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

could anyone recommend me a tiny cheap win8.1 tablet? i'd like to stay below 8" and $400

[QUOTE=Qaus;47149100]could anyone recommend me a tiny cheap win8.1 tablet? i'd like to stay below 8" and $400[/QUOTE] The HP Stream 7 is a popular choice around here and it's $80. You get what you pay for, though.

[QUOTE=Levelog;47149165]The HP Stream 7 is a popular choice around here and it's $80. You get what you pay for, though.[/QUOTE] Know of anything a little more expensive? (and by extension about twice as powerful)

[QUOTE=Qaus;47149201]Know of anything a little more expensive? (and by extension about twice as powerful)[/QUOTE] The Dell Venue 8 Pro has twice as much RAM and more storage, if that's what you're looking for. As for a processor, a 1.8ghz quad core Atom is about as good as you're going to get atm with that budget.

[QUOTE=Levelog;47149229]The Dell Venue 8 Pro has twice as much RAM and more storage, if that's what you're looking for. As for a processor, a 1.8ghz quad core Atom is about as good as you're going to get atm with that budget.[/QUOTE] That's way better, thanks! Apologies for my lack of tablet knowledge, I wasn't really interested until I saw what Windows 10 can do with them.

I'm planning to buy two USB Xbox 360 controllers, I'm just wondering if they will both work on Windows 8.1 (plugged in at the same time)? Or must I buy 2 Wireless Controllers and an additional receiver?

[QUOTE=rikimaru6811;47149362]I'm planning to buy two USB Xbox 360 controllers, I'm just wondering if they will both work on Windows 8.1 (plugged in at the same time)? Or must I buy 2 Wireless Controllers and an additional receiver?[/QUOTE] Two separate USB controllers plugged in at the same time? That should be perfectly fine.

[QUOTE=KinderBueno;47146191]It's stock, and stock fan. [editline]15th February 2015[/editline] Btw what can cause this? [img]http://oi60.tinypic.com/2rzdu0n.jpg[/img] When I am in some game, 2nd monitor starts giving/flickering those horizontal lines.[/QUOTE] what type of cable is it connected with? I remember having some similar issues when I used VGA instead of DVI.

[QUOTE=SuicideZ;47150621]what type of cable is it connected with? I remember having some similar issues when I used VGA instead of DVI.[/QUOTE] VGA, it's only VGA monitor.

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47151545]There's your answer.[/QUOTE] To explain this, buy a new VGA cable. The one you have is probably shot. Or its possible the VGA port on the monitor has gone bad. Or the VGA port on the GPU is really noisy.

Probably the GPU. I remember my old Xbox 360 (the original white tower style) did that for a few months before it died from RRoD on certain games.

[QUOTE=mastoner20;47152954]Probably the GPU. I remember my old Xbox 360 (the original white tower style) did that for a few months before it died from RRoD on certain games.[/QUOTE] I've seen all three scenarios being a cause. I say start at the cable first because the cheap ones that come with the monitor often go bad and its the cheapest to replace.

True. Also, unrelated to the VGA: I've been getting a few BSODs randomly when exiting games here within the last week or so after updating EVGA Precision and losing it's settings. Is it normal for the GPU to crash the system as it loses clock speed if the settings aren't quite right, but run the games perfectly fine? That's the only thing I've updated or changed since downloading the new version, and that's when it started doing it randomly.

[QUOTE=Demache;47152919]To explain this, buy a new VGA cable. The one you have is probably shot. Or its possible the VGA port on the monitor has gone bad. Or the VGA port on the GPU is really noisy.[/QUOTE] If it helps: That only happens when in game. GPU is brand new. VGA to DVI adaptor is cheap for 2 euro. VGA cable is really thick, not sure how to measure it, it's about thick as average pen and is barely flexible.

