The computer and electronics super geek thread

[kensei]

just finished installing win 7 on my aging dell inspiron 6000 (pentium M 1.7 ghz, 2GB RAM and a radeon X300 video card) and it runs beautifully. I just did an upgrade install over the existing Vista install and everything works, audio and video work fine and there's even a performance bump! Games run noticeably smoother and I can now playback 720p MKV files smoothly where before with vista I could not.

Hey I just did that for my friends 6000, and it worked great. Just asking, did you manage to find the drivers for the buttons on the front of the laptop? I couldn't, and the Dell website was absolutely shite for that.

With Windows 7 on my tablet, it works wickedly. The writing recognition on it is good too. It may just be me, but it runs FASTER than XP IMO. Aero is smooth as silk. No strain at all.

[eugimon]

Hey I just did that for my friends 6000, and it worked great. Just asking, did you manage to find the drivers for the buttons on the front of the laptop? I couldn't, and the Dell website was absolutely shite for that.

With Windows 7 on my tablet, it works wickedly. The writing recognition on it is good too. It may just be me, but it runs FASTER than XP IMO. Aero is smooth as silk. No strain at all.

Well, they work as just volume and controlling windows media player but they don't launch WMP like they used to with the proper dell drivers. But I gave that up years ago when I upgraded to Vista so I don't miss it.

And I think you're right about the performance bump. Game performance is definitely better than under Vista and last night I installed WoW just to test it out and it played smoother than I remembered under XP as well. I'm definitely loving 7.

[DJ Loe Kee]

i can't wait for win7 64bit. i'm pissed that xp 32bit, some music production programs and mb drivers have been randomly crashing my quadcore custom built pc (and all of the parts are brand new). i don't see how ppl want to stay with xp. i'm always finding bugs in it and googling fixes (i find workarounds, not fixes).

[azrael]

i don't see how ppl want to stay with xp. i'm always finding bugs in it and googling fixes (i find workarounds, not fixes).

Because for most people, it works and works well. The memory footprint is much less than Vista's. It's faster than Vista under the same conditions. It is still a very stable OS for many people. There's also a lot of programs that were coded for XP. That's why people still use it. It still works and as long as it does, people will still use it. New =/= better as Vista showed us.

[mikeszekely]

Because for most people, it works and works well. The memory footprint is much less than Vista's. It's faster than Vista under the same conditions. It is still a very stable OS for many people. There's also a lot of programs that were coded for XP. That's why people still use it. It still works and as long as it does, people will still use it. New =/= better as Vista showed us.

True, but progress needs to be made eventually. Hopefully everyone can get on board with Windows 7, and Windows XP can finally be laid to rest.

[kensei]

True, but progress needs to be made eventually. Hopefully everyone can get on board with Windows 7, and Windows XP can finally be laid to rest.

I'm happy with laying to rest, now that I'm assured that 7 will do a great job of taking over. Before I wasn't sure at all. That was the reason I stayed with XP. But now I'm ready to move on.

I'm using 7 64-bit at the moment now, and it's great.

Just got my G13 gameboard from Logitech. Anyone else use these? Or are you hesitant to move from the typical keyboard? I wish I had these in my mechwarrior days, for it would have been way better than to move the keyboard around. I like having everything on the one key cluster.

Edited June 4, 2009 by kensei

[mikeszekely]

I'm happy with laying to rest, now that I'm assured that 7 will do a great job of taking over. Before I wasn't sure at all. That was the reason I stayed with XP. But now I'm ready to move on.

I'm using 7 64-bit at the moment now, and it's great.

Just got my G13 gameboard from Logitech. Anyone else use these? Or are you hesitant to move from the typical keyboard? I wish I had these in my mechwarrior days, for it would have been way better than to move the keyboard around. I like having everything on the one key cluster.

I've just never really got the need for a gaming-specific keyboard. I don't do any MMO's. Mostly I play shooters, and I don't want to move my hand off the WASD keys to hit their special "gaming keys". Instead, since I have a Microsoft mouse and keyboard, I used Intellipoint to set the two side buttons on my mouse to replicate the keystrokes for "G" and "V", then make sure I always set "G" for tossing a grenade and "V" for melee in the games.

