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Random
May 16th, 2014, 01:07 PM
FWIW, Dell 24" U2412M Ultrasharp LCD 16:10 monitor is going for $266 on Amazon, about $10 cheaper than when I bought mine last summer.
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-UltraSharp-24-Inch-LED-lit-Monitor/dp/B005JN9310

Yw-slayer
May 16th, 2014, 04:48 PM
#$10saving #dealofthecenturybro

Random
May 16th, 2014, 06:04 PM
:p

Amazon's selling it for $100 off the Dell MSRP, for what that's worth. :)

thesameguy
May 16th, 2014, 07:05 PM
$10 depreciation in a year means you got a damned good deal. :)

Yw-slayer
May 17th, 2014, 01:08 AM
I'm looking forward to the proper 5th and 6th gen refreshes, since at the moment there's absolutely no reason for me to upgrade from my OCed 2600K. That, I suppose, is a good thing.

drew
May 17th, 2014, 04:52 AM
FWIW, Dell 24" U2412M Ultrasharp LCD 16:10 monitor is going for $266 on Amazon, about $10 cheaper than when I bought mine last summer.
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-UltraSharp-24-Inch-LED-lit-Monitor/dp/B005JN9310

Quoting, literally. I bought mine (from Newegg) 5/11/2013 for $276.

Funny.

Yw-slayer
May 17th, 2014, 07:33 AM
Man, you guys got SO RIPPED. Sucks to be you

thesameguy
May 17th, 2014, 08:48 AM
I'm looking forward to the proper 5th and 6th gen refreshes, since at the moment there's absolutely no reason for me to upgrade from my OCed 2600K. That, I suppose, is a good thing.

Yeah, there was no actual reason for me to even move away from my i5-2400. Even that CPU was overkill for mos of what I do at home - the GPU is doing the lion's share of the work. But, everything is now socket 1150 and "current," so I can go back to utterly ignoring this stuff for a couple years. :)

As for monitors, at this rate, it's highly unlikely I will ever replace my two Dell SP2309Ws. Seems the only way to get >HD monitors these days is to get really big ones, and I don't need (or want) a 27" display. I could go for 24", but 23" is doing just fine. All a 27" display would get me is eye and neck strain.

thesameguy
May 19th, 2014, 10:18 AM
I had a shuffle-tastic weekend!

I got my cheap i5-4670k on Wednesday, then scooted over to Fry's and bought an MSI MPower Z87 motherboard -

http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6970/MSI%20Z87%20MPower%20Max%20Oblique.jpg

What I didn't realize when I went down this road is that new/good motherboards have a 2x 8-pin power header in addition to the standard ATX power header, and my PC Power & Cooler 750w PSU could not accommodate it. :( I had an XFX 750 Pro sitting in the closet which had the right connectors, so I swapped them. I really liked the Silencer PSU, but the XFX is almost as quiet, so whatever. The upside is that the XFX is fully modular, so there are fewer wires crammed into the case. Installation was predictably painless, and Windows powered up like nothing ever happened. The i5-4670k at stock clock speeds feels (and tests) faster than the i7-2600 at stock clock speeds, and now I've got the "k" in case I decide to get into some overclocking down the road. I'm on air cooling (albeit a gigantic Scythe HSF), but this setup should still be good for a significant boost of extra speed.

I grabbed 16gb of Kingston HyperX memory out of the closet, threw it on my outgoing MSI Z77 board with the i7 and took it to my parents, where I swapped out it out for my dad's i3-2120 that I gave him last father's day. Seems like parental upgrades are about a yearly thing, and while I was fidgeting with his case, he remarked that he hasn't bought a computer upgrade since 1991, when I replaced the 286 in his Dell System 200 with an AMD 386DX-40. Every year or two for 21 years I have upgraded his computer with one exception - in/around 2008 I had a Socket 775 motherboard but no processor, and he bought an E6550 from Fry's. I find this crazy - that's a LOT of upgrades! The thing that started it all - the 386DX-40 upgrade - was totally self-serving. I couldn't afford a complete computer at 16, and I wanted to play Wing Commander. HA!

So now I have his i3-2120, and I just ordered one of these:

http://silverstonetek.com/images/products/gd04/GD04B-2.0-3-4.jpg

to house it. Next up is replacing the parents' HTPC, which I think I built in 2010. It's running my old E8400 and as far as I'm concerned, it's performed its duty. The real motivator, though, is the case it's built in is a stupid size and doesn't fit in their entertainment center very well. Plus, it's never been as quiet as I'd like. And, it's silver and everything else is black. IT'S ALL FAIL! Truthfully, the reason they even have it is because I built it up for me and hated it so much I had to get it out of the house. I should have sent it back the day I received it, but I thought I'd grow to like it. I didn't. They've gotten GREAT use out of it, though, so it turned out for the best.

