LinusDropTips

Thanks, I found an older version through a torrent.

I've found that NPAPI has been completely disabled in the latest version of Google Chrome (45) and I need it to use Java in my browser. Does anyone know of a reliable place to donwload an older version of Chrome for Windows (42/43)? Many sites offer it, but I don't want the mal/adware associated with said sites. Any help on this issue would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

Master Boot Record (MBR) is the older standard which should be used on older systems like Windows XP (or the boot drive for Windows 7 or Vista). It only supports partitions up to 2TB and can only have 4 primary partitions (amongst other disadvantages). GUID Partition Table (GPT) is the newer standard used by default in Windows 8 and 10 installations. It supports partitions over 2TB and gets past the 4 partition limit. I would recommend this for any modern system. After this you will have to right click the drive and make a new simple partition.

Ok, glad to know you won't lose any data if the drive doesn't work.

Do you mean it had no files on it before the incident, or that you have just discovered it has not files after plugging it in?

Firstly listen for any strange noises, they are usually the first indicator of a failing drive. You should then look at the SMART info with CrystalDiskInfo to see that the drive is OK and check over it with HDTune (run a quick scan). Assuming there is no water inside the drive it might well be fine. If it only went onto the outside then drying it out will be sufficient. I presume it wasn't submerged in the water and it splashed off the drive and the table. If it all looks good then all you can do is hope and keep an eye on it. Best of luck

To be clear I agree with everything you have said this far. I was simply wondering why someone would make a comaprison that's so much cheaper when they could have instead listed an option with a better CPU or motherboard that is the same price. I understand that these motherboards can support higher end CPUs, bu my query is why a similarly priced build was not shown. I also agree than an i3 would be very capable of playing most games (due to hyperthreading), but it may slow you down in rendering / encoding.

Having used Ubuntu quite a bit myself I can guarentee that my friends won't get on with Unity. I think Linux Mint is the way to go for them, but I don't really know if they would prefer Mate or Cinnamon, does anyone have any recommendations either way? Thanks.

I agree that Intel CPUs can run well on lower end motherboards where FX CPUs generally can't, I'm not arguing against this. I wanted to point out that the prices of the example builds are needlessly disparate, where a budget board has been chosen for Intel to make it seem vastly cheaper. There isn't anything wrong with the combo in itself, but I don't feel that this motherboard with the i3 would be an appropriate comparison to the AMD board (in terms of price). Part of the attraction of Intel's CPUs now is their upgrade path (such as from an i3 to an i5) and buying a budget motherboard can limit this upgrade path. It would make more sense to show an Intel CPU and motherboard combo that is the same price as the FX combo, rather than one that is needlessly cheaper. My mention of FM2+ was supposed to be an example of something cheaper on AMDs side that would work pretty well. I like that you are trying to help people to buy the right products for them (as am I), but I think a better comparison would have been a similarly priced Intel motherboard / CPU (and possibly cooler) combo.

Awesome, I think I'm going to try out Mint with them, the cinnamon desktop looks nice and user-friendly

Sorry for stealing your post there, turns out that there are some bits of software that everyone should know about

Seeing the recommendations here I have come to one conclusion. Stick to what you know. Everyone has different needs from their PC, but all AVs should in theorey do the same thing, protect you. If you feel like you have been safe while using an AV product and it hasn't interfered or irritated you too much then stick with it. As a general rule I don't use free AV software (some things are worth paying for), but I know that some of them are very good. You can debate every which way about any AV program (and people will debate you, trust me), but ultimately you have to use what you trust. If Avast has been working for you then go ahead and keep using it (for the record I think Avast is pretty good)

For CPU: HWMonitor (has sensors for a whole bunch of stuff) HWiNFO 32/64 (has even more sensors and provides tons of information, may be somewhat overwhelming) CoreTemp (doesn't work on a lot of newer CPUs, and I've never seen it work on AMD) RealTemp (better than CoreTemp, but still some issues) OCCT (handy because you may already be using it for stress testing) For GPU: MSI Afterburner (does work with all GPUs, may already be using it for OC) GPU-Z (simple to use, few issues with GPUs) HWMonitor (again, generally good for monitoring stuff) HWiNFO 32/64 (same as above) My personal favorites are HWiNFO and MSI Afterburner because they have been fairly accurate across a variety of systems and configurations.

I second the vote for another R9 280. This would offer you better performance without having to remove your old card and should support DX12. If you want the larger VRAM then the GTX 970 would be a great choice and they will almost certainly support DX12. A 780ti would probably outperform the 970, but I'm not sure if the performance would justify the price difference (also it is unknown if Kepler will support DX12). Buying second hand hardware can be a risk if you don't know the person you are buying from (especially on the graphics card side where some cards have been used for cryptocurrency mining), so I would buy a new card or buy from a good friend (who I know hasn't abused it).

Precisely my point, you shouldn't compare two motherboard that have completely different sets of features when you're debating CPUs. I could quite easily have picked out a high end Intel board and a cheaper AMD FM2+ board to show that there is a price difference, but you have to be realistic when picking a motherboard. I'm not saying that you're wrong, just that those two motherboards are not a fair comparison of price. I understand that you are showing how inexpensive it can be to get a capable i3 and a workable motherboard, and I completely agree that Intel CPUs aren't prohibitavely expensive compared to AMD CPUs (certainly not where I live). Sorry for any confusion, I hope we are onthe same page now