The computer and electronics super geek thread

[azrael]

You can also try the Dell Studio 16 or the Dell Studio 15 if 17" is too large. Both come with the option to upgrade to a Blu-Ray drive and can be reasonable under $1000. You can also try the HP G70t series. It has a 17" screen and you can order it with a Blu-Ray drive if you want. All of these can be bumped up in specs for below $1000. If necessary, RAM can be upgraded with via 3rd-party vendor (Newegg, TigerDirect, etc.).

[Roy Focker]

I went browsing in person and noticed the XPS 16 as well. Keeping my eye out on that one.

[azrael]

In order to make things easier when making recommendations for a new system, in the future, please include answers to these questions if you want a recommendation. Feel free to add additional details where applicable.

"Recommend me a system" questionnaire (answer questions in the section that applies)

Laptops

1) What is the intended usage of this system? (ex. Internet/Email/Office/Pictures/Movies/Gaming/Server/CAD/Media Center/etc.)

2) What operating system will you use? (ex. Windows/Mac OS/Linux/etc.)

3) How much are you planning to spend or What is your intended budget for this system?

4) How big of a screen size or How important is the screen size?

5) Do you intend to use an external display/monitor?

6) Do you intend on traveling with the laptop or will the system remain stationary?

7) How important is the battery life or How much usage do you expect on battery only?

Desktops and Servers

1) What is the intended usage of this system? (ex. Internet/Email/Office/Pictures/Movies/Gaming/Server/CAD/Media Center/etc.)

2) What operating system will you use? (ex. Windows/Mac OS/Linux/etc.)

3) How much are you planning to spend or what is your intended budget for this system?

4) Do you intend to buy a pre-built or a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) system?

[CoryHolmes]

My current PC is running a GeForce 7350 LE graphics card, and I know that's woefully underpowered. I'll soon be getting my grubby hands on Dragon Age and Star Wars: TOR sometime next year and I'm looking to update my grapics card and I'm willing to spend the bucks to get a good, top-of-the-line model. My problem is that I have no idea what sort of interface I have available on my mother board, be it PCI or PCI Express or PCI 2.0 or, or, or...

So I come before you seeking education. How can I find out what I've got and which cards to you most-knowledgable people recommend?

[mikeszekely]

My current PC is running a GeForce 7350 LE graphics card, and I know that's woefully underpowered. I'll soon be getting my grubby hands on Dragon Age and Star Wars: TOR sometime next year and I'm looking to update my grapics card and I'm willing to spend the bucks to get a good, top-of-the-line model. My problem is that I have no idea what sort of interface I have available on my mother board, be it PCI or PCI Express or PCI 2.0 or, or, or...

So I come before you seeking education. How can I find out what I've got and which cards to you most-knowledgable people recommend?

Look at the card's interface on the motherboard, removing the card if you have to.

If it's just a rectangle with a long slot and a short slot, sort of like this:

|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

|__________________________________________|___________|

it's PCI. It's also probably white, and there's probably more than one of them.

If it has two of those little breaks in the slot, and an L-shaped clip on the end, it's AGP. It's also probably brown, and all alone.

If it's longer than a regular PCI slot, and has some some notches on the ends, it's probably a PCIe x16.

If it's shorter than the regular PCI slot and still has a notch on one end, it's either a PCIe x1 or PCIe x4 slot, depending how how much shorter.

Of of the PCIe slots have the long slot and short slot that regular PCI does, but the shorter slot is on the opposite side when compared to regular PCI.

If you have a PCIe x16 you're probably okay just upgrading the card (but check to make sure your case is big enough and your power supply has a high enough wattage. If you have an AGP or just regular PCI slots, you're better off buying or building a whole new computer.

At the moment, I'd recommend any NVIDIA GeForce GTX 2 series card, or any ATI Radeon 48xx card.

Edited September 12, 2009 by mikeszekely

[David Hingtgen]

Don't know what's in your computer? Go here and download this: http://www.belarc.com/Programs/advisor.exe

Run it, and it'll tell you just about everything. (if you want even more info, get Sandra---but it's bigger and slower)

::edit:: Actually, you might want Sandra anyways, as it will directly tell you exactly what type of PCI slots you have, whereas Belarc will only tell you your mobo model and you'd have to look it up from that. http://www.sisoftware.net/redirect/dload.php?id=105

[azrael]

This might help you with the cards, visually.

Here's an example of the slots, visually.

At the top is a PCIe x1 (or x4) slot.

Next down is a PCIe x16 slot. Notice it is the longest and has a latch on it.

The next 2 white colored-slots going down, are regular PCI slots.

