Quick [tech] Questions Thread

[MuffinMan]

Just a couple of hours ago I took the motherboard out to install the new CPU cooler since I'd been using the stock one. Risers are all in, nothing underneath.

FAKE EDIT: Flashed to the newest BIOS and it boots all the way through every time now.

[MuffinMan]

Hmm after a little more reading it looks like it is a feature of EVGA mobos. I guess it is supposed to sync the CPU and PCIe clocks for better stability? With the new BIOS updates it gives you an option to disable it. Good to know.

[Engels]

Glad you figured it out. Sorry you had to remove the motherboard for no reason!

[MuffinMan]

Well, I had to take the motherboard out anyways to attach the backplate for the CPU cooler I bought. Took my idle temps from 45 down to 35 degrees which is pretty good considering it is 82F in my place. Overclocked to 3.5ghz last night and it's still sitting at 39 degrees, will probably be as far as I take it. Awesome cooler, it's quieter than the stock which is awesome too.

[slog]

Is this Nintendo DSi the right hand held console for a 5 year old?

[PkProjects]

Is this Nintendo DSi the right hand held console for a 5 year old?

Really, I don't think any 5 year old should have a handheld. If you give them one at that age, they'll miss the ability to entertain themselves, which might result in a lack of concentration later in life.
But if you really insist on giving one, then yea, a DS would work. The PSP is more mature, as the graphics are more 'realistic' and there's more mature content on it.
Whereas the DS has games as pokemon, mario, and other cartoony looking fun games, like Mario Party.
But really, don't give them a handheld untill they reach at least the age of 7~8.

[Rendakor]

Anyone know where I could find a Socket 939 motherboard? The mobo went in one of my friend's computers; neither newegg nor tiger direct seem to carry anything that old though. Worst case scenario she'll just buy a new PC, but I figured I'd ask in case someone knew a good site to buy old hardware.

[Lantyssa]

Finally installed Win 7 on my home machine.  The fonts in Firefox look way off.  I've poked around various places, without much luck.  After an all-day reinstall my question is simple: How do I make my browser fonts not look like ass?

[Viin]

Weird, mine looks fine. Did you do an in-place upgrade or a wipe-and-install?

May just need to reinstall Firefox to get the fonts reloaded.

[Chimpy]

Anyone know where I could find a Socket 939 motherboard? The mobo went in one of my friend's computers; neither newegg nor tiger direct seem to carry anything that old though. Worst case scenario she'll just buy a new PC, but I figured I'd ask in case someone knew a good site to buy old hardware.

I don't know of any specifics, but you can search google shopping for "socket 939" and a bunch show up. If I am looking for something end of lifed I usually do that and then find a site that doesn't seem too shady.

[Lantyssa]

Weird, mine looks fine. Did you do an in-place upgrade or a wipe-and-install?

May just need to reinstall Firefox to get the fonts reloaded.

Fresh new disk, no upgrade.  (I never upgrade.)  I'm going to try a DVI cable tomorrow, and see if that makes any difference.

[Engels]

It might. Also wondering if you're using the monitor's native resolution. Also check to see if you've got the right hertz. Some monitors are actually 59 hertz, rather than 60. Just throwing stuff out there. Also, there's a setting under Firefox (Options>Display>Fonts>Advance) that has a check box that states 'let websites determine what fonts to use instead of the default ones above' or something like that. See if toggling that makes a difference.

[Chimpy]

Is it just the fonts on pages or the entire application, menus etc.?

Could be a font scaling issue.

[Lantyssa]

The text on the tab headers is blurry, with the active tab's bold being worse (any site).  F13 is amongst the worse, especially small fonts such as signatures.

I am in native resolution, however Win7 won't let me set it to 59 Hz, only 60.  I've downloaded monitor drivers, but it hasn't made any difference.  Unchecking fonts in Firefox changes the font, but doesn't really help, and makes it ugly to boot.  Is there a way to force it to let me choose 59 Hz?

(I had a similar problem where their "We know best" philosophy hurt me.  The right channel on my sound output doesn't work.  So I had it plugged into my "rear" channel.  XP detected it and let it work.  W7 detects it, but only lets me use it as a rear channel.  So my speakers are plugged into my headphone jack now. )

[Engels]

Did you try the DVI cable? I think that's still your best be. Also, if you happen to have another monitor about, even a cheapo, it would be a good quick way of troubleshooting. Honestly, I think my suggestion of 59 hertz is a stretch. I think the setting itself is not really needed, but a vestigial value from CRT days where one would have to be specific.

[Chimpy]

Is this only an issue in firefox?

Do you have aero turned on?

[Lantyssa]

Aero is on.  It's duplicated in IE.  Nothing else I use has enough text to see if it carries over.

Turning Cleartype on and off affects windows explorer and other OS windows, but seemed to do nothing for browsers.  My work machine is still XP.  The clear font looks so much nicer right now.