[QUOTE=KinderBueno;47153037]If it helps: That only happens when in game. GPU is brand new. VGA to DVI adaptor is cheap for 2 euro. VGA cable is really thick, not sure how to measure it, it's about thick as average pen and is barely flexible.[/QUOTE] Try wiggling the cable/adapter around while its in game and look to see if it makes any difference. It could be a crappy DVI-VGA adapter too. And could be simply the GPU has a really noisy VGA output, which is unfortunate, but wouldn't shock me. If the GPU has a DisplayPort, you could buy a DisplayPort to VGA adapter, so you bypass the RAMDAC on the GPU entirely. I've had good luck with this: [url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005H3Q56I/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687522&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0025ZUF8K&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0FBRFM2F4MTQYNTBS8X0[/url] However I use it on a fairly old monitor (1280 x 1024) and I'm not sure about price/availability in Ireland.

[QUOTE=Demache;47153075]Try wiggling the cable/adapter around while its in game and look to see if it makes any difference. It could be a crappy DVI-VGA adapter too. And could be simply the GPU has a really noisy VGA output, which is unfortunate, but wouldn't shock me. If the GPU has a DisplayPort, you could buy a DisplayPort to VGA adapter, so you bypass the RAMDAC on the GPU entirely. I've had good luck with this: [url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005H3Q56I/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687522&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0025ZUF8K&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0FBRFM2F4MTQYNTBS8X0[/url] However I use it on a fairly old monitor (1280 x 1024) and I'm not sure about price/availability in Ireland.[/QUOTE] Could it be caused by electricity interference? I have 2 extension leads running along VGA cable, each extension lead had 4 sockets. That's all for PC

Hey, I'm getting the following error for a fraction of a second on a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate on a partition of my HDD: "The Group Policy Client Service Failed The Sign-In: The Universal Unique Identifier Type Is Not Supported." Anyone know what this means or have had it before? After I get this, the system shuts down and Windows will not install unless I repartition the drive.

[QUOTE=KinderBueno;47153139]Could it be caused by electricity interference? I have 2 extension leads running along VGA cable, each extension lead had 4 sockets. That's all for PC[/QUOTE] In theory, but that usually doesn't become an issue until your doing long distance cable runs, like connecting a monitor 10+ feet away. If the cable is your typical 6 ft/ 1.8 m cable, its rarely an issue. I mean you can try routing the cables somewhere else but power line interference usually only affects long cables. [editline]16th February 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Cabbage;47153158]Hey, I'm getting the following error for a fraction of a second on a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate on a partition of my HDD: "The Group Policy Client Service Failed The Sign-In: The Universal Unique Identifier Type Is Not Supported." Anyone know what this means or have had it before? After I get this, the system shuts down and Windows will not install unless I repartition the drive.[/QUOTE] Are you configuring Windows 7 as part of a domain? Is the Windows 7 image non-standard? Here is a MS document on the error: [url]http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2976660[/url] Its for Windows 8, but I imagine it hasn't changed in meaning. However, its a very advanced use case so I imagine its not your issue. If you downloaded the ISO from somewhere, I would be inclined to say its corrupt.

[QUOTE=Demache;47153176]In theory, but that usually doesn't become an issue until your doing long distance cable runs, like connecting a monitor 10+ feet away. If the cable is your typical 6 ft/ 1.8 m cable, its rarely an issue. I mean you can try routing the cables somewhere else but power line interference usually only affects long cables. [editline]16th February 2015[/editline] Are you configuring Windows 7 as part of a domain? Is the Windows 7 image non-standard? Here is a MS document on the error: [url]http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2976660[/url] Its for Windows 8, but I imagine it hasn't changed in meaning. However, its a very advanced use case so I imagine its not your issue. If you downloaded the ISO from somewhere, I would be inclined to say its corrupt.[/QUOTE] Hmm, yeah it seems like the .iso is the issue. I'll look into it, thanks.

[QUOTE=SEKCobra;47144287]Picasa is the best I've got, lemme know if you find something better.[/QUOTE] Gave Picasa a try, it doesn't seem to do comparisons based on the image, just regular file comparisons. That helps a bit, but not too much. I need something that, if you take an image, downscale it and convert it to a different format, will still pick it up as the same image. Also tried using GQView, which *does* do that, but it's impossibly broken on Windows 7. Completely unusable - both image and font rendering is broken, which is basically "everything".