[CoryHolmes]

While I haven't opened up the case yet, I did some hunting on the internet and found my store-bought computer on HPs webpage. A little more sifting got me this information:

2 PCI slots (one available), 1 PCI-E x1 slot (available), 1 PCI-E x16 slot (occupied)

While that's pretty self-explanatory, is it fair to assume that my current videocard (GeForce 7350) is the one occupying the PCI-E x16 slot? And if that's the case, I'd simply have to pop out the old card and slap in the new one, right? Power supply shouldn't be a problem, no?

[mikeszekely]

While I haven't opened up the case yet, I did some hunting on the internet and found my store-bought computer on HPs webpage. A little more sifting got me this information:

2 PCI slots (one available), 1 PCI-E x1 slot (available), 1 PCI-E x16 slot (occupied)

While that's pretty self-explanatory, is it fair to assume that my current videocard (GeForce 7350) is the one occupying the PCI-E x16 slot? And if that's the case, I'd simply have to pop out the old card and slap in the new one, right? Power supply shouldn't be a problem, no?

Yes, your idea about popping the old card out and popping the new one in is correct. But no, power supply could very well be a problem. Some entry-level cards can draw power directly through the slot. But higher-end cards need one or more connections from the power supply, and they can draw a lot of power. If the total draw on the system is more power than the PSU can supply, you could do some damage to your system.

Do you mind posting your computer's model number or a link so we can look into it for you?

[CoryHolmes]

Not at all. It's an HP Pavilion Media Centre 8120n. I originally bought it with the intentions of using it at as HTPC but have since stopped buying cable TV and am too cheap to get sattalite TV

[azrael]

While that's pretty self-explanatory, is it fair to assume that my current videocard (GeForce 7350) is the one occupying the PCI-E x16 slot? And if that's the case, I'd simply have to pop out the old card and slap in the new one, right? Power supply shouldn't be a problem, no?

Not at all. It's an HP Pavilion Media Centre 8120n. I originally bought it with the intentions of using it at as HTPC but have since stopped buying cable TV and am too cheap to get sattalite TV

While fine for a HTPC, a higher-end graphics card might be a problem on 2 fronts.

1) Power supply. A 8120n uses a 300~350W PSU. You're gonna have to update the power supply to something in the 450-500W range. Fortunately, this isn't the bad part (we'll get to that next). A new PSU in that range runs about $35-50 USD. In some cases, you can get something better than 500W in that price range. Just be on the look-out for some deals.

2) Now for the bad news. Most high-end graphics cards are fairly big. Like in the 10-inches-range-big. A 8120n is 15.6 inches in width. Anything high-end might not fit well or might not fit at all. In fact, you might need to remove parts to make it fit. So any card that you get, you'll need to be sure it physically fits.

[mikeszekely]

While fine for a HTPC, a higher-end graphics card might be a problem on 2 fronts.

1) Power supply. A 8120n uses a 300~350W PSU. You're gonna have to update the power supply to something in the 450-500W range. Fortunately, this isn't the bad part (we'll get to that next). A new PSU in that range runs about $35-50 USD. In some cases, you can get something better than 500W in that price range. Just be on the look-out for some deals.

Even then, don't be so sure. I don't know if HP still does it, but when I had an HP tower a few years ago, HP used proprietary parts and a standard PSU wouldn't fit.

[shiroikaze]

Even then, don't be so sure. I don't know if HP still does it, but when I had an HP tower a few years ago, HP used proprietary parts and a standard PSU wouldn't fit.

I'm pretty sure all PC vendors still use proprietary PSUs. I had the same dillema as CoryHolmes, I wanted to upgrade my video card but I only had 295W in pretty tiny dimensions. Not to mention, the speakers plug into the PSU for power as well (I thought it was neat at the time).

@CoryHolmes: If you're willing, you could buy another case and buy an ATX PSU to go with it.

[mikeszekely]

I'm pretty sure all PC vendors still use proprietary PSUs. I had the same dillema as CoryHolmes, I wanted to upgrade my video card but I only had 295W in pretty tiny dimensions. Not to mention, the speakers plug into the PSU for power as well (I thought it was neat at the time).

@CoryHolmes: If you're willing, you could buy another case and buy an ATX PSU to go with it.

I'd second this idea. Re-case it in a nice big case, buy a good ATX/EPS 12v PSU, and you'll be set for a new video card. The rest of the hardware is good enough that it's not really worth building a whole new system over.

[azrael]

Even then, don't be so sure. I don't know if HP still does it, but when I had an HP tower a few years ago, HP used proprietary parts and a standard PSU wouldn't fit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883107398

Looks like it will fit a standard PSU to me.

