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

[QUOTE=Levelog;48408298]How do you mean? And any bad sectors is a bad purchase.[/QUOTE] To be clear here, when a disk is broken enough to have bad sectors, it tends to break further. It's not gonna stay at "only" 20GB of bad sectors.

[QUOTE=DrTaxi;48409015]To be clear here, when a disk is broken enough to have bad sectors, it tends to break further. It's not gonna stay at "only" 20GB of bad sectors.[/QUOTE] I'm just wanting to make sure what he thinks are bad sectors isn't just formatting

Plotting a build, heavy focus on watercooling, which I've never done before. For a 700W load (two 980 Tis, a 6700K, and the mobo chipset/PDUs, with room for overclocking), is a radiator setup like this good: 140mm rear 240mm top 280mm front I'm probably going to get relatively low-density radiators, since I want it to be a quiet build. Haven't picked out actual parts yet, I just want to make sure I'm not completely off-base. According to what I've read online, this seems like the exact amount I need, but honestly a lot of the guides seem wrong or out-of-date.

Oh, right. Yeah, 256 base-10 Gigabyte (which is what manufacturers say) is about 238 base-2 Gigabyte/Gibibyte, which is what operating systems show.

[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;48409002]Use Avira or Avast. *Sources* [/QUOTE] Your first primary source, the one which speaks about the speed and impact of the antivirus on a laptop. This has several issues that I can raise with regards to the test that it performs. Firstly. It is based on a laptop using a U class CPU. This is not particularly fast and could be subject to thermal throttling. Secondly. It is based on a hard drive, and not solid state media. This hard drive is also likely running at a lower rpm than a desktop drive and will in general have slower speeds. This will result in ANY antivirus having a massive effect on the system due the write/read speeds being easily saturated and in addition, the CPU will also have a hard time keeping up. The very low amount of RAM, 4gb, will not help things either. This will, overall, bottleneck the antivirus as the setup will have no or little extra bandwidth for such operations, and could result in a bigger impact that compare to a typical power user's set up. I would also like to point out that source 1 on performance doesn't appear to test defender as a legitimate antivirus which leads me to question the testing of it, and is inconstant with source 2, which tests MSE, instead of defender. In regards to overall protection, MWB isn't even tested so therefor your argument against the suggested set up is invalid overall. [editline]8th August 2015[/editline] Additionally, Defender WILL catch most attack vectors that a typical power user could possibly miss, the rest of them can be covered by common sense.

[QUOTE=DrTaxi;48409015]To be clear here, when a disk is broken enough to have bad sectors, it tends to break further. It's not gonna stay at "only" 20GB of bad sectors.[/QUOTE] That was pretty much what I was wondering, I didn't know if sectors failed somewhat randomly or if a few go then they all start going

Is a GTX670 a sensible investment for a gaming PC in 2015? Will I get fucked when DX12 starts seeing widespread use? I'm still running 1366*768 monitors, but I might jump to 1080p at some point in the future.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;48411352]Is a GTX670 a sensible investment for a gaming PC in 2015? Will I get fucked when DX12 starts seeing widespread use? I'm still running 1366*768 monitors, but I might jump to 1080p at some point in the future.[/QUOTE] depends on how much you pay for one and what you have now.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;48411352]Is a GTX670 a sensible investment for a gaming PC in 2015? Will I get fucked when DX12 starts seeing widespread use? I'm still running 1366*768 monitors, but I might jump to 1080p at some point in the future.[/QUOTE] The 670 is still directx 12.0 compatible. It will cause issues at 1080p though.

Ever since I upgraded to Win10 my sound has been doing a weird thing. When I start a game, watch a youtube video, or begin anything with sound it is much louder than it should be. Then all I need to do is simply turn my sound down a click, and then right back up a click for it to snap back to where it should be. I have no freaking idea what is causing that or how to fix it but it's finally annoying me enough to ask about it.

Thanks for the answers. [QUOTE=Jaehead;48411409]depends on how much you pay for one and what you have now.[/QUOTE] I'm trying to spend $300 used, but prices are hardly relevant given where I live.

Is the Logitech m317 a good wireless mouse? My dad picked one up for $12 and I haven't opened it yet (in case I want to return it). I'm planning to use it (or a wireless mouse in general) for school - while in class or at the library. I also don't think I'll be using a mouse much, since I love my handy keyboard shortcuts.

