Just Monika

@kirashi Thanks again, your description of the process actually puts most of my concerns to rest. (edited for typo correction)

@kirashi Awesome, thank you very much for the recommendation, and also well within my budget to top it off! I will definitely look into this router as well. That 92 day uptime seems mighty attractive as well. I'm not sure how I feel about installing third party firmware as I've never done it before, but I may give it a try if/when I get more familiar with the process. Installing it is as simple as flashing new firmware right?

Thanks for your recommendations. I'll definitely look into that router you linked. I have seen the powerline kit you linked, but I've read reviews saying that it blocks the second power outlet due to its rounded shape near the top.

I looked up the FritzBox on Wikipedia and it looks like it probably isn't available to Canadians, at least I've never seen the brand on electronics sites like Newegg. The Wifi requirement shouldn't be too stringent, as long as it isn't worse than my current router I'm fine with it. The main problem with finding a >100 Mbit powerline adapter is that I can't find one that: Has an electrical socket pass-through Has at least 2 Ethernet ports (preferably 3) Doesn't block my second power outlet (This is the difficult one) That's the general idea, though I haven't kept up with wireless tech since I was looking for a router 3 years ago. Looks like technology hasn't made any significant advancements since then. My old $50 wired-only DLink router only had a 100 Mbit WAN port, couldn't utilize more than 50% of my Internet speeds (100 up/10 down back then). I'm also interested in brand recommendations as well as brand warnings. From my previous online research, it seems D-Link is poorly regarded in terms of networking products. Also thanks for all the replies so far, your help is greatly appreciated.

Hi there! My current router, a Netgear WNDR3700, has served me well for the past 3 years. However, it has been acting up and dropping my internet connection to the point of requiring a reboot every 2 weeks. I am beginning to look for a replacement router because I'm tired of having to constantly reboot it. My budget is about $200 CAD, but this is not a hard limit and I may spend more if it is worth it. My requirements: Reliability and longevity is my #1 priority. If you have or know about a router that you haven't had to reboot in several months, I would like to know about it! 1 gigabit Ethernet port (WAN) - Necessary because my ISP-provided modem has a firmware bug where its speeds are crippled with a less-than-gigabit WAN port Sufficient Wifi range for a 2-story house (assume 20 meter range) - I don't know much about Wifi technology (ie: b/g/n, etc), I just don't want my wifi signal to drop randomly. My Internet connection: 150 Mbit down, 15 Mbit up My current network setup: 2 PCs connected to router through a 100 Mbit powerline Ethernet adapter (currently looking for > 100Mbit but can't find decent powerline products) 3 smartphones, 4 tablets, 1 laptop connected by Wifi If you require any additional information to give a recommendation, please let me know. Thank you very much for reading this.

If I have Deferred Updates for W10 enabled, I should still be protected right? AFAIK security updates don't get deferred but I can't make assumptions for serious situations like these.

That's cool, if Seagate doesn't want to disclose certain technical details of their products then I simply won't buy their products anymore. Rpm is also important for noise and power consumption considerations,not just read/write speeds.

"Churning through 148 gigabytes" - I laughed a little at this opening line. If this was 10 years ago then maybe 148 GB might(?) be something to panic about, but today this should be far below the minimum expected monthly usage for a household where all members actively use the Internet. Even when I was the only one at home that used the Internet on a regular basis, I was struggling to keep my usage below my limit of 125 GB at the time.

139 MHz GPU and 405 MHz memory:

I have a 1080 and using a 165 Hz + 60 Hz monitor and it downclocks just fine for me at desktop. I update my drivers the lazy way through Geforce Experience instead of DDU + clean install.

As someone who has been teased for their (surprisingly "normal") name for a large proportion of their childhood, I beg of you (the OP) to give your son a name that follows these general criteria: Has no obvious female counterpart and cannot be used as a gender-neutral name A commonly used name (A commonly used name can't be singled out for teasing/bullying) Easy to write neatly and sign their name with Of course it's your child and your decision in the end, but please consider these points for their sake. Sidenote: I agree with a lot of the names listed further above, but I recommend avoiding the ones that can be used as slang for male genitals.

I have an i5-5200U-based (Broadwell) BRIX, so I guessing Gigabyte doesn't support it anymore with updates. I hope that I'm not affected by this vulnerability because my BRIX is a 24/7-on machine.

The take home message here is that we need to outlaw human drivers.

Despite reading the entire OP, I had no idea what "AOL Desktop Software" actually did until I went to the AOL website and it dawned on me that it's software used for connecting to the Internet(?). I thought the whole "use this software to access the internet instead of just letting Windows manage the damn thing" died out along with 56K internet.

