CornOnJacob

I'm 83
My family has an OEM PC with a quad core sandy bridge i5 (from before I could build them one), and they let me run F@H on it since they leave it on 12/7.

"You just plug the thing into the thing."
-Linus
Sorry, but I really wanted to post that.

We should really be taught what's going on behind the scenes. Most people barely understand processes, programs, and RAM. Every time something slows down they think its a virus. Schools don't need to teach kids how to use Excel--they'll pick that up. We should be taught programming, troubleshooting, OSs, and using the terminal. If you don't have a passion for it and learn things online, you'll never know how to do things like that.

I just read through the article, and the author is absolutely right. I'm a teenager, and most of my peers as well as adults are completely tech-illiterate. If we're talking about my grandparents, then they have a good excuse. If it's high schoolers we're talking about, then they really don't have an excuse. I've said over and over, kids should be taught how things work, and that is why the way tech was handled at my middle school aggravated me. The IT people knew computers (obviously), but even the teacher who taught computer class (a separate woman) taught absolutely nothing useful besides typing. 

Welcome to the LTT Build-Off Thread!

Your goal is to build a part list of the best PC for each challenge (using PCPartPicker), while staying under budget.
Please DO NOT post your entries in this thread. They should go in their respective contest threads.

Current Challenge: Contest 62--[Coming Soon!]

Guidelines:
1. There will be a new build-off every two weeks, with one week for submissions and one for voting.
2. You may only submit one build per person per contest.
3. All prices will be checked using www.pcpartpicker.com, so please assemble your part list using that website.
4. The US version of the website should be used in order to standardize the prices, so please don't try to use other currencies (you can change your "nationality" in the upper right-hand dropdown box).
5. Once you have a part list, click the "Export/Markup" button in the top right hand corner and choose "BBCode". Copy and paste the text into your forum post and it should automatically format itself, add links, etc.
6. Although it is not necessary, you are encouraged to defend your choices/give reasons for your parts. This is the only way that we would know if you are running RAID, etc.
7. Feel free to edit/update your parts list, but please refrain from doing so once voting has started.
8. Custom watercooling is allowed, but make sure that it is feasible. Putting 3 external rads in a Mini-Itx build will not get you many votes.
9. Custom parts (not listed on PCPartPicker) are allowed, as well as mods. Mods are only allowed if they are purchasable (such as this custom Bitfenix Prodigy). Just because you can add a side panel window in real life doesn't mean everyone can. Everyone wants an even playing field :)
10. Peripherals are required on a case-by-case basis (meaning some contests will require them and some will not). There are three peripheral categories: Display, Input (KB+M), and Audio (speakers/headphones).
11. An OS is usually not necessary. In the rare case that you should factor it into the price, it will be made clear in the OP.
12. You must stay under budget. If anyone is allowed to go even one cent over budget, it really raises the budget for everyone. However, once you submit your build, it doesn't matter if the price of the parts skyrockets or drops.
13. If you would like to put glamour pics, performance graphs, or other large media in your post, please put them in a spoiler to cut down on the size of the page.
14. A maximum of 20 total entries will be allowed in each contest in order to make voting easier and avoid "heats" or runoff voting.

Voting:
1. On Friday evening (EST) I will edit a poll into the thread with all of the submitted builds as of that moment. If you don't post your entry by then, I won't add it to the poll and you can't enter that week.
2. Please do not vote for yourself (votes are public and you will be disqualified if you do). If you are caught making fake accounts in order to get extra votes you will be banned from participating in the future.
3. You may vote for other entrants, but as this hurts your chances of winning, it is obviously not required.
4. The person with the most votes on Friday morning will be the winner of that week's contest.
5. If there is a tie @ilikemacandpc, @dragoon20005, @terrytek, and I will serve as tiebreakers.

Prizes: *Postponed Until April 2015*
@ddbtkd456 has generously offered to become the Prize Manager for the build-offs. If you win a contest, your username will be placed in the "Winners" section and he will contact you through PM with a code for a $10 Amazon gift card. Prizes will be awarded on the 1st of each month following the contests.

Winners and Past Contests:



Misc:
If you have any questions or suggestions, please post them here.
Follow/Subscribe to this thread, and you'll get notified every time a new contest or voting goes live.

