Personal computing discussed

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by todd
Tue Jul 08, 2014 7:57 am
Forum: Linux, Unix, and Assorted Madness
Topic: Linux distro Choices: REDUX
Replies: 15
Views: 5479

Re: Linux distro Choices: REDUX

I put my 80 something aunt on zorin, using gmail.
It's just about as plain as can be. Will easily surf, mail, facebook, all that's needed.
by todd
Tue Apr 15, 2014 1:27 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Best way to update drivers?
Replies: 14
Views: 9365

Re: Best way to update drivers?

Slimdrivers works well.
Much faster than manually upgrading drivers.
by todd
Thu Jan 23, 2014 1:17 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: New Speakers
Replies: 38
Views: 8812

Re: New Speakers

Another vote for a proper pair of powered monitors or a bookshelf+amp combo kit. A good set of 2.1s will do fine for personal theater duty or gaming (and in any case, the Best Buy exclusive Klipsch 2.1 is a hard deal to beat), but any near-field 2.1 setup severely distorts the soundfield for music....
by todd
Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:26 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: New Speakers
Replies: 38
Views: 8812

Re: New Speakers

tsoulier wrote:
Thinking about buying these today , I am not a big gamer or really need much for what I do.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6836121048


I have those speakers. They are awful for music.
Would not recommend at any price.
by todd
Wed Dec 25, 2013 4:36 pm
Forum: SFF Station
Topic: What are dimensions of i3 stock heatsink/fan?
Replies: 11
Views: 12557

Re: What are dimensions of i3 stock heatsink/fan?

If we are not looking at big overclocks, then the NT07 may be a candidate as well. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835220040 In short, I think there are enough options out there. I wonder if that one works better than stock, they are so similar. I believe what is needed is a s...
by todd
Sun Dec 22, 2013 5:05 pm
Forum: SFF Station
Topic: What are dimensions of i3 stock heatsink/fan?
Replies: 11
Views: 12557

What are dimensions of i3 stock heatsink/fan?

I have a gigabyte ga-h77n-wifi, running an i3 3225. I need an aftermarket heatsink/fan that is no taller than 82mm in order to fit my sugo sg05 It cannot be any wider than the stock(I can't seem to find this dimension anywhere, but it appears to be no wider than 92mm) heat sink either because I'm al...
by todd
Wed Dec 19, 2012 12:32 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Korean monitor questions
Replies: 7
Views: 2333

Re: Korean monitor questions

Gigabytes' h77-wifi mini itx board Too bad you don't have two monitors that use HDMI. You could've tried the IGP ports from the motherboard since it has two HDMI and one DVI and possibly foregone the discrete GPU altogether. You wouldn't be playing any modern demanding games with the Intel IGP, but...
by todd
Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:33 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Korean monitor questions
Replies: 7
Views: 2333

Re: Korean monitor questions

If you unplug the HDMI cable (or is it the DVI cable?) the VGA port will work. Obviously that doesn't help you run all three at the same time. 1) What's your budget for a new GPU 2) Do you play games (if so what games) and what monitor do you game on. (your 24" monitor or TV with 1080p screen ...
by todd
Tue Dec 18, 2012 2:26 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Korean monitor questions
Replies: 7
Views: 2333

Korean monitor questions

I got one of the 27" Korean ips monitors. It's nice, but my video card doesn't seem to be up to the job. I can run the 27"(with dvi-d), my 42" tv(hdmi), but I can't get the vga on 24" monitor to work at the same time. I'm currently using an msi radeon hd 5450 card. Can someone pl...
by todd
Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:16 am
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Monitor and vid card questions
Replies: 1
Views: 1081

Monitor and vid card questions

I recently ordered one of the korean 27" s-ips monitors http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-27-Inch-LED-Qnix-QX2700-S-IPS-2560x1440-WQHD-Quad-HD-Monitor-/150886628423?pt=Computer_Monitors&hash=item23218b3c47. My video card is a sapphire x1650 pro. This card isn't listed as supported, but it does ha...
by todd
Sat Mar 31, 2012 9:10 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: What are you drinking RIGHT NOW?
Replies: 4088
Views: 788642

Re: What are you drinking RIGHT NOW?