Maybe someday I'd like to get a gaming keyboard or a gaming mouse, but only if it the mouse has extra buttons to map to "G" and "V".

[kensei]

Arrrgh, the two GTX295s have left no room for my Wireless internet PCI card. I have to use USB I think. I can't directly connect the router via ethernet cause I have to keep the phone connected to it in the main room (cause I no longer have a phone line, I use VoiP).

While I do have a telephone port in my room, I can't exactly use it.

As long as I connect the USB device directly to the computer (not to a hub) there is no consequence to internet or computer performance right? I know that things slow down if you connect four devices to a hub, then plug it into one USB port in the computer, but as long as it has it's own sweet spot, then it won't affect the others right?

Is there a way around this if I have a telephone port in my bedroom?

[Dante74]

Two 295s?

When you switch on your pc, do the light levels in your town go down for a couple of seconds?

I used to have a USB wireless card (D-link DWL-AG132) and it sucked! It disconnected for no apperent reason every couple of hours. Damn thing cost me the company I work for € 80!

Nothing beats a wired gigabit network.

[eugimon]

man kensei, that rig sounds like a monster!

[azrael]

As long as I connect the USB device directly to the computer (not to a hub) there is no consequence to internet or computer performance right? I know that things slow down if you connect four devices to a hub, then plug it into one USB port in the computer, but as long as it has it's own sweet spot, then it won't affect the others right?

Using a USB wireless NIC would only affect your computer performance and the hit is negligible/non-existent. 'Net performance hits aren't much of an issue but since you are using the USB controller which then passes it to the chipset, then to the cpu, blah blah blah..., you are slowing things down slightly (when I say slightly, I'm talking 0.00000...-something seconds). As long as you have the USB NIC on it's own USB plug (not behind a USB hub), I won't worry.

[kensei]

Using a USB wireless NIC would only affect your computer performance and the hit is negligible/non-existent. 'Net performance hits aren't much of an issue but since you are using the USB controller which then passes it to the chipset, then to the cpu, blah blah blah..., you are slowing things down slightly (when I say slightly, I'm talking 0.00000...-something seconds). As long as you have the USB NIC on it's own USB plug (not behind a USB hub), I won't worry.

As I thought, thanks for that. Yeah I have to get it working first, hasn't worked so far, spent all night trying to get it to activate, but no joy.

Got too many USB ports occupied as well, my mouse is laggy at times, so I think I'll plug the keyboard into a PS/2 port with the adaptor. Doesn't matter whether it's the purple or green one right? Seems to both be the same. I hope that will help with the lag. And I have 2 TB of space now, so I'll be thinking of transferring everything from the External HDD to the main drive.

I'll get my 5.1 speakers in right away too, and stop using those Z-10 USB ones. that might help with my mouse I hope.

Edited June 7, 2009 by kensei

[Beltane70]

As I thought, thanks for that. Yeah I have to get it working first, hasn't worked so far, spent all night trying to get it to activate, but no joy.

Got too many USB ports occupied as well, my mouse is laggy at times, so I think I'll plug the keyboard into a PS/2 port with the adaptor. Doesn't matter whether it's the purple or green one right? Seems to both be the same. I hope that will help with the lag. And I have 2 TB of space now, so I'll be thinking of transferring everything from the External HDD to the main drive.

I'll get my 5.1 speakers in right away too, and stop using those Z-10 USB ones. that might help with my mouse I hope.

Yes, it does matter which PS/2 port you plug the keyboard into. You'll need to use the purple port for the keyboard.

[kensei]

Two 295s?

When you switch on your pc, do the light levels in your town go down for a couple of seconds?

I used to have a USB wireless card (D-link DWL-AG132) and it sucked! It disconnected for no apperent reason every couple of hours. Damn thing cost me the company I work for € 80!

Nothing beats a wired gigabit network.

Hah, we'll have to see. I turn off all the lights in my house and the case itself lights up like a beacon for an airfield. Case with the blues, V10 cooler with the reds.

So far its no joy with the USB wireless, I'll get some pro help this evening with it.

man kensei, that rig sounds like a monster!

