PC Tech Thread

Have tried many game streaming services and they're all a bit crap. Even if frame rate and latency is decent enough, image quality takes a massive hit with all the compression.

Will also like having a second machine that's capable of proper work if I ever need a backup.

Y u no Gamestream?

New page fail.

Tried many varieties and not been impressed by any. Even if framerate and latency is acceptable, image quality never is due to all the compression. There's a reason 4k HDR @60fps needs decent HDMI cables.

All built successfully last night and very happy with it. Process was definitely a pain, requires stuff to be done in the right order. Like making sure to connect the cooler fans to the MB before installing the GPU which makes everything inaccessible.

Only current issue is it won't recognise my Samsung telly as being capable of anything beyond stereo sound (audio is going to AV receiver via ARC). Am sure this a software thing, but damned if I can find a solution.

Edit: Had a sense I'd written some of the above before but put it down to deja vu. Clearly going mad.

Bit of a weird setup, but on my PC I've got a 256 GB M.2 and 2 × 512 GB SSDs. Currently I've got Windows on the M.2 but I want to dual boot Linux. How would you set it up?

• One disk just for Linux?
  
• A 100GB partition on the M.2 and /home dir on the SSD?
  
• Buy a new M.2?
  
• Something else?
  

ooo your first dip into ryzen? I have been thinking about upgrading my b450 board and doing a cpu swap at the same time so I was thinking I would upgrade the living room PC too.
What case is that? Coolermaster?

Yup. Last AMD CPU was a dual core Athlon, I guess around 20 years ago. All good so far, although it does seem to run a little hot. CPU heatsink mounting was an absolute pig with stupid clip things so not sure what state the thermal paste might have ended up in.

Case is a CM NR200P Max - Max being the version with preinstalled PSU and cooler. In hindsight am really glad I went with the easy option rather than starting from scratch.

Was worried it might have given me buyer's remorse but it's really nice to plonk myself on the sofa on an evening rather than going back to my desk.

I ended up going with ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II instead of a normal heatsink. Runs ~75c under heavy load (gaming), and idles around 44c. This is a Ryzen 9 - 5900x (with AMD auto-overclocking enabled, and fans running in "silent" mode, but man they ramp up when needed!)

What's going on here then.

The shadowing doesn't match up with anything that I've had on screen, and I have a screen timeout of 15 minutes in any case.

Windows 10 pro, RTX 3080, Samsung Odyssey G9 all drivers up-to-date (I can't update the monitor firmware though), display port, running at 120Hz, g-sync enabled.

I have change the cable recently, from a DP1.2 spec to DP1.4 due to flickering / blinking of the display - I do not recall seeing the shadows prior to that, but that's not to say they weren't there.

So. Cable problem? Monitor? GPU?

1 Attachment

Monitors. I've got a deposit on eve (now 'Dough') spectrum for pre order but haven't pulled the trigger for over a year. I'd consider doing so now (actually for two of them) but want them relatively quickly so thought i'd ask what else is on the market. I'm after similar specs, ideally power pass through, quick availablity and importantly no gamer aesthetic. Tiny black bezels and no visible logo of the eve were a big draw for me.

Also looking for a dual vesa arms so I can move two monitors around and spin them to 90 degrees and back easily. If there's a monitor that recognises that repositioning and automatically changes dimensions then that's a nice bonus.

edit: this looks nice but not sure the dual version can rotate a single monitor at a time - I'll always want one in landscape and sometimes want one in portrait. https://www.colebrookbossonsaunders.com/monitor-arms/ollin/dual/

edit 2: kind of like this philips from the front: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/philips-27-27m1f5500p-2560x1440-nano-ips-240hz-1ms-freesync-widescreen-gaming-monitor-mo-02y-ph.html would prefer 4k but 1440 is realistically fine. anyone with any experience of it? Doesn't pass power through that I can see.

edit 3: stand goes straight in the bin but... https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lg-27-27gp95r-b-3840x2160-nano-ips-160hz-freesync-g-sync-hdmi-2.1-hdr600-widescreen-gaming-monitor-mo-16v-lg.html

Mesh stuff. I can't get super fast internet at home. About 500mb in at the moment with a 1gb line in 2023 apparently. Main computer is fed over Ethernet but would like a better solution for general WiFi for phones / laptops etc.

I like the look of Google's old nest stuff (2.4/5ghz) as it has built in speakers and we only have Sonos stuff in one room at the moment. What's the audio on these like? And easy to add an extra nest speaker (not WiFi point, just the little speaker things) for stereo? Thinking podcasts in the kitchen etc. We could keep the Sonos for better sound but it's halfway decent I'd prefer not to.

The new nest wifi pro stuff is overkill in terms of speeds presumably for us as we'd never hit their threshold? (And no speakers).

Open to other brands and I know Google drop support for hardware like no other but they're more attractive than typical gamer/it mesh.

Monitor issue id say, looks like the various screen driver zones

Also looking for a dual vesa arms

ergotron is always the answer for quality arms. Im so glad i got mine

I’m looking for a PS4, if anyone knows of one for sale. Thanks.
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/382453/

I do - does £100 sound ok? I paid £180 in 2019, iirc

Hmm. All drivers are up-to-date.

Although it's stopped happening now, of course, so who knows.

Sorry I meant the screen hardwear called a driver - it 'drives' the screen

I'm going to nod knowingly.

That sounds like something that should just work, no?

Cross posting from the security thread in case:

For anyone who is using LastPass and hasn't seen their recent blog, someone has managed to access the entire database of encrypted passwords in a breach in October.

If your master password is weak or is duplicated anywhere, then they may have access to your entire vault.

Mine is pretty secure but it's still the last straw for me and I'm off boarding to Bitwarden and changing 500 odd passwords now that they've been imported.

Much appreciated, happy with how secure mine is but will be switching too. Recently had a phone break and had to swap to desktop mode to access my passwords, then back to phone when I got a new one, using up 2 of my 3 "switches" in free mode. Ridiculous, got on my nerves at the time but this is definitely enough to make me make the jump.

Anyone want this for free?
My old build which I can’t for the life of me remember the specs apart from the 4870 gpu. I think it was Athlon X4?
Nothing amazing. The case however, is a proper piece. mATX sized and insulated for extra quiet.
I remember being obsessed with the quieter PC to the point I went mental with Noctua stuff and sound deadening foam.
By no means clean, it’s hella dusty.
As far as I remember, it still works perfectly, I just moved and stopped using.
No HDD’s. Come collect if you want.

4 Attachments

Whoa. Didn’t read this no. I use it daily.
Tell me your experience with bitwarden?

Bitwarden has been great so far. Only slog has been changing passwords.

Same level of iOS integration and a better macOS integration. No experience of using it oj windows.

Ditch LastPass ASAP

Case looks to be an Antec P182, fantastic cases, brings back memories of my first proper build in a P180

shit...better start working on it then.

@spotter That's the one! It really is awesome, but weighs a fucking ton! It looks spacious, but I barely fit that GPU listed. It was astonishingly quiet even under load. That big ass fan was amazing. Switches in the back to control RPM.

I've been having a nightmare with WMI Provider Host using all my CPU. I tried all the advice I could find. There's lots of it. Nothing worked. As an afterthought I did a virus scan, which found a phishing thing called PWS:HTML/Phish, which steals passwords. Then I found my Hotmail password didn't work. Then Windows wouldn't load. I spent ages making a bootable USB key and repairing Windows. All seems good now. What a tedious, annoying way to waste time.