[mikeszekely]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883107398

Looks like it will fit a standard PSU to me.

Yeah, I see that one of the reviewers mentions that they put a 500w PSU in it. But CoryHolmes would still be running into the problem of trying to stuff a modern video card in there, and considering that Newegg usually runs decent deals on combo case/PSUs, it's still probably easiest to buy a new case too.

Here, Newegg has a combo deal where you can get a case by HEC with a 500w HEC PSU and an EVGA GeForce 9800GTX+ for $172, with a $15 rebate on top of that. Sure, there are better cards now than the 9800GTX+, but I can tell you that the only game I've come across that I can't run at the highest settings is Crysis. I'm sure it'll be plenty for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age Origins.

[David Hingtgen]

I've yet to see a proprietary PSU in an HP, having bought several replacement PSUs for them. Either ATX or mini-ATX.

[shiroikaze]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883107398

Looks like it will fit a standard PSU to me.

I've yet to see a proprietary PSU in an HP, having bought several replacement PSUs for them. Either ATX or mini-ATX.

My mistake.

(looking at the Newegg link, and I thought my Vaio was cramped...)

Edited September 14, 2009 by shiroikaze

[CoryHolmes]

So what's involved with swapping out a PSU? Obviously the first step is to turn the power OFF^*, but after that? Is it just a matter of unclipping the supply lines, removing the unit, slapping the new unit in, and reattaching the lines? Are all PSUs the same physical size, regardless of wattage?

* I learned this lesson at work when I forgot to do that... and got a 15,000 V shock that woke me up

[azrael]

So what's involved with swapping out a PSU? Obviously the first step is to turn the power OFF^*, but after that? Is it just a matter of unclipping the supply lines, removing the unit, slapping the new unit in, and reattaching the lines?

Roughly. Turn off the computer, unplug it from the wall, lay it down on it's side, pull out all the plugs going to the various sockets on the various parts, unscrew the PSU (there should be 4 screws holding it in from the back of the case), pull the old PSU out (it may held in by a latch after unscrewing it), put the new one in and go in reverse of how you pulled the old one out.

Are all PSUs the same physical size, regardless of wattage?

It depends on the manufacturer. Mileage may vary. Normally larger wattage units are slightly bigger (maybe 1cm larger) than lower wattage-range units to accommodate some better features (larger fan, more circuitry, better power savings, etc).

[mikeszekely]

I'm going to ask a question now instead of answering them, but here goes.

Since I picked up Snow Leopard for my MacBook, I'd been wanting to play with it even though I do most of my computing on my Windows 7 desktop. It'd been awhile since I'd used it, so I had some newer files that I wanted to copy from my Windows computer to my Mac. I was doing this with an 8GB SanDisk Cruzer.

Here's where things get dicey... rather than manually delete the stuff when I was done, I used Disk Utility on the Mac to erase the disk. I named the volume USB, and formatted it as FAT (MS-DOS). After doing so, the Mac has no trouble mounting and unmounting the disk. But when I plugged it back into the Windows computer (after ejecting the disk... I know how OS X gets pissy about that), Windows demanded the disk be formatted. No biggie, I'd just erased it anyway. The problem is, Windows won't let me format it as anything larger than a 200MB volume. When I open the disk in Disk Management on the Device Manager, Windows is showing it as a 200MB volume, and 7.3GB volume. It will format the 200MB volume fine, and reports it as Drive F:\. But whenever I try to get it to do anything with the remaining 7.3GB, it gives me an error message. Ideas?

EDIT: Nevermind. I installed NTFS-3G on my MacBook, went back into the Mac OS Disk Utility, and re-partitioned it as a single NTFS partition. Windows likes it just fine again.

Edited September 15, 2009 by mikeszekely

[BeyondTheGrave]

Nyone know of a good program for streaming mkv. ?

I was using TVersity(don't recommend screwed up my network settings now I can't stream media to my 360 using zune or wmp) but now i'm looking for another program.

Any suggestions?

[CoryHolmes]

Roughly. Turn off the computer, unplug it from the wall, lay it down on it's side, pull out all the plugs going to the various sockets on the various parts, unscrew the PSU (there should be 4 screws holding it in from the back of the case), pull the old PSU out (it may held in by a latch after unscrewing it), put the new one in and go in reverse of how you pulled the old one out.

Good. I'll admit that a total re-casing of my PC is more than a little trepadatious. I'd rather not go that route if at all possible.

[azrael]

Good. I'll admit that a total re-casing of my PC is more than a little trepadatious. I'd rather not go that route if at all possible.

