The computer and electronics super geek thread

[Seto Kaiba]

7 hours ago, seti88 said:

On the audio side, I hate headphones. Over time i get a headache cos of the weight over few hours of gaming. I suppose age is catching up.
No to mention disintegration of rubber/foam support over time caused me to toss a many pairs over the years previously. 

Are you used to using on-ear or over-ear headphones there?

YMMV, but when I switched to remote work at the start of the pandemic and my gaming PC also became an office workstation, I found over-the-ear headphones with a firm but narrow ear cup made a huge difference in preventing or reducing the frequency of those headaches.  The ones I had the best success with in terms of long-term use were the Logitech G935s.  They've held up pretty well for me... the only issue I've had with the pair I got back in like '18 or so is diminished battery life, but the battery's replacable.  (The one downside is the rigid foam traps a lot more body heat, so it gets a bit sweaty under there after 4-5 hours.)

[mikeszekely]

55 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Are you used to using on-ear or over-ear headphones there?

YMMV, but when I switched to remote work at the start of the pandemic and my gaming PC also became an office workstation, I found over-the-ear headphones with a firm but narrow ear cup made a huge difference in preventing or reducing the frequency of those headaches.  The ones I had the best success with in terms of long-term use were the Logitech G935s.  They've held up pretty well for me... the only issue I've had with the pair I got back in like '18 or so is diminished battery life, but the battery's replacable.  (The one downside is the rigid foam traps a lot more body heat, so it gets a bit sweaty under there after 4-5 hours.)

I used to be a big proponent of over-ear headphones, but even they're not as comfortable as the Sony Link Buds S earbuds I picked up for a business trip.

[azrael]

Over-the-ear definitely offers the best immersive experience for gaming. Unfortunately, the past couple of years allergies have not been kind to my facial skin so I’ve had to switch to earbuds to avoid suffocating and aggravating my skin. 
I used to have a 5.1 sound system but found it space-consuming and excessive for PC gaming. A good pair or 2.1 set provides equal or better immersion for gaming. Especially when gaming at night or when you want to reduce noise, you gravitate to a headset/earbuds anyways.

 

Edit: When I say good "pair", I mean ranging from something like the popular Kanto YU2 to the Logitech Z207 (yes a pair of $60 Logitech speakers can actually produce some decent sound).

[Seto Kaiba]

3 minutes ago, azrael said:

I used to have a 5.1 sound system but found it space-consuming and excessive for PC gaming. A good pair or 2.1 set provides equal or better immersion for gaming. Especially when gaming at night or when you want to reduce noise, you gravitate to a headset/earbuds anyways.

Yeah, unless you have a dedicated gaming room or something similar 5.1 is a pain to pull off and doesn't really produce noticeably better immersion than a high quality 2.1 setup.

My first gaming rig, back in the days of SLI, had a 5.1 audio setup but I always struggled to find a decent placement for the two rear speakers that didn't require taping cords to my carpet... and even then I was defaulting to headphones most of the time to avoid bothering my neighbors.

I'm sure someone probably makes a 5.1 setup with wireless rear satellites by now, but I've yet to find a solution that really beats my tacky-as-hell 2.1 Logitech G560 speakers with the lights and my G935 headset.  

 

On a quasi-related note... since I've put together a new gaming rig for the first time in quite a few years, how're you all handling cable management?

[JB0]

3 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

since I've put together a new gaming rig for the first time in quite a few years, how're you all handling cable management?

By not looking under my desk or behind my computer.

[azrael]

18 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

... since I've put together a new gaming rig for the first time in quite a few years, how're you all handling cable management?

Good olde Ikea Signum and plenty of velcro.

15 hours ago, JB0 said:

By not looking under my desk or behind my computer.

That too. *compares office desk vs WFH desk* 🫣🫢

[seti88]

11 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

Are you used to using on-ear or over-ear headphones there?

YMMV, but when I switched to remote work at the start of the pandemic and my gaming PC also became an office workstation, I found over-the-ear headphones with a firm but narrow ear cup made a huge difference in preventing or reducing the frequency of those headaches.  The ones I had the best success with in terms of long-term use were the Logitech G935s.  They've held up pretty well for me... the only issue I've had with the pair I got back in like '18 or so is diminished battery life, but the battery's replacable.  (The one downside is the rigid foam traps a lot more body heat, so it gets a bit sweaty under there after 4-5 hours.)

I used to only have over ear headphones. Probably marketing got to me with the immersion/comfort etc etc.

But since i dont game as much as i used to, the headphones usually end up untouched for long periods of time. Currently i use beats flex in-ear earphones just for voice calls on the PC but its not for marathon gaming purposes as the battery wont last.

I have a small room for my PC setup, at the moment i get away somewhat with acoustics boosted, having my desktop speakers and sub near walls to 'amplify'/'bounce'.

[TangledThorns]

15 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

On a quasi-related note... since I've put together a new gaming rig for the first time in quite a few years, how're you all handling cable management?

