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The Bluestacks Android emulator is the best Android emulator for playing mobile games on your PC. it can utilize up to 8 CPU cores, 12GB RAM, 4K resolution, full GPU support, supports up to 240hz refresh rate, and up to uncapped fps, depending on the game. It’s 100% free, and I personally use it for playing mobile games, that are limited to 60, or even 30fps on my Android phone, 240hz/fps gaming is the minimum for me, no matter the type of game. But with all emulation, stability will vary, and performance will be better, the better your hardware is, especially your CPU. https://www.bluestacks.com

The dollar store has a lot more tech than you might think, but how much of it is actually worth buying there, and how much is just cheap trash? Buy Cable Zip Ties: https://geni.us/PziG Buy Duracell Alkaline Batteries: https://geni.us/fOP9zJ Buy Clear Organizer Boxes: https://geni.us/bX8X

Alright, so this was sparked by the WAN show when they were talking about how many tabs they have open in chrome. (side-note, It may have been an older WAN show, I don't remember at this point) They were talking about the lack of RAM that they have while they're using chrome, and I had been having the same issue. I need a lot open for work, and I need to hop back and forth between them. BUT I have a small, non-upgrade-able (except M.2 SSD) Samsung Notebook 9 Pro 13" with 8GB of RAM, so having 10 chrome tabs AND visual studio open, really fills that up quickly. As a result, I spent some time about a month back trying to find a way to Save my RAM while still having those pages "open". The resolution I came across was a Chrome plugin called "The Great Suspender" (link) and it essentially "shuts down" a tab after inactivity. This makes my life with limited RAM so much better. I can have all 10 tabs open, with only 2 or 3 active, but switch to an inactive and in seconds its ready to go. I do not have any affiliation with the company who created this software, and I am not making anything off this post. I just find this software Very helpful, and the WAN show reference of running out of RAM made me think of sharing this.

