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Topic: Quick [tech] Questions Thread (Read 1205015 times)
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23626
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So I managed to put my new PC together today. It boots, and Vista starts to install off the DVD, but it's sat doing nothing now (after I told it I was in the UK and to Install Now please) for a really long time. Like 10 minutes now saying "Please wait..." with an hourglass symbol. How long should it take? Will I know right away if I've fucked up the CPU/heatsink bit or will it wait until it gets hot before exploding? Hold me, I'm scared! No idea on the Vista install stalling (don't use it). For the CPU/heatsink you can just touch it yourself to check. It will shut itself down if it gets too hot so you can't really "fry" a CPU from too much heat like you could in the past.
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apocrypha
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6711
Planes? Shit, I'm terrified to get in my car now!
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Awesome thanks Trippy. While you were replying Vista came to life and carried on installing, I was just being a girly wuss
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"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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Engels
Terracotta Army
Posts: 9029
inflicts shingles.
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Most BIOSes these days have their own hardware temp monitors. You can check there before the OS if you're worried. Also, they may be a bit more accurate about temp reporting than 3rd party apps you download.
Grats on the new build, btw.
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I should get back to nature, too. You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer. Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached. Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe
I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa
Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23626
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Did you hook up a network cable to it? It might have been trying to make a network connection with a really long timeout timer.
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345
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So. I rearranged my monitors. Ventrilo is launching off of the primary monitor space. Right-clicking on the icon bar brings up things I can't use (like move and resize, there is no maximize option). How can I get that window back onto a monitor?
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Rendakor
Terracotta Army
Posts: 10131
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Have you tried hitting move and dragging it in random directions with the hope that it appears on your monitor(s)?
Failing that, set your PC back to displaying onto your primary monitor only; then open Vent (it should open visibly since it has nowhere else to do so; doing this lets Vent know where to open. Might want to drag it around a little just to make sure it saves its changed position). Then close it, and re-setup your multiple monitors.
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"i can't be a star citizen. they won't even give me a star green card"
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345
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Nah, I got it. Alt+Space+M then use arrow keys.
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apocrypha
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6711
Planes? Shit, I'm terrified to get in my car now!
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Most BIOSes these days have their own hardware temp monitors. You can check there before the OS if you're worried. Also, they may be a bit more accurate about temp reporting than 3rd party apps you download.
Grats on the new build, btw.
Discovered it, cheers :) It also has a thingy that give me a browser, IM, email and all sorts of other stuff before even loading the OS if I want. Nifty! These newfangled doohickeys, what will they come up with next! Did you hook up a network cable to it? It might have been trying to make a network connection with a really long timeout timer.
Yeah could have been something like that, when Vista did finish installing it wasn't happy with the network for ages until I decided to actually put the CD with the motherboard drivers in
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"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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apocrypha
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6711
Planes? Shit, I'm terrified to get in my car now!
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Hrmmm can anyone recommend a good, free firewall for Vista 64? I've used Sunbelt for ages but it's 32-bit only
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"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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Lantyssa
Terracotta Army
Posts: 20848
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I'm happy with Window's Firewall on my home machines as long as I have a good virus scanner and am behind a router. (My work machines don't even have the router and they're on a university network and do fine.)
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Hahahaha! I'm really good at this!
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Mrbloodworth
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15148
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So, i upgraded my laptop, i went from 2 sticks of 1gb, to two sticks of 2gb. However in the properties panel, it says there are only 3gb installed. The video card on the laptop is a x1400 (ATI i think) and says it can use up to 512 ram. (shared of course).
However in the bios, i can't change the list amount of memory, and there is a listing for the Video cards allotment, its set to 128 mb. I can't change any of this, cant even use the arrow keys to get to them. The laptop is running Windows XP.
Any suggestions? More info needed, is so, what?
Thanks.
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SnakeCharmer
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3807
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The laptop is running Windows XP. That's your problem. You need a 64 bit OS - either XP Pro 64, or Vista Premium. I'm 99.9 percent sure on that. If you're wanting to stick with XP Pro 64, I've got an unused copy at home you can have for way cheap. Let me know if interested.
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Mrbloodworth
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15148
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I was hopeing this wasn't the issue. Its only a dual core laptop, not sure if i care enough to upgrade its OS right now. The video card allotment is still in question, and a problem.
So XP only does up to 3 gigs? That's an odd number.
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Ookii
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 2676
is actually Trippy
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Trippy will come to the rescue and explain everything.
Your 32 bit OS wants you to upgrade.
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23626
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So, i upgraded my laptop, i went from 2 sticks of 1gb, to two sticks of 2gb. However in the properties panel, it says there are only 3gb installed. The video card on the laptop is a x1400 (ATI i think) and says it can use up to 512 ram. (shared of course).
However in the bios, i can't change the list amount of memory, and there is a listing for the Video cards allotment, its set to 128 mb. I can't change any of this, cant even use the arrow keys to get to them. The laptop is running Windows XP.