Slick gave the Build-Offs a shout-out on the Sept. 6, 2013 WAN Show. How did you find out about the build-offs? Let us know down below.

Suggested Themes:


About:
The Build-Offs were originally started by "johnwaskins" on the PCPartPicker forum. He created two of them, one of which I entered. He stopped running them, and a little while later I joined the LTT forum. I decided to bring his idea here and set up a bigger contest, and so far it has been great :).
In order that the Build-Offs run smoothly, @terrytek, @dragoon20005, and @ilikemacandpc are also creating and moderating the contests. @ddbtkd456 has also generously volunteered to be the Prize Manager. A big thank you to all of them for keeping this running!

To many more build-offs!

Actual interview begins around 15:00

Main points:The NSA spied on unicef Edward Snowden has read every single document he's ever leaked The NSA passes around nudes People are concerned that the NSA is passing around their nudes The problem is that it's hard for people to understand what exactly is going on "You shouldn't change your behaviour because a government agency somewhere is doing the wrong thing"

IMPORTANT NOTE: I will be the only forum member messaging the winners of this giveaway. If you receive a message from any other member telling you that you won something, it is NOT legit, and you should NOT respond to that message.
 
 
Today marks an exciting day - we are officially launching our new page over at http://vessel.com/linustechtips!
 
Of course, some of you may be wondering what exactly Vessel is... So before Linus took off to Asia, he created this video:
 

 
We also have an FAQ thread where you can ask questions about or make suggestions for the service at http://bit.ly/linusfeedback
 
As Linus mentions in that video, you can sign up for a full year of Vessel, absolutely FREE for the first 72 hours after launch! (March 24, 2015 @ 12:01am PST - March 26, 2015 @ 11:59pm PST)
 
 
We also have an official Vessel FAQ and Feedback thread, which you can view here. Linus and the rest of our team will be monitoring that thread, reading every post made over there, so ask any questions you may have and we will answer them to the best of our ability!
 
Now, on to the exciting stuff for you folks... THE GIVEAWAY!
 
What could I win?
One of each of the following (WINNERS HAVE BEEN SELECTED. EACH WINNER HAS 72 HOURS TO RESPOND BEFORE PRIZES ARE RE-DRAWN):   @Shaaaddoooww Galax GeForce GTX 980 Hall of Fame @Tomislav Matic LG 34UC97, 21:9 Curved Monitor @Moistmoose ASUS G750JZ Gaming Laptop with GTX 880M @safwanroslan AKG K7XX Massdrop Edition Headphones @secrethacker125 Nvidia Shield Portable @JackStaton Luke's "Scrapyard Wars" PC @TdawgG Linus' "Scrapyard Wars" PC   If this thread reaches these total post counts, the following will ALSO be added to the giveaway:   25,000 posts: @raymen1 Kingston V310 960GB SSD 50,000 posts: The Hardline Watercooled PC build (featured in the Vessel early access video) 100,000 posts: Linus' PERSONAL PC  
How do I enter?
Comment below and list:
 
Your Vessel username
Links to your two favorite videos on our Vessel page that you watched and liked
 
You can gain bonus entries by sharing the link to both this giveaway and our Vessel referral link, http://vessel.com/linustech
 
Add a:
Facebook share
Twitter share
Instagram share or
Other social media share
 
to your post to gain an additional entry! (Yes, you gain an additional entry for each one, so share away!)
 
You can also gain an additional entry by posting another comment in this thread (yes, you can post more than once from the same account) with a friend or family member's information (the same as listed above - Vessel username, favorite two videos from our Vessel channel, and any social media shares).
 
 
 
So please, watch, like, comment, subscribe, follow, do all of the online video things! And get multiple chances to win some awesome gear!

Well, thats it folks. It happened. ISPs are now utilities under Title II, the FCC passed it by 3-2. Net neutrality is a thing. 
 
Don't expect it to just be over, however. Many groups have strongly suggested that they will have lawsuits against the FCC over this ruling, what does it matter now that the FCC has a proper ruling in place AND most likely will have congressional backing from the democrats on this. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
So the big vote is happening today and since its a pretty important topic I figured I would make one thread to keep all the news of today in order. I think its important and I think people should care about what goes on. 

That being said, here is the first piece of news I've come across for the day, involving Google (and others) pushing the FCC to update their language on NN to prevent ISPs from having a loophole to abuse. 
 
