Got the last piece of my computer in the mail yesterday, started putting it together and the 8 pin PCIe doesn't work to power the graphics card... Looks like one of the pins is broken.
So now I got to wait for a replacement one to come in... I'm so ready for this to be finished so I can start playing Fallout and Skyrim with mods!
There's not another 8 or 6+2 cable to try included?
Your vidcard should have at least one -- if not two -- adapters for getting power to the card. If that doesn't work for you, you can easily dig up an adapter cable from Amazon or Newegg; or you can run to Best Buy and see if they have one on a shelf.
2. Is it okay to leave the unused one dangling? I really have NO IDEA where the other end of it is, and all my cables are very neatly zip-tied together.
If it's a case of you not having a modular power supply, and an unused power line, yes, you can leave it like that, though you might want to tuck it out of the way somewhere or attach it to something with a twist-tie.
@BouwsT Excellent!! Thats the way I already have it, so glad to know I can be lazy and don't need to do anything lol. I tried to follow it back but it looks like it all just goes into my PSU and everything is bloody beautifully cabled together, so afeared to mess with it.. it hadn;t even occurred to me that it would shoot power out and zap shit : O Thankfully, I have no idea what jumpering the cable is, so no need to worry!
That's great! Seasonic is a VERY reputable brand. They definitely won't shoot out power, and they would only discharge if something was literally jammed into the cable end.
So all I'm getting at is that it's practically impossible to fuck up accidentally, so don't worry too much about the cable being unsecured in your case. If your computer is powering up and working reliably, just close the case, and consider cleaning the dust out of it every few months. No more dicking around required.
Between you and me, Peggy, I smoked this Juul and it did UNTHINKABLE things to my mind and body...
+1
BouwsTWanna come to a super soft birthday party?Registered Userregular
I've got a friend who's looking to upgrade his monitor from a 720P (shudder) 42" (shit seriously?) TV (OH GOD WHY). He's running an undisclosed i5, which I'm going to guess is of the 4670 non-overclockable. variety (or near to it). GTX 960 GPU, and he has an interest in an Ultrawide. Do you guys have any recommendations? Should we be looking at Ultrawide or stick with something a little more grounded? I don't want to recommend 1440P, but he's making much better money now, and would likely upgrade his GPU in due time... Gah, I know so little about displays.
Budget is ~$500 CAD
Between you and me, Peggy, I smoked this Juul and it did UNTHINKABLE things to my mind and body...
it depends on his budget. Personally right now I'd still say that unless you have all the money to spend, get a nice 1080p panel and then in a few years when 4K doesn't cost all the money and actually performs well, that's the time to make the next jump.
it depends on his budget. Personally right now I'd still say that unless you have all the money to spend, get a nice 1080p panel and then in a few years when 4K doesn't cost all the money and actually performs well, that's the time to make the next jump.
Would you do a 21:9 1080P monitor on that GPU though? I'm just not sure if he'll be happy with the result.
Between you and me, Peggy, I smoked this Juul and it did UNTHINKABLE things to my mind and body...
it depends on his budget. Personally right now I'd still say that unless you have all the money to spend, get a nice 1080p panel and then in a few years when 4K doesn't cost all the money and actually performs well, that's the time to make the next jump.
Would you do a 21:9 1080P monitor on that GPU though? I'm just not sure if he'll be happy with the result.
He shouldn't need $500 for a nice 1080p, so that may accelerate the GPU upgrade.
0
BouwsTWanna come to a super soft birthday party?Registered Userregular
it depends on his budget. Personally right now I'd still say that unless you have all the money to spend, get a nice 1080p panel and then in a few years when 4K doesn't cost all the money and actually performs well, that's the time to make the next jump.
Would you do a 21:9 1080P monitor on that GPU though? I'm just not sure if he'll be happy with the result.
He shouldn't need $500 for a nice 1080p, so that may accelerate the GPU upgrade.
So he's running an i5 6400, and that GTX 960. I think I'm going to recommend a 21:9 1080P monitor because he does lots of productive work on the PC as well (producing music, nothing intense but the additional screen real-estate will be a godsend).
Any specific recommendations on a 2560x1080 ultra-wide? <$500 CAD fun-bucks.
Between you and me, Peggy, I smoked this Juul and it did UNTHINKABLE things to my mind and body...
