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

I hate how finicky I am when it comes to deciding on graphics cards for my new PC. I've got one or two people telling me the GTX 970 runs poorly when using any kind of anti-aliasing and convincing me that the 980 is really worth $550. But I don't know how much truth there is to those statements because in-game benchmarks seem to show that it runs nearly everything perfectly at 1080p with max settings (including AA) which is what I intend to do. Should I save the ~$200 and get a 970 or are they telling the truth and I really need a 980?

[QUOTE=lavacano;47700298]...that's what i said i was already doing[/QUOTE] I was thinking since you had the model number and could find the product that way, you wouldn't need to look for hints if it's an SSD or HDD by looking for RPMs since you'd already know what it is

[QUOTE=Zuimzado;47701575]I need some help. I was using my PC just fine when suddenly, my LCD monitor's screen went [B]way[/B] dark (it's still showing the computer screen, just, like, twenty times darker) and started making a high pitched noise. Just, out of nowhere. What's going on?[/QUOTE] If it were me, I would immediately the say the power supply on the monitor is dying. I mean if your willing, you could open it up and check if any capacitors are bloated and there are any scorch marks.

[QUOTE=Zuimzado;47701575]I need some help. I was using my PC just fine when suddenly, my LCD monitor's screen went [B]way[/B] dark (it's still showing the computer screen, just, like, twenty times darker) and started making a high pitched noise. Just, out of nowhere. What's going on?[/QUOTE] inverter for the CCFL's crapping out. Basically the power supply for your monitors backlight is dying.

[QUOTE=PredGD;47702213]I was thinking since you had the model number and could find the product that way, you wouldn't need to look for hints if it's an SSD or HDD by looking for RPMs since you'd already know what it is[/QUOTE] Well, product pages don't seem to flat out say "This is an HDD" or "This is an SSD", so I'm wondering if there's a better way

[QUOTE=lavacano;47703940]Well, product pages don't seem to flat out say "This is an HDD" or "This is an SSD", so I'm wondering if there's a better way[/QUOTE] It's usually pretty obvious. Most of the companies that make SSDs don't even make hard drives. Where exactly are you looking?

[QUOTE=gman003-main;47703949]It's usually pretty obvious. Most of the companies that make SSDs don't even make hard drives. Where exactly are you looking?[/QUOTE] The entire Newegg product page. No such luck. I really would have preferred having a big fucking green box saying "HDD" somewhere, because I was trying to determine if the drive that came with a friend's new computer was HDD or SSD (and therefore whether I should install a defrag tool). I can't tell you the exact model, because apparently Hitachi (or I guess they're HDST now) prefers model numbers that look vaguely like MD5 hashes to prevent remembering them (and this was also a couple days ago, I don't have the relevant system in front of me)

[QUOTE=lavacano;47703990]The entire Newegg product page. No such luck. I really would have preferred having a big fucking green box saying "HDD" somewhere, because I was trying to determine if the drive that came with a friend's new computer was HDD or SSD (and therefore whether I should install a defrag tool). I can't tell you the exact model, because apparently Hitachi (or I guess they're HDST now) prefers model numbers that look vaguely like MD5 hashes to prevent remembering them (and this was also a couple days ago, I don't have the relevant system in front of me)[/QUOTE] I doubt you have Enterprise grade SSD there (Only SSD's they seem to make) so it's HDD. [editline]11th May 2015[/editline] Also can you show Newegg product page that doesn't mention if product is SSD or HDD?

[QUOTE=lavacano;47703990]The entire Newegg product page. No such luck. I really would have preferred having a big fucking green box saying "HDD" somewhere, because I was trying to determine if the drive that came with a friend's new computer was HDD or SSD (and therefore whether I should install a defrag tool). I can't tell you the exact model, because apparently Hitachi (or I guess they're HDST now) prefers model numbers that look vaguely like MD5 hashes to prevent remembering them (and this was also a couple days ago, I don't have the relevant system in front of me)[/QUOTE] [url=http://awesomescreenshot.com/0b34wezh7b]NewEgg usually has it listed. No giant green box but it's pretty obvious.[/url]. That's a random one, but the sole SSD Newegg lists from HGST is listed under the SSD category too. Also, go ahead and install Defraggler, it will recognize if it's an SSD and warn you not to defragment it.

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;47702104]I hate how finicky I am when it comes to deciding on graphics cards for my new PC. I've got one or two people telling me the GTX 970 runs poorly when using any kind of anti-aliasing and convincing me that the 980 is really worth $550. But I don't know how much truth there is to those statements because in-game benchmarks seem to show that it runs nearly everything perfectly at 1080p with max settings (including AA) which is what I intend to do. Should I save the ~$200 and get a 970 or are they telling the truth and I really need a 980?[/QUOTE] They really don't have issues with any kind of AA at 1080p. If you're really worried about it, just wait for the 980ti to drop. The 980 prices right now are stupid, and they will come down once the ti drops.

