Hulkstern

Unfortunately returning it is not really possible, I bought the fan a few months ago for the guys birthday just now. So I'm kind of stuck with it =/

I ended up going the route of just using teracopy on a seperate machine to copy the files over, I also got a new SSD for christmas along with that HDD and when I tried to move my OS install to the new SSD I ended up breaking the install on the old SSD and the new one, so I had to reinstall and since I had mostly program files and games on that HDD I think the steam library will be the only thing I can still use. All that considered though, thank you for your help.

Okay guys I have seen a lot of people on here is starting to wanting to buy amps and dacs and let me just explain to you guys why you need one and why you don't need one. This is going to be very basic and generalised.
 
Reasons to get a DAC.
 
1. Noise in your sound
2. Your onboard makes the sound warm or cold sounding
3. Over all low quality sound coming from your onboard
4. Can look nice
5. You want more detail and higher audio quality
 
Reasons to NOT get a DAC.
 
1. No noise.
2. No coloring in your onboard.
3. You already have "transparent" sound. ( kinda the same as Nr. 2)
4. Takes up space.
5. You will need to buy an amp.
 
Reasons to get a amp.
 
1. You can't power your headphones. (your headphones don't get loud enough)
2. Your headphones sound muddy only at that pc (kinda the same as Nr. 1)
3. Can look nice.
4. You want to try tube sound. (they get really hot, so do NOT touch them.)
5. You want better audio quality (though keep in mind that if your source is bad then it won't suddenly sound good with a better amp)
6. Less noise
 
Reasons to NOT get a amp.
 
1. You can power your headphones.
2. Takes up space.
 
Most motherboards on the market to day can power 90%-95% of all the headphones on the market. A DAC and amp will not make your headphones a lot better if you already have "transparent" sound and they are powered properly, they can bring out more detail and overall better audio quality, but I wouldn't recommend getting a DAC and amp if you don't have good headphones, I would rather recommend that you save the money and get better headphones, expecially if you are unhappy by the sound you have in your headphones, because no DAC and amp is suddenly going to do any major change the signature of your headphones.
 
Ohm does not say if your headphones are hard to drive or not.
 
You can have 600 Ohm headphones that are easier to drive than 32 Ohm headphones. It is the sensitivity and efficiency that matters the most.
A very quick exsample of this would be the K612 and the HE 560. The K612 has a ohm rating of 120 Ohm and a sensitivity rating of 101 SPL/V, while the HE 560 has a Ohm rating of 45 Ohm and a efficiency rating of 90 SPL/mW. Using a online calculator we get these results, which shows that the HE 560 will need more power than the K612, despite the K612 having a Ohm rating that is almost three times higher than the HE 560's.
I used this website to calculate the power needed http://www.digizoid.com/headphones-power.html
 
Wnat to know how much power your headphones need and the math behind it? Look here
 
Different explanations (keeping it simple)
 
Before you go buy an amp for some headphones you just orded wait get the headphones and test them with your onboard before you go spend money on a amp.
Before you go buy an DAC amp combo, if you already has transparent sound and you have nothing wrong with your onboard DAC then you will not notice a difference between your onboard and a DAC and if you buy an DAC you will need an amp.
 
Remember sound is not black and white like some people say it is, there are more to sound than just specs.
 
Only look down here if you really need an DAC and amp or just an amp
 
Why get anything else than the cheap products?
What is a DAP? (Digital Audio Player)
 
I have used amazon.de and amazon.com for every product that is not from Schiit where I used their own webshop
 
Before looking at tube amps
A tube amp is best with headphones that have a high impedance because it is there they have their power, while a normal solid state amp normally has the most power in the lower ohms. I highly recommend not getting a tube amp for let's say 35 Ohm headphones, but rather a tube hybrid amp which is a mix of a tube and solid state amp, you get the sound of tubes while still having the power in the lower Ohms and having a lower output impedance.
 
My recommendations for desktop amps:
 
My recommendations for desktop DACs:
 
My recommendations for desktop Combos:
 
My recommendations for small Combos that run on usb only:
 
My recommendations for DAPs (Digital audio players)
 
Where do I buy schiit in EU?
http://www.schiit-europe.com/
http://schiit.eu.com/   (UK)

Where do I buy Soekris?
https://www.modhouseaudio.com/ (USA)
http://www.soekris.eu/shop/index.php (EU)
 
 
Lastly if you have interference look at this guide SSL has made.
 
If you have suggestions about gear and explanations.
If you have some gear that you would like to see added then there are 4 options.
 