My desk cabling is a mess. I do plan on getting a new system (gaming laptop) with a new desk next year and will manage the cabling a lot better this time using labeling, ties and such.

 

[azrael]

14th gen Intel CPU reviews are out. Raptor Lake refresh is ..a refresh. And uses more POWA! The only value (price/performance) improvement is the 14700K. But 14th gen vs Ryzen 7000X3D gives the value crown to AMD; cheaper price/performance, lower power usage, equal or better performance. Or buy last gen 13th gen Intel if you are looking to upgrade from something a lot older and want to stay on Team Blue.

[Spark-O-Matic]

Yeah Chipzilla is the king of refreshes but I've heard 15th gen is a big leap ahead but Imo more likely a skipped gen(outside of laptops) strait to 16th gen.

I just upgrade my graphics card last night from a 6800xt to a 7900xt as I'm getting back into graphics design/3D modeling and preparing to get into 3D Printing and wanted that extra boost in acceleration from AI accelerators. my current system i would like to last until 2027/2028 everything inside is all mature stable hardware based on  AM4/ PCI 4.0 all tucked inside a Lian Li case.

[Knight26]

Question regarding monitors, since the black Friday deals are hitting, I am currently running a triple 27" curved setup, bought most second-hand over a year or so period.  But I am considering jumping up to either a single ultrawide (40-49") or a 34" with a secondary in vertical orientation for documents, or beneath the main for reference materials.  Does anyone have any advice on which way seems to work best for them?  I like having multiple monitors to work from, and the idea of splitting the work between monitors/windows but my current setup is just too wide.

[Sanity is Optional]

If you work a lot with documents I find having a second vertical screen off to the side works well.

Not very useful if you're looking more at websites or the like however.

[mikeszekely]

Generally speaking, multi-monitor setups are better for productivity (regardless of curvature), as it's easier to assign specific windows to specific screens.  A single ultrawide with something like 1000R curvature is better for immersive gaming.  Since I do mostly gaming I've actually been eying Samsung's Odyssey Neo G9 (yeah, I know, the OLED one is prettier, but it's less curved and I hear Windows has problem display high-res fonts on OLED displays).  But in your case I'd maybe look at a three or four smaller display setup, like a 24-27" horizontal main display with a 21-24" display directly under it, then a vertical display on one or both sides.

[azrael]

4 hours ago, Knight26 said:

 But I am considering jumping up to either a single ultrawide (40-49") or a 34" with a secondary in vertical orientation for documents, or beneath the main for reference materials.  Does anyone have any advice on which way seems to work best for them?  I like having multiple monitors to work from, and the idea of splitting the work between monitors/windows but my current setup is just too wide.

It would be best to look at your workflow. For ergonomics, you'll want your main monitor front&center or in a direct-eye-level.

Ultra-wides are good if you need to look at a lot of information at one time without horizontal scrolling. That why content creators and Excel users like that form factor; there's little, if any, horizontal scrolling (or vertical if you are placing it in the vertical orientation). It sounds like you're thinking of the sideways-T configuration.

I think it would help us to know what your usage is. That could help us recommend a monitor configuration.

[Knight26]

I will be using it for work and gaming.
Working:  Writing, 3D CAD design/modeling, home management, etc...
Gaming:  Flight sims, 3d shooters, 

[azrael]

2 hours ago, Knight26 said:

I will be using it for work and gaming.
Working:  Writing, 3D CAD design/modeling, home management, etc...
Gaming:  Flight sims, 3d shooters, 

If you think you will end up using this mostly for work, then I would go with the multi-monitor setup. What configuration you want will depend on if you decide to keep those old monitors around or how many you want to keep. There's no rule book. It just depends on your space and workflow.

[Sanity is Optional]

17 hours ago, Knight26 said:

I will be using it for work and gaming.
Working:  Writing, 3D CAD design/modeling, home management, etc...
Gaming:  Flight sims, 3d shooters, 

For that mix, I'd definitely go multi-monitor, and probably with horizontal mount 2-3 screens. Maybe 1 vertical for the writing, but vertical is pretty useless for 3D CAD work or gaming.

[azrael]

On 11/20/2023 at 5:54 PM, mikeszekely said:

(yeah, I know, the OLED one is prettier, but it's less curved and I hear Windows has problem display high-res fonts on OLED displays).

Speaking of OLEDs...
Longevity And Burn-In Investigation 10-Month Results (Rtings.com)

Take away is, there's still more testing and more improvements needed on OLEDs.

[JB0]

On 11/20/2023 at 7:54 PM, mikeszekely said:

I hear Windows has problem display high-res fonts on OLED displays 

My understanding is the problem is with subpixel antialiasing. OLED displays don't have subpixels arranged in a way that matches any common LCD layout, and it breaks subpixel antialiasing.

 

Personally, I consider subpixel antialiasing an antifeature and do my best to kill it, despite software's insistence that it needs to be there(OS makes it hard to kill, then applications override preferences and force it back on anyways). Chromatic aberration in my glasses means the subpixel arrangement in any display is not consistent in my vision, so it is worse to have it than to not have it.