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EthanBE

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  1. So AMD has released their latest line of APUs, the Bristol Ridge series. This included (maybe in seperate releases, I don't remember) the Athlon x4 950. The only difference between the Athlon x4 950 and the A10-9700 is that the A10 has the R7 iGPU. But reading online, I was given to understand that because the X4 lacks the iGPU, you MUST have a VGA card of some sort in order to get ANY kind of video output. But my question is this: Whouldn't the CPU just software render the display? It may be crappy, slow response time, absolutely sh*t for even 2D gaming, and it may task the CPU, but couldn't it, technically? PLEASE NOTE: I'm not asking this question with any intent to buy. I'm just curious about it, from a technical standpoint, not as a customer. I'm not asking for advice on wise spending.
  2. OH! OH! I wrote a python script to retrieve all XKCD comics from the website! It's hosted on GitHub. EBEvans xkcd pool pull It pulls a pool of xkcd comics, as I like to say. It's written with Python 3, and it's not, like, compiled or anything (do you compile python?). But, yeah. I like it. I'm proud of it. One thing I've noticed is that It'll always have comic #404 in the failed comics list, because FKIN Randall thinks he's sooo funny (he is)!
  3. So I'm a college freshman, and today I received a BusinessWeek magazine from my dad, with a note saying it was "out of [my] time capsule." I was born August, 1998, and this edition is from July 27, 1998. Unfortunately, a quick google search yielded no digital copies. Inside are various advertisements and articles, as follows: an advert. for "The AMD-K6-2 Processor with 3DNow! Technology," with an assertion that it outperforms Intel's Pentium II processor. a "bulletin board" (probably a form of native advertising) about a $400 RealPort card from Xircom, which offers an "elegant solution" to these "special adapters, known as "dongles," into which you plug your network cable and sometimes your phone line, [which] are awkward--and they are forever getting lost." It says: "The RealPort is an extra-thick Type III card that will fill both the card slots on a typical notebook computer." And, you know, I'm sitting here thinking "what the fuck is a card slot?" I mean, it's kinda intuitive what it would be, but I've never dealt with one on a laptop. there's also a bulletin about the 'new' ATA standard ("also confusingly known as EIDE"), and it's relative superiority over SCSI, featuring "up to 16.8 gigabytes." Personally, I've dealt with IDE only once, when I way fooling around with my grandparents' old Pentium 4 machine. another advertisement for Toshiba's Libretto 100CT laptop, featuring a "166MHZ Pentium processor,... the support of two Type II or one Type III PC Card, optional modem or CD-ROM. It's all there." It says it is "compatible with a monstrous 2.1 billion byte hard drive" and 'just 8.3" x5.2" x1.4"' a somewhat sparse ad for an IMB AS-400e, "Hot Apps" server, "serving up an assortment of Java apps." Unfortunately, the included web address www.as400.ibm.com/hotapps4 redirects to the IBM home page. finally, an article titled "A Java in Every Pot? Sun aims to make it the language of all smart appliances." It mentions certain Java-enabled devices, from cars outfitted with voice-activated E-mail and navigation, to pagers, cell phones, to toasters (no, really, (#RazerToaster)), and "a ring with a java-encoded chip that could provide more secure access to hotel rooms." So, did I make anyone feel old? Personally, I found it all kind of cool but also amusing, because I'm self-aware that I can't even relate to any of that stuff. By the way, I'm kinda ignorant about software languages, so how'd that Java thing work out? Obviously, hotel key rings aren't a thing, but is Java basically the IoT king?