The loophole in question would have allowed ISPs to charge websites for sending content to their consumers. We can argue that this is a good thing AND we can argue that Google (and others) are flexing their lobbying power after seeing how the game is played; we can debate if thats a good or bad thing later but for now its a good thing in this scenario. 
 
 
 
Update #2
Ajit Pai is going all out against NN and is making some frankly embarrassing statements for someone who should be better educated in the issue at hand. 5 guesses as to which ISP is funding his next political campaign. 
 
He claims that NN will hurt companies, which is ironic since stocks shot up when Wheeler announced his plans. Oh boy, someone is grasping at straws and edging closer to the "Think of the children" defence. 
 
This tweet really says it all about what the opposition to NN is like. 





 
 
Update #3
FCC overturns state laws that protect ISPs from local competition
 
Municipal broadband networks could expand because of FCC's controversial vote.
 
 
The FCC is on a roll today, effectively telling ISPs to tuck tail and run with a new ruling to allow municipalities to run their own show and not worry about ISPs blocking their moves. Something that supersedes state laws (as it should, since some states have no goddamn idea how to actually run the show)
 
 
Update #4
 

 
Okay, these next parts are from the Verge stream so thats the source, its mainly of Wheelers comments as he is dropping bombs and being fairly serious about this all (I guess he got tired of the speeches delivered by Pai) 
 
 
 
THE AYES HAVE IT.
NN PASSED!
 
The vote passed 3-2, net neutrality as Wheeler wanted it (or as close to) has been passed by the FCC. 
 

 
 
Overall, this went how many people hoped it would go. Wheeler essentially did this the entire time:
 

 
 
 
For those wondering what Wheeler is actually like, there is a nice background of the man and what he actually did before he became a FCC commissioner:
 

   
 
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/fcc-chairman-tom-wheeler-net-neutrality-plan-google-115502.html
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/02/fcc-overturns-state-laws-that-protect-isps-from-local-competition/
http://live.theverge.com/fcc-title-ii-net-neutrality-live-blog/
http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/26/fcc-net-neutrality/
http://gizmodo.com/fcc-passes-strongest-net-neutrality-rules-in-americas-h-1688204371

I somewhat feel the same way. Sometimes in the contests (I looked back at some of the previous ones) there are two or more states of mind on how to do the builds. For an example, in a workstation build, it could be whether to use Nvidia vs AMD, as they both have their pros and cons. 
 
When somebody submits a build, they obviously think that it is the best one possible for what they are trying to accomplish. In the last build-off, for example, I went for performance and reliability first, spending only what was left over on peripherals. It seemed to me that most people did the same, which led to me not voting. But if somebody had a different mind set, such as putting more of an emphasis on comfortable peripherals and ease of use and sacrificing a bit of performance, and had executed it well, they would have earned my vote.
 
I don't think voting for others should be required. While I don't like how only 3 people voted, I understand why it happened, as I was one of the non-voters. In my defense, I believed mine was the best built and there wasn't anything that offered anything different, but instead just less powerful systems trying to accomplish the same goal, which I guess makes me sound like an asshole, but it's the truth. There wasn't much diversity in the contest which led the contest to being more determined by benchmarks rather than actual use.
 
This is why I'm looking forward to the next competition (the Hackintosh 2.0), as there are so many different options on where to spend the money, and it will lead to more diversity in the build. I believe this will lead to more votes (but I may be wrong and we may all just be a group of selfish assholes lol).
 
After all, this is a competition, and some people will not vote for what is best for the competition, but only for what is best for themselves. Requiring voting may lead to some seriously messed up results.
 
TL:DR The builds need to be a bit more diverse for more voting to occur, as everyone builds what they believe is best. There needs to be more options in the build, to make people realize that there are other ways to build it that could be better, such as different allocations of budget, instead of having it come down to who system has the better specs and does the best in benchmarks.

I don't like the poll options. I find it astonishing to watch some players at games I play. I don't idolize them and I don't find all of them weird or creepy. So it's hard to make an in-between answer. I

Welcome to the LTT Build-Off Thread!

Your goal is to build a part list of the best PC for each challenge (using PCPartPicker), while staying under budget.
Please DO NOT post your entries in this thread. They should go in their respective contest threads.

Current Challenge: Contest 62--[Coming Soon!]

