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

[QUOTE=seano12;47815053]I've had my HDD for 6 years and have used it regularly. Will it die soon?[/QUOTE] Normal, consumer-level drives (with 12- or 36-month warranties) 80% of all hard drives will survive to 4 years, then 50% 6 years. Then you can remove about 12% every year. After 3 to 4 years you should backup your data very often ;) [URL="http://www.extremetech.com/computing/170748-how-long-do-hard-drives-actually-live-for"]sauce[/URL]

What risks are there from cleaning your desktop tower?

[QUOTE=Hugo Strange;47815239]What risks are there from cleaning your desktop tower?[/QUOTE] Depends on method of cleaning.

[QUOTE=Leestons;47812318]Why is my broadband disconnected at almost exactly the same time each day? It's almost always at 2:08am. [code] May 27 02:08:09 syslog: Line 0: ADSL link down May 27 02:08:10 syslog: Line 0: xDSL G.994 training May 27 02:08:11 syslog: Clear IP addresses. PPP connection DOWN. May 27 02:08:16 syslog: atm0 - WAN link DOWN. May 27 02:08:27 syslog: Line 0: ADSL G.992 started May 27 02:08:31 syslog: Line 0: ADSL G.992 channel analysis May 27 02:08:38 syslog: Line 0: ADSL G.992 message exchange May 27 02:08:39 syslog: Line 0: ADSL link up, Bearer 0, us=175, ds=763 May 27 02:08:50 syslog: PPP LCP UP. May 27 02:08:50 syslog: WAN link UP. May 27 02:08:50 syslog: Received valid IP address from server. Connection UP. May 27 02:08:52 syslog: Send out NTP request to ntp1.isp.sky.com [/code][/QUOTE] Your ISP assigns your connection a new IP. [QUOTE]Dynamic IP addresses can change each time you connect to the Internet, while static IP addresses are reserved for you statically and don't change over time. Residential Internet connections, whether broadband or dialup usually use dynamic IP addresses, while commercial leased lines and servers have static IPs, so they can always be reached at the same address. The need for dynamic IP addresses arises from the limited number of IP addresses available in IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4). Theoretically, there can be about four billion IPs in the Internet, however, the actual number is much lower for various reasons. Something had to be done to ensure supply of address space, at least until IPv6 is widely implemented on the Internet, allowing for 128bit IP addresses. The limited IP address space is one of the reasons for the wide use of NAT routers, as well as DHCP and leasing of dynamic IP addresses.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.speedguide.net/faq/what-is-the-difference-between-dynamic-and-static-137[/url]

[QUOTE=uber.;47815897]Your ISP assigns your connection a new IP. [url]http://www.speedguide.net/faq/what-is-the-difference-between-dynamic-and-static-137[/url][/QUOTE] Interesting that his ISP forces his connection to go down for a minute. Most just let it go indefinitely.

[QUOTE=Leestons;47812318]Why is my broadband disconnected at almost exactly the same time each day? It's almost always at 2:08am. [code] May 27 02:08:09 syslog: Line 0: ADSL link down May 27 02:08:10 syslog: Line 0: xDSL G.994 training May 27 02:08:11 syslog: Clear IP addresses. PPP connection DOWN. May 27 02:08:16 syslog: atm0 - WAN link DOWN. May 27 02:08:27 syslog: Line 0: ADSL G.992 started May 27 02:08:31 syslog: Line 0: ADSL G.992 channel analysis May 27 02:08:38 syslog: Line 0: ADSL G.992 message exchange May 27 02:08:39 syslog: Line 0: ADSL link up, Bearer 0, us=175, ds=763 May 27 02:08:50 syslog: PPP LCP UP. May 27 02:08:50 syslog: WAN link UP. May 27 02:08:50 syslog: Received valid IP address from server. Connection UP. May 27 02:08:52 syslog: Send out NTP request to ntp1.isp.sky.com [/code][/QUOTE] Its a Sky thing, they disconnect everyone for like a minute at early morning (mine does it at like 5~6am). Don't really know why, you'd assume to deal a new IP address because we're dynamic but at times it doesn't give me a new one. They'll be doing it for a reason, just don't know why.

Force disconnecting people after a day is a very common thing. Possible reasons include discouraging server use and improving customers' privacy.

So I'm currently using Chrome because Firefox has been prone to crashes on my system and I can't be fucked to troubleshoot it right now. The thing is, fonts look kinda weird in comparison. Does Chrome use a different font smoothing method or something? It's not sizes, I just compared the two browsers.

[QUOTE=lavacano;47818287]So I'm currently using Chrome because Firefox has been prone to crashes on my system and I can't be fucked to troubleshoot it right now. The thing is, fonts look kinda weird in comparison. Does Chrome use a different font smoothing method or something? It's not sizes, I just compared the two browsers.[/QUOTE] Just turn off font AA. Nothing will go wrong, I promise.

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47818294]yeah they smoothed out the font there is a fix though behind this lemme le google [URL]chrome://flags[/URL] search for directwrite[/QUOTE] Not a Windows user, it isn't DirectWrite

I have a 128gb ssd. I need more space, if I buy a 250gb ssd, can I clone it easily? Cause reasons. I've never done this before.

[QUOTE=Phrozen99;47820047]I have a 128gb ssd. I need more space, if I buy a 250gb ssd, can I clone it easily? Cause reasons. I've never done this before.[/QUOTE] Yeah, Clonezilla should work just fine. You'll just have to expand the partition in Windows afterwards.

Coo. I have way too many things installed and yes I am that lazy. Knowing me, I'll probably sell it soon afterwards anyways.