  4. So, my current setup is as follows: Dual booting Linux Mint and Windows 7. Boot drive is a 500GB WD Blue. I have about 50GB dedicated to the windows 7 partition, and the rest dedicated to Linux. Storage drive is a 1TB WD Blue, where I store all my games (steam, origin, and others) and also any VMs I'm playing around with at the time. Also, any Linux games are stored on the Linux partition, and not the storage drive (I think there's some issue with the storage drive not mounting automatically in Linux). This is my criteria/situation I'm planning for: I'm quickly running out of space on the 1TB, even with just select games in my steam library installed, and am looking to upgrade my configuration. I'm a bit of a pack-rat, in that I'd prefer to have my whole game library installed, but all the largest games are already installed, so the games not installed will NOT take up x2 space, or something ridiculous. I intend to expand my Linux, not just my windows library, but I don't predict my Linux library becoming too big (right now, it's between 100GB and 200GB). I also have a modest music, podcast, tv, and movie library stored on my Linux partition (like, less than 100GB, mostly SD content) which I will slowly expand over time. I'm actually kind of selective about the 'larger' games I buy; mostly the Battlefield series, Titanfal 2, ArmA 3, R6: Siege, Wildlands, and SW: Battlefront, recently PUBG, and some Call of Dutys (maybe the new ones?). I'll buy plenty of 'smaller' games: Indie games, other 'big-name' games but don't take up much space, but if it's not listed above, it's usually less than 20GB. I have probably about x2 as many smaller games as larger games, but many of then are 1/2 or less in size. These are my goals: I want to try and future-proof this upgrade, otherwise I'd probably just go for a 2TB drive. Therefore, I'm thinking about buying a 4TB drive, and using my current 1TB storage drive as my new boot drive. As long as I'm upgrading and re-installing stuff, I was thinking I might upgrade to Windows 10. Basically, I see it as an eventuality, and I'd rather not have to re-do everything later. What my plan is: For Windows 10, that's $120, because I want to buy reputable and also get the consumer, not OEM, version. I'm looking at a 4TB Seagate Barracuda (non-pro) drive @ 5900 rpm. From the local Micro Center, this costs about $120. This is what I'm really looking at. OR a Seagate Barracude PRO @ 7200 rpm for about $170. OR I could get either a 4TB WD Black drive @ 7200 rmp for about $210 The Problem: Unfortunately, I'm on a budget. I'm a college student, but meal-plan, housing, just about everything, is paid for for the semester. I'm on a $200/month budget for miscellaneous costs, of which I can save up to an estimated $50 per month, but possibly less or even nothing. I have at least $200 spendable money right now, up to $250, divided between cash and a debit account. The estimated cost is about $240 for W10 and Seagate (non-pro), before sales taxes, as I'd rather buy in-store. My Question: Should I upgrade to Windows 10, especially with Linux Mint as my daily driver (I'm asking practically, not if you have a beef with Microsoft about it)? When should DX 11 vs DX 12 support start affecting this issue? I have a GTX 1060, so I'm DX 12 capable, except for that I'm not using Windows 10. I know that the theoretical performance is something like WD Black > Barracuda Pro > Barracuda (non-pro). But just how significant will the performance difference be, especially considering I'll have a separate boot drive? Will the performance difference justify the increased cost? NOTE: I'm NOT interested in a SSD. As someone who has never used an SSD, ignorance is bliss, especially because the price per GB is too high for my budget and my needs.
  5. I keep the door to the front of the cabinet open for this same reason. But the cabinet is fairly deep, and the only other opening is a slot, probably about the height of the cabinet itself, but only about four inches wide in the back of the inside panel of the cabinet. I was just asking if, since the larger and closer opening is in the front, it would be a good idea to have the air exhaust out the front and intake from the back. I would like to not have to make any cuts in the cabinet body itself, although I will be taking out a shelf so I could get the new, taller case to fit.
  6. So I currently have a big desk; the kind with built-in filling cabinets and shelves along the sides and a false back, etc. (which also makes it a pain to put a new computer in). In about a month, I'm hoping to get a Corsair Vengeance C70 case, and four additional fans to put in it. My question is, since those types of cabinets don't really let the hot air dissipate, should I turn all the fans around in the case so it takes air in from the back and flows out the front? Would the front of the case even really allow good enough airflow for that?
  7. No. I hate to sound rude to someone offering advice, but I'm going to shoot that idea down right now. I'm hoping to spend a little under $50 (US) on a motherboard. The motherboard will go in the pre-built system which I already own. My only problem is that the current motherboard doesn't work with the GT 730, which I already own, also. If I cannot simply switch out the motherboard and reconnect everything and call that good, then I'll do nothing.