[QUOTE=Sini;47704038]Also can you show Newegg product page that doesn't mention if product is SSD or HDD?[/QUOTE] It's not in my history because I didn't search it on my computer, and again, I don't have the relevant system in front of me. Specifically, it's in its owners house on the other side of town. [QUOTE=gman003-main;47704086][url=http://awesomescreenshot.com/0b34wezh7b]NewEgg usually has it listed. No giant green box but it's pretty obvious.[/url]. That's a random one, but the sole SSD Newegg lists from HGST is listed under the SSD category too. Also, go ahead and install Defraggler, it will recognize if it's an SSD and warn you not to defragment it.[/QUOTE] Didn't say Solid State Drive or Hard Disk Drive anywhere in the title.

Hey I need some help, my rig will run games fine at 60 fps until about 15-20 minutes and then will slow down to 15-25 fps and stay there even if I restart the game. It's not heat, I cleaned out all the dust and all my hardware is at ideal temperature. It's not a virus, I did a full system scan and one threat was found. It's also not a memory leak, my CPU and ram aren't getting bottle-necked. What could be the problem? I couldn't find and answer on google so I was wondering if any of you guys would know. Here's my specs, [img]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e22/Ororororo/specs_zps47gclhmg.png[/img]

[QUOTE=Levelog;47704593]They really don't have issues with any kind of AA at 1080p. If you're really worried about it, just wait for the 980ti to drop. The 980 prices right now are stupid, and they will come down once the ti drops.[/QUOTE] So the 970 is fine and the dude telling me it shits the bed when using AA is just lying to me?

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;47706347]So the 970 is fine and the dude telling me it shits the bed when using AA is just lying to me?[/QUOTE] Pretty much. Though they might be mainly lying to themselves, trying to justify why they bought a 980 when a 970 gives you 80% the performance for 60% the price.

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;47706347]So the 970 is fine and the dude telling me it shits the bed when using AA is just lying to me?[/QUOTE] Maybe max AA at 1440p. Though with GTA V I've got everything on high with mid level AA and only using 3.3gb VRAM on my 680.

[QUOTE=Levelog;47706377]Maybe max AA at 1440p. Though with GTA V I've got everything on high with mid level AA and only using 3.3gb VRAM on my 680.[/QUOTE] Well yeah, I would understand it causing issues at 1440p. But I intend to use this system for 1080p gaming. Thanks for clearing that up, it helps a lot.

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47706430]970 only chokes when you throw on a retarded amount of AA also didn't we have a rule that if anyone talks about the 970 in a bad way should be shot on sight with out a good source+debate/argument?[/QUOTE] 4xMSAA at 1080p is okay, right? I always thought the rule of thumb was never to go higher than 4x at 1080p.

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;47706449]4xMSAA at 1080p is okay, right? I always thought the rule of thumb was never to go higher than 4x at 1080p.[/QUOTE] It really depends on the game. I mean, my old 6870 does 16xSSAA at 1440p - for UT2004. That's an extreme example but the point stands that even games from this year have wildly different performance requirements. Antialiasing just puts more load on the GPU. 2xSSAA will literally halve your framerate, as long as you were already GPU-bound. MSAA and other types of antialiasing are less intense, but 4xMSAA still roughly halves your framerate. That's not specific to any card, or any game - antialiasing (with the exception of FXAA) linearly affects your GPU's performance, whether it's a Titan or a 970 or a Rage 3D or even software rendering.

[QUOTE=gman003-main;47706490]It really depends on the game. I mean, my old 6870 does 16xSSAA at 1440p - for UT2004. That's an extreme example but the point stands that even games from this year have wildly different performance requirements. Antialiasing just puts more load on the GPU. 2xSSAA will literally halve your framerate, as long as you were already GPU-bound. MSAA and other types of antialiasing are less intense, but 4xMSAA still roughly halves your framerate. That's not specific to any card, or any game - antialiasing (with the exception of FXAA) linearly affects your GPU's performance, whether it's a Titan or a 970 or a Rage 3D or even software rendering.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I kinda figured it was a game-by-game basis too. I believe the most demanding titles I have/will own soon are Shadow of Mordor, GTA 5, Assassin's Creed: Unity, and I'm definitely going to run Skyrim with a not-too-intensive ENB like Phinix Natural or NLA, if any of these things help.

On a scale from 1 to 10 how bad is it that my second hard disk suddenly decides to disconnect randomly? I have a 128 GB SSD where Windows along with a few other programs are located. I then have this 2 TB HDD which is from 2011. It has all the major stuff like programs, games and data. During a game of CS it decided to 'disconnect' itself, at least disappear from the surface of this dimension. That resulted in a bluescreen. It also disconnected a few minutes ago, luckily while I was doing nothing. Is it a sign of a dying harddisk? It's not like the cables are loose or I'm physically interacting with it.

