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

I've been considering upgrading my PC, because some games (like Skyrim, GTA IV <-[I know this is probably because of it's terrible optimization], or a few other games) don't really run as well as I'd like. What aspect of my computer should I look to upgrade first, when I do so? Windows 7 CPU: Athlon II X4 640 @ 3.0 GHz RAM: 4 GB DDR3 (I realize that upgrading to 6 or 8 Gigs will only be like, $60, but it seems to be doing fine as of now, so I'd rather not waste money on something that won't do much of a difference) GPU: GTX 460 (768 Mb) All running on a 23-inch 1080p monitor with a 1280 x 1024 secondary monitor. I'd say the GPU will probably be the first thing to upgrade, but I don't know much about CPUs, so I don't know how much upgrading that will help, all I know is that the Athlon is an older model.

Lately Google Chrome has been weird. The taskbar has two google chromes instead of one. [t]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22953483/PC/whatareyoudoinggooglechrome.PNG[/t] I have tried re-installing, deleting user info, etc. But it always does this when I open it. Why doesn't it conform with the rest of the pc?

I was thinking about getting a laptop for school. I really like thinkpads, and I was thinking a "[URL="http://shop.lenovo.com/us/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t420"]Lenovo Thinkpad T420[/URL]". I really like the BIOS lock, which makes sure you can't even boot the computer without knowing the password. Great for those backtrack script kiddies. Also, I got my hands on one and I do think the laptop is of pretty good quality. I didn't notice any flex on the keyboard and the latches connecting the monitor to the keyboard portion is made of metal and looks pretty sturdy. Strangely enough, I love the texture of the casing, too. Would this be a good buy? I would likely use this laptop for Microsoft Word, web browsing, and probably light gaming. I was also thinking about partitioning the drives and having half-Crunchbang Linux half-Windows 7, with a portable external hard drive for storing files.

I need a youtube downloader but so far all of the ones I found look like they're infested with toolbars. I'm on chrome btw

[QUOTE=LaughingStock;36669675]I need a youtube downloader but so far all of the ones I found look like they're infested with toolbars. I'm on chrome btw[/QUOTE] I'm not sure exactly the logistics of it, but I would recommend just recording what's on your audio card when you play the video. I think this works with audacity.

[QUOTE=LaughingStock;36669675]I need a youtube downloader but so far all of the ones I found look like they're infested with toolbars. I'm on chrome btw[/QUOTE] enter "keep" before youtube in the url.

[QUOTE=Chezhead;36669699]I'm not sure exactly the logistics of it, but I would recommend just recording what's on your audio card when you play the video. I think this works with audacity.[/QUOTE] Oh. I don't actually need the audio. I had one installed on another computer, but I can't find the source of it anymore. [editline]8th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=myalt22;36669741]enter "keep" before youtube in the url.[/QUOTE] Websites like that make me shudder, is it virus free?

[QUOTE=LaughingStock;36669745] Websites like that make me shudder, is it virus free?[/QUOTE] I should think so, I've been using it for a year with no issues. It's a hell of a lot fucking safer than installing one of those malware infested youtube downloaders.

<3 it worked. How safe are things in the chrome app store?

[QUOTE=LaughingStock;36669888]<3 it worked. How safe are things in the chrome app store?[/QUOTE] Depends completely on the app, and it's capabilities.

Is it really worth it to watercool a CPU?

[QUOTE=sofi;36670274]Is it really worth it to watercool a CPU?[/QUOTE] If you want to overclock a bunch, yes. It makes absolutely zero difference if you aren't though, other than being able to say it's water cooled.

So how much of a performance difference will I notice between these two systems? Lenovo Z575 A6-3420M with 6650M HP dv6-6135DX A8-3500M with 6750M They are about the same in every other aspect- but the HP has a few more features. Including Beats Audio(not actually bad on laptops) and a Blu ray drive. It is only $20 more though. The only thing holding me back is the fact that it [I]is[/I] an HP laptop, and refurbished at that. The lenovo is brand new and has better battery life, and an all aluminum case. I honestly cannot choose. if the HP is honestly better specs wise and will be better for gaming, I am getting it. If it will not make that much of a difference, Lenovo it is. EDIT: To Schmaa, on your question of what to improve first. TBH, your 460 will be fine for a little longer. I think you would be better off with going for a new CPU and mobo now, and getting a graphics card later. Wait for black friday to buy a GPU, and go for the new Nvidia 6 series. New CPU; Ivy Bridge i5, should be good for quite a few more years. [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504[/url] New Mobo; Mobo I am running. Relatively cheap, supports Ivy Bridge and PCIe 3.0 so also good for upgrades. Also plenty of features [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271[/url] RAM is cheap- $40 for 8GB. Don't worry about that high performance RAM(ballistix, crucial with the heatsinks), it won't really make a difference.

