix / email, the usual, but doesn't like or need to carry around a laptop.

Edit: Googled a bit; Is the Fire and Nook the only real competition?

Hp touch pad is supposed to be decent, and can be had for $200-300.

[Mikus]

I'm having a bit of a graphics issue. I installed W7 after uninstalling Vista, downloaded up to date driver for my HD Radeon 4830, downloaded the thing for w7 from POL's website, installed all ffxi, installed windower, and made sure all of my resolutions are the same in windower gui, regedit, and windower launcher. Background resolution is set high too.

My problem is, if I try to do anything but 1440x900, which makes the game full screen, then all text is mooshed together and blurry. Menus are small and for any equipment that's white box, you can barely even tell that it's white box.

The main thing with the text, it's most clear on the letter O. It appears like an outline of another O is on top of the letter. I prefer playing using 1200x800 or 1200x768, I always forget which it was, and maximizing the screen. The text is so bad the game just isn't playable to me. Has anyone ran into this problem and/or know how to fix it?

[hey]

I prefer playing using 1200x800 or 1200x768, I always forget which it was, and maximizing the screen.

uh...?

[Mikus]

uh...?

Nothing constructive to add? Yes, that's what I had my settings on when I was running Vista. That's what I'm used to. I don't like having it as a true full screen.

[hey]

Nothing constructive to add? Yes, that's what I had my settings on when I was running Vista. That's what I'm used to. I don't like having it as a true full screen.

Then set it to whatever resolution you actually want it as, don't set it lower and maximize it.

[tyven]

hello my dudes. I have a question about video card.

Should I get this Zotac GTX 570 http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0378160 for 290 after rebate

or should I get the evga 560ti with 448 cored for the same on Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...w-_-14-130-738

[JigglyJam]

I've got a problem with my internet mainly with bandwidth concerning streaming. Downloading pages/images I'm getting normal bandwidth speeds. Torrents are also giving me expected bandwidth returns. My problem deals with streaming. Any form at all on any site and I get shit speeds. It's not the PC as the other computers in the house have this problem as well. Is there anything I can do on my end to fix this problem. I have this thought in the back of my mind my ISP is limiting bandwidth from browser related activities.

lol trying to give you guys a speed test of my proper bandwidth but the speed tests run in the browser and the bandwidth is limited as well. Comes out to 144kbps down and 653 up. The up speed I believe is correct. I think the advertised speed is 5mbps~.

Edit: In browser downloads are slow as hell too.

[hey]

hello my dudes. I have a question about video card.

Should I get this Zotac GTX 570 http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0378160 for 290 after rebate

or should I get the evga 560ti with 448 cored for the same on Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...w-_-14-130-738

570 is slightly better.

[jmc]

570 is slightly better.

Not really, depending on the benchmark that was run they are nearly identical.

Some tests had the 560 slightly better than the 570....other tests showed the 570 slightly better. So I would say you can't go wrong with either one.

Of course, all the tests I saw were stock speeds.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

[madpersian]

What are some more reasonably priced alternatives to iPad/2? Sister just wants one because of word processing / netflix / email, the usual, but doesn't like or need to carry around a laptop.

Edit: Googled a bit; Is the Fire and Nook the only real competition?

Do not get a 7" table if you plan on typing anything. Probably should refrain from using the Kindle for anything other than basic media consumption too. The touchscreen on it is horrid and typing anything other than short urls or search terms into it will drive you crazy.

I have a friend who uses the Nook and he says the touch screen is very responsive on it but it's too small to type comfortably on it.

If you really want to get a tablet that's going to be used for email and word processing, you'd be much better off going for the most basic iPad 2. An alternative would be any other ~10" tablet. But most of those are in the same price range (or higher) than the iPad.

[Caiyuo]

Um... That should be how much the devices attached to the UPS can drain, but not what the UPS itself drains. Did you spot any INPUT values?

Just noticed this, it's also 12A. The device says 15A max but recommends against anything above 8A, not sure if I should continue to use or not since powerline performance hasn't really changed much.

[Julian]

Ok so, I'm looking for a new laptop.

Budget is preferred <$1000, but can go a little over, and can probably go up to $1500ish if the value is really worth it. (Like, better bang/buck ratios. If something is really really REALLY REALLY REALLY worth that extra few hundred dollars, I may consider it)

I am looking for a mix of a gaming laptop and a laptop with at least 6-7+ hours of battery life (not gaming, of course, just need that battery life for school stuff) And something that doesn't burn like hell. 14 or 15 inch screens, I guess?

I currently own an Asus UL80vt, and I love it, but the graphics card in it is outdated and crappy, and it can barely handle games. The build quality was also pretty shoddy, and it feels like the screen might break apart any day now.

So, while I love the Asus brand, and I feel that some of their new models may be what I am looking for, I would really like to avoid crappy build qualities if at all possible.

As for the gaming part, it's mostly just going to probably be starcraft 2, and maybe some ffxi. (I would like to 3box ffxi, if possible, >_>) and maybe some other random steam games, so it doesn't have to be a super high end graphic card.

I recently looked at the new ASUS U46/56 models, but I really can't find much of any info on them at all on the internet, so I don't know if they suffer from the same kinds of build quality issues. Otherwise, they look pretty good. $750~850ish price range, 8-10 hours of battery life, and a mid end graphic card. I guess I'm looking for something similar (and possibly better) from other companies that I don't know much about?