Any suggestions? More info needed, is so, what?
Thanks.
What's the laptop model?
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schild
Administrator
Posts: 60345
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The laptop is running Windows XP. That's your problem. You need a 64 bit OS - either XP Pro 64, or Vista Premium. I'm 99.9 percent sure on that. If you're wanting to stick with XP Pro 64, I've got an unused copy at home you can have for way cheap. Let me know if interested. XP Pro 64 actually has no value, so I find your offer intriguing.
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Mrbloodworth
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15148
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So, i upgraded my laptop, i went from 2 sticks of 1gb, to two sticks of 2gb. However in the properties panel, it says there are only 3gb installed. The video card on the laptop is a x1400 (ATI i think) and says it can use up to 512 ram. (shared of course).
However in the bios, i can't change the list amount of memory, and there is a listing for the Video cards allotment, its set to 128 mb. I can't change any of this, cant even use the arrow keys to get to them. The laptop is running Windows XP.
Any suggestions? More info needed, is so, what?
Thanks.
What's the laptop model? Acer Aspire 5670. Intel Core Duo 1.66 (i think), 2gb ram ( was) ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 512 MB ( this is what it says right on the sticker i never took off, bios says 128) 120gb HD. Its about 2-3 years old, and has been a great laptop, even now. I beta tested Vanguard on it ( on rather high settings too), and my girl uses it for LOTRO. That's the main reason i was trying to squeeze a bit more out of it.
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23626
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Not sure how well this works on mobile GPUs but run this (or something similiar) to ID your GPU: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/You might actually have the Mobile X1400 that has 128 MB of dedicated VRAM instead of shared RAM. Check the memory type. If it's GDDR3 then it looks like you have the dedicated VRAM model.
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Mrbloodworth
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15148
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Not sure how well this works on mobile GPUs but run this (or something similiar) to ID your GPU: http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/You might actually have the Mobile X1400 that has 128 MB of dedicated VRAM instead of shared RAM. Check the memory type. If it's GDDR3 then it looks like you have the dedicated VRAM model. I will check, but that would be contrary to what i bought if true. Unless it has 128, but can pull down another 128 if it wants to from system. If that last bit is the case, then i guess all is well, other than the missing 1 gig system memory. Thanks, ill post back when i get the datas!
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SnakeCharmer
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3807
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Thinking of upgrading for no other reason than to do it. Currently running 8800GTS G92's in SLI. Considering going with a GTX 260 OC, possibly even SLI'ing that. Resolution is 1920x1200.
Thoughts?
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« Last Edit: March 20, 2009, 05:56:09 PM by SnakeCharmer »
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rattran
Moderator
Posts: 4257
Unreasonable
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Do you have more money than sense? If so, it's a good plan. At 1920x1200, 8800gt sli should just about max out in everything.
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SnakeCharmer
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3807
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Do you have more money than sense? If I only had a nickle to my name, I'd have more money than sense... If so, it's a good plan. At 1920x1200, 8800gt sli should just about max out in everything.
It comes close. I suppose that if I wouldn't see an anecdotal 50 percent improvement in quality and framerate, I wouldn't do it. FWIW, the proc is Q6600 (oc'd to 3.2Ghz) and 8GB of RAM. Just kinda curious.
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Engels
Terracotta Army
Posts: 9029
inflicts shingles.
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isn't there a significant difference between a GT and GTS in the 8800 series?
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I should get back to nature, too. You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer. Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached. Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe
I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa
Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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apocrypha
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6711
Planes? Shit, I'm terrified to get in my car now!
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"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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Engels
Terracotta Army
Posts: 9029
inflicts shingles.
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This is just a public service announcement.
I noticed over the last few weeks that my machine's fans were going into over drive when I was playing high processing games. I checked my temps, and sure enough, my CPU was idling at ~48C and approaching 67C under load! This was vexing because when I first installed my heatsink and fan assembly for my CPU, the temps were ~34C idle and low 50s under load.
This morning I undertook the hidious process of removing the heatsink and discovering a lot of dust and even dust bunnies accumulated between the fins. I also reapplied thermal paste. I put it all back together and lo and behold, the temps are back to the original ones.
So, in essence, it may be a good idea to reapply paste and check the grime on your CPU heatsink fins every 6 months or so.
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I should get back to nature, too. You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer. Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached. Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe
I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa
Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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apocrypha
Terracotta Army
Posts: 6711
Planes? Shit, I'm terrified to get in my car now!
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I always have massive dust problems with my PCs. Two cats in the house, our cavalier attitude towards doing housework and PC cases with plenty of huge fans means that they hoover up metric fucktons of fur and dust.
Reminds me, I need to find a cheap source for compressed air cans in the UK....
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"Bourgeois society stands at the crossroads, either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism" - Rosa Luxemburg, 1915.
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Sky
Terracotta Army
Posts: 32117
I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.