The Silverstone GD04 is the shallowest case I've been able to find (323mm deep, vs 360mm of the current case), so hopefully it works. The GD04 supposedly has very quiet fans, the i3 uses low power (and needs less cooling), and it has built-in video (HD2000, heh). Fewer, quieter fans should be an improvement. The only worry I've got - which just occurred to me - is a PSU for it. I've got a Silverstone 600w unit, but it's not modular and has a mess of cables. Hopefully it fits okay. We'll see in a couple days. Hey, it can't be worse.

That will get rid of all non-Core processors and all DDR2 memory, which crazily enough will make me feel good. I've got a spare hard drive kicking around, so I'll get the old HTPC back to functional and offload it. Hopefully someone can make use of a stupid size, stupid shape, HTPC. :D

Random
May 19th, 2014, 11:06 AM
The PSU location for that box looks bad for a fanless unit--yes/no?

Random
May 19th, 2014, 11:09 AM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163251

Too small for your mobo?

thesameguy
May 19th, 2014, 11:59 AM
Yeah, I don't mess around with fanless PSUs - too many pitfalls and limitations vs their cost. I just buy units that have quiet fans that are temperature controlled. The Silverstone I'm planning on using is one such unit, and it's effectively silent. At full load it certainly starts making some noise, but in this application it's rarely under that type of stress. 10' away with the TV at even a very low volume is vastly louder than the PSU under the most common circumstances.

Kchrpm
May 19th, 2014, 12:38 PM
Liquid-cooled = quiet but expensive, or loud & expensive? Or quiet, cheap, effective, pick two?

Random
May 19th, 2014, 01:38 PM
FWIW, the fanless PSU in my home desktop has been quiet and effective and wasn't all that expensive....more expensive than the alternative, for sure, but not so much that I cried when I put it in my cart. :p

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151097

thesameguy
May 19th, 2014, 02:35 PM
Liquid-cooled = quiet but expensive, or loud & expensive? Or quiet, cheap, effective, pick two?

It's highly effective, not terribly expensive (unless you go nuts), and not terribly quiet. A very quiet HSF will probably be quieter than the quietest liquid setup, but the most aggressive HSF will probably be louder than the most aggressive liquid setup. A big slow fan can be very near silent, whereas even a very good electrical pump isn't silent. Used to be liquid setups were really pricey, but there days a functional one could be $50-$75, barely more than an equally effective HSF - though triple what a cheap but decent HSF costs. My Scythe HSF was about $40, FWIW - a basic liquid setup wouldn't have been much more, eg $45 H55.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181029&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&SID=3b7f5c00d4304de98836029f6678506c


FWIW, the fanless PSU in my home desktop has been quiet and effective and wasn't all that expensive....more expensive than the alternative, for sure, but not so much that I cried when I put it in my cart. :p

Yeah, but still nearly $40 more than the 600w Silverstone I will be using. At $110, it was $20 more than the kickass 750w PC&C Silencer. On a desktop computer I can see the appeal of a passive PSU (albeit barely ;) ) but on an HTPC which is already a good distance away and never used in silence I think a quiet, traditional PSU is the smarter money. Don't get me wrong - a loud HTPC is *super* distracting, but there are plenty of actively-cooled PSUs which are sufficiently quiet. ;)

thesameguy
May 21st, 2014, 09:47 AM
I received the new Silverstone case yesterday (go Amazon!) and took all of 20 minutes to build it. A bunch of used parts - an ASUS P8H77 (IIRC) board, an i3-2120, 8gb of cheap Samsung DDR3, a Kingston HyperX 120gb SSD, and the aforementioned Silverstone "Strider" 600w PSU - plopped inside and voila, new HTPC. Although this case is limited on space for physical drives, I've still got room for the 2tb content drive from the existing system. Plenty adequate. It's actually pretty nicely designed, although like so many HTPC cases your choice of motherboard is important - in this case, the wrong board will result in the CPU being wedged under the optical drive. The non-optimal P8H77 leaves most of the CPU exposed, maybe 1/4 of it under the optical drive. I'm using the stock Intel HSF, so it's not a concern anyway. The case comes with three fans, but they aren't quiet at full tilt. The motherboard supports "Q Fan" (ASUS's PWM fan control), but only has spots for the CPU and two more. I could invest in a fan controller, but I don't care and left one fan unplugged. The remaining two fans - at opposite sides of the case - do a fine job of keeping the inside cool - especially with a low(ish) power CPU, no GPU, an SSD, and 5400rpm HDD. There just isn't much heat being generated in there. With Q Fan enabled, the case is bloody close to silent. I will have to do some tests to see if the CPU fan remains quiet when the CPU is stressed, but I think it'll be okay, especially with a case fan blowing directly across it. The Silverstone PSU fits easily, and the case has a vent on the bottom so it's not contributing to case airflow. :up:

