PC Tech Thread

Yeah.. You'll need some active cooling then I reckon. The APU2 can be cooled passively with a heat spreader but I bet it gets pretty toasty if it's busy. Also no idea if the jaguar CPU is any good.
I was hoping for something interesting from the ARM64 camp but it all seems geared at datacentre environments, expensive and hot. The APU2 seemed about the only option for a fairly fast passively-cooled 64bit unit with multiple gigE ports. Serial console is a nice bonus too as it'll be in the loft and I don't relish lugging a monitor up there to manage it.

I want to replace my M500 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Logitech-M500-Corded-Mouse-Mac/dp/B00HV9ZG98/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467116798&sr=8-1&keywords=logitech+m500

Should I just get another or is there a better model or something else to consider, like
https://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/1019094451171530061?q=Roccat+Kone+xtd&biw=1920&bih=1071&bav=on.2,or.&bvm=bv.125596728,d.ZGg&tch=1&ech=1&psi=y2xyV-rrFcbdgAaWob3gDA.1467116749866.3&prds=hsec:online,paur:ClkAsKraX4GG_rUMjW_pqZVur_stsjPUxjcSD0BxAjJvdEVTreXXpYZZAdZP7xaqVHssulXIK1OYfy8vN-rSSFL3FvOIkG43FhmPcmPueSg7G53Da6URHm9b6xIZAFPVH70Wxa4MB7ibJwV5hrNQzLWzbJLv-Q&ved=0ahUKEwiv06vo28rNAhUDIMAKHW66DYYQ2SsIFQ&ei=02xyV--dEYPAgAbu9LawCA

Not for gaming but will be used heavily, must be fast and must be wired

I'd seriously recommend this Razor one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Razer-DeathAdder-Chroma-Gaming-Mouse/dp/B00MXV1Q4I/

I also do not game, but it is a superb wired mouse that stays clean, is very fast and responsive and accurate. And it's also quite plain and comfortable to use.

How long have you had it? £60 = 2 x M500 = 12 years of Logitech

Bought a Razer Diamondback in 2005. Still going strong 11 years later.

Last one about a decade, this is the new model and so far about 2 years.

The last one hadn't failed... it has just gotten grimy enough that I felt it was now disposable in the name of hygiene.

Cool. Ordering.

@hippy @Velocio hah it's an awesome mouse. I have the 1st Gen Death Adder as well that I still use at work. Had to take solvent to it to clean up the non-slip surface which had worn away.

The newer one is leaps and bounds better, but can't bring myself to retire the old one (it still works fine!)

Keyboards, I have a Royal Kludge RC930-87 at home. It's a torpe key clone with MX stems. Really like it. That said, I've brought it in to work for now.

Anyone used a Ducky One TKL ? Or Cherry MX Browns ? I was looking for clears but there are very few TKL boards using them, and almost never in stock.

PBT or ABS key caps ? Seems to lean towards PBT

I use a Razor Imperator, on my second one since 2007, the left click started to go on the first one, but then I used to play CS:S competitively so logged crazy amounts of hours with it.

Cherry Brown's seem to be the best for typing/general use. I've got a keyboard with some Cherry Blue copies and although it's nice to type on it's bloody loud.

Yeah I had a MX Blues and I liked the click but it gets annoying after a while.

Guess I'll get a Ducky One TKL with Browns... I've decided to forgo backlit LEDs lol

I've ordered one. Fuck it, I'm worth it.

Trying to make a PC quieter. I have a decent case, what else should I be looking at?

Power supply I guess, case fans, CPU cooler. Is water cooling worth it? Any suggestions for decent makes that are quiet given that every sodding component seems to claim it's quiet when you look at descriptions.

Case fans spin relatively slowly, they produce some noise but not the most noise.

What you need to look for are the small fans, and the fans that spin at high speed in small spaces.

• Motherboard fans
  
• Graphics card fans
  
• Potentially CPU fans (if small, or on a smallish heatsink)
  
  

The biggest benefit is usually gained from passively cooling the motherboard locations if you have space for a more CPU-like heatsink.