Welcome to the useful software megathread! This thread covers a broad list of different software and utilities, how they’re used, and what to use them for. I have also provided links to said programs for quick and easy downloads for you all. I may split these into different categories in the future. I've clearly done that to an extent, but I may give titles to the different areas later. Feel free to suggest other edits. EDIT: after reading through all of these, I decided it might be a good idea to not manually edit in other recommendations, but rather let them just be posted in this thread. Cheers! Cinebench -- https://www.maxon.net/en/products/cinebench/ More of a benchmark than stress test, this lets you test your CPU’s multicore speed by using your CPU to render an image. I see Cinebench commonly used to get an idea of thermal performance, as well as multithreaded performance in general. Usually if a system isn’t performing as normal, it can be recommended that a user runs Cinebench to get an idea of how their CPU is performing compared to how it should be performing, since Cinebench scores are easy to find online. Unigine Benchmarks -- https://unigine.com/en/products/benchmarks There are a few Unigine programs used for benchmarking, I personally recommend Unigine Heaven and Superposition. These are used usually to test GPU performance and overclocks. I’ve used Unigine programs combined with Cinebench to identify bottlenecks in systems in the past, as well as my personal GPU overclock. Aida64 and Prime95 -- https://www.aida64.com/ https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/prime95-download.html These are in the same boat, as they are programs designed for extended stress testing of your CPU. The workloads they put a CPU under are usually not close to real world stress levels. These are usually used to measure temperatures at full load over time since they run longer than Cinebench, as well as to test overclock stability over time. Prime95 may experience problems when using it on Haswell and newer Intel CPUs with automatic voltage settings. It should also be noted that with these stress tests that you either need proper cooling or to set voltages to manual to prevent any overheating issues while testing. Aida64 is also useful for its ability to show temperatures per core while running, as well as thermal throttling. Furmark -- https://geeks3d.com/furmark/ Furmark is a extended stress test for your GPU. The workloads your GPU is under are definitely higher than pretty much anything you’ll likely use it for. Furmark is commonly used to test overclock stability over time. BE WARNED: Furmark has been known to kill Nvidia Kepler(GTX 6xx-7xx)series and lower GPUs. Maxwell(GTX 9xx) and higher GPUs are not known to be killed by Furmark, and I’ve personally never heard of it happening. Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas Pro -- https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/vegas-pro/ https://www.adobe.com/products/premiere.html Commonly used video editing suites. I’ve personally used Premiere Pro and quite like it. Tutorials are easy to come by for both since they are basically the most popular editing suites. They do cost a pretty penny, so be prepared for that. Premiere Pro does have a 5 day trial period. I cannot speak for Vegas Pro. Open Broadcaster Software --https://obsproject.com/ Lightweight easy to use recording and streaming software. Highly recommended for lower end systems. I’ve used this a lot in the past. It is free, but you can choose to pay in order to support it. It’s also open source. Commonly known as OBS. XSplit Gamecaster and Broadcaster -- https://www.xsplit.com/ More taxing recording and streaming software. Not recommended for a lower end system. There are both free and paid options available. More commonly referred to as XSplit. Discord -- https://discordapp.com/ Discord is a somewhat lightweight chat application offering audio, video, and text communication. Quality is good, and the interface is pleasant as well. One can also create servers that are maintained free of charge. There is also a wide list of bots one can add to a server. Teamspeak -- https://teamspeak.com/en/ Teamspeak is similar to Discord. Teamspeak servers will have to be hosted manually and will cost money, however. I have heard reports of it being less secure and users being able to grab IPs from servers, but I’m not sure if that issue was fixed in the last update or not. Cannot speak for quality(perhaps someone else can). Skype -- https://www.skype.com/en/home/ Mostly phased out by Discord, basically the same thing. There are no servers in Skype, however. Audio and video quality is decent. Mumble -- https://www.mumble.com/ Phased out by Skype, Discord, and Teamspeak. Offers audio and text communication. Servers are manually hosted. Quality is decent. CPU-Z and GPU-Z -- https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/cpu-z-download.html https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/gpu-z-download-techpowerup.html Very useful system utilities for finding information about your CPU and GPU. GPU-Z is particularly useful for spotting scam cards, although it is possible to fool GPU-Z. Windirstat -- https://windirstat.net/ A quick and easy way to see what takes up space on a drive. ShareX -- https://getsharex.com/ Quick and easy way to capture screenshots and share files. Also offers quick and easy uploading to image hosting sites. VoidTools -- https://www.voidtools.com/ Fast way to search a drive. Only works on NTFS formatted drives, unfortunately. Advanced IP Scanner -- http://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/ Reliable and free network scanner to analyse LAN. The program shows all network devices, gives you access to shared folders, provides remote control of computers (via RDP and Radmin), and can even remotely switch computers off. Easy to use and runs as a portable edition. CrystalDiskInfo -- https://crystalmark.info/en/software/crystaldiskinfo/ Gives you a complete readout of all your computer's SMART information, as well as a current temperature and health status. From its dashboard, you can quickly see a long list of up-to-date system data, so you know when things are going well, and if it seems like something is going wrong. Displays basic HDD information, monitors S.M.A.R.T. values, and disk temperature. Snappy Driver Installer -- https://sdi-tool.org/ Useful tool for finding and installing drivers automatically. Useful for when you install an operating system and don't want to look for every driver individually. Ultimate Boot CD -- http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ Extremely useful tool for troubleshooting & diagnosing a PC that either won't boot or otherwise is playing silly buggers. Great for pretty much anything. Has tools like: Allows you to change forgotten passwords (Local accounts only). Incredibly useful for helping family members. A whole bunch of disk diagnosis, recovery, cloning, wiping, and management tools. Memory testing tools (including Memtest86 and Memtest86+). MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision XOC -- https://www.msi.com/page/afterburner https://www.evga.com/precisionxoc/ Both of these are GPU overclocking tools. They are very similar in both features and interface, I personally prefer Afterburner. They will allow you to change clock speeds, fan curves, and(on some cards) voltages. AMD Ryzen Master -- https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/ryzen-master Software-based overclocking tool for AMD Ryzen processors. Not as reliable as BIOS overclocking, and will need to be re-enabled after a system restart. Useful tool for users new to overclocking that want to avoid the BIOS. Also reports temperatures. HWMonitor -- https://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html Commonly used tool for finding hardware information and provides monitoring. MemTest86 -- https://www.memtest86.com/ The best memory test out there since trying every slot and DIMM. Nvidia GeForce Experience -- https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/geforce-experience/ Automatic driver downloads and updates. ShadowPlay clips(on GTX 6xx and higher cards). Recording and streaming capabilities. If you’re into that sort of thing, I personally like it. Display Driver Uninstaller -- https://www.wagnardsoft.com/ Very useful program that will uninstall and completely wipe your GPU drivers and anything related to them. Recommended to run when switching GPU brands or experiencing driver issues. ShutUp10 -- https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/oo_shutup10.html Quick, easy, and intuitive way to control and view what data Windows 10 is sending. Gimp -- https://www.gimp.org/ Free image editing tool, similar to Adobe Photoshop. Blender -- https://www.blender.org/ Free open-source 3D modelling program. Very extensive program, with even plugin support. Program itself is free, some plugins are paid. Somewhat higher learning curve if you have never used a 3D modeler. May be very taxing on lower end systems. Lightshot -- https://app.prntscr.com/en/ Faster, easier way to take screenshots in Windows. Allows for easier cropping, sharing, and editing. Foxit Reader - https://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf-reader/ My choice of PDF reader for years. It's been more reliable than Adobe Acrobat Reader which tends to crash frequently (like every other Adobe Product) and fail to recovery your files when it does crash. The UI for Foxit Reader is based on the Ribbon of Microsoft Office so you should feel right at home. pdfbinder - https://code.google.com/archive/p/pdfbinder/ Um... it binds PDFs. That's about it. Simple, free, and lightweight application that just works 100% of the time. Not much else to say. Mp3tag - https://www.mp3tag.de/en/ Easy to use application to edit the tags of your audio files. Supports all the formats you'll ever want including mp3, flac, m4a, etc.