I have yet to test out it's capabilities.

[kensei]

Yes, it does matter which PS/2 port you plug the keyboard into. You'll need to use the purple port for the keyboard.

Sorry mate, I meant the adaptor bit, not the port itself. But for sure I plugged it into the right place because the ASUS Rampage II has not have a PS/2 port for the mouse, only the keyboard.

Edited June 7, 2009 by kensei

[azrael]

Sorry mate, I meant the adaptor bit, not the port itself. But for sure I plugged it into the right place because the ASUS Rampage II has not have a PS/2 port for the mouse, only the keyboard.

For future reference, Beltane70 is correct. It does matter which PS/2 port you plug 'em into. It's mainly due to compatibility issues for older equipment. USB mice are fairly the norm leaving only PS/2 keyboards still being used. A common trend on motherboards these days is to leave a single PS/2 socket for keyboards with a pair of USB plugs next to it.

[myk]

Alright, I really miss playing AvP 1 but that game absolutely does not work with any Nvidia driver after 6-point something; or any driver past 2002. Running a driver that old isn't an option. What is the comparable ATI card to an Nvidia 8600 or 8800 GT? Also, when it comes to ATI cards aren't there makers that should be avoided?

Well, seeing how the new AvP is probably going to be graphically intense, maybe I should just get a newer ATI card...I don't know...

Edited June 7, 2009 by myk

[shiroikaze]

Alright, I really miss playing AvP 1 but that game absolutely does not work with any Nvidia driver after 6-point something; or any driver past 2002. Running a driver that old isn't an option. What is the comparable ATI card to an Nvidia 8600 or 8800 GT? Also, when it comes to ATI cards aren't there makers that should be avoided?

Well, seeing how the new AvP is probably going to be graphically intense, maybe I should just get a newer ATI card...I don't know...

ATI HD4750 or HD4770 perhaps? I haven't heard any bad things from any manufacturer really, but my preference goes to Sapphire and HIS... Though I don't know if getting a different card would fix not being able to run old games...

I have an HIS HD2600XT and while everything else runs without a hitch, Call of Duty 1 crashes on me after about 15 minutes of gameplay online.

But then again, I am running an AGP and using a hotfix...

Also, I require halps too . I can't seem to play any video files properly in Windows Media player for some reason, I noticed this problem with the Steam player as well. If I play any video file at full-screen, I get distorted colors--pinks, purples, and yellows galore.

Now if I go into WMP's Tools>Options>Performance>Advanced... and under Video Acceleration, if I uncheck "Use video mixing renderer" and "Use overlays" the colors are back to normal but I can't play full-screen.

If I try to switch to full-screen, it would either go back to windowed-mode or exit out of the player.

Anyone know a little trick or fix for this?

Edited June 7, 2009 by shiroikaze

[azrael]

Alright, I really miss playing AvP 1 but that game absolutely does not work with any Nvidia driver after 6-point something; or any driver past 2002. Running a driver that old isn't an option. What is the comparable ATI card to an Nvidia 8600 or 8800 GT? Also, when it comes to ATI cards aren't there makers that should be avoided?

Well, seeing how the new AvP is probably going to be graphically intense, maybe I should just get a newer ATI card...I don't know...

ATI HD4750 or HD4770 perhaps? I haven't heard any bad things from any manufacturer really, but my preference goes to Sapphire and HIS... Though I don't know if getting a different card would fix not being able to run old games...

It does sound like a driver so a new card may not help. Probably make make things worst. The other problem is DirectX. AvP 1 used DirectX 6.0. We're on 10.1 now. Lots of changes have happened since then.

Also, I require halps too . I can't seem to play any video files properly in Windows Media player for some reason, I noticed this problem with the Steam player as well. If I play any video file at full-screen, I get distorted colors--pinks, purples, and yellows galore.

Now if I go into WMP's Tools>Options>Performance>Advanced... and under Video Acceleration, if I uncheck "Use video mixing renderer" and "Use overlays" the colors are back to normal but I can't play full-screen.

If I try to switch to full-screen, it would either go back to windowed-mode or exit out of the player.