[QUOTE=war_man333;47708086]On a scale from 1 to 10 how bad is it that my second hard disk suddenly decides to disconnect randomly? I have a 128 GB SSD where Windows along with a few other programs are located. I then have this 2 TB HDD which is from 2011. It has all the major stuff like programs, games and data. During a game of CS it decided to 'disconnect' itself, at least disappear from the surface of this dimension. That resulted in a bluescreen. It also disconnected a few minutes ago, luckily while I was doing nothing. Is it a sign of a dying harddisk? It's not like the cables are loose or I'm physically interacting with it.[/QUOTE] 8. Get it backed up.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/lm62Bam.jpg[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/fB3N5Ar.png[/img] I get this bluescreen now and then. I checked the harddisk and it's current pending sector count is... bad? I guess? I tried defragging the disk, not sure if that did fuckall.

whelp. I thought it might have something to do with my new graphics card, but that just doesn't make any sense to me.

While we're on that topic: [t]http://s3.postimg.org/6fdlcqjk3/dangerzone.png[/t] To make matters worse, those disks are part of a Raid-0 array for my stationary.

Besides Hyperthreading and 4 more threads... is there a point to get a i7 as opposed to a i5-4690k?

So I'm upgrading my PC and basically replacing all the parts except RAM and HDD. I'm having some tough time deciding which motherboard to get. I'll buy 4x2gb RAM, i5-4590, S12II 520w PSU and an MSI Twin Frozr GTX 970. I was originally going for a 290, but I got an extremely good deal with the 970 so I'll go with it. My current case is a [URL="http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mid-tower/elite-310/"]Coolermaster 310 elite[/URL], which is an extremely cheap mid-tower I got 5 years ago. This is a budget build so I don't see a reason to replace it. Here are my options. I've filtered it to show boards with 4x RAM slots and 1150 cpu support. My processor is not an overclockable model, so I don't see need to get a Z motherboard. A tech guy recommended me this [URL]http://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/Gigabyte-GA-H97M-D3H-Intel-H97-So-1150-Dual-Channel-DDR3-mATX-Retail_961232.html[/URL] . It's an mATX board, and my case can support ATX boards, so that's the reason I haven't bought it yet. It only has an extra x4 PCI-E slot and no M.2. I'm not buying an SSD now or doing SLI, but I might get an SSD in the future and possibly in the future SLI, if I need an upgrade (if it makes sense to do, I don't know).Although, if my case turns out to be complete shit for a high-spec PC like this, I would probably replace it with a minitower. So behind this long ass link are my options, basically. [URL]http://www.mindfactory.de/Hardware/Mainboards.html/1/4585:36172:5302:1481:2435:35485:34145:3373:4049:1547:34220:34105:890:7237:35228:1401:36547:4587:1960/112/20200/114/6858:6859/118/6933/page/2[/URL] . I would hate paying over 80€ for it, since I've been really cheap with the rest of my parts, and I'm building this on a low budget. [editline]12th May 2015[/editline] Misleading 4th paragraph, won't let me edit

Is fraps development dead? he hasn't update it since 2013?

[QUOTE=Zeb Brown;47710779]Is fraps development dead? he hasn't update it since 2013?[/QUOTE] To be fair, its on borrowed time. Its extremely inefficient compared to the alternatives, which are free (OBS) and often do hardware based compression (Nvidia ShadowPlay, AMD VCE, and Intel Quicksync). The only true upside to Fraps was near lossless but it was also a huge drawback if your HDD couldn't keep up.

[QUOTE=TheJoker;47710269]Besides Hyperthreading and 4 more threads... is there a point to get a i7 as opposed to a i5-4690k?[/QUOTE] They're higher bins and can usually hit higher clocks, but that's not worth it for 99% of people, especially if you're just gaming or something and don't have an insane cooling.

[QUOTE=Lanopo;47705893]Hey I need some help, my rig will run games fine at 60 fps until about 15-20 minutes and then will slow down to 15-25 fps and stay there even if I restart the game. It's not heat, I cleaned out all the dust and all my hardware is at ideal temperature. It's not a virus, I did a full system scan and one threat was found. It's also not a memory leak, my CPU and ram aren't getting bottle-necked. What could be the problem? I couldn't find and answer on google so I was wondering if any of you guys would know. Here's my specs, [img]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e22/Ororororo/specs_zps47gclhmg.png[/img][/QUOTE] I had this happen to me a LOT in the DayZ mod when I had a GTX 280. In my case the gpu was kicking down to "2d mode" due to bugs and the fix was to use nVidia Inspector to change the 2D mode clock speeds to be the same as 3D. leave MSI afterburner open when you game and watch your gpu clock speeds, if they drop and stay there i bet you have the same issue