The "Quick Questions that does not Deserve a Thread"...Thread. V3 - Hardware & Software

[QUOTE=gman003-main;36543452]Okay, I'm going to finally ask about this instead of letting it go on. My Mac Pro is having some very weird issues. Symptoms: In OS X, when waking from sleep, the monitor will not always cut on. The computer itself seems to be working properly - the fans cycle up to full and then back down like they normally do, at least. The monitor seems to be working fine (if I have another computer running on the VGA input, it works fine for that); it would appear that the video output from the Mac doesn't cut back on. My solution is normally to press the power button to sleep it again; on re-waking, it usually works fine, although sometimes it takes several tries to get it to work. Under my Windows partition, similar but not identical problems exist. When waking, it sometimes takes several seconds for the monitor to cut on, but it always, eventually, does. However, quite frequently, after typing in my password to sign in, it will fade to black (as normal) but then freeze. The mouse pointer (which doesn't fade out with everything else) stops moving on an otherwise black screen, and the only thing I can do is a full power-cycle. I have noticed that, on the login page, sometimes the system lags heavily - the mouse pointer moves in jerks, probably the whole screen would but there's nothing else moving that I can see. When this occurs, signing in always results in the aforementioned Black Screen. These problems *may* be unrelated, but that seems unlikely. The system, for reference, is a mostly-stock 2006 Mac Pro (model 1,1 in Apple parlance). Dual Xeon 5150s (at stock 2.66GHz), 5GB of FB-DDR2-ECC (4 sticks of 1GB, 2 sticks of 512MB), ATI Radeon X1900 XT. Runs off two hard drives, the stock 250GB one holds an OS X 10.6 install, a 1TB I installed myself holds a Windows 7 Ultimate install (a 32-bit one, due to my own mistake during installation). My suspicion is that the graphics card is finally dying. I had issues when I first got the machine with it overheating, but cleaning out the dust took care of that. However, it's still a six-year-old computer, *something* is going to break eventually. My questions are: 1) Are there any tests you would recommend to try to determine the problem? 2) Is my suspicion (GPU failure) correct? and if so, 3) Which replacement GPU would you recommend? Keep in mind that I'd like to keep OS X compatibility, and most cards will not work with it without special firmware. I'm actually fine with accepting a slight mark-up in price for this, but I'd also like to avoid buying from Apple (both because they're *too* overpriced, and because I've gotten this whole system built without paying them a cent and want to see how long I can keep that up). I'd been eying [url=http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mac-ATI-Radeon-HD-4870-512MB-Video-Card-Compatible-with-all-Apple-Mac-Pro-Models-/130647825149?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item1e6b379afd]this[/url], which is pretty overpriced by most standards, but is pretty cheap by Apple standards. Only real problem is it's quite a bit out-of-date - while I don't need some screaming-fast 7970 or 680 or anything, I'd like something a *bit* more modern, preferably with more than half a gig of VRAM.[/QUOTE] I have a similar issue with my secondary setup, for me it's known why it does it. It is the monitor, I've got some bad capacitors in my Dell 2408WFP and it causes the computer to flash on and off when first woken up from sleep, sometimes it doesn't even turn on. Once the monitor has been on for a while it warms up and works fine. If I were you I would try a different monitor before buying a new GPU.

[QUOTE=soulharvester;36546857]Which slot(s) do you have available? PCI, PCI-E, or both?[/QUOTE] i have both available

Ok I seriously must be doing something wrong if it is taking this long to scan. I am using security essentials instead of MalwareBytes because MalwareBytes couldn't pick up a lot of the stuff that was causing my Trojan problem. I uninstalled MalwareBytes and I'm still getting this problem. [t]http://i.imgur.com/AavTD.png[/t]

[QUOTE=SataniX;36548852]A few options there. Those symptoms generally mean that something is wrong with the CPU. First thing to do is check that the CPU power (8Pin) connector is fully in. If so, then either the CPU or Motherboard is likely broken so you'll want to find a friend with a similar build to test them with, or a local repair shop. Your PC should also have come with a speaker to connect - do you still have that?[/QUOTE] No speaker came with it, the motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H. I've also pretty much concluded it is the motherboard which is the problem as if it was the CPU it should have gotten further in booting up than it did. As the place I purchased it from doesn't work over the weekend I'll have to wait until Monday so until then I'll be trying to confirm it is the motherboard that is the problem. Also testing with a friend's hardware is out of the question as I know no-one using the same socket. Local stores are also not preferable because they tend to be rip offs here. I also found that it is unlikely the power supply is the cause of the problem as I've now moved back to my old motherboard with a C2Q and I'm using the power supply with no issues.

Are there any (UK) shops where they'll have mechanical keyboards that you can try? I dunno what switch I want and I really don't want to spend a load of money and find out I don't like it Or any other suggestions on what to do?

