Computer and tech talk and questions

[Princess Artemis]

Hi all!

Come here and list your favorite program(s) to use:

Some of my top picks:

 

Emulation:

zsnes.

 

Web browsing:

tossup between chrome and firefox -- although firefox's adblock extensions can block flash ads...

 

email/time management:

the Kontact PIM for KDE

 

Games:

Currently, Minecraft.

 

Audio Player:

Amarok!

Been a long time since I used zsnes.

 

I don't know some of those, but I do plan on getting acquainted with them real soon. Been wanting to run a Linux for years...now that my hardware is seriously outstripping my software, might as well give it a shot.

[Omen]

I have a few computer hardware questions, regarding Motherboards, CPU's and PSU's. I also have an OS question, but I'll leave that at the bottom of my post.

 

I'm going to upgrade my Motherboard, however I'm a little torn on which method I should go for. The first method is just replacing the Motherboard, whilst keeping my somewhat dated CPU. Second method is replacing the Motherboard and CPU. I'll also be upgrading my PSU to allow my computer to run at a better performance (currently running on 350w PSU).

 

Okay, right now I have a 775 socket Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 CPU with a IPIBL-LA (Berkeley) Motherboard. If I keep the CPU, I am limited to two options, the first option being cheaper, but doesn't have as many options as the second.

 

Set Up 1: Keep CPU and just upgrade Motherboard to DDR3 memory compatible;

 

Motherboard 1: ASUS P5G41T-M-LX

Motherboard 2: Gigabyte GA-EP41T-USB3

 

^The Gigabyte one seems to be better, though I can't find any information on the onboard graphics, if it has any at all. Onboard graphics isn't necessary though, just nice to have if my graphics card decides to malfunction.

 

Set Up 2: Upgrade and replace Motherboard and CPU;

 

Motherboard: ASUS M5A99X EVO

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition

 

OR

 

Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Gene Z

CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K

 

From experience, Intel seems to be a decent CPU, but the cost is noticeable in comparison to the AMD. The cheapest Intel CPU's are more expensive than a middle grade AMD CPU, not to mention the price difference with the Motherboards. Right now, I'm leaning towards the AMD mainly because of the cost (replace Motherboard and CPU for <$350 with AMD or replace Motherboard and CPU for $500> with Intel). I don't have experience with how well they work, so does anyone have a preference?

 

In the end, if the Intel is worth the extra cost, than I am willing to spend the extra money, it just means it'll take a lot longer to upgrade. Yes, I realise I pretty much chose upmarket when it came to the Intel, mainly because if I'm going to spend more, I may as well get a decent CPU/Mobo while I'm at it.

 

Regarding Power Supplies, which PSU out of these two is the best, ignoring the cost?

 

PSU 1: Antec High Current Gamer 750W Power Supply HCG-750

PSU 2: Corsair TX-750 V2 Power Supply

 

 

Final question:

 

I want more than 4gb of memory (running on 2gb at the moment, with Vista Ultimate, it is a nightmare). Currently, with the 32bit OS I am running, 3-4gb is my limit. Meaning, 4gb of the 8gb ram I bought is useless. I looked at the Microsoft website, and found that I can upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate for $219. In the long run, is it worth the $219 to be able to utilize the benefits of a 64bit OS?

[Princess Artemis]

Can't say I know that much about motherboards, but since you aren't listing a sound card, make sure the board you get has sound you like.

 

I personally prefer AMD over Intel just because I've heard some Intel silliness about locking them up so that what they sell is actually more powerful than what people get (I guess it's cheaper to make them all the same and use firmware to artificially restrict the ones intended to be sold as less powerful?)...seems pointless to me. There were (and maybe still are) some issues with AMD timing between cores for some purposes, but most programs that use all the cores either account for that now or are likely more technical than what you're looking for.

 

No clue on the PSU, though I've heard both are good brands and 750 ought to power a small city.

 

I think your decision to upgrade your OS to 64 bit depends on what you want it for. If you're using memory intensive programs that really need the RAM and you're seeing them chew through it fast on a regular basis, it might very well be worth it. Maybe though, see what upgrading your motherboard and maybe CPU end up doing for your computer's performance. Eventually you'll not want to have those extra GB just sitting there, but if things run well for you, why spend the money?

