General Computer Thread

[Owain Taggart]

What programs do you find it noticable?

I've tended to notice Photoshop use lots of memory, but I noticed I could tell it how much memory it could use using a slider in the settings, and it's been better ever since. A recent update must have nudged it up to higher usage. Firefox was surprisingly giving me issues, until I realized I could just have it automatically use the best settings according to my hardware. I'm using an HDD, and I'm sure it's rather slow by now, but another thing to consider is my processor. It's a 1st Gen i5, (an i5 660 to be exact) so it only has two cores, and I'm definitely feeling bottlenecked, especially when it comes to gaming. The newest thing I have in it is a 1050 Ti.

 

[Marc]

I've tended to notice Photoshop use lots of memory, but I noticed I could tell it how much memory it could use using a slider in the settings, and it's been better ever since. A recent update must have nudged it up to higher usage. Firefox was surprisingly giving me issues, until I realized I could just have it automatically use the best settings according to my hardware. I'm using an HDD, and I'm sure it's rather slow by now, but another thing to consider is my processor. It's a 1st Gen i5, (an i5 660 to be exact) so it only has two cores, and I'm definitely feeling bottlenecked, especially when it comes to gaming. The newest thing I have in it is a 1050 Ti.

At least you're not using Chrome where the memory usage is starting to become an issue (or a joke depending on who you talk to).

But yeah 1st Gen Core5 with just two cores is gonna bottleneck big time plus it would be SATA-II for the drive controllers so while a SSD would help, it would be restricted.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I do use Chrome from time to time, not as a daily driver, but for the work that I do, ie I work with websites, requires me to check how things look If I'm making changes. It's a lot better than it used to be, but every now and then, you see weird things happening due to browsers not always being standardized.

Yeah, I have to replace everything. My board is 10 years old at this point. So, I need to replace the board, cpu, ram, power supply perhaps and a new ssd or two. Gaming is where I perhaps feel it the most. My card is more than capable, but the processor is holding me back and can't keep up at times. But I'm still surprised at how well it performs at times. I just beat Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor, and it performed flawlessly for the most part, and it's considered a rather demanding game, and technically by looking at the minimum specs, it shouldn't be able to play it. And then there are games that I have issues with even when I put them as low as they can go.

 

[Santaman]

Yeah, after 10 years it might be time to either upgrade it yourself or buy a Dell, HP or other prebuilt machine.

 

[Marc]

Yeah, after 10 years it might be time to either upgrade it yourself or buy a Dell, HP or other prebuilt machine.

From discussions on a subreddit, the prices of those systems have risen dramactially over the the past couple of years. Early 2020 could pick-one one up for peanuts now it just about costs the elephant.

They do make good machines. Get one with 4th or 5th Gen which will take upto 32GB using DDR3 and toss in an SSD and you have nice little machine for not as much as how much a new system would cost (DDR4 ram prices are still ouchies and I don't think even with DDR5 coming through they are going to drop anytime soon).

Just hope HP aren't as bad for the PC stuff as they are for the server related updates etc. That stuff is locked up tighter then scrooge mcduck's bank vault.

In the home lab community, systems like the 11 and 12th Gen Dell servers are still very common because when you're going to stick 256GB into a server, DDR4 is brutal,

 

[Santaman]

I usually build my own machines but I can't compete pricewise with Dell or Lenovo or HP etc.. I just like to build computers..
I've got two Dell machines a Precision T3400 and a Optiplex 745, both are REALLY old now but still work, IIRC they both are from 2007.

 

[Marc]

I usually build my own machines but I can't compete pricewise with Dell or Lenovo or HP etc.. I just like to build computers..
I've got two Dell machines a Precision T3400 and a Optiplex 745, both are REALLY old now but still work, IIRC they both are from 2007.

Other than my SurfacePro last the time I had a prebuilt computer/brand name computer as daily driver was in the mid 90s, was an Epson AX3/25 (in the U.S they were called the Equity range) and that was the early 90s.

One of the things with AX3 was the SIMMs sat in a horizontal card that slotted in the motherboard which has never been that common in PCs.

Had a coupe of brand servers they've been recycled and my primary server most of the past decade was self built bit like grandpa's old axe. Only the case and PSU are are unchanged. The powersupply has run pretty much 24/7 since late 2012.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, after 10 years it might be time to either upgrade it yourself or buy a Dell, HP or other prebuilt machine.

I'd rather build it myself rather than getting a prebuilt, that way I can get exactly what I want. But the prices... eek! At least the benefit of building it yourself allows you to make sure it's upgradeable enough, which I'm not so sure about when it comes to prebuilts.

 

[Marc]

I'd rather build it myself rather than getting a prebuilt, that way I can get exactly what I want. But the prices... eek! At least the benefit of building it yourself allows you to make sure it's upgradeable enough, which I'm not so sure about when it comes to prebuilts.

depends on the system and how much you’re willing to spend and what you’re looking to upgrade.

