Maximusfoximus

Hi all, I am just starting college, and I will be majoring in computer science. Right now I have a MacBook Air M1 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. I'm on a tight budget and would prefer not to upgrade if I don't have to. However, I've been reading all over the internet that the minimum specs for a software developer or CS student should be 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and I don't want to hobble my expensive degree by cheaping out on my laptop. In your opinion, is 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD really necessary? Also, my school includes free, unlimited cloud storage through Box, OneDrive, and Google Drive. Plus, I plan on keeping the laptop for at least 4-6 years.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback.

What about something like the Dell XPS 15? Same story with an ultra-book like 15" or no?

Yeah. I mostly use my laptop to write essays, code, do some light Photoshop, and occasionally watch movies.

Smallest Case I know of (doesn't support a GPU) is the Inwin Chopin. It is basically the size of a Mac Mini and is super space efficient.

The extra 2" of screen real estate sounds nice, but is it worth the extra 1.5 Lbs for a college student? My laptop just died and I am in desperate need of another to finish school work. I wanted to ask if it would be better for me to get a 15" or 13" Laptop. I have only ever used a 13.5" Surface Laptop, so I don't know what it is like to use a heavier laptop. Is it worth the extra weight or am I better off going with the lighter 13" version?

Since it's the holiday season I thought that I might upgrade my gaming rig since I've been playing on integrated graphics for the past year. I have a maximum budget to spend of about $250 and am looking at my options. I am trying to get the most performance for my money, so I don't mind used (as long as its not a mining card). Right now, I am deciding between a $200 (no tax) 1070ti MSI Duke from facebook marketplace, or a $229 (plus tax) Zotac 1660 super from B&H. Should I go with the 1070ti or 1660 super? Any other advice would be greatly appreciated as well!

In my experience, unless your on Ryzen or overcooking, memory speed really doesn’t matter so I wouldn’t concern yourself with that too much. I would however get the 16gb kit instead of the 8gb for stability reasons. Your kind of in luck since it’s Black Friday right now and amazon is having a killer deal on a 16gb kit at $57 for 16gb 3000mhz. However if you do a bit more digging I bet you can find something even cheaper at a lower speed. Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 Desktop Memory Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0134EW7G8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_JvS3DbKW7TGMH

I would suggest updating your bios. This should make sure you are on the most stable version. If your already up to date, try clearing the CMOS and hard unplugging for 30 seconds to reset the mobo completely and drain the onboard battery. Also if your cpu is overclocked try increasing the voltage a tad as sometimes the memory controller gets extra hungry.

Cool thanks for the feedback. Yeah I’ve had leather for a while but I wanted to see what people thought about marble if it was too flashy or whatnot.

Check to make sure your fan is plugged into “cpu fan” rather then any other header. If your system detects no cpu fan, it may often not boot.

I would go with the cheapest 16 gb kit you can find. Often memory comes in 4,8,16,32,64... etc as these are the sizes that properly utilize memory channels for your system. While there is nothing wrong with adding 8gb to go to 24gb, you may find better and more stable performance going to the next scalable size of 32 rather than the awkward 24.

Title says it all. Looking to get a skin for my new laptop which one do you think looks better between marble and leather?

Thanks for the suggestion I'll try to see if they'll fix it for me

I would prefer not to buy another ethernet adapter if possible but I do have a USB 3.0 hub, would that fix the problem as long as they the mouse isn't directly plugged into the hub?

Literally exactly the same one I am using. Can't figure out why its stuttering.

Your money is best spent on the GPU where the horsepower really matters, but you want to make sure that the CPU and Ram do not create a bottleneck. For a $500 budget, I wouldn't go over 8GB as it is not worth it, so buy the cheapest 8GB DDR4 kit you can get as they mostly perform the same if you are not overclocking. Try to get the highest speed you can for about $40. After RAM, your at about $460. I would then buy a ryzen 5 2600 as it is not that old and a killer 6 core 12 thread processor for about $115. With your remaining cash, I would get the cheapest well-rated b350 or b450 board you can find, which is about $60, leaving 285 for the GPU which is perfect for a 1660ti on team green or a 5700 on team red depending on your preference.

Does your PC have a graphics card? If it does then update the driver. Does the problem happen in Safe Mode? If it does than you need to wipe your computer. If it doesn't then a piece of software is causing the problem. Is Windows up to date? A windows update might fix your problem.

I currently use a surface laptop 2 for school and gaming with Geforce Now. Recently, I have been having trouble with Geforce now because my connections goes spotty, so I bought a ethernet to USB 3.0 adapter which helps my connection. My problem is that when I try to use a mouse and Ethernet my mouse lags or freezes up and I suspect it has to do with the bandwidth of USB 3.0. Any suggestions on how to use both the ethernet and the mouse would be helpful thanks!

I would call up your local AT&T store. Often the carriers themselves sell these types of items and it is likely your local store has one.

Yeah, I am fine with Gaterons. I am just trying to see what switch of the two people like beter.

I haven’t had any personal experience with the meshify c, but from experience the h500 has ample space to route cables and you shouldn’t have any issue doing your runs. It comes standard with nzxt’s cable clips and routing channels to make it super easy to neatly organize your cables.

I agree. AIOs are really only good if you're going to overclock. If you want some RGB bling I would go with something like the Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi. Fewer headaches but still has RGB.

I have had so many problems with NZXT AIOs I can't even count how many times I have returned them. For me, it was the x62. The pump always broke after a week and CAM software was a nightmare. Go with Corsair. I have bought them numerous times and have had no issues and Icue is a great software.

I would do that but I only have enough cash at the moment to try one so that why I wanted to see what everyone else thinks before I pull the trigger