I'm downloading an image of the current HTPC now - hoping that Win7 won't throw a fit on the new hardware, as I really don't want to have to reinstall it. My dad goes *nuts* with dumb utilities and bullshit that are barely useful on a desktop PC and certainly have no place on an HTPC. It makes a rebuild take forever... bah. I'll swap the machines this weekend, and hopefully be able to sell the old, now drive-less machine for what I paid for this new case. Maybe not an ideal exchange, but it the only parts I had to buy to upgrade three machines are a case, a CPU, and a motherboard... That's not bad, and it helped clean out the closet a little. ;)

FaultyMario
May 21st, 2014, 12:02 PM
Memorial Day sales:

Is monday still a good day to buy? I've been planning on getting a Prosumer/Sturdy-er NAS for sometime now, but I have a couple of questions, a) regarding product cycle, is this time of the year a good time to buy? b)I won't be getting it for at least a couple of months, I have it shipped to my cousin's and then at first chance she relays it down south by cheapest available means, should I wait for a later promotional? c)Does a sub $200, 2TB from a reputable manufacturer exist? d)Is a Time Capsule PC-compatible?, as some of you already know, there are considerations other than price and performance when sharing use of the hardware with a woman. Specifically, a woman you want to have sharing her non-technological hardware with you.

thesameguy
May 21st, 2014, 02:01 PM
Hard to say, but it's certainly no worse.

As for what to buy, it really depends on what you want. Used to be "2tb NAS" inherently meant some specific technologies, but these days it doesn't really. You can get to 2tb NAS with a single drive and some cheap electronics, with multiples drives, or with complex electronics. I think the big deciding factor is whether NAS means RAID to you or not. If it does, $200 is pretty borderline, but doable. If not, $200 is probably quite high. To some degree, performance is also a factor as cheaper generally means slower, but that's not universally true. Speed is always nice, but if you're just using it for backup rather than for, say, video editing, I wouldn't worry too much about speed. Finally, more money generally means more complexity and more flexibility, but you should balance that against how much management you want to do.

For cheap, reasonable, and idiot-proof, I'd seriously look at something like a Western Digital MyCloud or Seagate GoFlex. These are both consumer-level products that are designed to be very easy to use, and include software for automating some backup-type tasks. You can find either in a 2tb version for $150, a little less if you try hard. Neither of these devices are RAID - it's just a single drive in a box with some cheap electronics. The next step up would be some sort of 2-bay enclosure that offers some additional flexibility and reliability - but also some more management and some more dollars. Expect to spend close to $300 to get to this level with 2tb of storage - a $150 device, and a pair of $60-$80 drives. If you want to go this route, I would recommend watching Newegg - they frequently blow out slightly older NAS devices and bundle hard drives at very reasonable costs. My first NAS ended up costing under $250 with 2tb, which in 2008 was freaky cheap. :) I've seen other deals like this go by, so I know they're still doing them.

Although I like RAID for security, you might consider going with a cheap option then paying for something like Carbonite backup or even using iCloud or Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive or whatever. Lots of storage is pretty cheap these days, so you could buy a $150 single drive doodad for the house, and then pay an annual subscription for redundancy in the cloud. It's unlikely you'll actually suffer a failed single drive (but possible), so the cloud backup will probably (and hopefully) go to waste, but it does give the advantage of being able to access your stuff elsewhere.

Edit: Forgot one other scenario: Many internet routers these days include USB ports. You can connect a single USB drive in an enclosure to them and, voila, cheap NAS. An $80 router and an $80 external 2tb drive also solves your problem. They tend to be slow, but whatever, they're cheap and convenient. ;)

Edit2: I have a Cisco/Linksys (whatever) EA3200 that I have no use for that has a USB port. If you want to go that route, I'm happy to send it along.

Kchrpm
May 21st, 2014, 04:41 PM
I currently have the USB drive plugged into router's USB port solution. I decided on this solution because my first (and last) NAS had some kind of network problem, where even though the files are all still there and accessible (I can play them as soon as it's connected), some part of its internal management screws itself over and all the files disappear. Even a file that I was playing will stop because the program can no longer find it.

