General Computer Thread

[Ar-Pharazon]

Picked up a new M525 mouse today, and hope to get a similar number of years out of it. Logitech tends to make good mice in my experience.

My experience has been that Logitech's physical quality isnt that great, but I like their stuff so I sacrifice longevity for something I'm comfortable using. Mice, speaker systems, universal remotes, they've all had short lives.

 

[Unicron]

YMMV, perhaps. I think the other mouse lasted a couple of years and never had issues until the left button acted up yesterday. In general, I've been pretty pleased with it, so I hope the new model does as well.

 

[Owain Taggart]

My experience has been that Logitech's physical quality isnt that great, but I like their stuff so I sacrifice longevity for something I'm comfortable using. Mice, speaker systems, universal remotes, they've all had short lives.

Logitech used to have some great quality stuff, but somewhere down the line something changed and their build quality declined to the point that I just avoid them now for most things. I used to be a big fan of them. Their remote support, being of Canadian origin and different from the rest, was fantastic. It's one thing they became well-known for. Then those remotes too declined . I went through at least 3 of them, I think, and the last one was what I'd call a mainstream model that seems to be stocked everywhere, but seemed to be plagued with bugs in the firmware with support mostly abandoned, and as far as I'm aware, still being sold today. It's been a long time since I've been impressed with one of their products.

 

[Marc]

Logitech used to have some great quality stuff, but somewhere down the line something changed and their build quality declined to the point that I just avoid them now for most things. I used to be a big fan of them. Their remote support, being of Canadian origin and different from the rest, was fantastic. It's one thing they became well-known for. Then those remotes too declined . I went through at least 3 of them, I think, and the last one was what I'd call a mainstream model that seems to be stocked everywhere, but seemed to be plagued with bugs in the firmware with support mostly abandoned, and as far as I'm aware, still being sold today. It's been a long time since I've been impressed with one of their products.

Would be nice if some-one came along a filled the gap for decent don't cost the world universal remotes.

I'd love to tied in my Amazon Echo for my tv/tivo/amp and it seems the only option would be a Logitech hub (forgotten the exact name) but it doesn't fill me with confidence.

Part of the problem would be solved if the Echo support was added to the Tivos here but they're an only child with Cogeco being the only provider to roll them out and next year they'll be a legacy product as an IPTV platform is rolled out.

Sure there's the Amazon Fire Cube but it's overkill for my needs and not sold in Canada last time I looked.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Would be nice if some-one came along a filled the gap for decent don't cost the world universal remotes.

It definitely would. It used to be Logitech was that gap. Last time I fiddled with their software, I decided I needed something better, because coupled with the remote's flaws and the frustration in programming it or even having it connect to the computer. It was an excersize in frustration. Before them, I don't think there really was much in the form of consumer level remotes easy enough to program without a degree. But because of the problems I was having, what I ended up doing was getting a Phillips remote which wasn't too bad at all for what I needed doing with it. In terms of a code-based remote, those things have improved a whole lot. And the whole reason I ended up getting a Harmony in the first place was due to the number of remotes we had and the fact that my parents had a habit of using the wrong remote, accidentally switching inputs or changing the channel and wondering why the TV wasn't working properly anymore with the cable setup. From looking at their website now, they don't even seem to be selling them anymore, but last time I looked, the only ones listed on their website were the expensive ones that you would couple with your smartphone which were a couple of hundreds of dollars and much too steep for the average person. Not everyone has a big home theater. Some just need convenience.

My general problem with Logitech these days is that they seem to be trying to do too many things, serving too many markets and buying up other peripheral companies, where in their older days they would often develop things in-house. Too much bulk now with too many products seemingly abandoned, and searching on their website tends to not be too helpful.

 

[Santaman]

Finally updating my few win7 machines, seems the updates now work, of course after updating I yet again have to kick off the spyware m$ ships along, clean up all debris and make Windows shiny again!

 

[Santaman]

Hmm.. stay with the Athlon 5350 a while longer or upgrade to a Ryzen 2200G or Athlon 200GE both are MUCH faster than the 5350 and the 200GE only uses 10 watts more.. the 2200G is of course even faster..

 

[Amaris]

My AMD FX-6300, along with my GPU and my HDD has been running a little warmer than usual, so I figured it was a circulation issue, and I purchased two 120mm case fans. The ones I picked are the Aigo LED fans, and not only were they inexpensive, but were also available in my favorite color: purple! I added them this afternoon, and the end result is a system running about 8° C cooler than it was this morning.

Also, pretty purple!

 

[Captain Cragen]

It looks wonderful! Love the setup.

 

[Amaris]

It looks wonderful! Love the setup.

Thank you!
I do love purple, and purple ponies.

 

[Captain Cragen]

Thank you!
I do love purple, and purple ponies.

You're welcome!

A bit off topic, but where's the new Brony Kingdom site? Haven't had any luck in finding it.

 

[Amaris]

You're welcome!

A bit off topic, but where's the new Brony Kingdom site? Haven't had any luck in finding it.

http://www.starscapebbs.com

When Tapatalk bought out our host (and wanted to charge us for features that had been free, while also stripping away our custom code), we had to move. They wouldn't let us have the database, so I manually transferred every single account myself to a new board. The new board is also home to Starscape, the board I've been running since 2006. It is also on our new host because its old host was bought out by Tapatalk, too. Your account should still be there, though the password will have been scrambled for security sake. Simply requesting a new password via the site will clear that up.