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
the 960 is not exactly a weak GPU so it's not like he desperately needs to upgrade ASAP. But probably inside six months to a year he'll want to, rather than need to.
it depends on his budget. Personally right now I'd still say that unless you have all the money to spend, get a nice 1080p panel and then in a few years when 4K doesn't cost all the money and actually performs well, that's the time to make the next jump.
Would you do a 21:9 1080P monitor on that GPU though? I'm just not sure if he'll be happy with the result.
2560x1080 only has 1.3 times as many pixels as 1920x1080 so the performance hit isn't that bad. It's definitely worth it for the increased immersion gained by having a 21:9 monitor.
A 29" ultrawide can be had fairly cheaply these days.
it depends on his budget. Personally right now I'd still say that unless you have all the money to spend, get a nice 1080p panel and then in a few years when 4K doesn't cost all the money and actually performs well, that's the time to make the next jump.
Would you do a 21:9 1080P monitor on that GPU though? I'm just not sure if he'll be happy with the result.
He shouldn't need $500 for a nice 1080p, so that may accelerate the GPU upgrade.
So he's running an i5 6400, and that GTX 960. I think I'm going to recommend a 21:9 1080P monitor because he does lots of productive work on the PC as well (producing music, nothing intense but the additional screen real-estate will be a godsend).
Any specific recommendations on a 2560x1080 ultra-wide? <$500 CAD fun-bucks.
Excuse me, they've been termed, "Trudeau Tickets."
+1
DuriniaEvolved from Space PotatoesRegistered Userregular
edited January 2017
Hello again, build thread.
I come to lament the imminent demise of my original early 2000s-era Logitech MX510. As I'm playing, I sporadically hear the "USB thing disconnected" sound and my mouse cursor freezes for about 1 second. It hasn't killed me in Overwatch yet, but it's only a matter of time, and I expect it will get worse/more frequent.
I could go get an MX518 and basically have the same thing again, but I thought I'd ask if anyone has a favorite gaming mouse that I should look into first. I don't need 10,000 buttons and I'd like to keep the feel (heft/rough shape) similar, if possible. I do play a little bit of FPS stuff, so would prefer decent performance/glide.
Anybody have opinions?
Durinia on
For business reasons, I must preserve the outward sign of sanity.
--Mark Twain
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
edited January 2017
Razer Deathadder RGB Chroma.
The Deathadder is a mature mouse model that, by this point, has had all of the bugs and kinks thoroughly worked out. For the same reason, it's also incredibly cheap.
It's nice and simple, sticking with the standard two thumb buttons, and has a really nice feeling mouse wheel.
I come to lament the imminent demise of my original early 2000s-era Logitech MX510. As I'm playing, I sporadically hear the "USB thing disconnected" sound and my mouse cursor freezes for about 1 second. It hasn't killed me in Overwatch yet, but it's only a matter of time, and I expect it will get worse/more frequent.
I could go get an MX518 and basically have the same thing again, but I thought I'd ask if anyone has a favorite gaming mouse that I should look into first. I don't need 10,000 buttons and I'd like to keep the feel (heft/rough shape) similar, if possible. I do play a little bit of FPS stuff, so would prefer decent performance/glide.
Anybody have opinions?
I'm using the Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum, which is pretty much the gold standard for gaming mice. Should be able to find one for around $50 on sale.
+3
HeatwaveCome, now, and walk the path of explosions with me!Registered Userregular
edited January 2017
Hey speaking of computer mice, I recently had to retire my MX518 because the rubber coating became sticky.
Most likely my own fault for trying to clean it with multipurpose spray and rubbing alcohol.
Anyway, what I want to know is how do you keep a computer mouse clean?
I'd hate to accidentally ruin my brand new g403 prodigy, because when certain people decide to not wash their fucking hands before using it, I tend to want to go crazy trying to clean my mouse and keyboard.
HonkHonk is this poster.Registered User, __BANNED USERSregular
edited January 2017
Anyone have a clue how many amperes a water pump might draw at full speed?
I got a replacement EK Predator 240 and this time I want to do a leak test well. So I was thinking about running everything for a really long time when it's completely mounted to the components inside the case. To make things easier I was looking into getting a small testing PSU, I found one that delivers a max of 2A, and was wondering if that seems like enough. I can't find info on this anywhere.
Edit: Found now that the pump is 18W. So 12 VDC, 2A max = much more than 18W. So that should be okay I am guessing.