Now I feel more confident that my files are just a regular USB connection away, rather than the ones that are all stuck on the NAS I will never get to again without professional assistance.

thesameguy
May 21st, 2014, 07:05 PM
That particular scenario has always worried me about appliance-type NASs too, especially the cheap ones. My friend built his NAS around a Drobo unit, and while it's very nice I always have a fear that the brain will fail, leaving his 10tb of data unusable. Yeah, it's far less likely the electronics will fail than the drive, but that's a terrible numbers game to play. :| If you're scaling to the point of needing multiple drives to get the capacity you need, I see no reason not to spend the extra hundred or two and build a damn server. Whether Windows or Linux doesn't really matter, but having a real OS behind real hardware gives you many more recovery options.

*Personally*, the single-drive appliance NASs (whether standalone or via router) with a cloud-service backup seems like the optimal approach to small data sets. You get local speed for day to day and cloud safety for "house burns down" type scenarios. The standalone unit will offer better performance at the risk of an electronics (versus drive) failure disappearing your data. The router version is not as quick, but gives you an additional level of recovery safety. The standalone is cheaper if your router doesn't support USB, the router version cheaper if it does.

Random
June 7th, 2014, 02:28 PM
Installed the 2G of RAM that tsg gave me, increasing my total to six (6)! :hard:

thesameguy
June 7th, 2014, 09:43 PM
Bet it feels real good to get out of loser 4gb-ville and into baller greater than 4gb-ville.

Yw-slayer
June 7th, 2014, 11:51 PM
On the prior topic, the MyCloud (I have the 4TB version) is good, but not perfect. Streaming doesn't work with WMV/AVI files, and sometimes there are random bugs that prevent you from accessing it or require you to reset all settings (although fortunately not all the data). However, the former can be worked around, and the latter have largely been fixed. It's also damn quick for what it is.

Jason
June 15th, 2014, 11:20 AM
New iMac purchased

27"/3.4ghz quad core i7/8gb ram/1tb 'Fusion Drive'/680mx 2gb

Runs circles around the old machine. :)

Fusion Drive is pretty nice so far. 128gb is SSD, so all frequently accessed files are on that. Rest of the data is on the HDD portion. Chrome, Photoshop, etc all launch right away. Things I don't use frequently, are normal HDD speeds. Really helps overall speed of system.

Plan to bump up my ram to 24gb total in the near future. Hopefully this will last me a good while. :up:

Random
June 20th, 2014, 03:43 PM
KVM switches are neat.

Adapters are expensive.

Freude am Fahren
June 25th, 2014, 07:13 PM
Finally. The setup is complete.

http://www.freudeamfoto.com/gtx/trips.jpg
Ergotech monitor stand. Thing is built like a freaking tank. Apparently it's the same basic hardware as the $400 XFX one except the base, which is just flat and actually metal. Best thing about that is (besides stability/longevity) is I can lower all the way to it, and keep the desk piece it's on. Oh and it's half the price.

Just some tidying up to do. Need some longer power and video cables for the monitors.

A new chair is probably in order too.

Yw-slayer
June 25th, 2014, 08:16 PM
What about the holder for toilet roll?

thesameguy
June 25th, 2014, 11:45 PM
A rather lame story led to me ending up with an Intel 7260HMW Mini PCI Express wireless card, which I spent like two hours installing in my laptop. They never expect you to upgrade those things, obviously.

I will tell you, it's been a long time since I've been this giddy over computer hardware. My first 1gb hard drive, the 3dfx Voodoo card, and a stupid-expensive 32gb SSD. Sunday night when my laptop got a 780mbit wireless connection to my router, I felt that way again. 780mbit over the air just feels crazy... 802.11n promised 600mbit but n was such a disastrous rollout plagued with incompatibilities not only did it never feel revolutionary, but I've never gotten it to deliver anything approaching maximum speed. 160mbit it common, but rarely 300mbit and never the theoretical maximum. To just fire up the laptop in a remote corner of the house and get 780mbit where I'd previously gotten 54mbit is mind blowing. Left me feeling pretty good about the ac standard in general. Finally a real reason to consider dumping wired Ethernet. If you have the means, I highly recommend checking it out.

Yw-slayer
June 26th, 2014, 12:15 AM
Wireless is not practical beyond 1 room when you live in an apartment. Too much METAL.

thesameguy
June 26th, 2014, 12:20 AM
I'd be interested to try ac in such an environment. I know exactly what you're talking about, and ac has a better antenna array and more bandwidth and might do better. I can say throughput is far better than n in my house made of WOOD and PLASTER. I'm not sure if handles congestion any better though, which also a big concern with higher density housing. What sucks is how long it's going to take it to filter into appliances and whatnot... like WeMo bulbs and Insteon switches and such. N hasn't even gotten there yet. Fail.

