PC Tech Thread

Wouldn't Remote Desktop do what you're looking for?

Cheers. Exactly what I wanted to know. Guess I'll just bravely soldier on with the one screen.

Not keen on spending money with everything going on, but that's a really solid suggestion. May have a look on bangood and Ali in case there's a cheap option.

I looked at this and similar to cast from linux / windows to android / rassbian.

Nothing came of it, unfortunately.

Wireless HDMI extenders are a possibility, but the hardware is pricey.

It looks like it's disabled in most Windows packages, other than pro / enterprise .

Err... Good point.... Maybe? Will give it a try.

Yes, forgot that. The viewer part is on all versions of Windows but the server side is just pro/enterprise.

Most of the cheap licences out there are pro so that's what most of mine run.

Cheers.

As I said it was really just a way to see if we could use old laptops to make free putawayable 2nd screens.

Presuming you just want another screen to run a browser, what about sharemouse? I used something like it back in the day. It allows you to use one keyboard and mouse across multiple computers.

Logitech options does something similar (although I've never used it myself) https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/options/page/flow-multi-device-control

Not sure whether it requires specific mouse/keyboard or not.

My son is looking to build his own PC for general student use and gaming plus some CAD type design. I'm out of my depth in trying to advise him, so I'd appreciate any guidance you can give.

He's done a lot of research and has come up with this wish list that would fit his budget if he can pick up the components at good prices:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 (2600 or 2600x or 3600 or 3600x)
GPU: GeForce GTX 1660 Super or Ti (or even an RTX 2060)
Motherboard: B450 chipset (ATX or Micro ATX (mATX))
RAM : 3200MHz DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
SSD : NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 (128 or 256GB)
HDD : 7200rpm 3.5" (1 or 2TB)
Power Supply : 500w ATX
CPU cooler : AM4 socket (95W TDP or higher) (max. height: 145mm)
Case : mid-tower (for ATX or mATX motherboard) or mini-tower (for mATX motherboard)
Case cooling: 120mm silent PWM (some cases have pre-installed fans)

So, any clangers there? Would he be better off with other components instead?

Does anyone have any of those bits (or similar) up for sale?

Any help much appreciated!

I reckon an SSD that small is a false economy. Get 512 MB or 1TB for a few quid more.

Budget?

Dell's XPS8930 -13 and -09 are pretty close to that spec, albeit using Intel i7 9700 CPUs.

Its probably a good idea to factor in some budget contingency. It was 20+ years ago and hardware was less resilient back then but I bricked a fair few components on my first build.

Obvs a good chance your kid is less of a ham fisted plonker than me though...

Thanks - that's exactly the sort of tip I need.

As cheap as reasonable really. He's happy to end up with something with those specs, so whatever can be done to keep the costs down would be good (e.g. refurbs, used parts), but without wanting to make false economies.

One of the main points is for him to put it all together and learn along the way.

Good point - especially if he has inherited my 'give it a go, deal with the fallout later' approach.

Building PCs is much easier now days. I would have thought the risk of cockups will be lower than it used to be.

Fingers crossed - he's on his own with this one!

agree with chez_jay on a larger SSD

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/
is a decent place for seeing others' builds and getting an idea of costs

Looks useful, thanks

I just did a very similar build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/spotter300/saved/KhLfP6

I already had storage /case/ GPU but the CPU/MoBo/RAM/PSU are all what you need

Brilliant - seems like he's got his research about right then!

I was looking at options a few days ago in case my 4 year old XPS15 laptop died (had a few random reboots this week, no heat issues).

Dell Inspiron desktop £900
i7 9700
NVidia GTX1650 (4GB)
8GB DDR4 @ 2666MHz
256GB M.2 SSD
1TB 7200rpm spinning rust.

Dell XPS 8930 £1200
i7 9700
NVidia GTX1660Ti (6GB)
8GB DDR4 @ 2666MHz
512GB M.2 SSD
1TB 7200rpm spinning rust.

Dell XPS 8930 £1500
i7 9700
NVidia RTX2060 (6GB)
16GB DDR4 @ 2666MHz
512GB M.2 SSD
2TB 7200rpm spinning rust.

I don't think going custom gets you much in terms of performance or upgradability nowadays, and getting warranty support for a complete desktop rather than a collection of parts is easier.

Bit late, but just to wrap the point up.

just want another screen to run a browser,

No. I'm after another display for the laptops so I have two screens like I used to at work.

There are loads in the office I can get, but that's;

• a cable running to the laptop,
  
• a cable running to the power and
  
• a massive hard to relocate stand and screen
  
  

Whereas an old laptop can just be put away in the evening and weekend. Or even (and more likely) closed and put under another laptop.

Basically I don't need a 2nd screen enough to justify fucking up our dining room any more than WFH and a toddler already have.

Which sort of brings me on to another question....

Does anyone use a window tile manager in W10? My use would be really basic mainly getting word and/or pdfs to go straight into a 50:50 screen so when I compare docs I don't have to resize.

With two screens I just put one on the right and then have the other whatever size I want.

Most of what I've skim read seems aimed at coders or hardcore tech heads.

Cheers.