  8. Time to upgrade the family computer; the PS3 died, and my brother looks sad playing on our kneecapped tower. So I'm considering an upgrade the motherboard in a pre-built HP Pavilion HPE H8-1110, which is factory fitted with the IPISB-CU 'Caramel 2' motherboard. Unfortunately, this board seems to support only certain graphics cards (from my research, this is both in theory, and in practice, as the GT 730 we tried did not work). I have picked out two potential motherboards to take its place, and I think it should be compatible, but I wanted to verify this with someone, in case there was something we missed. the relevant specs for the Pavilion are: CPU: Intel, socket 1155, Core i5 2400, Sandy-Bridge, @ 3.2 GHz. Case: "uATX" (according to the crappy HP website, that was all I got). Motherboard: (as mentioned above) IPISB-CU 'Caramel 2,' uATX. Both of the motherboards I am looking at are mATX, but aren't the two compatible? (I thought uATX was just wider than mATX, but fit the same stand-off placements)? Also, another one of my concerns was if HP used a proprietary front-panel header. I found an image online of the connector layout on the motherboard, and I think it's the same as on the other two boards, so it should be compatible, but I thought I'd still check for verification. The image is at: http://www.findlaptopdriver.com/pegatron-panel-ipisb-cu-front/ The first motherboard is the MSI H61M-P31/W8 I found the CPU listed under the list of compatible CPUs (https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/support/H61M-P31W8.html#support-cpu). I also found an image of the front panel connectors in the manual (https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/www.mrcdn.com/pdf/msi/msi-h61m-p31-w8-owner-s-manual.pdf). But whereas the "+"s and "-"s coincide for the HD LED and Power LED, they're not specified for the Caramel 2's Reset and On/Off, but they are on the MSI board's manual. Is that significant? The second motherboard is the ASRock H61M-DGS R2.0. Again, I was able to find the CPU listed as being compatible (http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H61M-DGS%20R2.0/?cat=CPU), and I was able to find a diagram of the front panel header (http://asrock.pc.cdn.bitgravity.com/Manual/H61M-DGS%20R2.0.pdf), but it did not have the "+"s or "-"s for the Power Button or Reset that the MSI board had. This might seem trivial (and I hope it is), but I don't want to screw up the family computer, and a part of me thinks I give myself less credit than I deserve. Again, the replacement video card will be a GT 730, which I already have on hand, so I'm hoping the only think I'll have to change is the motherboard. So I guess my help request comes down to four main questions: Are the front panel connectors compatible? Can I put an mATX board in a uATX case? Do I need to be aware of potential pitfalls or deterrents when upgrading a pre-built system? and finally, is there anything I overlooked? Please and Thanks, for the help.
  9. Okay, it's working thus far. If, for some reason, it stops, I'll... Bury my head in the sand.
  10. So we recently ran an Ethernet cable from our modem/router to the family computer. The computer connects to the internet just fine, but Modern Warfare 2 doesn't connect to IWNet (no mods or anything- just vanilla CoD). I've reset the router, turned off the computer, and am currently re-downloading MW2. It works just fine on my personal computer, but not on the family computer, and I am sharing my steam library with my brother. Some forums I looked through mentioned having to mess with the router settings, but I don't know what I don't know what those are trying to get me to do (for the most part- I can read what it warns me about DMZ, so I'm not stupid- just inexperienced). I can access and log onto the router from my computer with the I.P. address, but that's all I can do with confidence. The router is an Arris TG862. The computer is on a non-static IP address. As far as I can tell, it's not a firewall issue (on the PC's firewall, IDK about the router), but I haven't looked through McAfee yet- just the windows firewall. This is on Windows 7.
  11. If I could remove the panel somehow, could I just put in a new one, even if it's just an acrylic (?) panel that's been cut to size? Attach it with strips of adhesive, or glue?
  12. I'm thinking of putting all my components in a new case. It's the Corsair Vengence C70 Millitary Green. With the case switch, I'm also planning on changing RAM to Mushkin Enhanced Radioactive, 2 x 4GB sticks at 1600 MHz. My motherboard is a MSI H81M-E34. I'm pretty sure, but wanted to check with someone else, that the RAM will work with the motherboard. Other questions include: Can I remove a spare hard drive cage from the case? And can I replace the side-window with one that does not have the fan grill? Finally, I wanted to put a white-on-red "Remove Before Flight" sticker, like what they have on the air-intake seals on aircraft, next to the power plug-in. But all the stickers I'm finding online are too big. Does anyone know where I could get little ones like that custom printed, or maybe a way to print that on address labels?
  13. So I have a seemingly dead PS3. It turns on, but there is no video output, and it won't turn off again. The HD output has been broken for a few months, because of a bent connector, and we've been using AV out successfully. But now, it turns on and shows nothing. No YLoD, no extra beeps, no video, nothing. Tried turning it on and holding down the button until it beeped a second time, but that didn't do anything. I tried turning it on and holding down the button until it beeped a third time and turned itself off, but upon turning it on again, no change. Whenever it is on, there is a low buzzing sound, but I'm not sure if it's the fans, or something else (broken HDD?). It is the CECH-2501A slim model. We've had it for about 6 years. Please advise.
  14. I guess my idea behind the console-sized case was a small black box, with subtle aesthetic design, rather than a large black box with little aesthetic design (my current case). This one is still shorter and not as deep, but a little wider. And I like the design of it, too. It's the DIY-F2-W. Part of the reason I was hoping to get a case that might look good on a desk rather than under it was that the desk I have it in is a big, not ornate, but somewhat decorative thing (not my style, but my parents' style) and my PC is currently in a built-in cabinet under it, where there's no airflow place for the air to go unless I keep the door open. So I'm hoping that the DIY-F2-W at least has better case ventilation than my current Cooler Master elite 361, which only has one fan built into the top.
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