Yw-slayer
June 26th, 2014, 02:10 AM
I'll have to see about that once I can be effed to get an AC router. I can't do too much about the fact that I'm living in a METAL frame. I suppose I could move out to an actual house in the countryside, but then I'd have less METAL, and that wouldn't do, would it?

JoshInKC
June 26th, 2014, 03:33 AM
Fringe!

Freude am Fahren
June 26th, 2014, 06:43 AM
What about the holder for toilet roll?

*ideas for the new chair...*

Freude am Fahren
June 28th, 2014, 03:13 PM
So all I've really tried it out on is iRacing, but I can still get well over 100FPS, even running the three screens with all the highest settings. The 770 4gb was a good choice :) . I wonder how it will do on the really high end games. I haven't tried out DCS or Crysis or anything like that yet. I also haven't tried to set up three screens in FSX yet. I fear it may struggle there, as my processor would be the weak link. Besides trackIR works well enough for that. It's not like racing, FPS's or even DCS where you need that angle of view.

drew
June 29th, 2014, 04:28 AM
Since I've got the bits and bobs on the way for the new box, it's time to sort out the old and convert it to an HTPC.

That said, what I have is probably a little overkill, but, fuck it.
EVGA X58 mobo
12gb Corsair Dominator
i7-920 @ 3.8
2x1 TB WD drives

So, there are some gaps:
1: GFX card. Since this is only doing video streaming/playback (at 1080p), I suspect I don't need a Titan.
2: Power supply. Old one is a 750W, which I'm not sure I'll need that much.
3: housing... This one is my biggest flip-flop. I like the fractal cases, and the silverstone, but I'm also considering a couple more non-conventional cases:

Corsair Carbide Series Air 540:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139022
668
I've seen one instance where they put it on it's side, and it looks awesome:
669

Or the Cooler Master HAF XB EVO:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119265
670


Both are damn near identical in cost and overall size/volume, and both will fit in one section of my TV stand/base (albeit with re-arranging all the bits).

Freude am Fahren
June 29th, 2014, 04:09 PM
I saw that Corsair in a store once, it's absolutely massive. Seems like overkill. From the pictures the CM looks smaller (based on the ports in scale), but based on the dimensions, I guess not.

drew
June 29th, 2014, 06:20 PM
I'm pondering some other options (altogether).

The HTPC isn't a priority, by any stretch.

I may even offer up the leftover bits from the old box for someone in need (for a pittance).

Yw-slayer
June 29th, 2014, 06:49 PM
Which one has less plastic and more METAL? I think that, more than anything else, should be the determining factor.

thesameguy
June 29th, 2014, 07:53 PM
Is the motherboard ATX or mATX? It makes a huge difference when selecting HTPC cases. Virtually none of them will take a full ATX.

Yw-slayer
June 29th, 2014, 10:54 PM
I thought mATX boards during the X58 generation were quite rare.

drew
June 30th, 2014, 02:02 AM
Yeah, that's the thing, it's an X58/ATX.

thesameguy
June 30th, 2014, 09:23 AM
Oh, I see. Check out nmediapc - I think they still make one or two full ATX HTPC cases. I've had several of their parts, all totally decent.

Yw-slayer
June 30th, 2014, 12:09 PM
We will see. I'll wait another year or so before I upgrade all of my routers to full AC.

Alan P
June 30th, 2014, 05:57 PM
Looking at a graphics card upgrade and finding it hard to look beyond a Red Team R290 at the moment. 290x usually £80+ more for what looks like 3-5 FPS. I.E. Not worth it.

Kchrpm
July 4th, 2014, 12:12 PM
On my suggestion, my dad purchased 4 Acer C720P Chromebooks to give away as part of a scholarship program. I was shocked not only at how fast it boots, but how quickly it prepared the OS update and then the reboot to install it.

This lead to a discussion of my mother wanting a device for travel, just to check email. I'm thinking a C720P, the Dell Chromebook or 7“ tablet, or an Android tablet. I'm not sure which way to lean her because what she says she wants now and what she actually will want may not jive.

thesameguy
July 4th, 2014, 12:48 PM
If it's just for checking email, why not a smartphone? Seems silly to carry around something big for a purpose as trivial as email. To some degree, I'd also consider what email she will be checking - gmail, yahoo mail, activesync, pop3, etc. Not all clients are created equal.