Guidelines:
1. There will be a new build-off every two weeks, with one week for submissions and one for voting.
2. You may only submit one build per person per contest.
3. All prices will be checked using www.pcpartpicker.com, so please assemble your part list using that website.
4. The US version of the website should be used in order to standardize the prices, so please don't try to use other currencies (you can change your "nationality" in the upper right-hand dropdown box).
5. Once you have a part list, click the "Export/Markup" button in the top right hand corner and choose "BBCode". Copy and paste the text into your forum post and it should automatically format itself, add links, etc.
6. Although it is not necessary, you are encouraged to defend your choices/give reasons for your parts. This is the only way that we would know if you are running RAID, etc.
7. Feel free to edit/update your parts list, but please refrain from doing so once voting has started.
8. Custom watercooling is allowed, but make sure that it is feasible. Putting 3 external rads in a Mini-Itx build will not get you many votes.
9. Custom parts (not listed on PCPartPicker) are allowed, as well as mods. Mods are only allowed if they are purchasable (such as this custom Bitfenix Prodigy). Just because you can add a side panel window in real life doesn't mean everyone can. Everyone wants an even playing field :)
10. Peripherals are required on a case-by-case basis (meaning some contests will require them and some will not). There are three peripheral categories: Display, Input (KB+M), and Audio (speakers/headphones).
11. An OS is usually not necessary. In the rare case that you should factor it into the price, it will be made clear in the OP.
12. You must stay under budget. If anyone is allowed to go even one cent over budget, it really raises the budget for everyone. However, once you submit your build, it doesn't matter if the price of the parts skyrockets or drops.
13. If you would like to put glamour pics, performance graphs, or other large media in your post, please put them in a spoiler to cut down on the size of the page.
14. A maximum of 20 total entries will be allowed in each contest in order to make voting easier and avoid "heats" or runoff voting.

Voting:
1. On Friday evening (EST) I will edit a poll into the thread with all of the submitted builds as of that moment. If you don't post your entry by then, I won't add it to the poll and you can't enter that week.
2. Please do not vote for yourself (votes are public and you will be disqualified if you do). If you are caught making fake accounts in order to get extra votes you will be banned from participating in the future.
3. You may vote for other entrants, but as this hurts your chances of winning, it is obviously not required.
4. The person with the most votes on Friday morning will be the winner of that week's contest.
5. If there is a tie @ilikemacandpc, @dragoon20005, @terrytek, and I will serve as tiebreakers.

Prizes: *Postponed Until April 2015*
@ddbtkd456 has generously offered to become the Prize Manager for the build-offs. If you win a contest, your username will be placed in the "Winners" section and he will contact you through PM with a code for a $10 Amazon gift card. Prizes will be awarded on the 1st of each month following the contests.

Winners and Past Contests:



Misc:
If you have any questions or suggestions, please post them here.
Follow/Subscribe to this thread, and you'll get notified every time a new contest or voting goes live.

Slick gave the Build-Offs a shout-out on the Sept. 6, 2013 WAN Show. How did you find out about the build-offs? Let us know down below.

Suggested Themes:


About:
The Build-Offs were originally started by "johnwaskins" on the PCPartPicker forum. He created two of them, one of which I entered. He stopped running them, and a little while later I joined the LTT forum. I decided to bring his idea here and set up a bigger contest, and so far it has been great :).
In order that the Build-Offs run smoothly, @terrytek, @dragoon20005, and @ilikemacandpc are also creating and moderating the contests. @ddbtkd456 has also generously volunteered to be the Prize Manager. A big thank you to all of them for keeping this running!

To many more build-offs!

I'm new to this, so tell me if I'm breaking any rules and I'll update it.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
 
CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($159.99 @ Micro Center) 
Motherboard: ASRock H97M-ITX/AC Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($79.99 @ Micro Center) 
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial MX100 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($62.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.79 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 4GB Double Dissipation Video Card  ($242.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Antec ISK600 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($29.99 @ NCIX US) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($29.99 @ Newegg) 
Keyboard: Logitech Corded Keyboard K280e Wired Standard Keyboard  ($14.99 @ NCIX US) 
Mouse: Logitech M510 Wireless Laser Mouse  ($24.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $749.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-11 20:09 EST-0500
 
Explanation: 

I'm assuming this is built for a girl, from the title, but I guess I could be wrong...
 