Nowadays the tech we use relies heavily on data communication and location information and this can certainly be a drain on you phones battery life. I’m talking to you Pokemon go users. Cheap battery banks you may think do the job of keeping your phone topped up but in reality you will be paying for a product with false capacity, dodgy circuitry and just a poor quality product but this is no longer your only option on a budget. For only £21.99 you can pick up the Anker Power Core 10000. What’s so good about this battery? Anker only uses high quality Panasonic cells inside to not only deliver a high amperage output but at a constant rate. High efficiency circuitry that allows you to get the most out of the batteries. Solid construction (found out through a little accident that apparently you can drop this thing off a head height shelf and its total fine) as it is made of durable ,non fingerprint attracting plastic. "Power IQ "technology allows the device to recognize what phone you have plugged in and then supply the phone with the correct amount of amps to charge it as fast as the device is rated to do. Small, very small. This battery pack is the ideal size just to slip into your trousers back pocket and not create must of a bulge and is still comfortable when sitting down. Capacity. This battery is great for power users (pun intended) as it will charge most modern phones around 3 times which is not bad considering most battery banks this price will often do around 2-1 and a half charges Includes handy micro USB cable to charge the device and your phone. What’s not so great? To be honest there is not really anything to say on this matter unless you are being nit-picky and need a small little LED light found on most battery packs but let’s be real who uses them? (Note this product does not support Qualcomm quick charge but Anker offers a variant of this power core that does and only for a few pounds more)

Hello everyone. The deal includes shipping, so it's really just $0.99. Here is the website (it requires you register an account): http://www.artscow.com Here is the coupon code: Z099MOUSEPADE3VTN Here is where you go on the website to get the deal: http://www.artscow.com/photo-gifts/99cents-gifts Ctrl + F -> Type "Large Mousepad". Here is my source for it: https://www.reddit.com/r/DealsReddit/comments/3uo3jp/artscow_099_customizable_mousepads_cosmetic_bags/ Yes, the code is still good. I just used it. Note: Due to high volume, it can take 7+ days to ship, so it will take a while to get to you. You were warned. Story time: This forum was started over 3 years ago. I joined 5 Jan 2013, I think a few months after it started up. Some time in that spring, this same deal came up and I bought the following mousepad via this deal: And here it is, ~3 years later: Note: The flash makes the above picture less dirty looking than it really is. It's almost dark brown where my wrist sits. So I think it's time for a new one. Though I think that proves the quality of the mousepad. I took care of it in that I only ever used it. I never put it in the washer or abused it with liquids such as soda or what-have-you. Unfortunately, a new mousepad isn't the only change I've decided on. I am not happy or interested in this forum anymore. It is not a place I enjoy coming to. This is one reason I rarely leave the HS club thread (which is now much less active due to changes in the club). I think part of it is less so me changing (though that's a factor) and more so the forum changing. I can't really do anything about that, but it's life. I have little reason to be here anymore, and due to recent events within the forum, I've decided I'm done coming here. So, with that, I decided also that I'd share this deal one last time as a sort of memento of when I first joined. I'm a sappy person like that. No one will probably care. That's ok. As soon as I'm done with my business here, I'm out. Later everyone.