ChromeOS is quite fast - but when you strip everything out of an OS except what's needed to run your own custom web browser all on your own fixed hardware it's sort of to be expected to be. ;)

Alan P
July 5th, 2014, 04:39 PM
If it is just for email then a cheap Android tablet may be the ticket. If she's also thinking about Skype and web browsing and suddenly wants to catch up on some show she's been missing then perhaps it's not the best plan. Some of the cheap Android devices are very poor for anything but basic use.

Kchrpm
July 6th, 2014, 02:52 PM
More research: smartphone and tablet are out because she doesn't like onscreen keyboards or using a touchscreen instead of a mouse/touchpad. She wants to use Outlook, but can get to webmail as well (her email is on her business website, which she currently accesses via some combination of POP3 and maybe IMAP that I don't remember exactly why she made me set up that way).

She doesn't want anything smaller than about 10", either, because even if it has a keyboard it might be uncomfortably small for her.

Freude am Fahren
July 6th, 2014, 03:17 PM
MS Surface? Does the keyboard have any pointer function, or do you still need to touch the screen to click things?

(looks like the keyboard has a touchpad, but they are pricier.)

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/hardware-review/671747/MICROSOFT-SURFACE_510.jpg

thesameguy
July 6th, 2014, 03:31 PM
If she is using Outlook, then I'd be inclined to believe she is using Exchange, and personally I would stick with Windows. You obviously have Outlook, but failing that OWA always works better under IE than other browsers in the long run. Surface Pro would be a nice approach, but they really are pricey unless you buy an older model on clearance or refurb. Another approach would be a Dell Venue Pro 11 which isn't as good as Surface but is quite a bit cheaper.

Kchrpm
July 6th, 2014, 03:39 PM
She is not using Exchange, I set it up, it is POP or IMAP at best. I would like it if she was on IMAP completely, as she already uses two laptops, but I think her mail server has a very low limit that she "manages" by using POP's download and delete feature. And/or IMAP isn't even available with her provider, it's been a while since I had to set it up so I don't remember exactly.

Surface Pro is too expensive, didn't know there was a Venue Pro 11 but the price + keyboards seems a little much at double the price of the Acer.

Blerpa
July 7th, 2014, 08:28 AM
Can't you get her a cheap i3 laptop, really?

Kchrpm
July 7th, 2014, 09:33 AM
Well yeah, I could get her just anything that's about 10-11", but I would like to get her something reliable and fast, as I'll be the one troubleshooting it if it doesn't perform as expected and realistically she doesn't need anything more than a Chromebook with a fast little SSD. If there's a Win8.1 laptop with similar price/specs/performance, though, I assume the desktop fall back would be something she'd like.

mk
July 21st, 2014, 05:52 AM
I thought I need to drop my XP when all cpu dvb-t tv-dongle started acting up.
But no, it was only a gfx controller.
(fan)

So, I upgraded.
FX 5500 -> R9600 Pro
Had to drop R9700 Pro because of too short power cord.

thesameguy
July 21st, 2014, 06:28 AM
You know they make extensions, yeah?

mk
July 21st, 2014, 10:57 AM
I think I should report you.
Since, as you can see, I'm already a member.

thesameguy
July 21st, 2014, 11:25 AM
Oh, we're all members.

If anyone is getting reported it's you. You said "dongle."

Alan P
July 24th, 2014, 04:42 PM
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-060-KF&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341


http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/images/b2967.jpg

6GB 780 Baby!

thesameguy
July 24th, 2014, 06:09 PM
Is that the David Hasselhoff edition?

Alan P
July 25th, 2014, 12:51 PM
I guess it is!

Random
September 29th, 2014, 02:17 PM
NZXT Source 210 cases on blow-out clearance at newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146075

$30 after rebate for a solidly designed entry-level case. Only downside to this particular model that I can see is no front-mounted USB 3.0 jack?

Alan P
September 29th, 2014, 05:57 PM
USB 2.0 ports only but still a solid case for a starter.

thesameguy
September 29th, 2014, 06:08 PM
That case goes on sale at that price fairly often. I bought it two years ago - though in white, and the rebate was through NZXT and not NewEgg, and never showed up. Still mad at them for that. But it is a nice case - a little flimsy, but good for the price. FWIW, a fair number of USB2 cases go onsale these days as their market is shrinking.

