Personal computing discussed

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by Ryhadar
Sat Apr 06, 2019 2:42 pm
Forum: Echo Vale
Topic: So what are you using for computer audio?
Replies: 156
Views: 42052

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Altec Lansing ATP3 speakers with the central woofer. I tried an ASUS Xonar DG card for sound but kept having driver problems. So, I'm using the motherboard chipset for sound. The speakers that came with one of my first computers as a kid came with Altec Lansing speakers. I have no idea if they're &...
by Ryhadar
Wed Apr 03, 2019 4:09 pm
Forum: Echo Vale
Topic: So what are you using for computer audio?
Replies: 156
Views: 42052

Re: So what are you using for computer audio?

Soundblaster Z and Klipsch promedia 2.1 speakers.
by Ryhadar
Mon Dec 03, 2018 2:22 pm
Forum: General Software
Topic: Antivirus software
Replies: 37
Views: 9708

Re: Antivirus software

I just wanted to add that all I use is Windows Defender (Win10) anymore for all my systems. My wife and I both use safe browsing habits and I do the periodic scan with malware bytes (I really gotta give them money at this point...). As others have mentioned your weakest point is your browser. Lock t...
by Ryhadar
Thu Nov 15, 2018 8:27 pm
Forum: Apple Sanctuary
Topic: Modern Macbooks...really worth it?
Replies: 69
Views: 17747

Re: Modern Macbooks...really worth it?

I wouldn't go near the current Macbook. If only for the simple reason that the current ("New") Macbook Air is cheaper, has more ports, has a larger battery, larger screen resolution, and might just be faster. The Macbook Air is also technically larger than the Macbook, though, if that matt...
by Ryhadar
Fri Jul 27, 2018 6:06 pm
Forum: Mobile Tech
Topic: Phone dilemma
Replies: 97
Views: 26063

Re: Phone dilemma

When I finally jumped off of Windows Phone, I went with the Moto G4. Unlocked and compatible with all 4 carriers, fast enough chip, half decent camera. And under $250. I went with the Moto G5 Plus myself. Wife has a a G3. We both came from Lumias (me an 830 and her a 710). We're pretty happy with t...
by Ryhadar
Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:56 pm
Forum: Developer's Den
Topic: Need advice on good coding conventions
Replies: 3
Views: 6169

Re: Need advice on good coding conventions

I'm a bit sick at the moment, so apologies if this is too long winded/doesn't make sense. Hopefully this helps. I come from the C#.NET/MS SQL world so I might use terminology that doesn't jive with your lexicon. Here it goes... 1. Should I serialize the data used in a class before passing it down to...
by Ryhadar
Thu Jul 19, 2018 7:50 am
Forum: Gaming
Topic: How do you actually run games on high-spec monitors?
Replies: 44
Views: 7232

Re: How do you actually run games on high-spec monitors?

I'm pushing a 2560x1440 monitor at 144 Hz. If the frame rates drop off, that's what VESA adaptive sync is for. This. Also, max game settings doesn't mean you can't get creative. For example, AA is expensive and there really isn't a need for higher levels on a 1440p 27" monitor. I use 2xAA as I...
by Ryhadar
Tue Jul 17, 2018 7:58 am
Forum: Hot Deals
Topic: Prime day deals
Replies: 2
Views: 5102

Re: Prime day deals

Here's a whole list of tech oriented deal as well at ars: https://arstechnica.com/staff/2018/07/d ... right-now/
by Ryhadar
Tue Jul 17, 2018 7:15 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Which piece of hardware do you research the most? Why?
Replies: 34
Views: 4257

Re: Which piece of hardware do you research the most? Why?

Monitors, definitely. Want one for years now but all I read is, contradictory BS, horrible QA Lottery and obscene pricing for compromise-products. So here I am, still honkin' around with my 8yr old 1080p 60Hz TN panel, b/c so far, the industry has failed to make a product that makes me want to thro...
by Ryhadar
Tue Jul 17, 2018 7:10 am
Forum: Hot Deals
Topic: Prime day deals
Replies: 2
Views: 5102

Re: Prime day deals

Found this Brother laser printer for $60 on prime day. It says $79.99 but there's small print that says "Your price at checkout is $59.99" (at least for me it does): http://a.co/g2sz9jQ A few caveats: ⋅ Not wireless (USB only; print server?) ⋅ Brother apparently locks t...
by Ryhadar
Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:52 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Which piece of hardware do you research the most? Why?
Replies: 34
Views: 4257

Re: Which piece of hardware do you research the most? Why?