It will depend on which video card you get. The PSU shouldn't be a problem. But getting a high-end video card to fit in there will probably give you problems.

[CoryHolmes]

More than stuffing it into the case, I'm looking at the slots required and that's giving me pause. When I look at a spec sheet and it says that it takes x16 PCIe 2.0 and requires 2 slots, does that mean that both slots need to be x16 or what?

[Hiriyu]

More than stuffing it into the case, I'm looking at the slots required and that's giving me pause. When I look at a spec sheet and it says that it takes x16 PCIe 2.0 and requires 2 slots, does that mean that both slots need to be x16 or what?

Usually, 2-slots just means that the card will take the physical space of two slots, but will only be socketed into one of them (the upper of the two).

[David Hingtgen]

Even more specifically, it just means that it is so big it will block off the slot below it. It doesn't matter at all what the lower slot is---it's not going to touch/use it. It will however, prevent anything else from using it, as it'll be in the way.

This usually means the card is heavily overclocked or something, and is thus demanding an extra-large (and extra-loud) cooler on-board.

[CoryHolmes]

Good. My computer has nothing but empty space (much like the head of its user...), so this is a good thing. Now I just have to open the case up and see how much room I really do have. Does anyone know of any sites where I can get the physical dimensions of various cards?

[David Hingtgen]

My suggestion is to simply google the combination of "card you're thinking about and the PC you have". There's probably somebody who has tried that combination, and posted if it fit or not. That's how I know lots of the parts of my PC fit before I built it.

No matter how "flat" a computer part may be, it's always a 3D issue of some capacitor sticking up somewhere that interferes with some HD bracket over there...

[CoryHolmes]

So I just popped my case open. It's a sad, sad reminder that I'm more in the "uninformed computing masses" camp than "in-the-know computer generation"

That being said, it looks like I've got the physical length to deal with. As long as the card doesn't project downwards from the x16 PCIe slot (which it shouldn't) I don't think it'll hit any capaciters or other shiney things. That being said, it may be an interesting dance with the cables, and especially two tight ones in particular, but that should be no issue. It looks like I have an unimpeded 11" or so from the bracket at the back to the nearest structure.

Any idea what a red, flat cable is? It looks to be about 3/8s to 1/2 inches wide, very flat, very red. There are a few of them, running from DVD Burner into the background, one coming from my HDD, etc. Could that be a power cable? I didn't see where the powersupply cables comes out of my current PSU. Maybe I'll see more when I can get a CENSORED flashlight that works.

Also, which way to do I push the latch on the x16 slot to release the card? I didn't want to stress that thin plastic too far and snap it off.

[kensei]

http://www.ttlevel10.com/

Now THIS is a case!!!!

[mikeszekely]

Any idea what a red, flat cable is? It looks to be about 3/8s to 1/2 inches wide, very flat, very red. There are a few of them, running from DVD Burner into the background, one coming from my HDD, etc. Could that be a power cable? I didn't see where the powersupply cables comes out of my current PSU. Maybe I'll see more when I can get a CENSORED flashlight that works.

Sounds like SATA cables. They provide the connection between any DVD/CD drives and HDDs you've got to the motherboard. The power cables for those devices should have larger (but still flat-ish) connections to the drives, but they probably just look like wires (ala the wiring that becomes the 24-pin motherboard connector).

[VF-19]

I've got a question about netbook batteries. I just got an Acer Aspire one D250 netbook with a 3 cell battery rated at 10.8 volts (it's whats on the battery label). If I go to ebay and get a giant 10 cell battery rated at 11.1 volts, do I risk damaging my netbook, or will it not even notice?

I love this little thing!

[azrael]

I've got a question about netbook batteries. I just got an Acer Aspire one D250 netbook with a 3 cell battery rated at 10.8 volts (it's whats on the battery label). If I go to ebay and get a giant 10 cell battery rated at 11.1 volts, do I risk damaging my netbook, or will it not even notice?

Acer only sells a up to a 6-cell battery for that model so this 10-cell battery is from a 3rd party manufacturer. If it's suppose to work this netbook, then you are welcome to try it. I would back up any useful data on the system before I switch batteries as a precaution.

[VF-19]

Acer only sells a up to a 6-cell battery for that model so this 10-cell battery is from a 3rd party manufacturer. If it's suppose to work this netbook, then you are welcome to try it. I would back up any useful data on the system before I switch batteries as a precaution.

Hmm... Well, it's not even 1 volt over the specs of the original battery that came with the netbook. I think it'll be safe to try... Assuming, of course, I don't get one that is defective in some way.