Alan P
October 4th, 2014, 02:38 PM
Have gone from:
http://i.imgur.com/XDRNxRy.jpg
Asus 23.6" 1080p

To:
http://i.imgur.com/TAq4vkz.jpg
LG 29" Ultra wide (2560x1080)

Yw-slayer
October 4th, 2014, 11:46 PM
Sweet, BRO

drew
October 6th, 2014, 06:57 PM
:up:

thesameguy
October 8th, 2014, 09:16 AM
Ultra:up:

Alan P
October 19th, 2014, 05:28 PM
Borderlands Pre-Sequel un Ultra-Wide:

http://i.imgur.com/nakAk64.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OvWiuNs.jpg

CudaMan
October 28th, 2014, 09:18 AM
AC routers... what's the hot stuff for not much money? I might be getting Xfinity intertubes which means bringing my own hardware. Y'all that use the high wireless network speeds - you have a file server of some sort wired into the router yes? I've seen mention some have iTunes servers, that could be kind of neat if it works like I think it should. [I'm trying to think of a good way to get my MP3 collection to the new home theater which still has an old receiver with no WiFi or USB... but new TV with dual band AC WiFi :up:]

thesameguy
October 28th, 2014, 09:44 AM
With this sort of stuff, you need to start with your playback devices and work backwards. Putting it an iTunes server and then having Rokus connected to the TVs would get you nowhere. You need to figure out how you're going to get the sound out before determining what you're going to store it on.

Related, just investing in AC probably won't get you anything. N is more than adequate for streaming audio and most video. The only reason to pursue AC would be for streaming super high res video locally or moving big files around over wireless. 802.11n ranges up to 300mbit, which is much, much faster than any conventional broadband service. I'd think about what it is you're going to be doing and then determine the networking equipment necessary to deliver it.

CudaMan
October 28th, 2014, 10:22 AM
Research so far suggests AC has better range and signal strength especially over the 2.4GHz band, and range on me old router wasn't great in the past...

MP3 Playback devices atm are my iPod and main PC with iTunes. Trying to keep it simple by only having two devices to sync and manage.

thesameguy
October 28th, 2014, 01:51 PM
Any improvements over 2.4GHz would be incidental, since ac is a 5GHz-only technology. When operating at 2.4GHz, an ac device is just a standard 802.11n network, nothing special. The mission of ac is to improve networking over 5GHz, which had some significant limitations under 802.11n. In a vacuum, the coverage of a 2.4GHz 802.11n network and a 5GHz 802.11ac network will probably be similar, with possibly the edge going to n. Throughput is really what stands to benefit in the ac scenario as at the same power level, the lower frequency will have a greater range (though less penetration through walls, likely). It's muddier than that, but whatever.

If you're using iTunes and the playback devices are an iPod and a PC, you don't need anything else. iTunes has a built in server that will serve an iPod or iPhone with wifi. If your iPod doesn't have wifi in the first place, it can't play anything off anything but itself anyway. ;)

CudaMan
October 28th, 2014, 03:02 PM
What I meant is the iPod and PC (running iTunes) are my sources for digital music. The main sound system is the home theater, in which the TV is the only wireless device present (possibly the PS3 if I move it out there). My TV (the Vizio you dislike ;)) doesn't list Apple device support. It would be cool to control music from my iPod wirelessly, rather than go turn on the PC and go to the other room to get music to the home theater.

<--- Total networking noob.

thesameguy
October 28th, 2014, 03:23 PM
OIC.

What you want to do you can't really do. There is no built-in way to use an iPod as an audio source. You can get this result using AirPlay or the various play-over-wifi apps (like PlayFi, or Play to Roku, etc.), but it can't be done natively - and again, you need a WiFi enabled iPod. But, really, you need to focus on what you're going to be using to actually make the sound out of the files and work backwards. Since it sounds like this is an Apple ecosystem, the clear, easy answer is going to be AppleTV - but it's not the cheapest. If you have an xbox or ps, those might be cheaper options. I think the new Fire Stick ($19) might do it too... but none of these will be as painless as the Apple TV.

CudaMan
October 28th, 2014, 05:23 PM
Apple TV isn't crazy expensive, though it's no Chromecast or Fire Stick. Seems like it would be fairly redundant with the TV having much of the same apps built in, other than the ability to stream wirelessly from my iPod (which is a big plus).

I have an iPod Touch 4 which should do everything I need. The other end of the equation is the question. :)

Hmmm. Tell me why something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1NV17C8592&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-_-pla-_-Receivers-_-9SIA1NV17C8592) wouldn't work...

thesameguy
October 28th, 2014, 09:49 PM
It would, potentially.

I would be hesitant about buying an off-branded device if the intent is long term use, as Apple has a tendency to make revisions to things that render 3rd party devices not work well or at all. If you are comfortable with that potential eventuality, that device will do the job for you. I've had reception issues with stick-type devices (tiny antennae) and don't generally recommend them (because I am lazy ;) ) but you know better than I do what reception at your TV is like. :)

Personally, I wouldn't mess around with a $25 device when Apple TV will, for certain, forever work - unless you're in it for the experience and the adventure. If you just want things to work, I'd go for the Apple product. On that same note, if you're in it for adventure I'd consider setting up a DLNA server on your computer, and you should be able to connect to it directly with the TV. That's the DIY bootstrap approach!

