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

[QUOTE=Ajacks;38055937]Before I had a calibrator (I do 3D design work and needed color accuracy for my products) I simply used a website that had different calibration pages for sharpness, contrast, colors, black levels and white levels. I don't remember the name but I'm sure it's easy to find.[/QUOTE] Does [url]http://displaycalibration.com/[/url] ring bells?

So I ran an extended SMART test on the hard drive of this laptop I'm trying to fix, and I'm looking at "100% complete with read failure." However, when looking at the SMART attributes table, absolutely none of the attributes listed there have failed. I'm hoping that means one of these two things is the problem: - The cable got knocked loose - The filesystem is broken and I just need to reformat. Is that it or is there something worse going on here

My DNS (at least I think that is the problem) doesn't work on my Windows 7 boot. Like I can browse websites by their IP address but not by their URL. I've tried ipconfig /flushdns, netsh int in reset and netsh winsock reset, OpenDNS, ipconfig renew, netsh stop dnscache and netsh start dnscache, unplugging and replugging my modem and router, turning off Linux the right way and turning on Windows afterwards, but nothing has worked.

[QUOTE=alien_guy;38050192]Because restarting steam is the hardest most time consuming thing ever.[/QUOTE] Yes it is, actually.

Thoughts on Video Capture cards? any recommendations for one under $75?

[QUOTE=elevate;38056428]My DNS (at least I think that is the problem) doesn't work on my Windows 7 boot. Like I can browse websites by their IP address but not by their URL. I've tried ipconfig /flushdns, netsh int in reset and netsh winsock reset, OpenDNS, ipconfig renew, netsh stop dnscache and netsh start dnscache, unplugging and replugging my modem and router, turning off Linux the right way and turning on Windows afterwards, but nothing has worked.[/QUOTE] Make sure it's configured correctly (90% of the time this means make sure it's set to automatic). Worst comes to worst just use google's DNS. [url]https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using[/url]

[QUOTE=lavacano;38049990]Is there a way to permanently remove "Exit Steam" from Steam's jumplist? I just accidentally closed it while trying to pull up my friends list and I don't want to do that twice.[/QUOTE] You can set jumplist preferences in Steam > Settings > Interface > button at the bottom of the window that says "SET TASKBAR MENU / JUMPLIST PREFERENCES" It includes the "Exit steam button"

I'm looking for a solution for accessing by home server from anywhere. Currently I'm using Teamviewer to remote into my home PC, then SSHing into my box. I've looked into dynDNS, but I'm hoping for a free alternative. Does anyone else have setups like this?

[QUOTE=MTMod;38059346]I'm looking for a solution for accessing by home server from anywhere. Currently I'm using Teamviewer to remote into my home PC, then SSHing into my box. I've looked into dynDNS, but I'm hoping for a free alternative. Does anyone else have setups like this?[/QUOTE] You can still get a free dynDNS account, supposedly, but I use no-ip.com [editline]16th October 2012[/editline] You'll still need to forward your ports though, your dyndns or no-ip address simply resolves to your home IP address anyways.

How can I stop a source mod from changing my mic input? Hidden: Source keeps changing it so I can't play while I talk to people on Skype.

[QUOTE=mobrockers2;38059392]You can still get a free dynDNS account, supposedly, but I use no-ip.com [editline]16th October 2012[/editline] You'll still need to forward your ports though, your dyndns or no-ip address simply resolves to your home IP address anyways.[/QUOTE] I had one registered, but they dropped it after 60 days. I think they're cracking down on the free DNS services.

[QUOTE=MTMod;38059731]I had one registered, but they dropped it after 60 days. I think they're cracking down on the free DNS services.[/QUOTE] You have to login once every 60 days.

[QUOTE=Abrown516;38055949]Does [url]http://displaycalibration.com/[/url] ring bells?[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/[/url] That's a much better site.

If I want to play minecraft with an HD 512x512 texture pack, will 8 gigs of RAM be enough or will I need more?