 

Though if you're thinking about it, take it into account--CPUs run noticeably hotter on a 64 bit OS than on a 32 bit OS. Make sure your case has adequate cooling in there for running a CPU that will get hotter than what it does now.

Edited August 17, 2011 by Princess Artemis

[Omen]

Alright, thank you very much for those tips thus far, it's more help than I have received off a computer forum.

 

Looking at my memory usage, it's nearly half with just one webpage open. However, upgrading to 4gb should be enough. I'm not a hardcore gamer, but some games I do play are a bit heavy on the graphics, upgrading Mobo and CPU should even out the toll on the memory though. Not only that, it'll allow me to keep a 32bit OS and not have to upgrade. Should I need it, I can always upgrade later on.

 

Regarding the sound card, this is my current sound card: Integrated Realtek ALC888S Audio . I've had no issues with it, and judging by the integrated part, it's built into the motherboard. Of the two motherboards I listed, the sound cards look alright. I don't even have speakers on my computer, so an average sound card is fine, integrated or not.

 

My case is a factory standard Hp pavilion Elite m9080a, I doubt it has adequate cooling for an upgraded system (I think it only has 1 fan). At a glance, this case is both cost efficient and offer better cooling: NZXT Guardian 921RB. Not only that, it's less ugly than my current case (not that it matters as much as cooling). Watched a review on it too, seems like it's a decent model for what I am after.

 

So far, it looks like I'll be going with the AMD set up. Total cost for me would be under $567 (with new Mobo, CPU, PSU, Case). Intel set up would cost me $834 (with new Mobo, CPU, PSU, Case). Thanks again for your help, Princess Artemis. I was quite confused to start with, but after looking back through the specs, it's not as difficult to notice the difference between set ups.

[TikindiDragon]

Personaly we've always used Intel chipsets. Largely because, in our experience, PCs built with AMD chips tend to wear ot quicker. My brother spent years building his with AMDs, and would end up having to completely rebuild every year to 18 months. He switched at the point in time he realised I'd been running mine for four years, and the only thing I'd done was update the graphics card on it. Intels are pretty stable, and personaly I would go with that.

 

If you get the right graphics card you should find that that helps with the memomry useage while gaming. A lot of the better ones now take some of the memory processing onto themselves which speeds the whole computer up. I game A LOT and I've got 4gb with Windows Vista Ultimate running. No speed issues for me, so I doubt you'll have any

[Omen]

Hmm. I simply cannot afford to upgrade every 18months or so, that's a massive deal breaker with me. As much as I would love to be able to upgrade often, my computer is one of four working ones within this household, and is just as important as the others. Oddly enough, it is also 4 years old and I've only ever had to replace fried memory and graphics, I've probably abused it more than it should be too.

 

Looking at the Core i5's, I don't necessarily have to go with an upmarket CPU to get what I'm after, also taking into account that I'm no longer upgrading the OS, it might be more efficient money wise. Argh, I'm an Intel fan and it's making my overall opinion on them rather biased, so it's difficult for me to decide based on specs.

 

Regardless, thank you both for providing a little bit of information on the AMD and Intel CPU's. I've looked at what would be the equivalent of the AMD set up, but with Intel instead. Reviewing the options I have, I think I've come to an affordable, yet durable set up:

 

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-M PRO Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K

 

Total cost with PSU and Case added: $632. That's a $65 difference. Hmm, after reading a few reviews, apparently the Core i5 wipes the floor with the Phenom II (see prior comment about me being biased). In the end, I think I'll go with the 3rd set up.

 

Sorry if my posts seem like I'm trying to convince myself which is better, I am taking into account the opinions of both TikindiDragon and PrincessArtemis. I very much appreciate the tips and comments, it's helped me immensely as the person I usually look to for tech advice is currently on the other side of the country and can't give me more than few minutes of quick advice. I will keep these tips in mind for when I'm upgrading my mothers old computer (or should I say, switching parts).

 

Edit: I really wish I had some prior experience with AMD. Anywho, I think the AMD would only be 'inferior' in terms of life expectancy should I overclock it, which I don't plan on doing (I haven't researched AMD much, it seems to be one of those Windows vs Mac arguements with AMD vs Intel) it's hard to find decent information without being biased. In all honesty, the AMD does look like a good CPU for the attractive price it has, but I've settled on the Intel i5 for now, on the basis that I am an Intel fan and also on the basis that the i5 is supposedly better.