Can someone recco a mouse? I don't need any sort of gaming mouse (Only gaming is like, the sims and planet coaster.) but just don't wanna buy a shit mouse. Would love a wireless mouse that actually works good. I use a sideways mouse at work for wrist-issues.
P.S. Heres my cintiq all set up!! Thanks for the help peeps : D I would have been doomed without you.
Sexy. That includes the Canadian flag patch and the Pusheen coaster (?).
You already have a Logitech wireless keyboard. You could get a Logitech MX Mouse and pair it with the same dongle. It's certainly a competent mouse, but it's also a little more on the expensive side.
I come to lament the imminent demise of my original early 2000s-era Logitech MX510. As I'm playing, I sporadically hear the "USB thing disconnected" sound and my mouse cursor freezes for about 1 second. It hasn't killed me in Overwatch yet, but it's only a matter of time, and I expect it will get worse/more frequent.
I could go get an MX518 and basically have the same thing again, but I thought I'd ask if anyone has a favorite gaming mouse that I should look into first. I don't need 10,000 buttons and I'd like to keep the feel (heft/rough shape) similar, if possible. I do play a little bit of FPS stuff, so would prefer decent performance/glide.
Anybody have opinions?
I'm using the Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum, which is pretty much the gold standard for gaming mice. Should be able to find one for around $50 on sale.
This is also what I am using. Best mouse I've ever used.
Questions about a dying HDD. This is not my system disk, which is a 250gb SSD. This is a 2TB Barracuda, 3.5 years old:
About 2 weeks I noticed while playing D3 that random texture loadins were causing my game to lag for a few seconds.
Last week, I also had a game of Rocket League where I missed 10 seconds of it in the middle with my HDD light on, I had opened the task manager and saw my drive at 100% with no visible transfer rate
And in the last 3 days this seems to have exploded, where load times have become very inconsistent (sometimes fine, sometimes minutes long, to loading an audiofile in NBA 2k17 suddenly taking 30 seconds (An almost surreal experience as the game kept playing on, so the commentators were talking about 2 plays in the past)
And so yesterday night I started up a CHKDSK before going to bed, and it estimated 24 hours, which seemed long even for a 2TB drive, but it's been a long time since I did it so I thought "maybe it's a bit inaccurate"
When I got back to it 12 hours later it had only completed 9%, and estimated another 5 days to complete. It had found 4 or 5 bad clusters.
I ended it and rebooted the machine, and the drive wasn't visible. (I saw it missing in the boot sequence) I rebooted it again and the came back
I spent some time reading on how to further diagnose this, I downloaded Seagates tool, and only even got through the quickest test (The SMART test which failed), because the others were so slow. By this time I had task manager open full time, and saw 100% busyness with a lot of time spent at 0 read/write, and peaks of only 2mb read/write. Transferring 1gb of old photos from it took 15 minutes.
I opened the Event Viewer because the internet told me to (It's been a long time since I thought about that thing). I see about 1 Event 129 every 20 minutes or so (storahci Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.), and about as many Event 7 (The device, \Device\Harddisk1\DR1, has a bad block).
Is there anything happening here beyond "This HDD is dying" or should I just stop playing amateur PC doctor, buy a new drive and carry on?
If I do buy a new drive, it will probably be a 3TB platter one. Games are big, and my download speed is such that keeping 50gb games I may play again one time around is an advantage.
But I am considering buying a 500gb SSD as well. Improved load times are an improved experience for sure, but the 250gb SSD is simply to small to install more than a few games to it.
I notice that since I built this PC 3.5 years ago, a tier of budget SSDs has cropped up, with disks like the Sandisk Ultra II SSD 480GB
They seem to be cheaper because of some controller shenanigans that I don't truely understand, and I wonder if these differences, that apparently in some cases cause it to be significantly slower, would impact the loadtimes I care about a lot, a little, or not at all.
Yeah, get a new drive before your current one is completely dead. I'd go for storage space over speed, you already have an SSD, and you can use something like steam mover to keep whatever game you're currently playing on your SSD for performance reasons.
0
That_GuyI don't wanna be that guyRegistered Userregular
I recommend Caviar Reds for storage drives and SSDs for OS and Apps.
Casually HardcoreOnce an Asshole. Trying to be better.Registered Userregular
If you're storing important data (family pictures, tax information, business accouting, etc.) then I would personally setup a raid 1 with a couple of cheap TB+ HDD. Maybe even setup a server to handle all that stuff.
