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

[QUOTE=mblunk;38565789]Windows, for whatever brilliant reason, will install its bootloader on the first NTFS drive connected to the motherboard, rather than the partition you're actually installing Windows to. If it installs to a drive other than the one you actually put windows on and you take the drive out, you take the bootloader out from underneath Windows. It should work if you plug your devices back in the exact configuration they were in when you installed Windows, but if not, you might be able to boot from the install CD and have it recover the install.[/QUOTE] ... so that's what happened to me yesterday.

I think I want to get this hard drive [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148834[/url] but the reviews are putting me off a little. With how cheap it is, should I just go for it?

I haven't seen any consumer drives 2TB+ that got even decent reviews, I'm not sure what's going on with the manufacturers.

you can use a SSD and a HDD at the same time without any problems right? because i'm thinking of getting [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167121[/url] or a similiar SSD and installing windows 8 on it as well as a few other games that i play more often, and then using my HDD for everything else would this work?

No different from having two HDDs installed, so yeah it would work.

Yeah that will work. When you install Windows on the SSD, it's always a good idea to just unplug your HDD so you don't accidentally install on the wrong drive and have to start over.

[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;38568509]Yeah that will work. When you install Windows on the SSD, it's always a good idea to just unplug your HDD so you don't accidentally install on the wrong drive and have to start over.[/QUOTE] Not to mention [QUOTE=mblunk;38565789]Windows, for whatever brilliant reason, will install its bootloader on the first NTFS drive connected to the motherboard, rather than the partition you're actually installing Windows to. If it installs to a drive other than the one you actually put windows on and you take the drive out, you take the bootloader out from underneath Windows. It should work if you plug your devices back in the exact configuration they were in when you installed Windows, but if not, you might be able to boot from the install CD and have it recover the install.[/QUOTE]

I'd unplug everything but the SSD (and your install media of course) while installing just to be absolutely sure your SSD becomes the C:\ drive otherwise you might end up with your C:\ through H:\ drives being all removable media drives like I had once

Windows is generally just pretty stupid. I was at my brothers apartment building his new computer, and I'd brought an Upgrade 3-Pack of Windows 7 to put on it. First time through, it gives an error message that says it isn't a valid product key. So I just delete the key altogether and opt to put it in after the install. Get everything loaded up, try to activate, and it says "This is an upgrade code, you are not able to do clean installs." What the hell, it worked for my computer just fine! As a last ditch effort, I go through the whole process again, and when it comes time to enter the product key during install again, I retype it. It works with absolutely no problems.

yeah did you know it can't even properly display the "Drive Not Ready" message when it's the C:\ drive that has no storage in it usually this wouldn't be a problem but apparently a lot of programs (even a couple of shipped-with-Windows programs apparently) are explicitly set to use C:\ by default instead of %SystemRoot% and co. for a bunch of things, and when your C:\ drive is a CompactFlash reader then that leads to a [b]lot[/b] of "device not ready" messages.

Does anyone know any details on the release date and UK pricing of the newer Asus Zenbook models? Specifically the UX42VS as I'm looking for an ultrabook that can do some decent gaming. Any alternatives would also be appreciated.

[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;38568509]Yeah that will work. When you install Windows on the SSD, it's always a good idea to just unplug your HDD so you don't accidentally install on the wrong drive and have to start over.[/QUOTE]Would there be any way to transfer over the OS, or do I have to reinstall it?

[url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005285[/url] or [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236175[/url]?

[QUOTE=HolyCrapAWalrus;38573927][url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005285[/url] or [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236175[/url]?[/QUOTE] Get an IPS.

Hypothetically, whats the best desktop/tower PC I could get with a $500 budget? I'm not expecting an awesome gaming machine, but I want it to handle the new games that are coming out. I do not want to assemble it because of my low(ish) budget. Edit: Any feedback on this? [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227437[/url]

Depends entirely on what you want to focus on what you want to play etc. Also what kind of hardware you have to reuse.