FWIW I had switched to mATX about 10 years ago, but switched back to ATX during the Socket AM3+ generation due to the total lack of decent mATX AM3+ boards. Yeah, AM3+ mATX support was an embarrassment. There's next to 0 support for performance/enthusiast tier boards in general from motherboard man...
by Ryhadar
Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:28 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Which piece of hardware do you research the most? Why?
Replies: 34
Views: 4257

Re: Which piece of hardware do you research the most? Why?

Monitors, because their listed/advertised specifications bear little or no resemblance to the actual image quality. Ooooh, that's a good one. I buy them so infrequently, but you're right. Especially something as easy as Freesync range can be difficult to find out if the manufacturer never posts the...
by Ryhadar
Mon Jul 16, 2018 6:46 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Which piece of hardware do you research the most? Why?
Replies: 34
Views: 4257

Which piece of hardware do you research the most? Why?

Been preparing to make the jump to ATX from mATX since there's been a lot of nice compact ATX cases coming out that aren't much bigger (if at all) than my Phanteks Evolv. It'll happen when I upgrade my aging 2600K build. It got me thinking that, out of all the hardware out there I probably spend the...
by Ryhadar
Thu Jul 12, 2018 6:05 am
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Air conditioning: Dual-zone mini split vs two portable units
Replies: 43
Views: 8854

Re: Air conditioning: Dual-zone mini split vs two portable units

I should clarify that my [not special] thermostat has fan settings of: Auto = Fan on when AC/heat is on Circulate = Fan runs for...about 10 minutes on, 20 minutes off, etc etc (if I had to guess), even if the AC/heat isn't required. This is a helpful energy saver compared to having the furnace fan ...
by Ryhadar
Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:34 pm
Forum: Processors
Topic: Zen gave 3 and 4 a miss and went straight to 5
Replies: 14
Views: 3453

Re: Zen gave 3 and 4 a miss and went straight to 5

Zen 5 project manager adds "Zen 5.X" entry to the project tracker

AMD: "Work has already begun on Zen 5."

----

Not serious here, just having a bit of fun. :lol:
by Ryhadar
Thu Mar 01, 2018 10:01 pm
Forum: Developer's Den
Topic: Better to throw exceptions or return null?
Replies: 56
Views: 26770

Re: Better to throw exceptions or return null?

The right answer I think is two fold: ⋅  Maintain a consistent convention ⋅  Document the behavior for others to understand ahead of time I'm coming from C# too, as a full stack web application developer, and from my experience try/catch blocks are more common because there are m...
by Ryhadar
Thu Jun 29, 2017 4:42 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Vega FE Fire Strike, on par with GTX 1080
Replies: 105
Views: 12056

Re: Vega FE Fire Strike, on par with GTX 1080

Provided the power consumption isn't mounstrous and the price is between $400-500 I'm actually pretty happy with the results. I'm looking to upgrade soon (bought an RX 580 but sold it for $465) and I'd prefer to stick with AMD as I've got a 1440p freesync monitor. I'm not sure how people figure RX V...
by Ryhadar
Mon Feb 20, 2017 12:22 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: How long before your last build started to fail?
Replies: 76
Views: 9271

How long before your last build started to fail?

Have had my current build since 2011. 2600K stock coupled with a Asus Z68 mATX motherboard (GENE-Z III, I believe) with 8GB of DDR3. I've changed few things here and there but that's the core of it. Just hooked up my new monitor, an Acer XF270HUA, and a few seconds after installing the drivers for t...
by Ryhadar
Wed Dec 14, 2016 6:53 pm
Forum: Processors
Topic: AMD Gives you Pastrami on RyZEN
Replies: 203
Views: 12694

Re: AMD Gives you Pastrami on RyZEN

Kinda hoping AMD didn't make a point of single threaded performance at the event because they don't have boost finalized. There are certainly competitive reasons for not showing your full hand... especially when you're not sure what's in your hand.
by Ryhadar
Sat Jul 02, 2016 5:26 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: About that Polaris Power Issue
Replies: 200
Views: 20988