[Engels]

Quick question: What monitor is it? I ask because I've seen some 2 year old Dell 22" monitors act really badly to higher resolutions. The messed up font is one of the symptoms. The monitor may have an 'autoadjust' feature that may be worth poking at.

[Viin]

I recall having this problem at one point during the RC, but I can't recall what I did to fix it.

some things to try from a different forum:

1) Unselect cleartype
2)
   - Click Start Orb > right-click computer > click properties
   - On the left pane click Advanced system settings
   - Under performance click Settings
   - Check mark Smooth edges of screen fonts
   - Click OK > click OK

3) Change all fonts sizes and types to tahoma and Trebuchet MS (XP style).

Edit: Another thread at AnandTech says to just disable 'smooth edges of screen fonts'
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=333998

[Lantyssa]

Hyundai K224W.  Same resolution as under XP (1680x1050).  60 Hz instead of the 59 Hz I ran under XP, but no way to change it.

I thought (2) was how to turn off cleartype.  Is there another setting for that?  (WTF can't MS put related settings in related windows for gods' sake?)  I know (2) doesn't work, and I think (3) is for system windows.  My only issue is in browsers.

I have the DVI cable in my bag.

[Ingmar]

Optometrist maybe? 

[Trippy]

Can you post some screenshots of what you are seeing?

[proudft]

Yeah screenshots will help narrow down rendering vs. monitor weirdness.

[Lantyssa]

Finding Cleartype and the DVI cable combined seemed to mostly get there.  Still not perfect, but much better.

Actually all the tab headings, menus, and system windows look terrible.

Edit:  I'm going to see if I can find a refresh rate hack.  I don't feel like reproducing all the combinations of Cleartype and font smoothing right now to get a dozen screen shots.

[Lantyssa]

Current settings:

Sample 1

Sample 2

[Trippy]

It looks like for your desktop theme or your browser skin* you've picked a menu font that's a bitmapped font not a Open/TrueType font. Do you know what font it's using for the menu font?

Also you should run ClearType Tuner on your system -- your anti-aliasing looks wrong for your panel type.

* though you mentioned you have the same problem in IE so it's probably from a system-wide theme setting

[proudft]

Most of those shots look fine to me, with the exception of the 'Administrator' font.

[Lantyssa]

It looks like for your desktop theme or your browser skin* you've picked a menu font that's a bitmapped font not a Open/TrueType font. Do you know what font it's using for the menu font?

Also you should run ClearType Tuner on your system -- your anti-aliasing looks wrong for your panel type.

* though you mentioned you have the same problem in IE so it's probably from a system-wide theme setting

I'm using the default Win 7 theme.  The only thing I changed is my desktop picture.

I've tried turning ClearType on and off, and turning it on goes through a four page wizard, which seems to make no difference.

Also I'm a Win 7 newbie.  I have no clue where, if they exist, any system refinements are.  All the systems I managed were XP until a month ago.  Which worked without giving me any crap.

[Trippy]

If you go to Fonts in Control Panel do you have Segoe UI installed? If you do make sure ClearType is turned on and go to Preview. Unfortunately it won't show a sample at 9 point which is what the default system menus and text are in but do things look okay there (i.e. not bitmapped)?

[Yegolev]

Your samples look like my display.  I spent minimal time dicking with it before giving up.  I think I can resist being dissatisfied with my display but this post string is making it difficult.

[Lantyssa]

If you go to Fonts in Control Panel do you have Segoe UI installed? If you do make sure ClearType is turned on and go to Preview. Unfortunately it won't show a sample at 9 point which is what the default system menus and text are in but do things look okay there (i.e. not bitmapped)?

It is installed.

ClearType seems to be my problem.  After flipping switches for another thirty minutes (I couldn't read the boards in the last state I had it), I have ClearType off and Font Smoothing on.  Any title bars rendered by Aero seem a little off, but they're less off than general text going any other route.  I can probably get used to things as they are now.

[Yoshimaru]

Anyone have a fix for stuck pixels? I have a cluster of pixels that turned white about a month ago, I was hoping it would sort itself out but not looking like it. I've seen programs that say they can fix it by flashing colors in the area to try and reset the pixels, but not sure if that's just BS.

This is my monitor.

[Lantyssa]

A new monitor will fix it.

[Sky]

http://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-7854-Splitting-28-Inch-4-Pound/dp/B00004SD7B

[NiX]

Anyone have a fix for stuck pixels? I have a cluster of pixels that turned white about a month ago, I was hoping it would sort itself out but not looking like it. I've seen programs that say they can fix it by flashing colors in the area to try and reset the pixels, but not sure if that's just BS.

This is my monitor.

Depends on the reason for them being stuck. I would try: Flashing colors, all white picture or leaving the monitor off for an extended period of time (24-48 hours.)