[QUOTE=SEKCobra;38575294]Depends entirely on what you want to focus on what you want to play etc. Also what kind of hardware you have to reuse.[/QUOTE] Basically, I'm looking for a mildly good PC for gaming that can handle games like Borderlands 2, even if its on the lowest textures/models/shadows, all that stuff. I have no hardware aside from a crappy Dell mouse, a headset, and an old keyboard, but I think the computer would usually come with a keyboard. I only have a Toshiba Satalite laptop and a REALLY old Dell desktop, which can hardly run. Edit: I'm also pretty bad with PC hardware. The PC that I was just looking at has 8gb DDR3, which is awesome, and a AMD Radeon HD 7750 1GB, but I have no idea if thats good. Edit 2: According to a review, the PC can run Diablo 3 at ultra.

You should be looking into actually building the PC yourself, I don't think anyone here can recommend any prebuilts besides Alienware.

[QUOTE=Bathtub;38575277]Hypothetically, whats the best desktop/tower PC I could get with a $500 budget? I'm not expecting an awesome gaming machine, but I want it to handle the new games that are coming out. I do not want to assemble it because of my low(ish) budget. Edit: Any feedback on this? [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227437[/url][/QUOTE] Building it yourself is the best option, there's a large markup if you go prebuilt. The one you linked is the best option under $500, with the exact same budget you can build a PC that has a slightly better CPU and a 6850 or GTX 560 for a videocard.

[QUOTE=Shadaez;38575506]Building it yourself is the best option, there's a large markup if you go prebuilt. The one you linked is the best option under $500, with the exact same budget you can build a PC that has a slightly better CPU and a 6850 or GTX 560 for a videocard.[/QUOTE] As I said previously, I'm not in the market for building because I'm lazy and for a couple other reasons. Thank you for your response, though.

At low budgets you're really losing a lot of performance if you don't, if you get out of your comfort zone a little you can get nearly twice the performance (560 v 7750): [img]http://media.bestofmicro.com/T/1/326341/original/dirt%203%201680.png[/img] But if you can't be convinced, I don't think there's much better under prebuilts $500.

I was looking at [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130826"]this[/URL] graphics card as an upgrade over my 550 Ti. Opinions on it? Or if I should get another card around the same price?

It's not going to be a hugely impressive upgrade, I'd wait another generation or two. But that's just me. [editline]24th November 2012[/editline] Nevermind, you'll get about double the performance assuming your CPU can keep up: [img]http://tpucdn.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_660/images/perfrel.gif[/img] You decide if that's worth it.

[QUOTE=mblunk;38582452]It's not going to be a hugely impressive upgrade, I'd wait another generation or two. But that's just me. [editline]24th November 2012[/editline] Nevermind, you'll get about double the performance: You decide if that's worth it.[/QUOTE] I was hoping there was a chance for a deal on it, was going to wait til Monday to see.

[QUOTE=GetBent;38582486]I was hoping there was a chance for a deal on it, was going to wait til Monday to see.[/QUOTE] Yeah, if you have the cash and you're ready to spend it, it's going to be quite an improvement. You could also fetch ~$70 for your 550 Ti assuming you don't want to keep it.

[QUOTE=mblunk;38582518]Yeah, if you have the cash and you're ready to spend it, it's going to be quite an improvement. You could also fetch ~$70 for your 550 Ti assuming you don't want to keep it.[/QUOTE] I've actually never sold any old PC components. Don't really know anyone interested in them.

[QUOTE=SataniX;38575040]Get an IPS.[/QUOTE] If I'm looking at $150 monitors, chances are I won't find a half decent IPS. I know they're "better" and all, but I really don't give a shit as long as I can get off of this 19" 1440x900 one.

[url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Z9WWDW/ref=s9_simh_bw_p147_d4_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-8&pf_rd_r=1EEB8298Y1HN6WACAXTN&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1380422082&pf_rd_i=2956501011[/url] Is this good for the price? My current laptop is a piece of shit, I'm lucky to get 25 fps out of Skyrim on the lowest settings

I was in the same situation a couple of months ago and I got one of these [url]http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Y580-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Dawn/dp/B009AEPQDI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353810149&sr=8-1&keywords=lenovo+y580[/url] 660m, 3630QM for under $900 Gets pretty good battery life too if you keep it in power saver mode, only complaint I have is that the resolution might be lacking by today's standards [editline]24th November 2012[/editline] Question of my own; ps2 mouse/keyboard works fine, but seconds upon plugging in a usb keyboard/mouse, they stop working. The computer still runs in the background though. This is on a clean windows install by the way.

How much of an improvement would there be for a Haswell computer over Ivy Bridge? Helping people out who want to build computers in that time area it would be released.