Try Media Player Classic or SMPlayer. I've had this problem on a test machine with Gundam 00 S2. Using MPC cleared up the issues.

[shiroikaze]

Try Media Player Classic or SMPlayer. I've had this problem on a test machine with Gundam 00 S2. Using MPC cleared up the issues.

SMPlayer uses WMP no? Any options I change in WMP affect SMPlayer...

But anyway, that's interesting, I thought MPC didn't work as well but it does work. Thanks, it fixes just about everything save for the video files (WMV) I downloaded from Steam. Their colors are still distorted in MPC.

I might go check out if there are new or stable drivers for my card tonight though...

Edited June 7, 2009 by shiroikaze

[azrael]

SMPlayer uses WMP no? Any options I change in WMP affect SMPlayer...

It shouldn't. SMPlayer is just a front-end for MPlayer (not to be confused with Windows Media Player's EXE "mplayer2.exe"). And I've played vids with MPC and SMPlayer and neither have given me problems like WMP.

[kensei]

Here's quick snaps of my rig, the other guys on the forums didn't believe me. I'll take good ones with my N96 later.

Couldn't find my N96, so I'll have to use my Nokia Xpressmusic 5800 camera.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2918/boxesj.jpg Here are the boxes I asked for back. He only gave me the cover of one of the Galaxy GTX295 boxes though. No biggie.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/1454/extras.jpg Here's the other box, they slammed the rest of the CDs and manuals in here. My job is so busy now I rarely have time to see to it.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/4273/frontqhd.jpg Front of it. The only thing that I hate about this is that the button is on the top and I'm not used to it yet, that's usually the first thing I touch and I often power down inadvertently.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/3420/reary.jpg Here's the rear. Quite a mess, I'll have to think about how to organise that soon.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/4792/readps2.jpg Note here that there is no PS-2 port for the mouse. Dunno why. But I can't use it for my keyboard anyway, even though I want to, cause I think the Illuminated keyboard needs a powered USB port only.

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/7640/sidey.jpg Here's the side.

http://img518.imageshack.us/content.php?pa...amp;via=mupload Here's the inside. I figured that you wouldn't believe me until I opened it and took a decent snap. Hope I did alright. Apparently the tech said that the inside averaged 20-30 degrees under load, but we'll see about that until I can get my tech savvy friends to run some benchmarks, I'm still researching how to do them. I lost the key too for a bit after I opened it, got to get the spare one.

http://img518.imageshack.us/content.php?pa...amp;via=mupload Here's my current desktop, but all the gear hasn't arrived yet. I'll be moving into a room once I get my Gallant from Ikea.

Edited June 8, 2009 by kensei

[Dante74]

That is one sweet rig you got there!

Wanna trade? You can check what you'll be getting on page one of this thread.

[kensei]

That is one sweet rig you got there!

Wanna trade? You can check what you'll be getting on page one of this thread.

Thanks Bro.

Well I'll admit one thing, you have better pics than me.

You'll probably have a better system next year.

I'll trade if you want to add a lot of cash with it.

[Hiriyu]

That's pretty rockin, Kensei. Veddy nice.

I would think about getting a larger monitor than that 22" job. You've got enough video muscle to drive a 30", and it is either at best a waste, or at worst a blasphemy to leave that hardware so understressed.

[kensei]

That's pretty rockin, Kensei. Veddy nice.

I would think about getting a larger monitor than that 22" job. You've got enough video muscle to drive a 30", and it is either at best a waste, or at worst a blasphemy to leave that hardware so understressed.

Well, I'm thinking of hooking it up to three monitors, and also a Sony Bravia mounted on the wall in future.

[eugimon]

Any thoughts on a decent gaming laptop for around 1-2k?

[kensei]

Finally got my G19 a few hours ago. Couldn't be bothered to open it until now, I've had a lot of late shifts.

She's a beast, but hard to type on, as the keys are close together IMO. I still have to use USB, cause use PS/2 even with adaptor.

The keyboard is certainly of good quality though. The little LCD screen is mint.

[azrael]

Any thoughts on a decent gaming laptop for around 1-2k?

What did you have in mind? Did you want to go ATi or Nvidia? Dual or quad-core? What games did you have in mind for the rig?