Hi Build Thread, setting up an all-in-one for my mother who emits a low-grade EMP field that slowly (sometimes) destroys any electronics she interacts with.
She also sometimes clicks on things she shouldn't, and is paralyzed by pop up messages (especially threatening ones, like you may have a corrupted thingamajig.)
What's my best option for anti-virus? I need to balance effective with super easy to use and non-intrusive. Free is nice, but I'll pay for a good solution. Thanks in advance.
If you're storing important data (family pictures, tax information, business accouting, etc.) then I would personally setup a raid 1 with a couple of cheap TB+ HDD. Maybe even setup a server to handle all that stuff.
OK everyone. Say it with me
RAID IS NOT A BACKUP SOLUTION.
Barring any glaring manufacturing defects, drives in a RAID are likely to fail around the same time. RAID is about uptime, not about keeping your data backed up. If you want to be sure your personal data is safe, invest in offsite storage. A service like Google Drive or DropBox offers affordable offsite storage for any data you need to keep secure. The relatively new new M-DISC format is spesifically designed for long term archival of important data. These discs can be stored in safty deposit boxes or in a safe at home. Just make sure you pack some silica desiccants (don't eats). Considering how long it's designed to last, the media is a bargain.
I don't think he's looking for a backup solution either? He just needs a storage drive with high capacity to compliment his SSD.
If you're looking for a backup solution I think the best thing for the everyday consumer is to get a good external drive and back up to it with off the shelf backup software. The most important part of this is that you can take it with you if there is an emergency.
0
Casually HardcoreOnce an Asshole. Trying to be better.Registered Userregular
If you're storing important data (family pictures, tax information, business accouting, etc.) then I would personally setup a raid 1 with a couple of cheap TB+ HDD. Maybe even setup a server to handle all that stuff.
OK everyone. Say it with me
RAID IS NOT A BACKUP SOLUTION.
Barring any glaring manufacturing defects, drives in a RAID are likely to fail around the same time. RAID is about uptime, not about keeping your data backed up. If you want to be sure your personal data is safe, invest in offsite storage. A service like Google Drive or DropBox offers affordable offsite storage for any data you need to keep secure. The relatively new new M-DISC format is spesifically designed for long term archival of important data. These discs can be stored in safty deposit boxes or in a safe at home. Just make sure you pack some silica desiccants (don't eats). Considering how long it's designed to last, the media is a bargain.
I stand corrected. But I would never depend on the cloud for backup because who's to say that one day those company will deny you your data. And let's not forget that stupidity of the 'fappening'.
If you're storing important data (family pictures, tax information, business accouting, etc.) then I would personally setup a raid 1 with a couple of cheap TB+ HDD. Maybe even setup a server to handle all that stuff.
OK everyone. Say it with me
RAID IS NOT A BACKUP SOLUTION.
Barring any glaring manufacturing defects, drives in a RAID are likely to fail around the same time. RAID is about uptime, not about keeping your data backed up. If you want to be sure your personal data is safe, invest in offsite storage. A service like Google Drive or DropBox offers affordable offsite storage for any data you need to keep secure. The relatively new new M-DISC format is spesifically designed for long term archival of important data. These discs can be stored in safty deposit boxes or in a safe at home. Just make sure you pack some silica desiccants (don't eats). Considering how long it's designed to last, the media is a bargain.
I stand corrected. But I would never depend on the cloud for backup because who's to say that one day those company will deny you your data. And let's not forget that stupidity of the 'fappening'.
In a lot of ways cloud backup is significantly better than anything an individual can do. Sure, that company could deny you your data, but in order for that to negatively affect you it would have to happen alongside your data actually being lost. It's also very unlikely because if a cloud backup company suddenly started denying customers access to their data they would go out of business overnight. No at-home backup solution protects against, say, your house burning down while you're not home, or a power surge that takes out all of your electronics, or a hurricane that floods your house.
Re. the fappening, A: Don't trust Apple with your data. B: Don't trust social media companies with your data. C: Choose a backup provider that fully encrypts backups and doesn't keep the keys.
A file only really exists if it exists in 3 places, one of them being off site.
RAID 1 is not a backup at all, as it does not protect at all against accidental deletion/ransomeware/whatever.