 

Modular Power Supplies? Sweet. I hate all the excess cables because it confuses me, having a quick look at the website I'm buying off shows some promising, yet not overly expensive PSU's. I'm definitely interested with that now. $60 extra cost for the one I'm looking at... it's either that or use cable sleeving, which looks like a pain. I could possibly put a fan on the side, not too sure about it though.

Edited August 17, 2011 by VampiricOmen

[Princess Artemis]

Sounds good. (Although every 18 months is a lot, I'd also wager it's unusual--I've had my AMD for years.)

 

Take a look at the case you have though. Chances are good that there is at least one place on it you can add a case fan. The case fan I added to my case cost me $12. Ventilation is also about airflow--if you build it yourself, just make sure you don't leave the cords where they would block airflow.

[TikindiDragon]

If you can afford to be getting one modular power supplies are very good at cutting down on excess cabling inside the case

[7Deadly$ins]

The i5-2500k is a great CPU. I'm running it now without any problems. Remember if you overclock it you may need to look into more cooling options as well. The z68 is also a good motherboard right now, and it will probably last you awhile. I'm running a Gigabyte z68 right now too.

 

What case and power supply are you looking at? Your prices seem a little high to me. What country are you in and are you ordering online?

 

Also I recommend Windows 7 over Vista, but it isn't a huge deal. But I wouldn't get the Ultimate edition unless you really need it. The average person doesn't use anything not included in the Home Premium edition. If you're a student, you can also get it for a lot cheaper through Microsoft's website.

[Omen]

I'm in Australia, that may explain the increased price. I will be ordering online, most likely from the PC Case gear site, or Ebay should the other site be out of stock, so I'll also have to factor in shipping (which from experience, isn't too bad for light objects, the heavier parts may be iffy though). I won't be overclocking anything, as I don't have any experience with it, and I don't think I will need to overclock my components to get the performance I want.

 

Not sure if I would be eligible for the student prices, but looking at the Home Premium version of Windows 7, the price range is a little more reasonable.

 

Currently, I'm looking at these:

Case: NZXT Guardian 921RB linky

PSU: Corsair AX750 Gold Power Supply linky <this one is modular 8D

 

With the z68's, is there a specific one you would recommend? Also, would it be wise to invest in a tool kit, as I aim to help upgrade my families computers too.

 

I'm starting to think building a new PC would be cheaper in the long run. *sigh* Regardless, I have pretty much decided on the CPU, which was my main issue.

[7Deadly$ins]

I don't have a specific one to recommend; I don't actually know all that much about them.

 

This, however, is my specific one.

[demonicvampiregirl]

Idk if this is the right place for it but I got a question about google chrome. I have it and use it on occasion but the site I use on it tends to have virus' every now and then (happened on my moms comp but everything got blocked so nothing came through) is there an ad block or something for chrome? I mostly use deviantart on it if your wondering. I'm not saying it's some virus' infested site that needs to be avoided I just want to get something to block the ads on there so I can go through deviations and not have to worry :/

[TPishek]

Idk if this is the right place for it but I got a question about google chrome. I have it and use it on occasion but the site I use on it tends to have virus' every now and then (happened on my moms comp but everything got blocked so nothing came through) is there an ad block or something for chrome? I mostly use deviantart on it if your wondering. I'm not saying it's some virus' infested site that needs to be avoided I just want to get something to block the ads on there so I can go through deviations and not have to worry :/

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/g...cnamgkkbiglidom

 

This is the AdBlock for Chrome. There's also an AdBlock Plus in beta testing--> https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/c...search&hcp=main

[skyress2000]

Hi, so I was just searching the forum for programming topics and found none, so I made my own. I want this to be a place where people can discuss programming and help each other with their problems.

I currently know html and Game Maker, I'm learning objective-c(so I can use it for I phone apps), and I want to learn BB code

 

Our motto is: programming geeks unite!!!

