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

I've asked this before but I'm still not sure. Whats the best wireless N dual band router for £60 or less? Preferably from [url]http://scan.co.uk[/url]

[QUOTE=YWNJack;39157250]I've asked this before but I'm still not sure. Whats the best wireless N dual band router for £60 or less? Preferably from [url]http://scan.co.uk[/url][/QUOTE] [url]http://www.scan.co.uk/products/belkin-play-max-dual-band-wireless-nnplus-300mbps-cable-broadband-wlan-router-with-4-port-gigibit-sw[/url] is cheap and supports tomato (from what I can tell) if you're not up to installing custom firmware, then I probably wouldn't pick belkin

[QUOTE=Shadaez;39156357]you can move the whole windows bar to the other monitor by just unlocking and dragging it[/QUOTE] Got that done although I seem to be having a new problem. Thunderbird and Skype keeps sending notifications to the other monitor for some reason.

[QUOTE=TheJoker;39157761]Got that done although I seem to be having a new problem. Thunderbird and Skype keeps sending notifications to the other monitor for some reason.[/QUOTE] their built-in notifications? probably hardcoded to the main monitor

[QUOTE=PollytheParrot;39150514][t]http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf-JAVA/Doc/images/617/c01324214.jpg[/t] That is one damn ugly motherboard[/QUOTE] I know. It is puke yellow.

[QUOTE=Shadaez;39157391][url]http://www.scan.co.uk/products/belkin-play-max-dual-band-wireless-nnplus-300mbps-cable-broadband-wlan-router-with-4-port-gigibit-sw[/url] is cheap and supports tomato (from what I can tell) if you're not up to installing custom firmware, then I probably wouldn't pick belkin[/QUOTE] I failed to mention it needs to be ADSL2 compatible

[QUOTE=YWNJack;39158747]I failed to mention it needs to be ADSL2 compatible[/QUOTE] Then that's not a router anymore, it's a combination device (modem + router).

[QUOTE=loophole;39158518]I know. It is puke yellow.[/QUOTE] I'm glad black and blue seem to be the standard colors now.

[QUOTE=Forumaster;39158907]I'm glad black and blue seem to be the standard colors now.[/QUOTE] After looking at mine, MSI boards look AMAZING.

[QUOTE=Forumaster;39158907]I'm glad black and blue seem to be the standard colors now.[/QUOTE] Most new boards I've seen lately (especially asus) are dark brown, and I hate it. [editline]9th January 2013[/editline] Even MSI is guilty.

[QUOTE=MTMod;39148145]Memtest, Hiren's Boot CD, Super PI.[/QUOTE] I tried a hdd surface test with viva? and ram test for 9 hours but nothing. I have a feeling its a problem with the network/wifi card, is there anyway I can test this?

[QUOTE=YWNJack;39158747]I failed to mention it needs to be ADSL2 compatible[/QUOTE] Get a separate ADSL modem (Or just use your current modem-router) and connect the new router to it. That way you have more choice plus the ability to use third-party firmware.

I just hooked up an external monitor to my laptop via VGA and it seems that the display is offset to the left a little on the external monitor. All the options in the menu built into the monitor aren't usable and nothing the Nvidia Control Panel or Display Fusion are able to correct this. Anyone know what to do? [editline]9th January 2013[/editline] Everything is really blurry as well.

[QUOTE=Makol;39162573]I just hooked up an external monitor to my laptop via VGA and it seems that the display is offset to the left a little on the external monitor. All the options in the menu built into the monitor aren't usable and nothing the Nvidia Control Panel or Display Fusion are able to correct this. Anyone know what to do? [editline]9th January 2013[/editline] Everything is really blurry as well.[/QUOTE] press auto!!!!!!!!

How come cutscenes always have those boxes, like it's in 360p or something

[QUOTE=Shadaez;39162668]press auto!!!!!!!![/QUOTE] It's locked, hence the "All the options in the menu built into the monitor aren't usable".

I don't understand how it's locked, but I don't think it's possible to fix without the monitor menu or auto button. [editline]9th January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Meatloaf;39162731]How come cutscenes always have those boxes, like it's in 360p or something[/QUOTE] boxes? do you mean black bars? it's more ~cinematic~

I guess Samsung fucked up somewhere then. [editline]9th January 2013[/editline] nvm had to hold down some buttons to reset it all

[QUOTE=Shadaez;39162810] boxes? do you mean black bars? it's more ~cinematic~[/QUOTE] This is what I mean [thumb]http://puu.sh/1LR2e[/thumb] There're these little boxes that show up randomly in cutscenes, and though there aren't many there, when the cutscene is running there can be a lot. They're most prominent near fire, lights, etc.

Howdy folks. Not sure why, but sometimes the volume on my laptop likes to short out. The volume is on, but not a sound comes out. This usually happens after I exit a game on Steam, or try to run 2 things that use audio at once, whether it's a music player, a video on youtube, or a game. I usually quick fix it by restarting my computer. (yeah, that actually works). But it's starting to get bothersome whenever my friends invite me to a stream or a game and my volume miraculously stops. It didn't always do this, it was only until recently that I've been having these problems. Any solutions? I don't think any specs are in order, but I could give them on request.

