PC Tech Thread

Am running win10 on a dual core 32bit machine 3gb, its the nice bits of 7 and not the aweful bits on 8. Saying that I have a windows phone that I'm tempted to go to 10 to see what it is like.

Installed it on a test machine at work, not done anything with it. Cortana can do one.

Has anyone got one of those HP Microservers you can get cashback with for £120 odd? Looking at studying for my Server 2012 MCSA soon and need something to lab with. Also recommendations for lab designs would be appreciated as I've never done anything like it, initial thought in my head was use Hyper V to create a Domain Controller, Core and GUI versions of Server 2012R2 that deal with File Services, WSUS etc, a test machine with 8.1, then a print server. Am I on the right track?

I have 3 these in the wall of my lounge. The building is less than 5 years old and came with a 'Hyperoptic' broadband faceplate and router already installed.

Is this an Ethernet port? If so, can I get an adapter to plug my TV in to this? Anything I need to look out for?

Looks like a phone socket rather than ethernet.

Just a standard phone socket i'm afraid.

It's also likely it's not been connected (unless it's the main one). BT callouts usually only connect the main line and additional connections (even if they're in the faceplate) wont actually be connected to anything.

Sorry, being an idiot. Note to self: google before posting here. Thanks both.

BT Socket/module. You could swap it for a Cat 5 module but that would be pointless if it doesn't go anywhere or if it's wired as an extension socket off your incoming line. There's a chance it could be wired off your master socket in which case you could do something at that end too to give you an end to end rj45 connection but that would be more of a ball ache than just using WiFi.

Cheers. I saw three of these and assumed that they'd be in some way linked to the router, which is in a different room because
a) it's a new build: would have thought Ethernet wiring was built in to the building
b) who needs three phone sockets in their lounge?

My wifi connection provides about 45 mbps (dl and ul) compared to wired connection of about 95mbps ish. Is it worth getting powerline adapters instead?

They are most likely extensions but not in the same way that you would have individual extensions in your office/work. They will allow you to plug in a phone in each socket but you will still only have the one line/number.

A new residential build would more likely assume WiFi over any structured data cabling. Not sure what the speed of power line adapters runs to nowadays but any I have used in the past have worked well. If you really need the increased speed then look into which new ones perform the best.

Great, thanks.

I have 3 HDMI outputs on my PC, 1 on the motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO and 2 on the GPU: GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB, Can I have the motherboard one routed to a AV reciever / TV and the other two to monitors? I know the best way would be to test it, but I don't have all the cables or hardware at the moment.

I've tried that before and it didn't work. Different motherboard/gpu though so who knows.

Google suggests a typical GTX 660 has 2x DVI, 1x HDMI and 1x Display Port. Is that not the case with yours?

DVI for the monitors and HDMI for the receiver should do the trick.

Pretty sure mine has 2 HDMI's I'll check when I get home. The problem being I will be running 15m cable lengths, and I think HDMI will work better for that, but I guess I can always use adaptors. A bit of research suggests it could be possible depending on whether I can switch the on-board graphics of the MB back on, I'll have to order some cables and give it a try I think.

Graphics cards. I'm an nVidia boy through and through so AMD is new to me... Anyone have any experience with them?

Looking at

AMD Radeon R9 M290X 2GB GDDR5
vs
AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5
vs
AMD Radeon R9 M370X 2GB GDDR5

Intended use: 4k video editing and rendering, zombie killing in dayz.

Looking at the 4GB for now in a desktop setting unless the 2GB 370x can handle itself (albeit in laptop form).

If you buy a display port to dvi adapter make sure it's an active one or it won't do anything.

You must mean 'might' not do anything, cos I'm using one here at work that's just fine.

Plugged into a mac?

Anyone have any ideas which drivers for a GeForce 210 might actually work? I've had to disable Windows auto driver install and run the standard VGA drivers because no matter which nVidia driver version I use, my machine bluescreens and reboots after a few minutes. Problem is the stock VGA driver is rubbish.

The building is less than 5 years old and came with a 'Hyperoptic' broadband faceplate and router already installed.

Hyperoptic is a company that does fibre connections to buildings and then splits up the connections internally, so no routers should be required if that service really is available. It'd be worth dropping the company (hyperoptic.com) an email and asking if it's available in your building. The building management company may know something too.

In other news, new all-in-one printer just ordered.

http://www.johnlewis.com/hp-officejet-pro-8610-wireless-e-all-in-one-printer-fax-machine-hp-instant-ink-compatible/p1437104

£109.99 with £50 John Lewis voucher (available 30-60 days after purchase) and £30 cashback from HP, plus a 3 year warranty from HP.

So £29.99 once the vouchers and rebates come back.

Ordered today, free collection from 2pm tomorrow from my local Waitrose.

Bargain.

Someone posted a link to a decent machine and all its parts at some point. I think we're going to buy a PC desktop with enough power to handle contemporary games and pretty heavy use of photoshop/illustrator. Thoughts?

May want to invest in a decent monitor for colour as well, if anyone's got thoughts. This could come later as we've got something that can be used in the meantime.

might want to hold off for a moment, AMD's new set of GPUs are due out soon

Ta, yep - in no rush.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-hmb-gpu-launch-date,29268.html

E3 (two weeks)