Having a second copy of everything on an external hard drive is a good option, until the house burns down and you lose both copies.
Ideally your most important data should exist in two places locally that aren't instantly synced to eachother, as well as an offsite location.
My dad has almost 3TB of raw photos taken over the past 10 years, and losing that it not an option, as he does it semi-professionally. The collection lives on his computer, on a NAS, and backed up to a cloud service, in his case Carbonite.
Can someone recco a mouse? I don't need any sort of gaming mouse (Only gaming is like, the sims and planet coaster.) but just don't wanna buy a shit mouse. Would love a wireless mouse that actually works good. I use a sideways mouse at work for wrist-issues.
P.S. Heres my cintiq all set up!! Thanks for the help peeps : D I would have been doomed without you.
Hi Build Thread, setting up an all-in-one for my mother who emits a low-grade EMP field that slowly (sometimes) destroys any electronics she interacts with.
She also sometimes clicks on things she shouldn't, and is paralyzed by pop up messages (especially threatening ones, like you may have a corrupted thingamajig.)
What's my best option for anti-virus? I need to balance effective with super easy to use and non-intrusive. Free is nice, but I'll pay for a good solution. Thanks in advance.
In my experience, Windows Defender built into Windows 10 does a fine job of keeping the system safe when paired with ad blockers. I'd personally suggest just getting her to use Chrome with Adblock Plus.
Also possibly teach her how to use a computer. I know my local library has free classes for teaching people beginner and intermediate computer use. Failing that maybe set her up with a limited user account that can't install software.
Edit: Rereading this I realize it sounds kind of cheeky, but I don't mean it in a mean or joking way. It's pretty obvious from the way that you worded your post that she is the common factor in her tech woes, and teaching her is the surest way to fix the problem.
LD50 on
+2
HeatwaveCome, now, and walk the path of explosions with me!Registered Userregular
Hi Build Thread, setting up an all-in-one for my mother who emits a low-grade EMP field that slowly (sometimes) destroys any electronics she interacts with.
She also sometimes clicks on things she shouldn't, and is paralyzed by pop up messages (especially threatening ones, like you may have a corrupted thingamajig.)
What's my best option for anti-virus? I need to balance effective with super easy to use and non-intrusive. Free is nice, but I'll pay for a good solution. Thanks in advance.
I've tried Avira anti virus on a couple computers and it seems really solid.
Also I'd suggest installing a site adviser add-on such as WOT (web of trust) to the brower (chrome), as it's icon gives a indicator of a website's warning level, from green (safe), yellow (might be iffy), to red (stay the fuck away). All google search results will feature the icon's warning level beside them, but if she gets a redirect from another website, the icon's colour at the top right of the browser will also change if the safely level isn't good.
Granted, it's not always accurate, but it's helped keep my computer safe up until now.
And yeah, Adblock is also a must, though it might annoy her when certain sites prevent her from viewing their stuff because they can detect ad blocker, but fuck those sites anyway.
Posts
Doing so on a power supply would be bad.
Your vidcard should have at least one -- if not two -- adapters for getting power to the card. If that doesn't work for you, you can easily dig up an adapter cable from Amazon or Newegg; or you can run to Best Buy and see if they have one on a shelf.
That's great! Seasonic is a VERY reputable brand. They definitely won't shoot out power, and they would only discharge if something was literally jammed into the cable end.
So all I'm getting at is that it's practically impossible to fuck up accidentally, so don't worry too much about the cable being unsecured in your case. If your computer is powering up and working reliably, just close the case, and consider cleaning the dust out of it every few months. No more dicking around required.
Budget is ~$500 CAD
Would you do a 21:9 1080P monitor on that GPU though? I'm just not sure if he'll be happy with the result.
Fair enough. I think he's looking to play The Witcher 3, and that 720P monitor apparently, "makes it look like shit". No kidding :rotate:
He shouldn't need $500 for a nice 1080p, so that may accelerate the GPU upgrade.
So he's running an i5 6400, and that GTX 960. I think I'm going to recommend a 21:9 1080P monitor because he does lots of productive work on the PC as well (producing music, nothing intense but the additional screen real-estate will be a godsend).
Any specific recommendations on a 2560x1080 ultra-wide? <$500 CAD fun-bucks.
Edit: I think I found something. <$300 CAD
2560x1080 only has 1.3 times as many pixels as 1920x1080 so the performance hit isn't that bad. It's definitely worth it for the increased immersion gained by having a 21:9 monitor.