[QUOTE=Schmaaa;36667811]I've been considering upgrading my PC, because some games (like Skyrim, GTA IV <-[I know this is probably because of it's terrible optimization], or a few other games) don't really run as well as I'd like. What aspect of my computer should I look to upgrade first, when I do so? Windows 7 CPU: Athlon II X4 640 @ 3.0 GHz RAM: 4 GB DDR3 (I realize that upgrading to 6 or 8 Gigs will only be like, $60, but it seems to be doing fine as of now, so I'd rather not waste money on something that won't do much of a difference) GPU: GTX 460 (768 Mb) All running on a 23-inch 1080p monitor with a 1280 x 1024 secondary monitor. I'd say the GPU will probably be the first thing to upgrade, but I don't know much about CPUs, so I don't know how much upgrading that will help, all I know is that the Athlon is an older model.[/QUOTE] accidental friendly rating, phones suck :/ but to answer you the 460 is okay for a bit longer, the real thing holding you back is he processor, im not familiar with older amd stuff but newer amd processors are on socket am3/am3+ while I believe athlons are socket am2, either way a worthwhile upgrade would be to save for a z77 and i5 3570k. Skyrim and gta4 are pretty CPU intensive games so it'd be better to upgrade that rather than your gpu for now.

Should I get a usb or pci wireless network adapter? Usb shouldn't factor into the speed right? I figure if I go with usb then at least I can move the adapter around the room or a bit closer. Is there anything I should look for in an adapter? I am on the 3rd floor and the router is on the first. My phone gets 1-2 bars and drops occasionally. The worst part is when I tether and it drops. I have to restart the tether for my pc to reconnect.

My stereo mix is not appearing under my recording options, how can I get my computers sound to play over my microphone?

[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;36670460]accidental friendly rating, phones suck :/ but to answer you the 460 is okay for a bit longer, the real thing holding you back is he processor, im not familiar with older amd stuff but newer amd processors are on socket am3/am3+ while I believe athlons are socket am2, either way a worthwhile upgrade would be to save for a z77 and i5 3570k. Skyrim and gta4 are pretty CPU intensive games so it'd be better to upgrade that rather than your gpu for now.[/QUOTE] Exactly. Yes, most Athlons are socket AM2 but some motherboards are can be updated to AM3 witha BIOs flash. Either a Z77 motherboard or the [B]one I recommended will work.(the one i rec'd is quite good nevertheless).[/B] <--- No, it won't. Requires BIOs update, and you have to have a 2nd gen in order to flash the BIOs. so look for a Z77 :) AMD CPUs are not as good for desktops as they used to be. Notebook processors are there best area ATM with the A series. So, yes, Intel is your best bet for a high performance desktop [editline]8th July 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=high;36670514]Should I get a usb or pci wireless network adapter? Usb shouldn't factor into the speed right? I figure if I go with usb then at least I can move the adapter around the room or a bit closer. Is there anything I should look for in an adapter? I am on the 3rd floor and the router is on the first. My phone gets 1-2 bars and drops occasionally. The worst part is when I tether and it drops. I have to restart the tether for my pc to reconnect.[/QUOTE] The problem with PCI cards is their locations. You can not exactly get a spare USB cable and re-position your PCI card. So USB is probably a nice way to go- and cheaper, even with an extension card

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;36667567]I'm seriously considering underclocking my Nvidia GTX 560 Ti. My display drivers crash constantly on over half my games. With most of my games this causes the screen to go black and requires me to end the process to get rid of it. I've heard the 560 Ti is a very unstable card for what it is, but downclocking it to regular 560 standards significantly increases stability (prevents the drivers from crashing). Unfortunately I honestly don't know how to go about doing this. So I guess my question is; how do I downclock my card to regular standards and what are the associated risks with doing this?[/QUOTE] Underclocking is bringing the GPU to a level below the bar the manufacturer set where he says it wont overheat oe become unstable. A processor running slower than what it is capable of cant break because of it, cpis underclock themselves all the time. And you do it in your BIOS.