what the hell is "floating point computing"? I see "floating point" being thrown around everywhere and I don't know what it means and it seems important.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;38060245]what the hell is "floating point computing"? I see "floating point" being thrown around everywhere and I don't know what it means and it seems important.[/QUOTE] Essentially? Standard index calculations. As in, 2x10^3 or something.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;38060245]what the hell is "floating point computing"? I see "floating point" being thrown around everywhere and I don't know what it means and it seems important.[/QUOTE] Computers work with two* types of numbers - integer and floating-point. Integers are just that - integers. Whole numbers, within a certain range. There are a handful of formats, which mainly differ in how many bits it takes up and whether it allows negative numbers. Integers that take up more bits can store a greater range of numbers - with 8 bits, you can store 0-255, but with 16 you can store 0-65536. Floating-point numbers, or "floats", work differently. They essentially store three things - a sign (+/-), an exponent, and a fraction. Think of it like scientific notation - you have an exponent (10^2, 10^6, 10^-3), and the base number (4.2, 9.0, 1.337). A float stores all of these. Like with integers, there are a couple different formats that vary mainly in their length. But because you can store very large numbers with less precision by using the exponent, larger floats don't necessarily have more range, just greater precision. Think of it like the number of digits on a calculator display - you can show "100" and "1.00", but not "100.00". This is reflected in the naming. The original common standard was 32-bit, called "single-precision". 64 bit floats are called "double-precision", as they are roughly twice as "precise" as single-precision. 128-bit is then "quadruple-precision". A recent trend is to use floats for pixel graphics, which is perfectly suited to HDR. Since you don't want to use 96 bits for each pixel, though, they generally use a 16-bit "half-precision" format. As an end user, you generally don't care as long as the result is right. But there is one thing that matters - speed. Processors are very fast at integer math, but floating-point is often much slower, as it involves completely different hardware within the processor and it's just not possible to make it as fast. And higher precision requires even more from the hardware. However, as floating-point math is much more common in real number-crunching applications, processor and GPU performance is often compared in FLOPS, or floating-point operations per second (modern hardware is usually in the gigaflops now). * There used to be an additional type, "fixed-point". This is essentially a compromise between the two, letting you mostly use the integer hardware but still use non-whole numbers. It causes a lot of rounding issues, though, and lacks the wide range of floats. A 32-bit float can store up to 340282346638528859811704183484516925440, while a signed 32-bit int can store up to 2147483647 and a signed 32-bit Q15.16 fixed-point number can store up to about 32767. The use of fixed-point math generally fell out of favor in the late 90s, with the original Playstation being one of the last notable uses of hardware fixed-point.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;38060631]* There used to be an additional type, "fixed-point". This is essentially a compromise between the two, letting you mostly use the integer hardware but still use non-whole numbers. It causes a lot of rounding issues, though, and lacks the wide range of floats. A 32-bit float can store up to 340282346638528859811704183484516925440, while a signed 32-bit int can store up to 2147483647 and a signed 32-bit Q15.16 fixed-point number can store up to about 32767. The use of fixed-point math generally fell out of favor in the late 90s, with the original Playstation being one of the last notable uses of hardware fixed-point.[/QUOTE] Instead of using something like that, you could just use integers and treat every value in smaller units. Oh and I'll add that floating-point in modern computers usually use 2 as the base instead of 10. This makes it impossible to represent for example 0.1 exactly in floating point numbers.

Does anyone here know/think the BenQ XL2420T would be good for movies and the like?

[QUOTE=gman003-main;38060631]long explanation long enough did read[/QUOTE] That's pretty amazing, and wow, so [I]that's[/I] what a "FLOP" is. Thanks!

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;38058909]Make sure it's configured correctly (90% of the time this means make sure it's set to automatic). Worst comes to worst just use google's DNS. [url]https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using[/url][/QUOTE] Setting my DNS to Google or OpenDNS did not work. I feel as if the settings aren't a problem, or if they are, its an obscure setting, but it's more than likely that something's broken or missing "under the hood". After all, this all went down right after I installed Linux Mint on a separate partition.

[QUOTE=krazipanda;38055917]If I want to SLI my NVIDIA Geforce GTX 570 do I have to get an exact duplicate of the card, or can I get any other GTX 570 and SLI it? Like a PNY tech NVIDIA 570.[/QUOTE] Aslong as its the same chip ie 570 then it should work fine, make sure they have the same amount of memory though.

Would this psu [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012[/url] be a good choice for these parts, and be good enough to upgrade in the future? mobo [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293[/url] cpu [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504[/url] mem [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233246[/url] gpu [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696[/url] hdd [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840[/url] Just want to double check with you guys because I've had some bad experiences in the past with faulty psus.

[QUOTE=alien_guy;38062792]Aslong as its the same chip ie 570 then it should work fine, make sure they have the same amount of memory though.[/QUOTE] If they have different quantities of vram, what problems would that present?

[QUOTE=TaZz_RyAn;38062978]Would this psu [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139012[/url] be a good choice for these parts, and be good enough to upgrade in the future? mobo [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293[/url] cpu [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504[/url] mem [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233246[/url] gpu [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127696[/url] hdd [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148840[/url] Just want to double check with you guys because I've had some bad experiences in the past with faulty psus.[/QUOTE] I believe it should work, this looks much cheaper though. [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151095&Tpk=seasonic%20m12ii%20620[/url]

[QUOTE=krazipanda;38063609]If they have different quantities of vram, what problems would that present?[/QUOTE] I believe the one with more memory would disable any excess - ie. a 2GB card paired with a 1GB card will limit itself to 1GB. I have not personally done this, though - that's just what I've heard.

Other than more ports and more PCI-E slots, is there much of a difference between these two boards? [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157330[/url] [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131835[/url]

just got an Nvidia 570 with 1.25 gb dedicated vram for $200, free 2 day shipping nice

Just upgraded my PC today - I see the i5 3570 is a popular option on here. Glad I went for it.

My PSU is 650W, these are my computer specs: [code]CPU Intel Core i5 2300 @ 2.80GHz 40 °C Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology RAM 10.0 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24) Motherboard ASUSTeK Computer INC. P8H67-M EVO (LGA1155) 34 °C Graphics V233H (1920x1080@60Hz) 1279MB GeForce GTX 570 (ASUStek Computer Inc) 52 °C Hard Drives 47GB OCZ-VERTEX2 ATA Device (SSD) 30 °C 932GB SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device (SATA) 39 °C 932GB SAMSUNG HD103SJ ATA Device (SATA) 37 °C Optical Drives ASUS DRW-24B3ST ATA Device Audio High Definition Audio Device[/code] and I'm getting another 570. Will I have to upgrade to higher wattage?