Re: About that Polaris Power Issue

With the holiday weekend coming up I bet we wont see anything until the end of next week. A proper multinational shouldn't have that issue, or a US-centric firm shouldn't have given itself that issue by launching so close to the holiday weekend, a few days earlier or pushing it back to after would ...
by Ryhadar
Fri Jul 01, 2016 10:27 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: About that Polaris Power Issue
Replies: 200
Views: 20988

Re: About that Polaris Power Issue

At least for me, this has sullied the whole launch. Have two friends that are waiting on updating their machines and both can afford 1070s (they just don't want to pay above MSRP for it). Told them to wait until RX 480 came out. Now it's out, performance is good enough for them... But you bet I told...
by Ryhadar
Wed Jun 29, 2016 4:51 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: AMD Radeon RX 480= 980 GTX in 3D Mark 11
Replies: 314
Views: 50181

Re: AMD Radeon RX 480= 980 GTX in 3D Mark 11

At this point I'd be all over the 480 but those power figures definitely give me pause. I mean, look, stress tests will easily put cards over the "limit" of what the PCI-E cables/PCI-E bus are supposedly capable of. And this isn't the first card to have gone over even the spec's maximum wa...
by Ryhadar
Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:45 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: What's the last piece of tech you regret buying?
Replies: 224
Views: 33214

Re: What's the last piece of tech you regret buying?

Late 2006, my first PC build. I did most of my research on how to build it, but did very little on what to build it with. Despite doing most of my research online I somehow managed to miss that sites benchmark hardware *shrug*. As a result, I based my build on a Pentium 4 Prescott at 3.06GHz because...
by Ryhadar
Mon Jun 20, 2016 3:55 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Anyone repair anything today?
Replies: 1407
Views: 199169

Re: Anyone repair anything today?

As a first time home owner I'm pretty proud of this one. Furnace fan wouldn't turn on despite the thermostat set to run the fan all the time. And I just had a technician out the two weeks before that to run a diagnostics check since the inspector brought up some red flags. Diagnosed it to the kill s...
by Ryhadar
Mon Jun 20, 2016 1:45 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: RX 480 reference cooler dismantled.
Replies: 24
Views: 7743

Re: RX 480 reference cooler dismantled.

Agreed, sluggo.
by Ryhadar
Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:28 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: I just watched the Polaris "Update" Live
Replies: 68
Views: 7582

Re: I just watched the Polaris "Update" Live

At least I have an explanation for why they didn't just use a single Radeon 480. It also doesn't bode well for when the 480 actually gets exposed to the harsh light of day outside of AMD controlled demo land. I'm not saying that the 480 will be terrible for a $199 card. I am saying that after the r...
by Ryhadar
Fri May 27, 2016 4:50 pm
Forum: Processors
Topic: AMD Zen Said to be VERY COMPETITIVE
Replies: 243
Views: 25186

Re: AMD Zen Said to be VERY COMPETITIVE

Somewhat off-topic... I did not realize that ASMedia USB 3.0 controllers (widely used on many AMD motherboards and PCIe USB 3.0 cards) have their own firmware which is subject to updates. I stumbled upon this factoid earlier this evening, while attempting to find info regarding the differences betw...
by Ryhadar
Wed Mar 09, 2016 5:39 pm
Forum: Visual Haven
Topic: My sad story with an Acer XF270HU
Replies: 21
Views: 8170

Re: My sad story with an Acer XF270HU

I want to start off by saying I completely agree that the white glow is really crappy. However my IPS display has the exact same issue (same corner even); it's just IPS glow. My display was only $200 so it makes it easier to swallow and after awhile I stopped noticing it entirely. The way you can te...
by Ryhadar
Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Forum: Storage
Topic: Crucial BX100 firmware question
Replies: 39
Views: 4712

Re: Crucial BX100 firmware question

This is what I found on crucial's site: Release Date: 04/14/2015 Firmware for the BX100 (all form factors) is being updated from version MU01 to MU02. The BX100 is updateable to this new firmware starting from previous versions using tools provided by Micron. This update will be mandatory cut-in for...
by Ryhadar
Mon Aug 03, 2015 5:38 am
Forum: General Software
Topic: Windows 10 downgrade questions
Replies: 1
Views: 1371

Windows 10 downgrade questions

I have a windows 7 retail key. Hypothetically, if I install windows 10 but don't like it in it's current form and want to go back to windows 7 I see that I can follow the steps here: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/73415/20150801/not-happy-with-windows-10-and-want-to-downgrade-heres-how-to-roll-ba...
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