[eugimon]

wuh??? keyboards have LCD displays now? maaaan... I'm so not with it...

[eugimon]

What did you have in mind? Did you want to go ATi or Nvidia? Dual or quad-core? What games did you have in mind for the rig?

Well, something around the performance of at least the gateway P-7805u (I hate the keyboard on the gateway). So it doesn't need to be a monster but it should be able to handle games like WoW easily with enough performance to be handle the next graphics update or two.

[mikeszekely]

Anybody else try out the Opera 10 beta? I've never really felt a strong urge to abandon Safari on OS X, but on Windows I dumped IE for Firefox a long time ago. I've been mostly happy with Firefox... it's not perfect from a fresh install, but there's plenty of ways to tweak it until it's what you want.

Back when I was looking at IE alternatives, I tried Opera (I guess it was maybe around Opera 6?) and I never cared for it. The Wii version didn't do anything to change my perception, and the Mobile version on my Omnia is caught in this gray area where it's a lot better than most of the other WinMo browsers I've tried, but I'm not quite satisfied.

Somehow, though, I got it in my head that I needed to try the Opera 10 beta. And I gotta say, I kinda like it. I think it has a more modern look than Firefox, and I really like the Speed Dial thing. While there are similar add-ons for Firefox, like Fast Dial, I wasn't a fan because the browser always opened to Fast Dial instead of my home page. Opera still opens to my home page, and only displays the Speed Dial stuff if you open a new tab.

EDIT: scratch that last bit, I fixed Fast Dial. But still, I gave it a second try because I liked Speed Dial in Opera, so...

Edited June 9, 2009 by mikeszekely

[kensei]

wuh??? keyboards have LCD displays now? maaaan... I'm so not with it...

It's very over the top. I wouldn't recommend it for everyone.

Now what I want to know is why gamers like their key travel so deep. I love the low profile of the keys in the laptop keyboards. I've just noticed that the majority of gamer keyboards are like this, including my G13 Gameboard.

[Chewie]

Any thoughts on a decent gaming laptop for around 1-2k?

Two of my friends have the Asus G50Vt and it's pretty damn nice. They play WoW with everything turned up and they run amazingly. I know they both play CoD4 but I am not entirely sure of the settings there, though one of them isn't shy about cranking everything up. FEAR 2 ran really nicely too.

Best buy was selling them for $999 maybe a month ago. Not sure now. It's not the best ZOMGWTFHAHAHAHAWOW gaming laptop but it is really nice for the pricetag.

The newer version is the Asus G71G but being new it's running $2k.

[azrael]

Anybody else try out the Opera 10 beta? I've never really felt a strong urge to abandon Safari on OS X, but on Windows I dumped IE for Firefox a long time ago. I've been mostly happy with Firefox... it's not perfect from a fresh install, but there's plenty of ways to tweak it until it's what you want.

Back when I was looking at IE alternatives, I tried Opera (I guess it was maybe around Opera 6?) and I never cared for it. The Wii version didn't do anything to change my perception, and the Mobile version on my Omnia is caught in this gray area where it's a lot better than most of the other WinMo browsers I've tried, but I'm not quite satisfied.

Somehow, though, I got it in my head that I needed to try the Opera 10 beta. And I gotta say, I kinda like it. I think it has a more modern look than Firefox, and I really like the Speed Dial thing. While there are similar add-ons for Firefox, like Fast Dial, I wasn't a fan because the browser always opened to Fast Dial instead of my home page. Opera still opens to my home page, and only displays the Speed Dial stuff if you open a new tab.

Haven't had a chance to look at it. But I'm not one for beta browsers. I may take a look at it.

Now what I want to know is why gamers like their key travel so deep. I love the low profile of the keys in the laptop keyboards. I've just noticed that the majority of gamer keyboards are like this, including my G13 Gameboard.

It's feedback. Low-profile keyboards doesn't make players feel like they're pressing something on the keyboard. They don't feel the keys as well as a normal keyboard. Lots of players don't even look at their keyboards when they play so with a low-profile board, many don't know what key they're pressing.

Now for eugimon...