Comment the gear you would like to see added and why or send me a PM, I will then look into it very thoroughly when I have time and if I find it worthy, then it will be added. Often I will get a loaner unit and test it.
 
If you want a explanation to something, then comment what you would like explained or send me a PM and then I will look into it.
 
FEEL FREE TO ASK ME ANYTHING ABOUT THIS POST
Remember there are no stupid questions, I am here to help.
I hope that this post helped you and cleared some things up for you 

To be honest, it very well could have been four years ago I bought this and since I never really look at my steam inventory I forgot it was even there. Though that certainly didn't help my agitation that was renewed when I found it in my inventory.

you want something like this I guess:
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Wi-Fi-Extender-Essentials-EX2700/dp/B00L0YLRUW/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1492505520&sr=1-3&keywords=wifi+repeater
(got the same one at my parents and it works fine with the occasional wtf-why-did-it-stop-working-unplug-and-replug-thing done once a month.
 
got no idea what the other 2 guys above me are on about ....

so this is a bit of a late reply but after using the laptop for about a week after transferring it over to the new SSD everything seems to be running much more smoothly and snappy. Truly does breath some life into new laptops just by putting some faster storage in them. I am also considering that drive caddy though I think i will invest in a better drive instead of the piece of shat Toshiba before putting something like that in there. Thank you!

Partition Wizard is a free tool that should work for moving it over.
https://www.partitionwizard.com/
 
I've used this on several different setups, all having migrated from a large drive to a small one, and they all worked flawlessly. You don't even need to create external bootable media, it does it all from the system.

Honestly, it sounds like your problem is just shitty laptop speakers.
 
If you really want to try this you could:
Get a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable and plug headphone out to line in, turn on "listen to this device" on the line in, then set speakers as default audio device, which'll probably work but you'll introduce some delay.
 
When I say it will work, I mean it will put the sound from the headphone out to the speakers, but I don't think you'll get better sound out.
I think you problem is the quality of the speakers, not the pipeline to them.
Hope this helps

ah, no thank you!
this actually helped a great deal as it seems that for some reason within the bios or something they limited the low ends and it just made audio sound very tinny and not that pleasant to the ear. I tested this theory by hooking into the line in with my desktop via an aux cable plugged into the speaker jack on the back of it and it produced much better audio. I think they limited it artificially so that people didn't do stupid shite with their laptops and claim warranty, though honestly with it being 6+ years old I couldn't care less. Thanks again!

Sounds like the Z623 would be right up your alley, since you're looking for a pair of front speakers that aren't too obtrusive (3x 27" monitors side-by-side do take up quite a bit of space). Bookshelf speakers, no matter how small, have a bigger footprint compared to those Z623 ones, since the sub does the 'heavy' lifting. 
 
I do agree with spwath, if you can deal with used speakers, they present a very good price/performance ratio.  
 
 

Logitech Z623, best speaker's i've ever used

No. Thats why I encourage people to do this:
 

So AMD's new graphics cards are here, and they are pretty sick... But what's even more sick than hearing about a new graphics card? Owning one for yourself!

Aw yeah man, we are giving away one Polaris 10 video card and one Polaris 11 video card thanks to our good friends over at AMD.
 
So, how do you enter to win one of these fine graphics cards?
 
1. Post a comment below telling us what graphics card you're using in your rig and why you want an upgrade to AMD's Polaris lineup. The two winners will be selected at random, so no, the content of your comment doesn't REALLY matter, but this is more fun than seeing 800 posts of "I want it" or "gibe nao pls." One comment (entry) per user.
 
2. Check back here in about a week when the names of our two winners will be added to the OP (giveaway execution is an art not a science people, so I apologize in advance if winners aren't announced in exactly one week).
 
3. Check your inbox here on the forum to make sure you didn't miss it. Our winners' usernames will be added to the OP here, so if you have any question about the legitimacy of a congratulatory message regarding this giveaway, please be sure to check back here and see if your name has been added.
 
And, while this isn't a requirement, feel free to give our friends over at @AMDRadeon on Twitter a follow.
 
Winners will be PMed from this account on the forum. Please do not consider winner messages from any other user in regards to this giveaway.
 
This giveaway is worldwide with no age restriction.
 
Best of luck to all!!
 
EDIT: Winners
 
Polaris 10 winner: Alright, SOMEONE needs to take this GPU!  Let's see if @UltraNeonGaming wants it  you have 72 hours to respond @Herb12 UPDATE: New winner for Polaris 10 is
 
Polaris 11 winner: @OnlyNeedJuan
 
Congrats to our winners! They have 72 hours to respond. If we don't hear back in that time, a new winner (or new winners) will be selected.