PC Tech Thread

What rendering engine/software are you using, out of interest?

Think fast - 7 minutes and i could have these tomorrow:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Razer-Kraken-Tournament-Headset-Controller/dp/B07G4KD8WW?ref_=ast_sto_dp

or are these better but coming saturday

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Razer-Blackshark-USB-sound-card-Black/dp/B089SSH6L6?ref_=ast_sto_dp

edit: lots of reviews saying blackshark audio a lot better than kraken. will read up on some other options tonight but blackshark looking good if I can't find logitech pro x wired.

^ this is how I decide all my purchases btw - panicked and against the clock.

Get a Mac jackanory

Looking for a way to store and remotely access ~30TB of data from anywhere in the world with internet.

Currently we use a Thunderbolt RAID DAS which is performant but obviously only local storage. Going forward I need something that mounts as a server on OSX in the Finder sidebar (no screensharing or web browser access only) and is as quick as possible.

Should I try to:

• Network a small machine connected directly to the RAID
  
• Swap RAID for a NAS (Synology probs) and share that
  
• Something else I haven't considered?
  
  

Budget is not an issue, just need to get this up and running soon.
Ta

performant

😬

Access anywhere in the world?

On that criteria it really doesn't matter what the storage is... spinning disks are fine, RAID a lot of HDD together in one of the larger Synology devices.

Your bottleneck is simply network... where are you putting this such that you could get anything closed to local Thunderbolt speeds? A home internet connection? Co-location?

The cost is almost exclusively to do with the internet connection as that dictates the entire expensive and feasibility.

Your bottleneck is simply network

I would agree, but I've read that certain solutions e.g. WebDAV won't even fully saturate that

where are you putting this

Would be in a UK office location with a good fibre line

This data will be accessed 50/50 in an office (I'm sat next to the disks, so I want it fast, and I'm used to a thunderbolt connection), and remotely (performance obviously limited by internet speed), I'm trying to figure out which solution gives me both.

For this in the past I've used a VPN and then for the remote access it just mounts it as usual.

Assuming the VPN is running on something decent you should get good speed but it is sensitive to drop outs, particularly if you're transferring large files.

I use Octane renderer. My Octanebench for the build is 1350 if anyone was interested :-)

I really want a GPU renderer to take advantage of my 3080, but they're a bit spendy for something I'd only use occasionally and non-professionally. Can never decide between Octane and V-Ray either, despite having tried demos for both.

What's your 3D software?

Haven’t tried V-ray myself but the reason I use octane is that it’s so quick to get decent results. I know Octane do a monthly subscription which is about £15 per month, you can jump in and out so could just could get the license for when you need to use it.

I’m using Cinema4D.

Just checking with the peanut gallery here - is the Samsung Odyssey G9 a bonkers piece of kit to think about buying?

Monitor buying is such a ridiculous rabbit hole.

My wish list is >=1440p resolution, >=144Mhz refresh, <=4ms response, curved, VESA mount

curved

Why curved, cousin?

Anyone have any interest in an Intel Nuc NUC i5-5250U? Basically brand new, probably about 10 hours uptime. Copy of Windows 10 pro installed.

Bought for a project that isn't going to happen now.

On Intel processors, I remember someone mentioning here (I think) a particular generation where there was a big leap forward.

If I'm looking at 2nd hand laptops, after what gen should I ideally be looking for at a min?
Cheers.

8th

Cheers

Dell Optiplex 990, I do all my film watching and music listening from this in a 8' x 10' room. The sound comes via a 80s Rotel RA820 amp and same era Celestion DL4 speakers using just the earphone out socket on the back of the computer.
The amp is finally giving out, there is constant buzz now through speakers and headphones, so methinks it has to go. The time is also right for decorating the room so all round changes can be made, would love to go surround sound.

TL:DR do all the USB sockets on the computer have sound through them, if i was going to connect a DAC to it, do i have to disable the sound from the earphone socket?
Thanks

I've no idea if any of these work together, or if they are bottlenecked anywhere - any tips gratefully received

No idea if you still need this but I have used PC part picker for three home build desktops (one for me and one each for my two sons) back in 2014 and they were all very successful and all three still working today (although I have subsequently upgraded my CPU, SSD and RAM).

it works well in identifying where you may have selected incompatible items.

Anyone run their PC from a cupboard or similar in another room. I know it's possible, just interested to hear about setups. I'm renovating my lounge in the coming months and have a dream of no desktop case in the room - just a thin monitor on the wall that could be run from a CPU stashed under the stairs (with good ventilation)

Cheers.

I ended up buying from PC specialist. Their build dashboard checks comparability, which is useful.

Going with Ryzen 5600x, RTX 3080, asus 570 something mobo.

ETA some time in 2025

My work PC is in a big cupboard 350 miles away. Are you thinking of remote access from a small thin client (e.g. hidden behind the screen) over Ethernet/wireless? Or running USB + video through a wall?

I think my venerable i5-2500K desktop may be on the way out, just short of its tenth birthday. Some of the USB ports seem to be failing and it has BSODd a couple of times. Perhaps not surprising as it's been run at 4.4 GHz instead of 3.7 GHz.

I haven't built a PC since then, so what should I be looking at for something that is fast enough to last for the next decade without being stupidly expensive bleeding edge?