Personal computing discussed

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by Steel
Thu Apr 19, 2018 8:39 am
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: YALBT (Yet Another LED Bulb Thread)
Replies: 56
Views: 8462

Re: YALBT (Yet Another LED Bulb Thread)

just brew it! wrote:
Yeah, I've been scratching my head over how to dispose of dead LED bulbs too.

You can try Batteries+Bulbs, I know they take CFL bulbs for a fee.
by Steel
Mon Aug 17, 2015 2:57 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: POLL: WINDOWS 10 INSTALL
Replies: 157
Views: 17981

Re: POLL: WINDOWS 10 INSTALL

Is there any way to upgrade to Win10 without having to get your reservation? Just wondering because I have a few machines that are rarely powered on, and a few others that I want to do the upgrade when I'm sitting in front of the computer so I want to be able to do the upgrade on command. I see the...
by Steel
Tue Nov 18, 2014 3:10 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: VMWare ESXi-5.5.0 storage question
Replies: 13
Views: 4972

Re: VMWare ESXi-5.5.0 storage question

If this is a Gen 8 Microserver, you should be able to run their integrated provisioning utility to get a more advanced RAID configuration tool that will let you set up multiple logical volumes in case you're running into some strange MBR vs GPT partition bug. Otherwise, I don't know if Smart Start i...
by Steel
Mon Jul 21, 2014 1:56 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: Necessary to re-install Windows in this situation?
Replies: 24
Views: 6168

Re: Necessary to re-install Windows in this situation?

I've done it before without running sysprep first. My recommendation is to uninstall the video drivers, update the chipset and SATA drivers to the latest version and do a disk image backup before moving to the new hardware. Afterwards, install the video drivers for the new CPU and you should be up a...
by Steel
Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:21 pm
Forum: Gaming
Topic: The 4K Experience
Replies: 5
Views: 2126

Re: The 4K Experience

The benchmarks in the R9 295 X2 review were done at 4K resolution.
by Steel
Thu May 22, 2014 4:57 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: Over provisioning fully used SSD
Replies: 19
Views: 8648

Re: Over provisioning fully used SSD

If you want to make sure the drive is in a "clean" state before partitioning, do a secure erase using Intel's SSD utility. If the secure erase won't work (I've had trouble with it in the past), I think there's a manual TRIM function you can run on the drive's free space.
by Steel
Mon Mar 31, 2014 4:37 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Daytrader using multiple monitors....
Replies: 23
Views: 6013

Re: Daytrader using multiple monitors....

Here's a couple options:

AMD FirePro 2460
Matrox M9120 Plus

Matrox is better known for their multi-monitor cards though AMD may have better driver support.
by Steel
Tue Feb 25, 2014 8:43 am
Forum: Windows
Topic: W7 Xp mode is it ok to use in VMware?
Replies: 7
Views: 2289

Re: W7 Xp mode is it ok to use in VMware?

Here you go.

I've run XP mode with VMware player and it worked fine.
by Steel
Thu Jan 30, 2014 3:01 pm
Forum: Overclocking, Tweaking, & Cooling
Topic: What cooler should I get for an i7-2600K
Replies: 16
Views: 4495

Re: What cooler should I get for an i7-2600K

Wow, I installed the cooler on the weekend and that thing is HUGE. I can't use the first RAM channel due to the size, so I am hoping everything is OK with me using the second set of channels (1/3 instead of 0/2). Also man, that backplate was a pain to install. Anyway, I don't think I'll have any tr...
by Steel
Sun Aug 11, 2013 10:41 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: UPSes
Replies: 27
Views: 5693

Re: UPSes

3-5 years is pretty much normal for lead-acid UPS batteries, it's usually all I get on my higher end SmartUPS. (Recycling UPS batteries is painful.) Do you have a Batteries Plus near you? You can just drop them off there. If not, you can do a search on earth911.com to see if there's anyone near you ...
by Steel
Mon Jul 15, 2013 11:34 pm
Forum: General Software
Topic: Highly configurable download manager
Replies: 13
Views: 3818

Re: Highly configurable download manager

Free Download Manager is the one I use when I need a download manager. It should be able to do what you want and it integrates fairly well in Firefox (and IE).
by Steel
Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:25 am
Forum: Windows
Topic: USB serial cable on laptop with W8
Replies: 11
Views: 3044

Re: USB serial cable on laptop with W8

PuTTY works with serial ports as well.

As for the device error, you're going to have to dig into the device manager and event viewer to find out what's wrong.
by Steel
Mon Jan 14, 2013 3:38 pm
Forum: Cases and Power Supplies
Topic: PC Power & Cooling owners here?
Replies: 7
Views: 2927

Re: PC Power & Cooling owners here?

They used to be my first choice when looking for a PSU, now they're my last. I have a variety, ranging from the Turbo Cool 300 (bring earplugs) to the Silencer 610 powering my gaming system.
by Steel
Fri Jan 04, 2013 12:54 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: UEFI and GPT Questions
Replies: 34
Views: 10289

Re: UEFI and GPT Questions

I'd stick with MBR. If in the future you get a drive larger than 2TB, you can use GPT just for that drive.
by Steel
Wed Nov 21, 2012 11:31 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Looking to RAID, Help?
Replies: 42
Views: 6788

Re: Looking to RAID, Help?

If you're looking to save a little money over the Adaptec card, you can give this one a shot. I've been using Highpoint cards for a while and they've been decent performers.
by Steel
Thu Nov 01, 2012 3:51 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: Consumer Storage for a Server?
Replies: 58
Views: 18593

Re: Consumer Storage for a Server?