I absolutely loved the glassy feel of Windows 7. The flat color scheme of 8/10 really turned me off, although the transparent effect of the W10 taskbar/start menu eased things a bit. When I first saw the flat colors of W8 on early pre-release screenshots, I thought they were just simple placeholder textures until actual eyecandy was made. Needless to say, I skipped 8/8.1 entirely. The only Windows 8/8.1 system I've ever touched was my father's laptop and only when he had "technical difficulties" that needed my help, otherwise I avoided all physical contact with all Windows 8/8.1 computers I've ever come across.

I have a windowless black Define R4 case under my desk positioned horizontally from myself, rear IO ports and cables facing the right. I sometimes use it as a footrest. It's under my desk not to save space, but because my computer desk is a bit rickety and I don't trust it to support the weight of the entire computer. My desk is one of those L-shaped desks (upside-down L from my perspective) but the angle of the corner of my room is less than 90 degrees (like a "7"), so there's a huge amount of unusable space behind the desk, space that my PC case could fall into with an unfortunate push if I placed it on the desk.

Probably a stupid question as I'm not an electrician and don't know anything related to circuits, but what's the benefit of an integrated fuse? If it blows, you'll still have to send the whole card in for RMA. I imagine the answer is something along the lines of "so that if it blows, it doesn't take your house down with it" but as far as I know, there weren't any cases of video cards (EVGA or others) causing fires. I could be completely wrong on that part though.

Not sure if someone has already said this before, but can't you just provide passwords to dummy Facebook/other social media accounts? For example, I have a couple of dummy FB accounts that I used to play Farmville and Mafia Wars way back then. I would just need to change their names/profile pictures to my own and voila.

Definitely! When I was checking out the Zenfone in-person at a Staples store, the wall of phone cases/protectors were literally (and I mean actually literally) only for iPhones and Samsung Galaxys. I am truly amazed how large the market is for these $800+ phones, I thought I was overspending a bit by buying a Nexus 6P straight from the Google Store. It's unfortunate there are no good phone accessories for cheap average phones.

That is really unfortunate. It looks like I'll have to look at pricier phones in order to be able to get a proper case and screen protector.

I've been looking for a decent first smartphone for my father and had my eye on the Asus Zenfone 3 Laser (ZC551KL). As this is going to be his first smartphone and knowing he can be clumsy at times, I knew a protective case and glass screen protector were going to be must-haves. I've searched Amazon.ca (I'm Canadian) high and low for decent cases and screen protectors, but problems I've encountered: No reputable sellers (no-name sellers from China mostly) No decently-reviewed products. All glass screen protector products have reviews claiming that they are too small for the Zenfone 3 Laser. Insanely unreasonable 25-30 day paid shipping times No reputable brands available. I'm not exactly a phone accessory expert, but I recognize almost none of the brand names available. Is the Zenfone 3 Laser that unpopular of a product to have no reputable case/screen protectors available for it? It was released on July 2016 according to Google so it's not that old. Maybe it's too new and products haven't been released yet? Somehow I doubt that as I bought the Nexus 5 (2014) and Nexus 6P for myself within weeks after their launch date and I was able to purchase excellent cases/screen protectors for them immediately. Thanks for reading this. Your guidance is appreciated.

1440p resolution (I can't afford 4K gaming) Supports both G-Sync and FreeSync (salivates at lack of vendor lock-in) 25" (Seems unpopular, but my 24" TN seems a tad small. My 25" IPS is a perfect fit for me) 165Hz IPS without backlight bleed, no dead or stuck pixels Fastest response time technically possible Literally no bezels (as in the pixels also make up the screen borders)

@Acerpwns I just tried out one long game of Overwatch (haven't played in 2 months) and my FPS was a constant 110-132 FPS (I have my FPS cap set to 142). Gameplay was 100% smooth so I didn't constantly monitor CPU/GPU usage. The settings used: Resolution: 2560x1440 (165 Hz) Render Scale: 100% All graphics quality settings maxed, except Local Fog Detail (Low) I left out settings that were likely irrelevant. If there's any setting you need, let me know.

I must have a mutant 4690S then.

Check temps as mentioned and try a complete graphics driver uninstall with DDU and reinstall them fresh. I've had strange things happen (ie: GPU clocks not downclocking) that were often fixed with DDU + reinstall. I'm doubtful its a CPU bottleneck because I myself have a 4690S (lower-clocked locked 4690) paired with a GTX 1080 and I've never seen CPU bottleneck situations where the CPU is pinned at 100% and the GPU is fluctuating. Recent games I have played at 1440p and not observed a CPU bottleneck are: Overwatch, Shadow Warrior (FPS is constantly 200+, haven't checked CPU usage), Shadow Warrior 2 (~90FPS with max settings + 150% resolution scale), Witcher 3 (most demanding scenario was 100% CPU usage + 99% GPU usage, no GPU usage dips), Metro 2033 Redux, Metro Last Light Redux.