 

Oh by the way I can teach u html or game maker if u want

Edited September 5, 2011 by skyress2000

[Obscure_Trash]

~Merged threads~

[poko5]

Hi, so I was just searching the forum for programming topics and found none, so I made my own. I want this to be a place where people can discuss programming and help each other with their problems.

I currently know html and Game Maker, I'm learning objective-c(so I can use it for I phone apps), and I want to learn BB code

 

Our motto is: programming geeks unite!!!

 

Oh by the way I can teach u html or game maker if u want

HTML is not programming, its a mark up language.

 

[wonton55912]

Hi, so I was just searching the forum for programming topics and found none, so I made my own. I want this to be a place where people can discuss programming and help each other with their problems.

I currently know html and Game Maker, I'm learning objective-c(so I can use it for I phone apps), and I want to learn BB code 

 

Our motto is: programming geeks unite!!!    

 

Oh by the way I can teach u html or game maker if u want

If you need any help with the BBCode I'd be happy to help you with it. Been using it for just over a year.

 

...Though I really want to learn HTML, I can't focus enough to work with it.

 

Edit: If you can get me to focus, YESPLZ for the teaching.

 

On another note, where do you get graphics cards? Mine's extremely outdated.

Edited September 5, 2011 by wonton55912

[7Deadly$ins]

If you need any help with the BBCode I'd be happy to help you with it. Been using it for just over a year.

 

...Though I really want to learn HTML, I can't focus enough to work with it.

 

Edit: If you can get me to focus, YESPLZ for the teaching.

 

On another note, where do you get graphics cards? Mine's extremely outdated.

What country are you in? Online is probably the best place to get them. I prefer Newegg, personally.

[skyress2000]

k. if you know BB code, its gonna be pretty easy to learn html, since the 2 languages are pretty similar.

Here's what a page that says "hello world" looks like:

<html>

<head>

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN""http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">

<title>Hello, World!!1!</title>

</head>

<body>

<p>Hello, World! You are a smiley face!</p>

</body>

</html>

sorry. I know that is sorta boring, but I have to appease the tiki gods(they force you to start with "hello world")

 

So, all html pages start with the <html> tag. this tells us its html. then we need a head tag. then, this: <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN""http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> I know you're thinking OMG what is this, its just the... what do you call it? anyway, it tells the browser you're using html 4.01. Then, the title. This goes over where you type in the address when you view it in a browser. again, this is a tag with a closing tag. again, BB code users, you should be familiar with this. then we close the head tag and start the body. all I did was put a paragraph with hello world. Finally, we close the body and html tags.

Edited September 6, 2011 by skyress2000

[skyress2000]

k. so if you want to learn html(example above) say it here. I can probably only teach 5 people, so get here quick!

 

Students:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

heres a list of links to things I've made using html:)

it doesn't work... i will email them to my students, and if you want to look at them and you're not a student, pm me.

[prairiecrow]

k. so if you want to learn html(example above)

Which appears to have come from the following website:

 

http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/global.html

 

You made some minor changes to the title and body text, but other than that it's a direct C&P as far as I can tell.

 

I know attribution has gone out of fashion, but still, it's only polite (and ethical) to indicate your sources.

 

ETA: Oh, and...

 

heres a list of links to things I've made using html:)

it doesn't work... i will email them to my students, and if you want to look at them and you're not a student, pm me.

 

If you can't figure out how to set up a sample website to showcase your work, or how to make a BBcode board do the tricks you want it to do... *coughs politely*

Edited September 6, 2011 by prairiecrow

[poko5]

Beat me too it crow

[Daydreamer09]

Would this really go into general discussion? When I saw the topic, I thought we were just going to talk about any coding classes we've taken. Maybe it should go into multimedia.

[Daydreamer09]

I took a basic web coding class back in middle school. It's really been helpful throughout the years. Especially now when I'm taking a interactive multimedia class and one of the programs we're working with is Adobe Dreamweaver. You don't exactly need to know html, but it's very useful if you are not very familiar with the program. One thing I'm bummed about not learning about in that class is setting up frames and scrolling text boxes. That's one thing I just can't remember from middle school.

 

So... Anyone else web savvy?

[prairiecrow]

I learned HTML and built simple websites a little over a decade ago but haven't kept up with the latest developments. In other words, I know just about enough to get myself into trouble.