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47154751]Or VGA at high resolutions get's really awful. 1600x900 VGA and 1280x1024 are just awful and noisy. Even on my old 7790 and 750 ti.[/QUOTE] On my 6850, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference except that the Auto Align option isn't greyed out on the monitor. Even at 1920x1080. Its really good for a "modern" GPU. Never used VGA on my 7870 though.

I once tried to use VGA on my 2560x1080. All the mistakes.

[QUOTE=Levelog;47155941]I once tried to use VGA on my 2560x1080. All the mistakes.[/QUOTE] I tried 2560x1440 over VGA on my laptop, and it worked. Too bad the VGA output on that laptop is pretty garbage for everything but CRTs.

[QUOTE=Demache;47156138]I tried 2560x1440 over VGA on my laptop, and it worked. Too bad the VGA output on that laptop is pretty garbage for everything but CRTs.[/QUOTE] Haha, I then replaced the VGA cable with a DVI, and was still confused why it wouldn't work. It was single link.

Looking for new graphics card ~$300 CAD after taxes and shipping, in Canada that can run BF4 and the new Far Cry on High/Ultra settings. Currently I have: i5-2500k Sandy Bridge, overclocked with aftermarket cooler 8GB DDR3 @ 1333Mhz ATI Radeon 6700 800W PSU Numbers off the top of my head. Runs CSGO @ ~80-150FPS, ultra/high settings Runs BF4 @ ~30-40FPS medium/low settings Any other specs are really unnecessary, it's all just storage and disk drives (I use an SSD for my OS but I should get a new one, had it for 5 years, surprised its not dead yet). If I want to run BF4 really well, I heard ATI cards work better? Is this true?

Okay, so my PSU (at least I'm 98% sure it's my PSU since the sound is coming specifically from there) is making this loud, desperate "grinding" sound like a wire or piece of something is stuck in the fans, except after I used some compressed air and made sure every wire is safely away from the fans, it's still making the sound (and I could swear it's only getting louder.) Performance is as it's always been, and beyond the noise it's like nothing's wrong with my computer. Should I start shopping for a new PSU? Or is this something I can fix on me own.

Might just be the fan itself running out of oil. First, just stop the fan with like a chopstick or a pencil to figure out if it's the fan making the noise. If it is, take it out (make sure not to shock yourself, obviously), peel the sticker off the back if it doesn't say "ball bearing" or "BB" anywhere on the fan (use a hair dryer so it comes off easier), take the oil dipstick out of your car (or use any random oil lying around the house) and douse the little bearing behind the sticker with a healthy drop of oil while spinning the fan to make sure it soaks up the oil. Restick the sticker.

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;47160486]Okay, so my PSU (at least I'm 98% sure it's my PSU since the sound is coming specifically from there) is making this loud, desperate "grinding" sound like a wire or piece of something is stuck in the fans, except after I used some compressed air and made sure every wire is safely away from the fans, it's still making the sound (and I could swear it's only getting louder.) Performance is as it's always been, and beyond the noise it's like nothing's wrong with my computer. Should I start shopping for a new PSU? Or is this something I can fix on me own.[/QUOTE] What PSU and how old is it? If it's a cheap PSU, sounds typical and I'd suggest buying a new one of higher quality. But it could be benign such as the fan bearing getting loose. So if you're able to spare out like $70 for a higher quality PSU, would probably be worth it. Or gamble it :v: @2nd paragraph, you should [i]never[/i] try to repair anything actually inside your PSU unless you're extremely competent with electrical engineering. The risk of DIY repairing a PSU is generally not worth how much a new one would cost. e: yeah could be likely what fishyfish777 said, try that especially if your PSU isn't cheap.

[QUOTE=HarryHy;47160581] @2nd paragraph, you should [i]never[/i] try to repair anything actually inside your PSU unless you're extremely competent with electrical engineering. The risk of DIY repairing a PSU is generally not worth how much a new one would cost.[/QUOTE] Eh, just wear gloves and don't put your fingers anywhere near the sparky-looking bits and it's not particularly hard to take a fan out of a power supply without dying. Void your warranty, though.

Fan replacements are actually usually really simple for PSU's, depending on the model. But again, if you're not at least moderately comfortable around components, don't mess with it.