Any suggestions for a good LED lightbulb. I want one that I can change colors and shit

I've been looking to upgrade to a new graphics card for Witcher 3 and found [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127839&cm_re=r9_285-_-14-127-839-_-Product"]This card[/URL]. I was surprised when I saw the power consumption was only 250W since most other higher end models I saw needed at least 500W. I guess what I'm wondering is if there's any problems with the card that I wouldn't know (Like if MSI makes bad cards, or if R9 285 crashes a lot. I'm new to building so I'd like to be safe with that kind of stuff). I'm also wondering if there's other things to consider when getting a new graphics card other than just the powers supply.

[QUOTE=Sunny Dei;47820279]I've been looking to upgrade to a new graphics card for Witcher 3 and found [URL="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127839&cm_re=r9_285-_-14-127-839-_-Product"]This card[/URL]. I was surprised when I saw the power consumption was only 250W since most other higher end models I saw needed at least 500W. I guess what I'm wondering is if there's any problems with the card that I wouldn't know (Like if MSI makes bad cards, or if R9 285 crashes a lot. I'm new to building so I'd like to be safe with that kind of stuff). I'm also wondering if there's other things to consider when getting a new graphics card other than just the powers supply.[/QUOTE] They put the TDP there instead of the total recommended system wattage. You'll do great with that card. [editline]27th May 2015[/editline] Well, what PSU do you have now? Make and model and wattage.

I'd recommend spending the extra $10 on an R9 280X, as 1GB less video memory can hurt quite a bit. You'll also have to consider whether the card will physically fit in your case, or it's too long.

I forgot the 285 only had 2gb

[QUOTE=Levelog;47820294]They put the TDP there instead of the total recommended system wattage. You'll do great with that card. [editline]27th May 2015[/editline] Well, what PSU do you have now? Make and model and wattage.[/QUOTE] Internal ATX 460W (My system was pre-built and that's how its described on the [URL="http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-ENVY-h8-Desktop-PC-series/5330773/model/5331403/document/c03639067"]Product specs[/URL]) so I'm sure I can handle the card. [editline]27th May 2015[/editline] Would the 1GB be crucial? I'm not going for ultra or high settings, just at least medium

[QUOTE=Sunny Dei;47820473]Internal ATX 460W (My system was pre-built and that's how its described on the [URL="http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-ENVY-h8-Desktop-PC-series/5330773/model/5331403/document/c03639067"]Product specs[/URL]) so I'm sure I can handle the card.[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure it can't. Those are almost always really crappy units that can't handle anywhere near the stated wattage. Also many high end cards might not fit in that case.

[QUOTE=Levelog;47820505]I'm pretty sure it can't. Those are almost always really crappy units that can't handle anywhere near the stated wattage. Also many high end cards might not fit in that case.[/QUOTE] Alright, well I guess there's more research for me. Thanks for the help!

Shadowplay can into blacklist right? right? :c [t]http://7proxies.pw/i/2015/05/15-05-28_11-08-24.png[/t]

[QUOTE=Sunny Dei;47820473]Would the 1GB be crucial? I'm not going for ultra or high settings, just at least medium[/QUOTE] [url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/8460/amd-radeon-r9-285-review]Check out the benchmarks.[/url] The R9 285 tends to trail by around 5 fps, and as games keep using more VRAM, that gap increases with later games. [url=http://kotaku.com/the-witcher-3-benchmarked-the-new-crysis-1706485415]Though in The Witcher 3, specifically, both cards perform about equally well.[/url] Note these were made before the latest patch, which is supposed to improve performance somewhat. What the benchmarks don't tell is that some games will just scale down quality when your VRAM simply isn't large enough - and that can mean a significant difference in e.g. texture quality. I don't know whether The Witcher 3 does this, though. In any case, I don't think spending [I]10 dollars less[/I] is worth the difference, but YMMV. Do note that your CPU is also quite a bottleneck here. TW3 is demanding in all areas, and an FX-6200 is pretty slow. Though if you can only afford to upgrade one thing, a new GPU (plus a PSU for compatibility) is still your best bet. Still doesn't answer whether it'll fit in that case though. Many versions of the R9 285 are a little shorter than the 280X, that's something to keep in mind.

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47821554]Today I learned directwrite does not feature in Linux.[/QUOTE] well, from "Direct" it's pretty obvious it's a DirectX feature and DirectX isn't a thing in operating systems that aren't Windows

Whats best free lighweight malware removal software? I have Avast but I only recently found out it doesn't protect against malware? If it does - it's doing a shitty job at it.

Got 22 threads using anti-malware. Mostly registry values named Secuity.Hijack. Should I change my passwords or is that nothing major?

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47823412]change em anyway you should be changing your passwords regularly anyway at least every 28 days[/QUOTE] Well I have gmail two step verification (which is I guess the most important account), that would stop anyone right? It surely stopped me from using my gmail account when I didn't have phone with me.

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;47823429]2 step should be fine but just be wary[/QUOTE] This really pisses me off about Avast. I've been using it for past 3 years with no malware software, I wonder how much shit of mine was stolen.

Looking to get a cooling pad for my girlfriends laptop, thing gets pretty hot pretty easily. Usually shuts off when playing Borderlands 2 for more than half an hour. I'm gonna clean it out but I also wanted to get the pad because this thing has one wimpy vent on the left side of it. Was thinking about getting this one: [url]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834992853[/url] Yea, nae? suggestions? Not looking to spend more than, like, 25$ tops.

how the FUCK do i make my laptop fan stop spinning at 100% all the time? it's not even blowing out hot air, the cpu isn't even hot and at like 10% load, it's really irritating