CPU: Went Intel because I planned on having a dedicated gpu, and the i5-4590 is such a good deal at $160.
 
Mobo: Went itx, as most of my female friends aren't looking for a large rig to put on display, but instead something small to tuck away. H97 because the CPU can't overclock. Most important feature is the ac wireless connectivity. Having this built in is useful, and I have never met a girl with her router anywhere near her desk. 
 
RAM: Just the cheapest 8 gig kit I could find, just happened to match the Mobo.
 
Storage: SSD + HDD combo is basically required if the budget can afford it. Makes everything so much better. I know there are cheaper SSD's but Crucial builds fast and reliable stuff and there is no need in cheaping out on your personal data (especially when it's someone else's data).
 
GPU: 290 is now the best thing for your money. Yes, it will get a bit toasty in an mitx chasis, but there is no better value. Spent the extra $3 on the XFX instead of the MSI solely because I had extra budget and it color matched better.
 
Case: I personally love the look of this case. It's clean and small, with nice brushed aluminum. And yes, the PSU does fit with the GPU, I checked.
 
PSU: EVGA makes good stuff. While this is not their best, for a non overclocked build it will do just fine for $30.
 
Keyboard: Every single time a girl uses either my or my friends mechanical keyboard, they say that they would rather use their laptop's keyboard. So chicklet keyboard it is. I've never used a bad logitech product, so this will definitely not cause any problems.
 
Mouse: M510. I love this mouse. Used it for ~3 years before upgrading to the G602. It's wireless, with insane battery life (I literally change the batteries once in the time that I used it), no tracking issues, feels great in the hand, has a satisfying click... I can't rave enough about how good this mouse is, especially for being only $25. Best budget mouse IMHO.

This is a bit beastly for a "light gaming" rig, it's amazing how far $750 goes...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31476337What an awesome machine that thing is, responsible for changing physics once and starting in a few weeks will be trying to do it again.
Its this kind of research which will push mankind forward as a species.

Prisons are supposed to rehabilitate. 

Right. 

I don't think the prisons got that memo. Solitary for using social media? NOICE! 

Welcome to the 60th LTT Build-Off! The rules and previous contests can be found here.
Thank you @terrytek for suggesting the challenge.

Budget: $750
Speakers/Headphones: No
Mouse: Yes
Keyboard: Yes
Monitor: No
Submissions: February 9th through 14th
Voting: February 15th through 19th

Pretty standard budget machine for a special someone. Let's assume that person wants to do a little gaming, so please include an APU or discrete GPU. Also, this build should have USB 3 and eSATA capability.

K, all set.

The broadband marketplace can be vibrant, but it isn't.
 
It's very sad to see that someone who has such an important role can be so ignorant and greedy.
 
I hope he steps on a lego.

Now that a dingo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xph-FV04jo

This is LoL, not wrestling. Does gender make enough of a difference to justify any sort of discrimination?

This is LoL, not wrestling. Does gender make enough of a difference to justify any sort of discrimination?

This topic will serve as an index, or listing, of all the problems that are a part of the Problem Solving series I've been doing. This way they won't get lost.
Somewhere in the near future I'll write a few "Problem Solving basics" articles where I explain a few techniques used in solving problems (graphs, combinatorial optimization, time complexity, etc), those will also be listed here.
 
Problems
 
Problem #1 - Deletable Primes (Discussion | Gateway)
Problem #2 - Sharing is Caring (Discussion | Gateway)
Problem #3 - Polygon Phobia (Discussion | Gateway)
Problem #4 - Lego Mosaics (Discussion | Gateway)
Problem #5 - User-Friendly Manuals (Discussion | Gateway)
Problem #6/7 - Solving the N-Puzzle (Discussion | Gateway (C <= 3) | Gateway (15-Puzzle))
 
Articles
 
None.
 
 
 
If you have any suggestions for problems, articles, or would like to contribute in some other way to the series, this is the place to say it (or via PM to me).

congrats to @NumLock21
 
you have won the contest
 
next contest Hackintosh build coming soon

This is not Comcast doing this.
 
This is a guy who works in a Call Center FOR Comcast that changed it.
Basically the same as a clerk at McDonalds that calls you an asshole.
Just someone that deals with you but has no ties to the company itself.
 
Has no reflection on Comcast besides they have an asshole customer service rep.