Then attacking the graphics card.

The graphics card is best solved by choosing one of the more recent models which will not power the fans unless you're gaming. Which means that they have hardware modules for decoding video, so even when watching a 4k film my home graphics card is still passively cooled by the heatsink.

Attack the things that move the fastest, it's the smallest fans in tightest spaces wherever those are.

Water cooling, if you're not overclocking, isn't really worth it long term. Satisfying short-term... but long-term a pain in the arse.

What you need is an independent source of proper measurements:

http://silentpcreview.com/

Which case? (Edit, below)

Water cooling generally isn't quieter unless it's a 1kW SLI gaming rig because you have to add a pump and fans on the radiators are generally in free air with nothing to absorb their noise before it reaches your ears.

edit:

Spec needed:
Case
CPU
GPU
Discs
PSU

With details of the above, should be able to work out the power consumption, and since this isn't a bicycle light, almost all the energy input as electricity will be output as heat. If your components aren't particularly recent, it may end up cheaper selling components and buying more modern replacements, or just flogging the whole box and replacing it.

My water-cooled (0.85kW) SLI gaming rig is virtually silent when browsing the web/iplayer etc., the only fan in the whole system that runs at idle is the one in the PSU (which makes me tempted to replace it, but that would be a bit frivolous). The pump itself is completely silent.

That said, I completely agree that it's not very practical. I've got new video cards on the way and replacing them will involve draining and refilling the whole thing. Pretty daft really.

Hi all, I need some help with an Aspire 6930G.

It's an old heavy laptop, that I use only at home. The DC connector is bad, so loose that just moving the laptop around cut the power and given the battery is long gone too, forces the laptop to shut down. I am starting a new job so I need to do some work on it (mostly at home) so I need it to be more reliable.

I bought the replacement cable, and I will buy a new battery as well, any recommendation where to get the job done in North London? Any forum member that has done this before/can do it? I'd rather have the money going to someone here than to random ppl.

Anyone want to buy my old Clevo gaming/editing laptop? A client spent nearly 3 grand on it for me about 4 years ago. It's been around the world a dozen times, has been bumped around in the back of land rovers, got muddy and wet - to that end it has a couple of cracks (the fan covers at the back are missing one or two teeth). It's in need of a clean up externally and internally but if someone wants a project then I'd say 100 quid plus postage and you'd get some excellent gaming out of it yet. Comes with a spare battery and various adapters etc. Not sure if I have the original box.

Specs:

Screen: 15.6" 1080p Full HD Matte 95% NTSC Colour Gamut
Screen Calibration: SPYDER 4 Professional screen calibration
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 680M 4.0GB GDDR5 with Optimus switchable graphics
CPU: Intel Core i7 Quad Core 3820QM 2.7GHZ 8MB Cache
Thermal Compund: IC DIAMOND / Arctic Silver Thermal Compund on CPU and GPU
RAM: 32GB DDR3 (1600) Dual Channel 4 x 8GB
Hard Drive: Samsung 512GB 830 SSD
Optical Drive: 6x BLURAY Writer
Connectivity: Intel Advanced-N 6235 WiFi + Bluetooth (v4.0)
Keyboard: UK Backlit

Photos please... no idea what they look like.

But my old Thinkpad at home is definitely near dead, and that RAM and CPU are right up my street.

Which is a dibs... subject to aesthetics (it has to sit on my very sparse and minimalist desk).

Or link to whatever Clevo model it is.

In other news, the overtime I've earned recently has just contributed to an HTC Vive.

I was trying to convince myself to hold out for VR 2.0 but having no idea how far off that might be my resolve was bound to fail sooner or later. Should arrive Sat, quite excite.

Fanless is awesome.

Spendy, but awesome.

Did I mention my new machine is awesome?

QuietPC.com really good to deal with too.

second dibs, if you would be willing to post.

What did you get?

Pics or links.