A 29" ultrawide can be had fairly cheaply these days.
Excuse me, they've been termed, "Trudeau Tickets."
I come to lament the imminent demise of my original early 2000s-era Logitech MX510. As I'm playing, I sporadically hear the "USB thing disconnected" sound and my mouse cursor freezes for about 1 second. It hasn't killed me in Overwatch yet, but it's only a matter of time, and I expect it will get worse/more frequent.
I could go get an MX518 and basically have the same thing again, but I thought I'd ask if anyone has a favorite gaming mouse that I should look into first. I don't need 10,000 buttons and I'd like to keep the feel (heft/rough shape) similar, if possible. I do play a little bit of FPS stuff, so would prefer decent performance/glide.
Anybody have opinions?
--Mark Twain
The Deathadder is a mature mouse model that, by this point, has had all of the bugs and kinks thoroughly worked out. For the same reason, it's also incredibly cheap.
It's nice and simple, sticking with the standard two thumb buttons, and has a really nice feeling mouse wheel.
I'm using the Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum, which is pretty much the gold standard for gaming mice. Should be able to find one for around $50 on sale.
Most likely my own fault for trying to clean it with multipurpose spray and rubbing alcohol.
Anyway, what I want to know is how do you keep a computer mouse clean?
I'd hate to accidentally ruin my brand new g403 prodigy, because when certain people decide to not wash their fucking hands before using it, I tend to want to go crazy trying to clean my mouse and keyboard.
Steam / Origin & Wii U: Heatwave111 / FC: 4227-1965-3206 / Battle.net: Heatwave#11356
I got a replacement EK Predator 240 and this time I want to do a leak test well. So I was thinking about running everything for a really long time when it's completely mounted to the components inside the case. To make things easier I was looking into getting a small testing PSU, I found one that delivers a max of 2A, and was wondering if that seems like enough. I can't find info on this anywhere.
Edit: Found now that the pump is 18W. So 12 VDC, 2A max = much more than 18W. So that should be okay I am guessing.
P.S. Heres my cintiq all set up!! Thanks for the help peeps : D I would have been doomed without you.
You already have a Logitech wireless keyboard. You could get a Logitech MX Mouse and pair it with the same dongle. It's certainly a competent mouse, but it's also a little more on the expensive side.
link if you need it: https://smile.amazon.com/Logitech-Proteus-Spectrum-Tunable-Gaming/dp/B019OB663A/
(Also kekeke yes, its a pusheen coaster. I got it as part of my Pusheen Box.)
Edit: damn, you can't buy that mouse in the country I live in : U baaaah
About 2 weeks I noticed while playing D3 that random texture loadins were causing my game to lag for a few seconds.
Last week, I also had a game of Rocket League where I missed 10 seconds of it in the middle with my HDD light on, I had opened the task manager and saw my drive at 100% with no visible transfer rate
And in the last 3 days this seems to have exploded, where load times have become very inconsistent (sometimes fine, sometimes minutes long, to loading an audiofile in NBA 2k17 suddenly taking 30 seconds (An almost surreal experience as the game kept playing on, so the commentators were talking about 2 plays in the past)
And so yesterday night I started up a CHKDSK before going to bed, and it estimated 24 hours, which seemed long even for a 2TB drive, but it's been a long time since I did it so I thought "maybe it's a bit inaccurate"
When I got back to it 12 hours later it had only completed 9%, and estimated another 5 days to complete. It had found 4 or 5 bad clusters.
I ended it and rebooted the machine, and the drive wasn't visible. (I saw it missing in the boot sequence) I rebooted it again and the came back
I spent some time reading on how to further diagnose this, I downloaded Seagates tool, and only even got through the quickest test (The SMART test which failed), because the others were so slow. By this time I had task manager open full time, and saw 100% busyness with a lot of time spent at 0 read/write, and peaks of only 2mb read/write. Transferring 1gb of old photos from it took 15 minutes.
I opened the Event Viewer because the internet told me to (It's been a long time since I thought about that thing). I see about 1 Event 129 every 20 minutes or so (storahci Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.), and about as many Event 7 (The device, \Device\Harddisk1\DR1, has a bad block).
Is there anything happening here beyond "This HDD is dying" or should I just stop playing amateur PC doctor, buy a new drive and carry on?