FaultyMario
October 30th, 2014, 08:15 PM
So what do I need to receive (mirror) a broadcast from iTunes running on a PC?

An AirPlay enabled receiver or an AirPort device? or both?

thesameguy
October 30th, 2014, 09:12 PM
Broadly speaking, you need an AppleTV. I'm not readily aware of any 3rd party devices that will do AirPlay video - most will only do audio. Such a thing might exist, but I've not seen it.

FaultyMario
October 31st, 2014, 01:14 PM
Yeah, I meant audio.

FaultyMario
October 31st, 2014, 01:15 PM
So, i(Device) running Remote, PC running iTunes, AirPort broadcasting, AirPlay device for receiving transmission.

Taxy indeed.

thesameguy
October 31st, 2014, 01:34 PM
That's way too much equipment! :)

The only things you need for audio are a wireless network, a computer running iTunes or any recent iDevice, and any Airplay device - Cuda's $20 stick, a $100 AppleTV, a $2000 Denon receiver, etc. Airplay is point to point - one source device to one output device with a wireless network in the middle. There is no remote functionality allowed for, and a branded Airport is not required.

CudaMan
November 6th, 2014, 12:07 PM
Quick update. Got cable intertubes. Bought ASUS RT-AC66U router. Range is pretty insane compared to what I'm used to. While walking home from my run last night, my phone connected to my 5GHz network 2.5 houses down the street. I then downloaded a 30mb app update (crikey) in about 1 second from my driveway. In days past I used to struggle to connect from the garage. I'm stoked with the speed and range upgrade of my new internets. :cool:

thesameguy
November 6th, 2014, 12:18 PM
Welcome to the present! :lol:

CudaMan
November 6th, 2014, 01:57 PM
Internet dark ages are my wheelhouse, man!

Kchrpm
November 11th, 2014, 05:34 AM
My Netgear router is being a pain in my ass, keeps needing to be rebooted every 30-60 minutes. I haven't decided whether I want to get a new router or try putting an open source OS on there.

thesameguy
November 11th, 2014, 08:57 AM
If you can h4x0r it, I'd give that a shot first unless you're looking for faster hardwar (ac, etc.) that necessitates new hardware. IME, it's usually the hardware that fails, but it'll cost an hour of time and you'll learn something, maybe save some cash. Why not?

Kchrpm
November 11th, 2014, 10:59 AM
After some cursory research, it seems I have the version of the hardware that the open source software does not fully support because it's on a different chipset.

What I actually want from new hardware is more than 4 LAN ports.

thesameguy
November 11th, 2014, 11:06 AM
I am not readily aware of any consumer-grade routers that offer more than four ports. Hmmm... maybe D-Link makes one with five? You can move into business-grade routers but you'll pay hundreds of dollars, and they often don't have the neater/newer features that consumer grade routers do.

If you just need more ports, the easy approach is get a switch. $20 or $30 gets you a reasonable 4/5 port gigabit switch. IME, get one that has a metal chassis. They tend to last longer, presumably due to better thermal management. Netgear (whom I don't generally like, FWIW), makes a very nice 5-port gig switch that's fairly cheap.

Kchrpm
November 11th, 2014, 12:57 PM
So you plug modem into router into switch?

Random
November 11th, 2014, 01:29 PM
Yup. I hardwired my entertainment center that way: single wire out of the router, under the house, to the living room feeding a 4-port switch for the receiver/dvd/Roku.

drew
November 12th, 2014, 12:48 PM
Hardwired or not at all :hard:

Fuck wireless!


I just got the X6, it's got 4 on it.

While I was looking, tsg's observations proved true. I couldn't find a single router with more than 4 ports under $500.

Alan P
November 13th, 2014, 04:27 PM
Doesn't surprise me. All the home grade routers I've ever seen come with four ports. Only exception is some come with a WAN port for a cable modem or FTTC routers but even those still have four LAN and one WAN which you can't connect stuff to anyway.

Yw-slayer
November 13th, 2014, 11:30 PM
Yeah, so it's always cheaper to buy a 4-port router and a bunch of switches (fo' da b1tch37?!) anyway.

FaultyMario
December 3rd, 2014, 09:49 AM
I really, really, wish Sony's Digital Paper System was more affordable. Or that Kobo's ereaders were in stock more often.