[QUOTE=smurfy;36551943]Are there any (UK) shops where they'll have mechanical keyboards that you can try? I dunno what switch I want and I really don't want to spend a load of money and find out I don't like it Or any other suggestions on what to do?[/QUOTE] Come to my house and try mine.

[QUOTE=mopman999;36550111]Ok I seriously must be doing something wrong if it is taking this long to scan. I am using security essentials instead of MalwareBytes because MalwareBytes couldn't pick up a lot of the stuff that was causing my Trojan problem. I uninstalled MalwareBytes and I'm still getting this problem. [t]http://i.imgur.com/AavTD.png[/t][/QUOTE] If you want to pick stuff up and are sure that stuff is there then use trendmicro housecall. It's probably the hardest one to subvert.

Is there anything better than the Samson Go Mic for the price? I need a stand for it too as I don't want to clip it to myself. There's the Blue snowball for £50 with stand but I've heard they're overpriced, aswell as the Behringer C-1.

So lately my computer has been running like an old truck, and I'm not sure what's wrong with it. Basically I have to restart it about 2-5 times before BIOS will load up. All the fans run along with the GPU and CPU fans, the motherboard receives power, but anything connected to the computer ( USB devices, monitor, speakers, etc ) doesn't receive power/data at all. Anyone know what could be causing this?

[QUOTE=smurfy;36551943]Are there any (UK) shops where they'll have mechanical keyboards that you can try? I dunno what switch I want and I really don't want to spend a load of money and find out I don't like it Or any other suggestions on what to do?[/QUOTE] I believe you can with The Keyboard Co, based in Stroud.

I have two old hard drives in my computer that I got from my old family computer when it died. According to Defraggler, they have 50,464 power-on hours but the drive health appears to be good. Should I be concerned? And is Defraggler good or should I use the default one that comes with windows? [img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/13781308/HDDs.png[/img]

Well my internet download speed is about .8 something mps. Deciding to try and find a way to make the computer faster, I discovered two things. I apparently have 919 gb of RAM, I think my computer is lying to me. Is this possible? Some one is on my network connection, I have no idea who he is. Everything has passwords set and all, how do I remove this guy from the network?

[QUOTE=Ajacks;36535766]After I made that post I did quite a bit of research into the 800D on Overclock.net and Hardforum, and have come to the conclusion that people who expected air cooling with a 800D are often very disappointed with the performance. I know that with some simple modding the case can be made better, but quite simply it's got bad airflow. I love the 800D features, but I need something that performs well without water-cooling. I very much dislike the idea of water cooling, it makes already expensive GPU's even more expensive, makes working on your system more involved, would add an easy $600 to my build and considering I don't actively pursue the highest overclocks I can, doesn't seem to fit my needs. I ran triple videocards, although not in SLI for years without any issues. Many people with very high budgets still run air cooled triple SLI setups. With the stock 800D you have a negative pressure system with one intake. That's horrible for an air setup. You can setup your top fans to actually blow inward which creates a more effective positive pressure system but that's still not enough airflow for tri-sli and a lot of people are dissapointed with the performance for normal SLI. With many other cases you can have direct airflow from the front of a case right onto the GPU's along with the same style setup directed at the CPU along with door fans. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the styling and features of the 800D, but to make it fit my needs it would take $600+ in watercooling.[/QUOTE] Pretty much dead on about the 800d. I have it, and use air cooling, though i only have one vid card (msi 580). I use the top 3 fans as intakes, the rear fan as an output- the result is positive pressure (i bought/modified screen filters for all the fan slots). The case is rather nice (except for the plastic bits inside) but it only excels when modded and/or used in watercooling. For air cooling (especially sli) as you figured out- there are better options available.

How would I go about linking my Program Files folder on my 32 GB SSD to a Program Files folder on a 1 TB HDD?

[QUOTE=eagleeye64000;36560014]How would I go about linking my Program Files folder on my 32 GB SSD to a Program Files folder on a 1 TB HDD?[/QUOTE] Look into symbolic links. I recommend using [url=http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/hardlinkshellext.html]Link Shell Extension[/url].

I hooked up my Xbox360 to my computer using this: [img]http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/xbox_360_vga_cable.jpg[/img] And it has a optical audio port, I have a XFI XtremeMusic soundcard. Now what I want to do is get a Toslink to 3.5mm jack cable and hook it up to the "Flexijack" of the soundcard. Would this work?

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;36561154]Change the WiFi Password, reboot the router. Problem solved :v: As for your RAM problem, are you sure you're reading the numbers correctly?[/QUOTE] You think I have not tried that? He is still connected. Also have no idea how I am using all that supposed space seeing as I have deleted tons of useless shit twice in two days. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/7gamu.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=ThePinkPanzer;36561251]You think I have not tried that? He is still connected.[/IMG][/QUOTE] Block his MAC-address on the router.