Despite how generic the "Update your drivers" solution is, it could help with your audio problems. Ensure you have the correct audio drivers as well as the most updated installed for your laptop. If that doesn't work: check and see if you have the same problems on Linux, if so you probably have a hardware problem. If you are already running Linux, try installing a different audio server (ex: alsa, oss, pulseaudio, etc) and ensure you have hardware acceleration disabled on flash as that causes a plethora of problems. From there if the problem still persists, get a new laptop.

Unsure if this is the place to ask, but does anyone know where I can get a good cheap microphone? I've heard these are good: [url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-ZM-MIC1-microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/[/url] but I'm unsure. Any suggestions?

[QUOTE=Meatloaf;39162970]This is what I mean [thumb]http://puu.sh/1LR2e[/thumb] There're these little boxes that show up randomly in cutscenes, and though there aren't many there, when the cutscene is running there can be a lot. They're most prominent near fire, lights, etc.[/QUOTE] oh, just standard video compression artifacts. Games really compress their videos hard and it really shows. [editline]9th January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=GastricTank;39163035]Howdy folks. Not sure why, but sometimes the volume on my laptop likes to short out. The volume is on, but not a sound comes out. This usually happens after I exit a game on Steam, or try to run 2 things that use audio at once, whether it's a music player, a video on youtube, or a game. I usually quick fix it by restarting my computer. (yeah, that actually works). But it's starting to get bothersome whenever my friends invite me to a stream or a game and my volume miraculously stops. It didn't always do this, it was only until recently that I've been having these problems. Any solutions? I don't think any specs are in order, but I could give them on request.[/QUOTE] This could happen if the audio device gets undetected for a moment, are you just using onboard sound? I'd suggest using the rear audio port because in some motherboards plugging something into the front could switch audio devices (and it might be losing connection for a split second), causing everything that was using sound on the old one to cease working. If you're using a USB soundcard or headset, try a completely different port (again, I suggest the back but this time because it would be less likely to be accidentally unplugged). If it happens again in the future try making sure that the correct sound output is set to default in the Windows audio manager and restart whatever application you're using. [editline]9th January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Jellyman;39163990]Unsure if this is the place to ask, but does anyone know where I can get a good cheap microphone? I've heard these are good: [URL]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zalman-ZM-MIC1-microphone/dp/B00029MTMQ/[/URL] but I'm unsure. Any suggestions?[/QUOTE] Zalman's as good as any cheap mic, but USB microphones are better since it has a built in audio device for it, so the volume levels are much more consistent between PCs. If you're using headphones get the Zalman (or pay much more for a modmic) and clip it on your headphone cable.

how safe is it to overclock a gpu? I bought a radeon 7700 2gb and it came overclocked at 1020mhz. can I bump it up any further to like 1030mhz or above without damage?

[QUOTE=Crpto2007;39164342]how safe is it to overclock a gpu? I bought a radeon 7700 2gb and it came overclocked at 1020mhz. can I bump it up any further to like 1030mhz or above without damage?[/QUOTE] Very safe as long as long as you're not pushing the voltage way above stock. If you overclock too high games will just artifact/crash, so keep raising your clock by 10-20mhz until that starts happening, then back down about 50mhz and call it stable.

cool should i use the asus GPU tweak that came with the card or the AMD catalyst that I already have installed. Or does it really matter what I use to overclock it?

[QUOTE=mblunk;39164474]Very safe as long as long as you're not pushing the voltage way above stock. If you overclock too high games will just artifact/crash, so keep raising your clock by 10-20mhz until that starts happening, then back down about 50mhz and call it stable.[/QUOTE] Does 50mhz make that big of a difference?

Where are the certificates and all that stuff for 802.1x wifi connections stored in windows? I want to get wifi working on my phone at school, but I need to get that stuff off the laptop.

[QUOTE=Jellyman;39165013]Does 50mhz make that big of a difference?[/QUOTE] Assuming your CPU isn't a bottleneck, your overclock is almost exactly proportional to your performance gain. For example, for a given GPU, 1.1 GHz will be 10% faster than 1 GHz, so you'll get 55 fps instead of 50, etc. Edit: Apparently math is hard, so let me put this here too: Just did a quick test myself with a Q6600 at 3GHz and a 5850. With the GPU at 360 MHz (slow because a Q6600 is a shit match for a 5850 at full speed, was still getting 60-70% CPU usage), I got 61.4 FPS in a L4D2 timedemo, and with the GPU running 20% faster (432 MHz) I got 70.2 FPS, which is a 16% increase. Sure it's not perfectly proportional, but it's close if your CPU is capable of keeping up (which mine isn't.)

[QUOTE=mblunk;39167657]Assuming your CPU isn't a bottleneck, your overclock is almost exactly proportional to your performance gain. For example, for a given GPU, 1.1 GHz will be 10% faster than 1 GHz, so you'll get 55 fps instead of 50, etc.[/QUOTE] Uh no, there isn't a "proportional formula" like that. The clock speed vs performance gain depends on a lot of different factors