[QUOTE=Itsamario;48409302]Your first primary source, the one which speaks about the speed and impact of the antivirus on a laptop. This has several issues that I can raise with regards to the test that it performs. Firstly. It is based on a laptop using a U class CPU. This is not particularly fast and could be subject to thermal throttling. Secondly. It is based on a hard drive, and not solid state media. This hard drive is also likely running at a lower rpm than a desktop drive and will in general have slower speeds. This will result in ANY antivirus having a massive effect on the system due the write/read speeds being easily saturated and in addition, the CPU will also have a hard time keeping up. The very low amount of RAM, 4gb, will not help things either. This will, overall, bottleneck the antivirus as the setup will have no or little extra bandwidth for such operations, and could result in a bigger impact that compare to a typical power user's set up. I would also like to point out that source 1 on performance doesn't appear to test defender as a legitimate antivirus which leads me to question the testing of it, and is inconstant with source 2, which tests MSE, instead of defender. In regards to overall protection, MWB isn't even tested so therefor your argument against the suggested set up is invalid overall. [editline]8th August 2015[/editline] Additionally, Defender WILL catch most attack vectors that a typical power user could possibly miss, the rest of them can be covered by common sense.[/QUOTE] Your argument is that the slow system is resulting in inaccurate readings... But surely any bottlenecks would be irrelevant for this scenario because Avast and Avira still perform quicker. You would need to prove to me that somehow an i7 with 16gb RAM and a top-of-the-line SSD would somehow be slower for Avast and Avira than MSE. Because common sense would inform us that Avast and Avira would continue to be faster. The burden of proof for that is on you. If your argument is that on a faster machine these differences are negligible because of diminishing returns, Avast and Avira still win out because of security. Defender is tested in Test 1 and is used as the control. Its results are valid. Test 2, the security test, is slightly out of date which is why it is testing MSE. This is why I supplemented that with two other sources that do compare Windows Defender. My claims are consistent with these results. Malwarebytes isn't tested because Malwarebytes isn't an antivirus. [url]https://support.malwarebytes.org/customer/portal/articles/1834872-does-malwarebytes-anti-malware-replace-antivirus-software-?b_id=6438[/url] If it's being used in conjunction with Windows Defender it's still suffering from the weaknesses of Defender outlined above. And surely, if you really wanted to, you could use MWB to compliment Avast or Avira because the use of MWB is not exclusive to use of Defender. Because Avast/Avira > Defender, then the logical consequence of that is Avast/Avira + MWB > Defender + MWB. As such that does not need to be addressed. Common sense dictates that when every shred of evidence shows that there is a superior product readily available for free, you take that instead.

I'm thinking about making a gaming pod and setting it up with 3 screen and two joysticks with foot pedals. Would this be doable? And how many games support 2 joysticks?

[QUOTE=SpartanXC9;48412703]I'm thinking about making a gaming pod and setting it up with 3 screen and two joysticks with foot pedals. Would this be doable? And how many games support 2 joysticks?[/QUOTE] I imagine that any game that has controller support with binding for the analog sticks would support two of them.

[QUOTE=aclonegeek;48412152]Is the Logitech m317 a good wireless mouse? My dad picked one up for $12 and I haven't opened it yet (in case I want to return it). I'm planning to use it (or a wireless mouse in general) for school - while in class or at the library. I also don't think I'll be using a mouse much, since I love my handy keyboard shortcuts.[/QUOTE] I've been using an m510 for a few years now, only changed batteries once. I highly recommend it. Is it possible (or easy for that matter) to move my router/modem/whatever to another part of my house? It's currently sitting in a corner of the basement that was once our computer hub, but now just about everyone's moved their devices to the other side of the house and the wireless is terrible. I have to reset the router at least once a week because the Wifi keeps crapping up on my sister's Macbook. We have whatever router Verizon gave us when we switched to FiOS a few years back, and my dad says it's too hard to move a router to a new location in the house.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;48411352]Is a GTX670 a sensible investment for a gaming PC in 2015? Will I get fucked when DX12 starts seeing widespread use? I'm still running 1366*768 monitors, but I might jump to 1080p at some point in the future.[/QUOTE] I am getting a 670 back from warranty repair soon, bought a 970 for myself, just fyi.

[del]In XFCE, how do I automatically put the search field in the whisker menu in focus when I open it?[/del] Looks like it was Compiz that was the sinner. Had to disable it in CCSM > General Settings > Focus & Raise Behaviour

Hey guys, I'm having a few issues with my internet. I get decent speeds for uploading and downloading, but there are times when games register me as having incredibly high ping, and this can last for anywhere for a few seconds to a few minutes. Talking to my ISP is pretty pointless, as all they offer to do is change my plan to a higher-tier (AKA asking my to upgrade to a different plan). I've opened all the necessary ports, have the latest WiFi drivers, and my router is relatively good and kept cool to prevent overheating. Is there anything I can do on my end to improve my internet?