Hi!, I just recieved my K70 RGB Mx Brown but I'm thinking of exchanging it for a K95 RGB because I came up with a lot of uses for macros, but please let me know if I'm dreaming, or if these are really useful. Uses: 1. Sleep mode button 2. Launching netflix in microsoft edge(so that I can watch in 1080p) 3. Emoticons 4. Cut/Copy/Paste/insert link(Google Docs) 5. Taskmanager 6. Soundswitch 7. Profile Switching Would you pay the extra cost for these macros? Btw, I've gotten offers on both the K70 RGB and K95 RGB for quite a lot less than they originally are. Reference: Corsair Strafe(non rgb): 1250kr K70rgb: 1290kr (usually 1750kr) K95rgb: 1635kr (Usually 2090kr) So is it worth it? Will I use them?

Power Adapters NCIX: n/a Amazon: http://geni.us/3SYM Microsuction Tape Material Sample shop: http://bit.ly/1Oxx0sb Yubikey 2-factor Authentication Key NCIX: n/a Amazon: http://geni.us/gnL Amprobe bat-200 Battery Tester NCIX: n/a Amazon: http://geni.us/15SY Xbox One Controller Wireless Dongle for PC NCIX: http://bit.ly/1HwTo5l Amazon: http://geni.us/u24 This episode of Handy Tech features more items than ever before - some of which I'm SURE you didn't think of! Vessel Link: https://www.vessel.com/videos/R9Yv5BdKq

Alright, This is my first time using the Forums here or at all, so please don't be mad at me if this isn't the right way of going about this. I'm using a pretty general Windows 7 Ultimate Computer (With the worst specs in human history) [DDR2 RAM and 2GHz CPU *Dual Core*] and I am going to be traveling to visit family this summer for about two months. Being without my music, my files and my desktop would kill me and I wish to not make a mess of my family's computer's. I have a Seagate goFlex 1TB USB HDD which I want to put my Entire machine on at once, so I can take it with me and use it during the Summer, and then completely copy it over to my computer here when I return so any changes made stick. I have very little knowledge of coding but I enjoy learning more about electronics! Any ideas would be appreciated. I understand my Drive may not be fast enough to boot off of, in which case is there a way I can temporarily copy the boot files to my families computer and just access files from my Portable drive, given I won't (Hopefully) Be modding any of my OS. [There computer is a laptop with more ability then mine, so I can say for a fact that Capability wont be an issue.] Thanks. ~Divide

I am one of the backers of an indiegogo campaign for the AMPL Backpack. This is an amazing backpack and is exactly what i had in my head as the perfect backpack, and i just don't see how there was no trace of it on the forum. Just want to spread the word of this epic product which solves so many problems. It is defiantly worth a look !!! the AMPL website link: http://ampl-labs.com/

So how useful is SLI (crossfire for that matter) for photo/video editing (not to be confused with a GTX and Quadro) Plz. Help, MRE

I know this section is called "Troubleshooting" but i couldn't really find another section for this. I need you awesome people to give me some tech I should get under $200. I do NOT want something that computes besides a smartwatch that works with iOS. You can suggest me 2 things or even three that cost $200. Thanks!