If I do buy a new drive, it will probably be a 3TB platter one. Games are big, and my download speed is such that keeping 50gb games I may play again one time around is an advantage.
But I am considering buying a 500gb SSD as well. Improved load times are an improved experience for sure, but the 250gb SSD is simply to small to install more than a few games to it.
I notice that since I built this PC 3.5 years ago, a tier of budget SSDs has cropped up, with disks like the Sandisk Ultra II SSD 480GB
They seem to be cheaper because of some controller shenanigans that I don't truely understand, and I wonder if these differences, that apparently in some cases cause it to be significantly slower, would impact the loadtimes I care about a lot, a little, or not at all.
She also sometimes clicks on things she shouldn't, and is paralyzed by pop up messages (especially threatening ones, like you may have a corrupted thingamajig.)
What's my best option for anti-virus? I need to balance effective with super easy to use and non-intrusive. Free is nice, but I'll pay for a good solution. Thanks in advance.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
OK everyone. Say it with me
RAID IS NOT A BACKUP SOLUTION.
Barring any glaring manufacturing defects, drives in a RAID are likely to fail around the same time. RAID is about uptime, not about keeping your data backed up. If you want to be sure your personal data is safe, invest in offsite storage. A service like Google Drive or DropBox offers affordable offsite storage for any data you need to keep secure. The relatively new new M-DISC format is spesifically designed for long term archival of important data. These discs can be stored in safty deposit boxes or in a safe at home. Just make sure you pack some silica desiccants (don't eats). Considering how long it's designed to last, the media is a bargain.
If you're looking for a backup solution I think the best thing for the everyday consumer is to get a good external drive and back up to it with off the shelf backup software. The most important part of this is that you can take it with you if there is an emergency.
I stand corrected. But I would never depend on the cloud for backup because who's to say that one day those company will deny you your data. And let's not forget that stupidity of the 'fappening'.
In a lot of ways cloud backup is significantly better than anything an individual can do. Sure, that company could deny you your data, but in order for that to negatively affect you it would have to happen alongside your data actually being lost. It's also very unlikely because if a cloud backup company suddenly started denying customers access to their data they would go out of business overnight. No at-home backup solution protects against, say, your house burning down while you're not home, or a power surge that takes out all of your electronics, or a hurricane that floods your house.
Re. the fappening, A: Don't trust Apple with your data. B: Don't trust social media companies with your data. C: Choose a backup provider that fully encrypts backups and doesn't keep the keys.
RAID 1 is not a backup at all, as it does not protect at all against accidental deletion/ransomeware/whatever.
Having a second copy of everything on an external hard drive is a good option, until the house burns down and you lose both copies.
Ideally your most important data should exist in two places locally that aren't instantly synced to eachother, as well as an offsite location.
My dad has almost 3TB of raw photos taken over the past 10 years, and losing that it not an option, as he does it semi-professionally. The collection lives on his computer, on a NAS, and backed up to a cloud service, in his case Carbonite.
I'd look at the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort mouse. I've been using one for about a week at work and it took about a day to get used to, but I love it.
https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Sculpt-Ergonomic-Mouse-L6V-00001/dp/B00D68ZVY8/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1484516569&sr=1-3&keywords=microsoft+sculpt
In my experience, Windows Defender built into Windows 10 does a fine job of keeping the system safe when paired with ad blockers. I'd personally suggest just getting her to use Chrome with Adblock Plus.
Edit: Rereading this I realize it sounds kind of cheeky, but I don't mean it in a mean or joking way. It's pretty obvious from the way that you worded your post that she is the common factor in her tech woes, and teaching her is the surest way to fix the problem.
Also I'd suggest installing a site adviser add-on such as WOT (web of trust) to the brower (chrome), as it's icon gives a indicator of a website's warning level, from green (safe), yellow (might be iffy), to red (stay the fuck away). All google search results will feature the icon's warning level beside them, but if she gets a redirect from another website, the icon's colour at the top right of the browser will also change if the safely level isn't good.
Granted, it's not always accurate, but it's helped keep my computer safe up until now.
And yeah, Adblock is also a must, though it might annoy her when certain sites prevent her from viewing their stuff because they can detect ad blocker, but fuck those sites anyway.
Steam / Origin & Wii U: Heatwave111 / FC: 4227-1965-3206 / Battle.net: Heatwave#11356