So Starscape and Brony Kingdom share the same forum. I'm working on a Brony Kingdom theme for people who want the BK look.

 

[Captain Cragen]

http://www.starscapebbs.com

When Tapatalk bought out our host (and wanted to charge us for features that had been free, while also stripping away our custom code), we had to move. They wouldn't let us have the database, so I manually transferred every single account myself to a new board. The new board is also home to Starscape, the board I've been running since 2006. It is also on our new host because its old host was bought out by Tapatalk, too. Your account should still be there, though the password will have been scrambled for security sake. Simply requesting a new password via the site will clear that up.

Thanks!

Dang.

Cool. I'll make sure to do so.


Damn it... I've tried to get a new password and it's not letting me on. It's not validating my account.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

My AMD FX-6300, along with my GPU and my HDD has been running a little warmer than usual, so I figured it was a circulation issue, and I purchased two 120mm case fans. The ones I picked are the Aigo LED fans, and not only were they inexpensive, but were also available in my favorite color: purple! I added them this afternoon, and the end result is a system running about 8° C cooler than it was this morning.

Also, pretty purple!

I found there can be a huge difference in temperature based only on how you spread the thermal paste between the CPU and the heatsink. Nice and even with the little spatula some companies provide is the best way to go.

My last desktop could go 100% on all 4 cores and still be around 50°C.

 

[Amaris]

Thanks!

Dang.

Cool. I'll make sure to do so.


Damn it... I've tried to get a new password and it's not letting me on. It's not validating my account.

PM.

I found there can be a huge difference in temperature based only on how you spread the thermal paste between the CPU and the heatsink. Nice and even with the little spatula some companies provide is the best way to go.

My last desktop could go 100% on all 4 cores and still be around 50°C.

I bought some thermal paste when I first got the CPU, but AMD had their heatsink already prepped with it, to where all I had to do was remove the protective layer and put them together. Still, I keep thermal paste around just in case that solution fails. Right now, though, everything looks good. 23°C with the CPU, and less than 43° with all six cores pushed to the wall.

 

[Santaman]

@Amaris nice looking machine! FX's can run hot, I've got a FX-8350 which is a hot head, and a FX-4300, the latter is a 95 watt CPU so I can get by using a stock heatsing/fan which was a leftover from a Phenom II machine, it is quite a bit larger than the stock heatsink/fan that came with the 4300 itself, I do agree that airflow is always a good thing, the 8350 has 2x120mm intake and 2x120mm exhaust fans to keep it cool and the heatsink is a Scythe Mugen 3 with a stronger fan that can go 1800Rmp if needed.

My main desktop's CPU never goes above 30c, if it even reaches that and it has a passive heatsink aka large chunk of aluminium Am1 25 watt CPU FTW!!

 

[Amaris]

@Amaris nice looking machine! FX's can run hot, I've got a FX-8350 which is a hot head, and a FX-4300, the latter is a 95 watt CPU so I can get by using a stock heatsing/fan which was a leftover from a Phenom II machine, it is quite a bit larger than the stock heatsink/fan that came with the 4300 itself, I do agree that airflow is always a good thing, the 8350 has 2x120mm intake and 2x120mm exhaust fans to keep it cool and the heatsink is a Scythe Mugen 3 with a stronger fan that can go 1800Rmp if needed.

My main desktop's CPU never goes above 30c, if it even reaches that and it has a passive heatsink aka large chunk of aluminium Am1 25 watt CPU FTW!!

Thank you! I've tweaked and nudged and puttered until this system runs smoothly and efficiently. I have an Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 (2 GB) video card to handle all of my video editing, and it can even play games. I like going on Youtube and finding videos where gamers are like "can you still game on an FX-6300? I wouldn't recommend it!" and I laugh and laugh. These systems are capable of so much, and one doesn't have to buy the latest $600 processor from Intel just to enjoy them to the fullest.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I bought some thermal paste when I first got the CPU, but AMD had their heatsink already prepped with it, to where all I had to do was remove the protective layer and put them together. Still, I keep thermal paste around just in case that solution fails. Right now, though, everything looks good. 23°C with the CPU, and less than 43° with all six cores pushed to the wall.

Yeah, a new CPU and/or a new heatsink comes with that square of paste already. I had replaced my motherboard and wasn't happy with the temp being around 75°C after the previous incarnation stayed in the 50's.

The heatsink also had an end mounted fan which lined up with the vent in the side case cover.

 

[Santaman]

AMD's stock heatsinks are okay, not great or made to overclock but usually they work well enough.

 

[Amaris]

Yeah, a new CPU and/or a new heatsink comes with that square of paste already. I had replaced my motherboard and wasn't happy with the temp being around 75°C after the previous incarnation stayed in the 50's.

The heatsink also had an end mounted fan which lined up with the vent in the side case cover.

That's convenient! I have a micro-ATX case, which is great for desk space, not so great for elaborate fans and heatsinks, so I have to be careful with what I choose. I see all of these Youtubers with liquid cooled systems, and I think to myself "that is absurdly elaborate for keeping things cool," and also I would feel antsy about having liquid that close to any electrical equipment.

AMD's stock heatsinks are okay, not great or made to overclock but usually they work well enough.

I'm considering a replacement of the current stock fan on my CPU. I mean, it's getting the job done, but the cooler the better. I want my system running like Foreigner wrote a song about it.