[QUOTE=ThePinkPanzer;36561251]You think I have not tried that? He is still connected. Also have no idea how I am using all that supposed space seeing as I have deleted tons of useless shit twice in two days. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/7gamu.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] How do you know you have someone on your network? Also, that's not RAM... As for your space problem, download [URL]http://windirstat.info/[/URL] It shows you what's taking up space on your drive. [editline]30th June 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=mopman999;36550111]Ok I seriously must be doing something wrong if it is taking this long to scan. I am using security essentials instead of MalwareBytes because MalwareBytes couldn't pick up a lot of the stuff that was causing my Trojan problem. I uninstalled MalwareBytes and I'm still getting this problem. [t]http://i.imgur.com/AavTD.png[/t][/QUOTE] Try a different AV like avast. MSE has pretty bad detection rates. [editline]30th June 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=ThePinkPanzer;36559164][U]Well my internet download speed is about .8 something mps[/U]. [U]Deciding to try and find a way to make the computer faster[/U], I discovered two things.[/QUOTE] Oh, and those two aren't even related...

[QUOTE=FalconKrunch;36561166]I hooked up my Xbox360 to my computer using this: [img]http://www.thebuzzmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/xbox_360_vga_cable.jpg[/img] And it has a optical audio port, I have a XFI XtremeMusic soundcard. Now what I want to do is get a Toslink to 3.5mm jack cable and hook it up to the "Flexijack" of the soundcard. Would this work?[/QUOTE] Toslink to 3,5mm? You realize that those are like 2 different universes? Not to mention that pluging something into anyhting via vga is pretty dumb as well. You could however use chinch to 3,5mm because, you know, those are both analog.

I might have no idea what I'm talking about but is there anyway to change the J6P2 into a CAT cable? I hvae no idea what the hell my router is using and I need help (I might not be getting what internet speeds I'm paying for because of this) [img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/19296530/Things/Images%20of%20other%20stuff/IMG_0162.JPG[/img] Cable I'm currently using (2 pin) [img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/19296530/Things/Images%20of%20other%20stuff/IMG_0163.JPG[/img] The other cable coming from the wall (ethernet/cat?) and I have no idea what that's for. . [img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/19296530/Things/Images%20of%20other%20stuff/IMG_0164.JPG[/img] It's an 8 pin.

Those pictures show just about nothing. Can you explain a bit more what exactly your problem is, which cable plugs into what and why you think that's wrong?

Is there any miracle way to speed up boot times on a PC? I have an i7 920 with 6gb of ram, but it takes my computer almost 15 minutes to boot up to the desktop and be in a state where I can use it, if I try to rush it it just lags like shit and gets me angry. It's gotten to the stage where I turn it on and go for a shit and when I come back it's still fucking loading. Tried cutting out the startup items on msconfic, there is literally only hardware related items/windows stuff on there, and it never used to be this slow. When I got it two years ago it was really quick.

[QUOTE=SEKCobra;36561983]Those pictures show just about nothing. Can you explain a bit more what exactly your problem is, which cable plugs into what and why you think that's wrong?[/QUOTE] I don't know the cable in the first picture, and the white thing, go into the wall, and that cable goes into my DSL part of the router however there's that other cable sticking out the wall and I hvae no idea if I can use that as a CAT cable or not, and why I'm not getting 1.2+mb/s speeds like I should be.

[QUOTE=ChaosUnleash;36562011]Is there any miracle way to speed up boot times on a PC? I have an i7 920 with 6gb of ram, but it takes my computer almost 15 minutes to boot up to the desktop and be in a state where I can use it, if I try to rush it it just lags like shit and gets me angry. It's gotten to the stage where I turn it on and go for a shit and when I come back it's still fucking loading. Tried cutting out the startup items on msconfic, there is literally only hardware related items/windows stuff on there, and it never used to be this slow. When I got it two years ago it was really quick.[/QUOTE] You can try Soluto if oyu don't want to edit the things yourself.

Is a used PNY 9800 GT 512mb OC good upgrade from a 8600 GT 256mb?

You are not getting the speeds you are "paying for" because that's not the guaranteed speed. Take a look at your ISPs website and you'll see the guaranteed speed in the fine print.

[QUOTE=Edvinas;36562429]Is a 8600 GT 256mb a good upgrade to a used PNY 9800 GT 512mb OC?[/QUOTE] Why would you go from a 9800gt to a 8600? The 8600 is a generation older and a midrange card whereas the 9800gt was the flagship card for the 9xxx series. So you should have the 9800gt rather than the 8600.

[QUOTE=Chubbs;36562448]Why would you go from a 9800gt to a 8600? The 8600 is a generation older and a midrange card whereas the 9800gt was the flagship card for the 9xxx series. So you should have the 9800gt rather than the 8600.[/QUOTE] Sorry, I meant from 8600 to 9800.

[QUOTE=Edvinas;36562548]Sorry, I meant from 8600 to 9800.[/QUOTE] Yes, though it depends on how much you are paying for it.