The "Quick Questions That Don't Deserve A Thread"...Thread. v5 - Hardware & Software

Is there any way to block advertisements on the current version of Skype? All of the guides out there are outdated by about a year and none of them work anymore.

I'm going to China in November and need a socks server or something so that I can use facebook/google while I'm there. I was planning to use shadowsocks, but I was wondering if anyone knows any good paid services preferably close to China so that it'll be relatively fast. Or a VPS even so I can set up my own. I already have a vpn service, the socks proxy was going to be a backup.

[QUOTE=darth-veger;48646037]What is the basic procedure on what to do if a computer does not start? I had to build a computer for my girlfriends newphew and his budget was 400 Euro so i to get a bit of a cramped up case. Usually a motherboard has a LED that lets you know it has power but this one does not have one, i am also not sure if i properly connected the Power SW to the correct jumper connection.[/QUOTE] Could be the power supply, try the [url=http://support.antec.com/support/solutions/articles/1000015319-is-my-power-supply-dead-the-paperclip-test]paperclip test[/url]. If that works, then try to find the manual for the motherboard you're using or find it online. They'll tell you where all the power pin thingies go.

So I want to play pokerstars at school but they have blocked it, how can I access it?

[QUOTE=Staneh;48651060]So I want to play pokerstars at school but they have blocked it, how can I access it?[/QUOTE] You just can't. I'm pretty sure you can get banned for using something like a VPN on PokerStars.

[QUOTE=Xyrec;48651290]You just can't. I'm pretty sure you can get banned for using something like a VPN on PokerStars.[/QUOTE] Set up your own on your home pc?

[QUOTE=TheRealRudy;48651465]Does anyone know what the key differences are in both in hardware and software between a Macbook Pro Ratina (2015) and your average high end Windows laptop other than the hardware on Mac being lower for the price you give for it.[/QUOTE] You can't just say that, there's 5 versions of the 2015 macbook pro retina and countless windows laptops with varying specs. Biggest differences are price and most windows laptops don't go above 1080p where retina displays are 2560 x 1600 and up

I recently bought an AntLion ModMic 4.0 Microphone, and attached it to a pair of Sennheiser HD 598's. It was working perfectly fine for about two days and all of a sudden today I started getting weird sound glitches that won't stop, and don't have any apparent cause. [url]http://vocaroo.com/i/s0NB4G65p9ug[/url] Vocaroo doesn't do it justice, the glitches are much louder and are much more frequent, I'm on Skype with my girlfriend most of my time on the PC and it's unbearable. Any idea what's causing it? Any idea how to solve it? Thanks in advance.

Hey guys, I'm being given a new computer, and I need to know if its specs are any good for some current games, namely ARK, but more or less any current games at High or less settings. Will be mostly playing with a 1360x768 resolution, though, if that means anything. Anyway, the specs; [QUOTE]4th generation Core i7-4790 processor 3.60GHz 12GB PC3 DDR3L-12800 SDRAM 8MB L2 Cache 1TB 7200 RPM Serial ATA hard drive NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 2GB Windows 10 ready[/QUOTE] So, is it any good?

Way out of wack. An unnecessarily powerful CPU with a really shitty GPU.

[QUOTE=Dragoshi1;48652126]Hey guys, I'm being given a new computer, and I need to know if its specs are any good for some current games, namely ARK, but more or less any current games at High or less settings. Will be mostly playing with a 1360x768 resolution, though, if that means anything. Anyway, the specs; So, is it any good?[/QUOTE] Bump that graphics card up to AT LEAST a 750 Ti. That's basically the lowest card you can actually game on. I'd go with a 960 though. You may only be at 768p right now, but you'll probably upgrade eventually and it's not much of a price hike. You can also drop that CPU way down. An i5 6600 is more than enough for gaming, and if you really need to save money, even an i3 6320 would probably be fine.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;48652189]Bump that graphics card up to AT LEAST a 750 Ti. That's basically the lowest card you can actually game on. I'd go with a 960 though. You may only be at 768p right now, but you'll probably upgrade eventually and it's not much of a price hike. You can also drop that CPU way down. An i5 6600 is more than enough for gaming, and if you really need to save money, even an i3 6320 would probably be fine.[/QUOTE] If he's on a budget though Haswell/DDR3 would be a better choice.

[QUOTE=Levelog;48652196]If he's on a budget though Haswell/DDR3 would be a better choice.[/QUOTE] Good point, although DDR4 is pretty cheap now. 2x4GB for $55 is basically on par with DDR3.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;48652212]Good point, although DDR4 is pretty cheap now. 2x4GB for $55 is basically on par with DDR3.[/QUOTE] $57 for DDR4 vs $36 for DDR3. Not much money to most, but could probably make or break a budget.