That would probably do well enough for reliability. Performance-wise, it's tough to say. Write speed will already be hampered by RAID 5, the lack of TRIM support couldn't hurt much more. When I was running two Intel SSDs in a RAID 0 on my dekstop, I didn't really notice any speed problems from not h...
by Steel
Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:08 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: Consumer Storage for a Server?
Replies: 58
Views: 18593

Re: Consumer Storage for a Server?

If you use consumer oriented hard drives in an enterprise environment that needs high up times, you're going to have a bad time. For hard drives, I'd go with a Western Digital RE series drive or equivalent from another manufacturer that's rated for use in a RAID. For consumer SSDs, the Intel 320 ser...
by Steel
Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:20 am
Forum: Gaming
Topic: Borderlands 2
Replies: 78
Views: 26284

Re: Borderlands 2

Why havent I been paying this since release? I played the first Borderlands but never played the DLC/Xpacs. On a whim this past weekend I bought BL2 on Steam. And man I dont remember the original ever being this funny. The DLC for the first Borderlands had better humor than the main game. Except fo...
by Steel
Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:09 am
Forum: Gaming
Topic: Borderlands 2
Replies: 78
Views: 26284

Re: Borderlands 2

Why havent I been paying this since release? I played the first Borderlands but never played the DLC/Xpacs. On a whim this past weekend I bought BL2 on Steam. And man I dont remember the original ever being this funny. The DLC for the first Borderlands had better humor than the main game. Except fo...
by Steel
Fri Sep 14, 2012 12:21 pm
Forum: Gaming
Topic: Black Mesa Releasing Sept. 14th
Replies: 35
Views: 8977

Re: Black Mesa Releasing Sept. 14th

Their main page went black but someone over at reddit found a link to the download page.

http://release.blackmesasource.com/page ... nager.html

Currently seeding from work at 5MB/s.
by Steel
Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:59 am
Forum: Motherboards, Chipsets, & RAM
Topic: Desktop Boards vs Server Boards
Replies: 19
Views: 8506

Re: Desktop Boards vs Server Boards

There's some low-end server boards that come with an IPMI port for remote control. Other than that, there's probably no reason to get a server board over a desktop board for this kind of thing.
by Steel
Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:11 am
Forum: Storage
Topic: TRIM clarification - motherboard support
Replies: 27
Views: 10217

Re: TRIM clarification - motherboard support

If memtest has that option, I haven't seen it. The easiest thing to do is test each DIMM separately, that way if only one is bad, the computer won't be completely out of commission while you get the other one replaced.
by Steel
Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:23 am
Forum: Storage
Topic: TRIM clarification - motherboard support
Replies: 27
Views: 10217

Re: TRIM clarification - motherboard support

Does this mean i should just toss out this memory and buy some new stuff? A lot of memory manufacturers offer lifetime warranties on their modules, probably a good idea to check if you can get it replaced for free or at least for the cost of shipping. If you bought the DIMMs individually, you'll ne...
by Steel
Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:52 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: TRIM clarification - motherboard support
Replies: 27
Views: 10217

Re: TRIM clarification - motherboard support

Looks like that board has a SATA port on a third party chip. You could try moving your boot drive to that port, enable AHCI on the regular ports and then move the drive back after the drivers are installed. EDIT: I guess it's just the 890FXA-GD70 that has the extra SATA chip, so if you have the 890F...
by Steel
Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:24 pm
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Mini-ITX Builds - Office Use
Replies: 9
Views: 4774

Re: Mini-ITX Builds - Office Use

Not exactly long term but I'm pretty happy with my P8H77-I. The only potential sticking point is probably the Realtek LAN, though I've not had any trouble with Realtek network chips myself.
by Steel
Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:44 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: new motherboard - require windows reinstall?
Replies: 4
Views: 2476

Re: new motherboard - require windows reinstall?

For Windows 7 it should work fine but I'd do a few steps before transplanting the motherboard. 1. Take a system image. The system image tool built into the "Backup and Restore" utility will work fine for this. 2. Uninstall drivers for any hardware that won't be on the new motherboard. This...
by Steel
Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:06 pm
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Auto CAD Build
Replies: 26
Views: 6820

Re: Auto CAD Build

it's also a huge program so I'd consider a 240GB drive the minimum size Are you kidding? I'm staring at my Autodesk program folder right now and the toal size is 3GB. Well, since we're using it for education, we do load the majority of the Autodesk suite along with Solidworks and a handful of small...
by Steel
Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:40 pm
Forum: Linux, Unix, and Assorted Madness
Topic: Desktop Backgrounds on RHEL
Replies: 6
Views: 4533

Re: Desktop Backgrounds on RHEL

Do you know what the filename is? If so, you can run "find / -name filename" to see where it is on the disk.
by Steel
Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:30 pm
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Auto CAD Build
Replies: 26
Views: 6820

Re: Auto CAD Build

Not a CAD user but I have experience installing it in a classroom setting. The biggest problem I've seen with it is hard drive speed, so I definitely recommend a SSD but it's also a huge program so I'd consider a 240GB drive the minimum size. As for a video card, the nVidia Quadro series seems to be...
by Steel
Sat Jun 02, 2012 9:40 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Cheap AMD server for email, light office stuff etc.?
Replies: 22
Views: 3863

Re: Cheap AMD server for email, light office stuff etc.?

If you want reliable, going with a refurb may not be the best option. Dell sells their new models for pretty cheap anyways: PowerEdge 210 , PowerEdge 310 . You could also go the build your own route but then you'd be on the hook if anything went wrong. Going hosted with a VPS may be an option too; I...
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