Thanks

[Yugl]

I looked into that when trying to get my laptop by Cyber Monday. After all my research and shopping around, it seems gaming and battery life are at ends. However, if starcraft isn't GPU intensive (And FFXI is processor intensive), you might be tailored towards a GT 555m from Nvidia with Optimus (Optimus gives you more battery life when not gaming). However, I did find people saying that the Optimus technology automatically shut down FFXI unless you installed a specific driver update.

I limited my selection to Sager and Asus, but ended up going with Sager NP8130. That can run about 2.5hrs on normal settings, but goes up to 3-4hrs on power saver from what I've heard. The other two I looked at for enhanced battery life were:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230189

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5175-...wconfigure=yes (Upgrade parts as you desire)

[TacoTaru]

Super dumb question: on my desktop I can right click on an emblem on my task bar that takes me to Power Options and let's me choose between Balanced, Power Saving and High Performance. I assume this is processor related. If I pump it up on High Performance and just leave it there, will this do any damage to the processor if I leave it there for a long period of time/indefinitely? I have nothing but stock cooling, and I'm not even sure if this is similar/same thing to OCing it.

Side question about OCing a GPU: are additional fans/aftermarket cooling required for OCing a GPU or can I do it with just stock GPU fan/case fans? Is there a site where I can see what the max I should be setting my GPU to?

Thanks very much!

[Jojimbo]

The power options are just HDD idle/display timer/sleep timer/usb power etc afaik, there is something about max/min CPU usage but I think that's the same on all? Shouldn't cause any damage on any setting though (unless HDD idle timer is low enough that it causes you to constantly stop/start it, but that would require it to be manually changed and for you to have a second HDD).

As for GPU, you don't need third party fans/collers but they help get it to higher stable clocks or just have a lower temp. The max really depends on your GPU as each one will clock to a different value (guess you could google to find roughly what people have been getting). Your best option is just to use MSI Afterburner (or other OCing program) and Furmark. Increase clocks slightly and run Furmark; see what temp it levels out at and if it doesn't crash or isn't at too high temp then you can increase the clocks some more and rerun Furmark.

[Niya]

Those power profiles allow you to take influence on the power consumption of your system and some stuff like time to monitor off, HDD off or suspend to RAM/disk. Just look inside one of those profiles and you'll see what i mean. The enhanced options of a profile even let you alter the standard option for the "shutdown" button in start menu.

You shouldn't need another/special fan for OCing your GPU, just make sure you have a decent air flow in your tower so the hot air gets transported away. Like Jojimbo already said, get MSI Afterburner, slowly turn the core clock up and stress the GPU with furmark/MSI kombustor. Watch temps during this, the GPU shouldn't get too hot or if it does, you should hear that the GPU fan turns up to work against it. A good temp during stress is <70°C, but before OCing stress it and see how warm it gets there. You shouldn't get too far higher with the temp even after OCing, otherwise it might be a sign that the GPU cooling system is at its limit.

[Zetanio]

Nevermind.

[Cadsuane]

Ok so, I'm looking for a new laptop.

Budget is preferred <$1000, but can go a little over, and can probably go up to $1500ish if the value is really worth it. (Like, better bang/buck ratios. If something is really really REALLY REALLY REALLY worth that extra few hundred dollars, I may consider it)

I am looking for a mix of a gaming laptop and a laptop with at least 6-7+ hours of battery life (not gaming, of course, just need that battery life for school stuff) And something that doesn't burn like hell. 14 or 15 inch screens, I guess?

I currently own an Asus UL80vt, and I love it, but the graphics card in it is outdated and crappy, and it can barely handle games. The build quality was also pretty shoddy, and it feels like the screen might break apart any day now.

So, while I love the Asus brand, and I feel that some of their new models may be what I am looking for, I would really like to avoid crappy build qualities if at all possible.

As for the gaming part, it's mostly just going to probably be starcraft 2, and maybe some ffxi. (I would like to 3box ffxi, if possible, >_>) and maybe some other random steam games, so it doesn't have to be a super high end graphic card.

I recently looked at the new ASUS U46/56 models, but I really can't find much of any info on them at all on the internet, so I don't know if they suffer from the same kinds of build quality issues. Otherwise, they look pretty good. $750~850ish price range, 8-10 hours of battery life, and a mid end graphic card. I guess I'm looking for something similar (and possibly better) from other companies that I don't know much about?

Thanks

That sort of battery life plus a discrete graphics chip doesn't really exist at that price point. First thing is don't get an optimus card. They're made for professionals who need a mobile rendering device and they bench horribly in games for their power and price, plus they're plagued with compatibility issues. Essentially you need to make a choice between having a real discrete graphics card or real mobility (ie. reasonable battery life, weight). Drive bay aux and slice batteries and the laptops they're sold with are outside of your price range.

The good news is this choice isn't as hard to make as you might think. Something a fair number of people don't know is that the integrated HD3000 GPU in sandy bridge chips is actually really, really good for what it is. In fact here's a video of someone playing starcraft 2 on an i5:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tYoG_xH6RU

By the way, works fine on my i5 as well.

So basically you want something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230200

Or something like this:

http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/la...x-series/x220/