Captain Ned wrote:
PBR??

So you do have some hipster in you. :wink:


My dad drank pbr.
Kept 4 coolers in the back of his truck, and kept a case and ice in each one, 24/7. He had 4 sons, maybe there is a correlation.
by todd
Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:01 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: What are you drinking RIGHT NOW?
Replies: 4088
Views: 788642

Re: What are you drinking RIGHT NOW?

I'm drinking New Belgium's Ranger IPA right now. It is outstanding if you like your IPA hoppy. They also make two other IPA's, Dig, and my personal fave Belgo. I think New Belgium really fleshes out the IPA range like no other brewery. The Ranger I'm drinking tonight has a best buy before date of Ju...
by todd
Sun Jul 17, 2011 1:02 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Medium sized business. Thinking of new PC vendor
Replies: 17
Views: 2425

Re: Medium sized business. Thinking of new PC vendor

I help to support 3000 pc's at a small university. We use dell. Like others we use the opti's and latitudes. There have been some issues with the older sff models, specifically the gx620. The sff machines don't last as long as the mini-towers, but everyone loves the sff. We are buying 990's now. The...
by todd
Sat Feb 12, 2011 7:06 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Flashlights!
Replies: 140
Views: 18603

Re: Flashlights!

I've been carrying one of these in my pocket for about 18 months now. Changed the AAA after about a year. I use it every single day, and co-workers borrow it a lot. Has 3 brightness levels. Medium is good and high is quite bright. It's pretty stout, bright, small, takes an easy to get battery. http:...
by todd
Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:47 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: A Good System Cleaner for WinXP That Is Actually Legitimate?
Replies: 39
Views: 5488

Re: A Good System Cleaner for WinXP That Is Actually Legitim

The Lord of the Flies wrote:
Yeah, I'm not reinstalling the operating-system right now.

I don't need to re-install the OS right now, and just buying a new HDD is more than is needed, really.


Good luck.
by todd
Fri Feb 04, 2011 8:01 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: A Good System Cleaner for WinXP That Is Actually Legitimate?
Replies: 39
Views: 5488

Re: A Good System Cleaner for WinXP That Is Actually Legitim

Buy the ram, install it. Do you have a legal xp disk? If so, then you really should learn to re-install the OS, this is pretty much the cost of running windows. Google has all the how-to's you'll need. You need a new hdd too. The ram+hdd will run about $100. Combined with a new os install, and your ...
by todd
Thu May 06, 2010 8:18 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Need a vid card for dual display
Replies: 2
Views: 1266

Re: Need a vid card for dual display

You just need a fairly recent low-profile PCIe (or PCI) graphics card with dual (or triple) digital outputs. Some possibilities include: DX11 : Radeon HD5450 ($66), Radeon HD5570 ($91) DX10.1 : Radeon HD4350 ($36-10MIR), Radeon HD4550 ($40-10MIR), GeForce 210 ($47-15MIR), Radeon HD4650 ($55-20MIR),...
by todd
Thu May 06, 2010 6:52 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Need a vid card for dual display
Replies: 2
Views: 1266

Need a vid card for dual display

That will work in a new dell optiplex 980 small form factor. Dell's website couldn't be less helpful. Mobo has onboard vga and display port. (We tried using both vga and display port at same time, no joy.) I'm sure I'll need a half height card, but I can't tell if it's PCI-E 2.0 x16 or just PCI-E x1...
by todd
Mon Mar 29, 2010 4:40 pm
Forum: Processors
Topic: AMD Phenom II X2 B53 - ????
Replies: 2
Views: 2277

AMD Phenom II X2 B53 - ????