[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;48412701]Your argument is that the slow system is resulting in inaccurate readings... But surely any bottlenecks would be irrelevant for this scenario because Avast and Avira still perform quicker. You would need to prove to me that somehow an i7 with 16gb RAM and a top-of-the-line SSD would somehow be slower for Avast and Avira than MSE. Because common sense would inform us that Avast and Avira would continue to be faster. The burden of proof for that is on you. If your argument is that on a faster machine these differences are negligible because of diminishing returns, Avast and Avira still win out because of security. Defender is tested in Test 1 and is used as the control. Its results are valid. Test 2, the security test, is slightly out of date which is why it is testing MSE. This is why I supplemented that with two other sources that do compare Windows Defender. My claims are consistent with these results. Malwarebytes isn't tested because Malwarebytes isn't an antivirus. [url]https://support.malwarebytes.org/customer/portal/articles/1834872-does-malwarebytes-anti-malware-replace-antivirus-software-?b_id=6438[/url] If it's being used in conjunction with Windows Defender it's still suffering from the weaknesses of Defender outlined above. And surely, if you really wanted to, you could use MWB to compliment Avast or Avira because the use of MWB is not exclusive to use of Defender. Because Avast/Avira > Defender, then the logical consequence of that is Avast/Avira + MWB > Defender + MWB. As such that does not need to be addressed. Common sense dictates that when every shred of evidence shows that there is a superior product readily available for free, you take that instead.[/QUOTE] A high end PC will not be saturated by running base system functions. A low end ultra-book class cpu will be - and it is kinda of an unfair comarison to compare the default antivirus detection rate to one that is not, because if it can't pass the default av, it's basically useless. However I trust defender to catch any non conventional attack vectors. Beyond that I trust myself to catch anything else.

Do you or someone else do anything more with your internet connection? Such as torrents.

[QUOTE=DrTaxi;48415531]Do you or someone else do anything more with your internet connection? Such as torrents.[/QUOTE] I don't notice a difference one way or the other whether someone is downloading something or watching videos, and there are four other computers in my house. And I may have found the issue. I'm typically the only one who seems to get any problems with the internet connection, and as it turns out, I can't install the latest wifi drivers from Intel. The Intel Driver Utility claims that the drivers are "installed" after I restart my laptop, but checking the actual driver says nothing has changed. Also trying to download the driver from Intel's site directly does the same thing. Any way I can force-install the drivers successfully?

Hey guys I'm buying a laptop for college, and I want to do a bit of gaming, but not a ton. Optimistically (perhaps not realistically), I'd hope I'd be able to play either MGSV/FO4 at a medium/high setting. I've been looking at models in the $1,000-1,500 USD range, but I've heard criticisms that laptops aren't worth spending that much money on, due to them lasting a shorter amount of time than desktop builds. What price range is best? Oh, and what do you guys think of this: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314853[/URL] Is it overly sufficient or not sufficient enough?

Personally, I think you might as well invest that in building your own desktop, that amount of money can get you a pretty good build.

[QUOTE=SEKCobra;48414972]I am getting a 670 back from warranty repair soon, bought a 970 for myself, just fyi.[/QUOTE] Sadly I don't trust the mail and I kind of want this thing in my case by the end of the month, else I'd buy it off ya.

[QUOTE=Itsamario;48415526]A high end PC will not be saturated by running base system functions. A low end ultra-book class cpu will be - and it is kinda of an unfair comarison to compare the default antivirus detection rate to one that is not, because if it can't pass the default av, it's basically useless. However I trust defender to catch any non conventional attack vectors. Beyond that I trust myself to catch anything else.[/QUOTE] I have no idea what you're talking about.

[QUOTE=huntingrifle;48416604]Personally, I think you might as well invest that in building your own desktop, that amount of money can get you a pretty good build.[/QUOTE] Only problems are that I need something mobile, and I don't know anything about nor trust myself with building a desktop. I don't have room in my dorm for one either. I think I might go with the laptop I listed above unless you guys think I should be investing less.

[QUOTE='Poesidan [GAG];48416431']Hey guys I'm buying a laptop for college, and I want to do a bit of gaming, but not a ton. Optimistically (perhaps not realistically), I'd hope I'd be able to play either MGSV/FO4 at a medium/high setting. I've been looking at models in the $1,000-1,500 USD range, but I've heard criticisms that laptops aren't worth spending that much money on, due to them lasting a shorter amount of time than desktop builds. What price range is best? Oh, and what do you guys think of this: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314853[/URL] Is it overly sufficient or not sufficient enough?[/QUOTE] I tend to drift towards ASUS laptops for that sort of thing. I've had two so far and they've been great. Neither one ever overheated or had any of the typical problems you hear about in relation to laptop gaming. Last one I got was around 1250-1500, ran pretty much everything on high for quite a while before I had to start turning a couple newer games down. I'd definitely check out what ASUS has to offer before making a final decision.

[QUOTE='Poesidan [GAG];48416431']Hey guys I'm buying a laptop for college, and I want to do a bit of gaming, but not a ton. Optimistically (perhaps not realistically), I'd hope I'd be able to play either MGSV/FO4 at a medium/high setting. I've been looking at models in the $1,000-1,500 USD range, but I've heard criticisms that laptops aren't worth spending that much money on, due to them lasting a shorter amount of time than desktop builds. What price range is best? Oh, and what do you guys think of this: [URL]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314853[/URL] Is it overly sufficient or not sufficient enough?[/QUOTE] My has the V15 and he likes it, but the V15 nitro is only $1000 on Amazon for essentially the same specs so you're basically paying $300 for 2 inches more screen You can find better for the price if you go with the V15, xoticpc.com or slickdeals.com

Anyone know how I can fix google.co.uk? What ever i search always brings up US results IE amazon shows amzon.com then loads of other US sites "Tax" shows me IRS stuff and not HMRC