2x L5420 Xeon Quad Core 2.5GHz 16GB RAM 160GB SATA HDD 4 Hot Swap Drive Bays Free IP KVM loan on request 10TB Bandwidth 1000Mbps-Gigabit Port So I am looking at a server specifically hosting game servers these our the specs, I can get the HDD space increased but before I purchase I am not the best with server specs so I was wondering what anyone thought here the amount of 'Source Game Servers' could be hosted on one of those servers.

Nevermind.

Anyone here got a recommendation of a good virus scan that you run off a flash drive instead of inside the OS. Normal AV's don't seem to cut it for this one. I tried doing a full scan with MSE in safe mode (it found some stuff) but the problem persists. It's one of those "omg illegal acts committed on this pc, please pay us 1000 bucks to make it go away" kind of things

Its ransomware. Just remove it manually.

Malwarebytes in safe mode to start with, you might not need a bootable AV.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;36666451]I'm advising everyone to avoid Asus. I ordered one, a G75. Three months ago. Took them two months to ship it to me, three hours for it to break, and another month to get it repaired. And the only "sorry" I got was 3-day shipping on the final "here's your $1500 laptop back". So yeah. Avoid Asus at all costs, because they seem to be fucking everything up right now.[/QUOTE] You had the problem with a High-End model, that is a low end model what shouldn't have many problems. Also yours had the Ivy parts etc, what probably increased the time etc. My sis got that laptop just fine, or well, a similiar one.

Is an ASUS G75VW-T1028V at $2000 a good deal?

[QUOTE=Cassel;36674514]Is an ASUS G75VW-T1028V at $2000 a good deal?[/QUOTE] What do you need a laptop for?

[QUOTE=Cassel;36674514]Is an ASUS G75VW-T1028V at $2000 a good deal?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=gman003-main;36666451]I'm advising everyone to avoid Asus. I ordered one, a G75. Three months ago. Took them two months to ship it to me, three hours for it to break, and another month to get it repaired. And the only "sorry" I got was 3-day shipping on the final "here's your $1500 laptop back". So yeah. Avoid Asus at all costs, because they seem to be fucking everything up right now.[/QUOTE] Well, now GMan-s post works. Look for more of his stories in the CIPWTTKT thread.

[QUOTE=Cassel;36674514]Is an ASUS G75VW-T1028V at $2000 a good deal?[/QUOTE] No. First off, avoid Asus. I ordered a G75 over two months ago and I still haven't gotten a working one. Their retailers suck, their customer service sucks, their warranty repairs suck, and I literally had to threaten to sue them just to get them to actually repair a laptop that wouldn't even hit BIOS. Second, it was slightly overpriced at $1500. Unless there's some major difference between the G75VW-T1028BV and the G75Vw-DS71, there's no way it's worth $2000.

[QUOTE=jaybuz;36674645]What do you need a laptop for?[/QUOTE] I live away from my home for extended periods during both summer and winter. [QUOTE=gman003-main;36674653]No. First off, avoid Asus. I ordered a G75 over two months ago and I still haven't gotten a working one. Their retailers suck, their customer service sucks, their warranty repairs suck, and I literally had to threaten to sue them just to get them to actually repair a laptop that wouldn't even hit BIOS. Second, it was slightly overpriced at $1500. Unless there's some major difference between the G75VW-T1028BV and the G75Vw-DS71, there's no way it's worth $2000.[/QUOTE]Wow, that sucks. Any suggestions for a better laptop at roughly the same price?

Interestingly, a while ago my Asus Transformer died, They sent out UPS to collect it from my house and got a brand new one back within 72 hours... the service centre was 1500 Miles away on another continent. All free. Corsair, for me, has been the polar opposite. They charged for the postage (~£30) to return the PSU to their service centre even though it was well within warranty (It died 6 months into use). :/