Anyone familiar with this processor? I notice dell is offering it in their optiplex 580's. From this link, http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X2%20B53%20-%20HDXB53WFK2DGM.html, it appears that it's a locked 550 running at 2.8ghz. Does that mean it's just a lesser bin? Has anyone use...
by todd
Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:11 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: NAS for small business
Replies: 7
Views: 1992

Re: NAS for small business

Thanks, so much, everyone.
Good ideas, all.
by todd
Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:29 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: NAS for small business
Replies: 7
Views: 1992

Re: NAS for small business

What I had in mind was a cheap mid-atx case. A nice antec, fsp, or seasonic psu. A cheap am3 gigabyte, asus, or whatever mobo with onboard graphics, raid, and gigabit ethernet. An athlon II X2 Regor 250 3.0Ghz., 65 watt cpu. Or the sempron single core at 2.7 ghz & 45 watts. Two, very quiet, 120m...
by todd
Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:02 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: NAS for small business
Replies: 7
Views: 1992

NAS for small business

Need some help constructing NAS. I have a friend whose small business is in desperate need of NAS. In just the last year she has generated almost a terabyte of files that she needs to have backed up, and ready to go at all times. Certainly we could look at a drobo, or other pre-built nas. Or we coul...
by todd
Wed May 20, 2009 8:51 pm
Forum: Motherboards, Chipsets, & RAM
Topic: Need ram upgrade advice, please.
Replies: 11
Views: 5510

Re: Need ram upgrade advice, please.

Does she need more speed? How about a fresh OS install. If she's doing the basics tasks then I would have to think the cpu is fast enough, and if it has atleast 2gb ram it should be fine. If the HDD is really old then getting a new one will speed things up. Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 32...
by todd
Wed May 20, 2009 8:05 pm
Forum: Motherboards, Chipsets, & RAM
Topic: Need ram upgrade advice, please.
Replies: 11
Views: 5510

Re: Need ram upgrade advice, please.

The Gskill memory probably didn't work because of its voltage. Many boards, particularly Intel and cheap and especially cheap Intel boards, can not use DDR2 that requires more than the stock 1.8V. That was my guess, but I'm glad to hear someone else mention it. This board has a p4 915 cpu in it. Ca...
by todd
Fri May 15, 2009 10:02 pm
Forum: Motherboards, Chipsets, & RAM
Topic: Need ram upgrade advice, please.
Replies: 11
Views: 5510

Re: Need ram upgrade advice, please.

Did you try the gskill ram? I think that in most cases the ram would work properly at 1.8v if it were running at a lower frequency, ie. 533 or 667MHz. Yes, I tried the gskill but no boot. I wonder if ddr2 800 ram, with moderate timings, will work at the reference 1.8v voltage? Or must I use the 667...
by todd
Fri May 15, 2009 8:53 pm
Forum: Motherboards, Chipsets, & RAM
Topic: Need ram upgrade advice, please.
Replies: 11
Views: 5510

Need ram upgrade advice, please.

My mother has this intel board, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121046. This is the corresponding page Intel page for the board, http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d946gzis/sb/CS-026621.htm. I see that this board can take up to 4 GB of ddr2 533 or 667 ram @ 1....
by todd
Sat May 02, 2009 1:14 pm
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Help with case wiring please.
Replies: 5
Views: 932

Re: Help with case wiring please.

mortifiedPenguin wrote:
Well, if you look at the three quarters shot of the case from the rear, there is a space where you can most of your cables without going the 5.25" bay route.



Between the left side of the case and the 3.5 drive bays? Yeah, that should hold most of the excess. Thanks.
by todd
Sat May 02, 2009 11:09 am
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Help with case wiring please.
Replies: 5
Views: 932

Re: Help with case wiring please.

I hear people mention routing some wires behind the board. Does this require a special case? In some cases, this will require er... another case (Damage impression FTW!). A lot of cases however have a slight gap between the side panel and the motherboard tray. Assuming you have some holes on the si...
by todd
Sat May 02, 2009 10:11 am
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Help with case wiring please.
Replies: 5
Views: 932

Help with case wiring please.

On new builds, my wire routing has always been poor. Mostly I've just jumbled up the unused stuff into the space between the psu and 5.25 drives. And ran the other wires haphazardly. Always looks like absolute crap. I hear people mention routing some wires behind the board. Does this require a speci...
by todd
Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:09 pm
Forum: System Builders Anonymous
Topic: Is this build ok?
Replies: 7
Views: 1469

Re: Is this build ok?

I have to criticize the multiple hard drive thing- that Seagate 250GB has to be pretty slow. I'm more a fan of partitioning if you really want to isolate your OS- this is what I did with my Caviar Black 1TB. I'm also not a fan of having slow storage for an OS drive :). Edit: I don't know which gene...
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