[QUOTE=Levelog;48652224]$57 for DDR4 vs $36 for DDR3. Not much money to most, but could probably make or break a budget.[/QUOTE] What speeds, though? DDR3-2400 is basically the same price as DDR4-2400. Sure, there's a price difference between bottom-end DDR3 and DDR4, but there's also a performance difference. Besides, the money saved from ditching the i7 should cover any other upgrades.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;48652272]What speeds, though? DDR3-2400 is basically the same price as DDR4-2400. Sure, there's a price difference between bottom-end DDR3 and DDR4, but there's also a performance difference. Besides, the money saved from ditching the i7 should cover any other upgrades.[/QUOTE] 1600 vs 2133. For games though who gives a shit about RAM bandwidth. Well I mean it helps with minimum FPS, but whatever. Difference for DDR3 2400 and DDR4 2400 is still $10.

[QUOTE=Coyoteze;48646846]I might go with a 28 inch 1440p monitor instead. I'm reading a lot of negatives about 4k at the moment.[/QUOTE] Update on this: Got the 27-inch ASUS PB278QR 1440k monitor instead. It's absolutely stunning to look at. All the colors are extremely vivid, the whites are white and blacks are black. GPU temps are fine. I love this. Highly recommended.

How do I do a clean install of Win10 after already having upgraded to Win10 from Win8.1?

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;48649576]Is there any way to block advertisements on the current version of Skype? All of the guides out there are outdated by about a year and none of them work anymore.[/QUOTE] Anything at all? Lately whenever the advertisements change, they un-highlight my chatbox and it almost always happens when I'm in the middle of typing something to a friend.

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;48653582]Anything at all? Lately whenever the advertisements change, they un-highlight my chatbox and it almost always happens when I'm in the middle of typing something to a friend.[/QUOTE] I ditched Skype some time ago due to it's general awfulness, but the adverts could be blocked by putting the advert host domains in your HOSTS file and pointing them to 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0. The trick is to find a list of those skype advert domains.

[QUOTE=Van-man;48653774]I ditched Skype some time ago due to it's general awfulness, but the adverts could be blocked by putting the advert host domains in your HOSTS file and pointing them to 127.0.0.1 or 0.0.0.0. The trick is to find a list of those skype advert domains.[/QUOTE] I wish I knew how to change them that or where to find those domains.

For the past few days i've been getting random ssl errors while browsing: [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ES9LTk3.png[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/XMvir4B.png[/IMG] youtube-dl doesn't work because of this, it works fine on my vpn though. images from various websites have failed while loading as well, sometimes i have to open them in a private window before they load properly.

the fan popped out on the stock cooler for my FX 8350 and it won't go back in. Can anyone suggest a good replacement fan+heatsink that preferably isn't much bigger than the stock cooler?

So I have that clover file explorer thing, and just recently I had dns issues. I noticed that clover stops working if the dns doesn't work properly. What does that mean? Why would a file explorer, completely on my machine and supposedly not networked, stop functioning when anything at all related to the internet goes down?

anyone know a good air cooler for overclocking for <40 USD or should i stick with the 212 evo?

Desktop problems. My computer has been blue screening for awhile, and its gotten a lot worse lately. At first it said my computer was shutdown to prevent malicious attacks, but every other crash it talks about a memory leak. At times when crashing or trying to boot up it makes 4 beeps, pause, repeat. I looked this up and closest diagnose on websites I read mention system memory. Could it be my ram sticks?

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;48653888]I wish I knew how to change them that or where to find those domains.[/QUOTE] Download Wireshark and start searching for any ad network related domains. :v:

Anyone know if its possible to adjust microphone volume with Shadowplay?

[QUOTE=tommyverceti;48645087] I've had a good experience with Otterbox cases, they're rubberised but not too bulky as well as having an embossed edge to stop the screen from getting scratched when placed on surfaces.[/QUOTE] Cheers man. I found a nice Otterbox case but it's pretty expensive ($50). Do you think it's a good one and worth the price? Money isn't a problem however. I really need something that will protect her phone she is just too good at breaking them. [url]http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/281768159738?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT[/url] It looks pretty slim as well which is nice. [editline]11th September 2015[/editline] I found a couple more which look quite good [url=http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FOR-LG-G4-Case-Genuine-SPIGEN-Neo-Hybrid-w-Bumper-Soft-TPU-Unpackaged/231532737336?_trksid=p2055119.c100022.m2048&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140205102603%26meid%3Dbded338581c6405ba73e5a2027d151b1%26pid%3D100022%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D281768159738]Spigen case[/url] [url=http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-OtterBox-Defender-Series-Case-for-LG-G4-Slate-Grey-Deep-Water-Blue/281782526447?_trksid=p2055119.c100022.m2048&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140205102603%26meid%3Dbded338581c6405ba73e5a2027d151b1%26pid%3D100022%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D281768159738]another otterbox[/url] Anyone have any reviews on these cases? Anyone know which one is the best?

Is there anything that allows me to choose what to boot when i plug in my USB disk? Basically i want to turn this 700 GB HDD into a PC Saver drive with Windows 7, 8 and 10 + Hirens Boot CD.