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I've got filters on my intakes. Still get a bit of dust in there, but nowhere near the evil den of bunnies I've had in the past, and now I've added a cat to the equation.
On video cards: check the pipe widths. Even when I built my pc two years ago, there were a lot of cards with wimpy pipes (128bit) out there. For reference, my 9800pro had 256bit pipes. It made a huuuge difference. I see some with 512bit, that's gotta be pretty sweet. My 8800gtx is 384 or something, runs pretty sweet. Though at this point, 1280x720 for the max settings win.
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Yegolev
Moderator
Posts: 24440
2/10 WOULD NOT INGEST
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I've got filters on my intakes. Still get a bit of dust in there, but nowhere near the evil den of bunnies I've had in the past, and now I've added a cat to the equation.
Using a cat as a filtration device runs counter to conventional wisdom. Do you shave it first?
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Why am I homeless? Why do all you motherfuckers need homes is the real question. They called it The Prayer, its answer was law Mommy come back 'cause the water's all gone
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Sky
Terracotta Army
Posts: 32117
I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.
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No, I added filters to the cat.
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Lucas
Terracotta Army
Posts: 3298
Further proof that Italians have suspect taste in games.
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Guys, do you know of any article talking about the next wave of Nvidia graphic cards? Meaning, what's to come after the 2xx series? Just wondering 'cause next Xmas (yeah, I like to plan ahead) I'll probably make a total-global-ultra upgrade of my beast and since I still have a fantastic 8800 GTS 640MB (bought it at the end of 2006 and it is still rockin') I want to stick with Nvidia. Thanks :)
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" He's so impatient, it's like watching a teenager fuck a glorious older woman." - Ironwood on J.J. Abrams
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Miguel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1292
कुशल
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There's this (it basically likes up with your timeframe):
Leaked GeForce driver hints at GT212, GT215, GT216, and GT218 GPUs
Leaked ForceWare 185 drivers provided by German site Hardware Infos hint at several upcoming GeForce GT2xx GPUs. According to ATI-Forum.de, GT212, GT215, GT216, and GT218 GPUs are all mentioned in the driver device list. All of these GPUs are expected to be built around TSMC's 40-nm manufacturing process, with recent rumors suggesting GT212 will replace today's 55-nm GT200b GPUs, while GT216 is expected to displace G96 and GT218 will replace G98 for the entry-level segment. The unknown here is GT215. This is the first time GT215 has surfaced anywhere. GT214 is expected to be NVIDIA's G94 replacement, but no one outside of NVIDIA knows how GT215 relates to GT214. While previous rumors have suggested NVIDIA's first 40-nm GPUs could arrive during late Q2 or Q3'09, their appearance in a leaked ForceWare driver could suggest an even earlier arrival.
Anything about newer GPU's would probably only be the result of a blatant NDA violation. ;)
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“We have competent people thinking about this stuff. We’re not just making shit up.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Engels
Terracotta Army
Posts: 9029
inflicts shingles.
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You know what would rule? GPUs with smaller transistors like this 45 nm so that I wouldn't be able to slow-roast a suckling pig in my case.
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I should get back to nature, too. You know, like going to a shop for groceries instead of the computer. Maybe a condo in the woods that doesn't even have a health club or restaurant attached. Buy a car with only two cup holders or something. -Signe
I LIKE being bounced around by Tonkors. - Lantyssa
Babies shooting themselves in the head is the state bird of West Virginia. - schild
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23626
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Guys, do you know of any article talking about the next wave of Nvidia graphic cards? Meaning, what's to come after the 2xx series? Just wondering 'cause next Xmas (yeah, I like to plan ahead) I'll probably make a total-global-ultra upgrade of my beast and since I still have a fantastic 8800 GTS 640MB (bought it at the end of 2006 and it is still rockin') I want to stick with Nvidia. Thanks :)
The GT300 is the one you want to check in on in about 6 months. It's their high end DX11 card core that's supposed to be out Q4 09. Edit: that's a core not a card.
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« Last Edit: March 27, 2009, 12:51:47 PM by Trippy »
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Sky
Terracotta Army
Posts: 32117
I love my TV an' hug my TV an' call it 'George'.
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Is dx11 going to be anything? I got pretty pissed about the dx10 thing being 'vista only' and then patching my crysis demo to get all the "dx10" effects in xp. At this point I'm only interested in features, not raw speed, being res-locked to 720p. I see this as a good thing, better effects and fsaa/af and shadows and normal mapping and whatnot.
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Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23626
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DirectX 11 is mostly a performance update. It'll better support multi-treading and have an API for using GPUs as general purpose CPUs (GPGPU). Some of the enhancements like some of the multi-threading stuff will work on non-DX11 specific cards so it's not clear yet what a DX11-specific card gets you over a DX10/9 card. Windows 7 will ship with DirectX 11 and it'll be available for Vista as well.
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