Intel changes sockets with each generation, AMD is a bit more stable.

ram - a compact desktop should provide 4 slots, smaller systems e.g m-itx would only provide 2. The real small systems such as NUCs have two slots and use SO-DIMMs. Sure you can put 64gb in but eyes will bleed at the price.

unless you need oodles of disk space even NUC can take a couple of terabytes in M.2 format with out sacrificing a first born or goat or selling a kidney.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Ok, here's a question. Can you partition something like an M2?

 

[Marc]

Ok, here's a question. Can you partition something like an M2?

yep.

m.2 is simply the form of the drives as opposed to 2.5/3.5”.

they use either a SATA or NVMe interface ( the later common on newer systems) but other that windows treats it like any other mass storage device.

you can partition it, format it, encrypt it, name it Bob.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Ok, here's a question. Can you partition something like an M2?

You could, but why would you want to?

The vast majority of people basically use 1x Storage Drive = 1x Partition.

Given the 26x Letter limit in Windows (If you're using Windows).

Without having to do funky stuff like mapping an entire Drive to a Directory.

You have plenty of reason to just treat each Storage Drive as a entire Partition.

 

[Marc]

You could, but why would you want to?

The vast majority of people basically use 1x Storage Drive = 1x Partition.

Given the 26x Letter limit in Windows (If you're using Windows).

Without having to do funky stuff like mapping an entire Drive to a Directory.

You have plenty of reason to just treat each Storage Drive as a entire Partition.

if you have 2 or more physical drives sure.

some people like ro dual boot, others want to keep their data separate in cases the OS breaks and needs to be restored

Also keep in mind that Windows might support 26 drive letters but if you’re not going to fit 26 drives in a regular case let alone connect them without using SAS.

in terms of NVMe motherboards generally only support 2 slots because each uses, iirc 4 PCIe lanes and you still need them for other devices as well.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, as it is, my current drive is partitioned, with the second half dedicated for my gaming, and it's worked out pretty well that way. If something happened to my main partition via Windows, it wouldn't affect my second one. So, if I can use just one, then that would keep costs down.

 

[Santaman]

Yeah, always use one drive or partition for the OS and another drive/partition for your data, Windows WILL go bust at some point and drag everything on its partion down with it into oblivion.

 

[Santaman]

So, found another victim of the empty battery syndrome, one of my older machines needed a new CR-2032, it's a Celeron 333A with 256 MB RAM and a 40GB drive, it's running Windows 98SE, changed the battery, switched it on and nope no go, so I opened the case and did the usual unplug everything except the mainboard and it ran, plugged in drives one by one and then it became really flaky so I tried out drives one by one and it did boot, add more than one drive, nope, flaky again.
That was an indication that the powersuply was on the way out, so I swapped it out for a same era PSU and now it runs fine again with all drives attached and all cards installed, not often that a PSU fails, I hope the other one will keep working for a while, it is a good one made by FSP and it doesn't have too many hours on it.

 

[Aragorn]

I have a weird issue on occasion with my iMac. Can't find any answers via Google, maybe because I'm not using the right words.

My computer is connected to the internet via ethernet cable. The wifi is turned off. However, sometimes when I turn it on, the wifi will start doing a scan even though it's turned off, and while it's doing that it won't let me connect to the internet even though I have an ethernet connection. Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about? A simple reboot fixes it, but I'm curious to know what's going on with my computer.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Sounds like a software bug. I guess the assumption is that most people use WiFi so disabling it is done as a post-boot hack. I don't really know though. I haven't used an Apple computer for over 30 years.

ETA: A quick search turned up this about setting the service order. It might or might not be useful.

How to Set Ethernet or Wi-Fi as the Default on a Mac (howtogeek.com)

 

[Amaris]

You could, but why would you want to?

The vast majority of people basically use 1x Storage Drive = 1x Partition.

Given the 26x Letter limit in Windows (If you're using Windows).

Without having to do funky stuff like mapping an entire Drive to a Directory.

You have plenty of reason to just treat each Storage Drive as a entire Partition.

This. I have an M.2 and a Toshiba SSD for my Windows/Linux dual boot setup. That way, there's no overwriting by Windows (which loves to overwrite GRUB), and it's just much cleaner that way.

 

[Aragorn]

Sounds like a software bug. I guess the assumption is that most people use WiFi so disabling it is done as a post-boot hack. I don't really know though. I haven't used an Apple computer for over 30 years.

ETA: A quick search turned up this about setting the service order. It might or might not be useful.

How to Set Ethernet or Wi-Fi as the Default on a Mac (howtogeek.com)

Thanks. Might've already been set that way but I did it again.