Working In The Industry: You'll find that sometimes you will need software that your client doesn't have installed, in cases where getting access to the internet is not possible this can be a real nightmare. So to prevent this, it helps to carry just about every utility you can with you ether on a USB thumb stick or a CD. Personally, I have two folders that contain portable software and software to be installed. The former contains several small programs for monitoring and testing that can be taken from this really useful site - http://portableapps.com/appsHowever, the latter contains software such as 7-zip, chrome, Avast and GIMP. Depending on the information I have before going onto the job, I add drivers to a separate driver. Whats Next?: Half term this week, should be able to add some cool content when I'm not in work so keep checking back to see whats new. Thank You :)

Hello everyone! Just making a post which collects all the useful programs you guys use, and a place where you can ask for software for a particular goal/problem. If you add a software recommendation be complete, give the full name, short summary of the program and why you recommend it and a link to their website. If you are looking for software reply with the category the software falls in (anti-virus, management tool, game-related, product-related etc.) and if you are looking for free or paid software, and a short summary to make clear what the program must be able to do. I will be collecting most of the software and order them so you can easily find what you where searching for all this time. Please give feedback/ideas for this topic! Not familiar with Linux, do I need to make Desktop environments tags for every piece of software like: [GNOME] LibreOffice. Or is linux software not DE specific? note: games are NOT allowed The Software Linus Mediagroup recommendations: Startup software - http://www.ninite.com has a lot of software people use when just setting up a fresh install of windows, and simplifies the download and installation by doing it all automatically. All Ninites programs Windows Paid: Free: Mac Paid: Free: Linux Paid: Free: Android Paid: Free: iOS Paid: Free: Sorting atm: Platform paid/free Category Alphabetical by name short description link = Name And spoilers to prevent wall of text. (please correct me on spelling, grammar and other mistakes in general, I'm not a native speaker and like to learn)

Cooler Master JAS mini Aluminum Display Stand, Brown; for 20 after MIR seems pretty sweet, I would get one but personally dont use my phone often hope it helps http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX52385

I thought having a place to get recommendations for small but needed programs would help a lot of people find new ones, including me. For me the key programs I need are: WizMouse - Allows scrolling on non selected windows F.lux - Controls lighting of your monitor during the day Pushbullet - I found it by trying to find a program to receive texts on my PC, but I now mainly use it to send links or images between my PC and phone, and also great for notifications, no more constantly checking my phone. Hotkeys - Gives me a few combinations to launch programs, allow me to use a more minimalistic desktop Winzip - Personal choice for unzipping files That's all I can think of at the moment, I'm sure I've missed some, and I haven't added browser extensions as I'm sure there are plenty of threads for those. Thanks guys.

NCIX: External Molex Plug: n/a legrand Desk Power Center: n/a JAS Mini: http://bit.ly/VPa8y6 (oh and it looks like they have the silver one!) Amazon: External Molex Plug: http://geni.us/3eVX legrand Desk Power Center: http://geni.us/2PKh JAS Mini: http://geni.us/3ii7 This is the fourth video in our "handy tech under $100" series. We show off three different gadgets that tickled our fancy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjDGWDrSYMQ

I just found out about this thanks to my supervisor showing me it. I thought I'd share. Here is the page listing all the utilities (in a better format, because I'm not formatting all that after Ctrl + Shift + V). However, I can't find the download button on that page. I found a legit place to download it here. Go to the bottom and click the hyperlink where "Filename: Hirens.BootCD.15.2.zip". Some of it is old and useless (for Windows 8 for example), but other things are pretty cool and always useful. Some are for MS-DOS (yes, old), some are for Linux, and some are for Windows. This is for those who don't want to read the full list linked above; it's an overview.

Hi guys, Firstly, this video. Now, one very important thing to note is that this stuff flakes off when exposed to Sunlight (Ultraviolet radiation) for extended periods. You can buy it at Home Depot for about $20 a can. I want it. So bad. It can go on ALL THE THINGS. Maybe not plates or utensils to eat with, but the floor, my kitchen counters (where food is not supposed to be prepared), my mouse, my keyboard (so I can just dunk it in water to clean it). Here are some more videos to show it off: Super Hydrophobic spray-on coating. It is Oleophobic too. (Like it is with water, but with Oil.) Will this be the next Asbestos? Not sure. But it is fricking cool.