Computer Hardware General Thread

[HF]

So, who else here builds/mods their computers around here?


Installed this neat thing into my desktop about two weeks ago.

Core* temperature averages dropped down to 40 Celsius when playing Borderlands 2 (as compared to a risky 70 - 80 Celsius when using the cooling fan that came with the processor).


* Core tested is an Intel i5 Socket 1155 Processor

[hawkeyes]

I made me and my wife computers just to play Borderlands 2 together. They run very well except that the mobo I used for hers was out of stock and in my rush I didn't see that my mobo was a mini atx. Got us both Geforce cards to experience physx (WELL worth it) but as they are pretty big I had to make an adaptor for the card to actually fit and not close in the airspace.

Works well enough but it gets pretty hot. I made a few holes and installed more fans to make a much faster air flow and give fresh air to both the Graphics card and CPU. Now she stays at an acceptable level but I don't keep it on too long. Made a small addition to BIOS and a program that accesses it that disables all hardware and dumps all processes in RAM after half an hour of inactivity so the rig doesn't keep generating heat. Can't be too safe, eh?

[joshmnky]

I'd love to make my own from the ground up. I just bought a new PC to get me through college. For said PC, I ordered a 450 Watt power supply and a GTX 650 graphics card. The price says affordable, but the specs say beast.

I guess this is sort of along the same lines, but I had my old PC hooked to a 40 inch tv. I could sit on my recliner with wireless keyboard and mouse and live like a king. Unfortunately HDMI is highly susceptible to static caused by fowl weather, so that doesn't work anymore 

[HF]

joshmnky: The GTX 650 sounds like a good choice, though I'm not so sure about the 450W.

If you're going to build something for gaming, I would recommend at least 600~800W with surge protection. That way you can expand on it in the future, especially if you'll be getting cases like this or this.

Also, those must be some terrible birds.

[joshmnky]

@hf  When the air is dry, they can just about make your hair stand up while flying overhead.  Those cases are pretty nice.   I love the crazy advertising on the first one.

450W should be fine for now. That's basically all I'm going to add to it, so it should be more than enough. I find it funny, however, that they say on the box it requires a 400W PSU when they couldn't possibly know what else your running. I have been known to render video overnight in Blender, so all I was really looking for was a quiet one.   I plan on changing it out in a couple years when I graduate and get a real job anyway.

Have you thought of making a setup with a solid state primary drive and secondary hard drives for bulk storage?  They also sale hybrid drives with a little bit of on-board solid state memory for extra speed.

I know it isn't hardware, but I also plan on trying to use Linux as my next OS.  It has kicked my ass in the past when I try to download external programs, but I have a feeling that when you learn to use it you forget it was ever a problem.  Ohhhh, all the people who just say "just use apt-get! it's the easiest thing in the world!!"  WTF IS APT-GET??

[HF]

joshmnky: For my main machine, I use a Plextor M5Pro SSD for my main drive (OS: W8Pro); it cost me quite a bit, but the performance difference over other SSDs by OCZ is noticeable with a better read/write consistency.

Also yes, it's always a good idea to keep at least one mechanical drive for storage (otherwise you'll wear down your SSD needlessly). My laptop uses modular bays, so I can hot-swap between drives (among other things) anytime.

[joshmnky]

HF Duly noted. I finally got the opportunity to install my psu and gpu today ^^! It took me hours ><! Windows 8 was being a ass, and would show a blank screen when I installed the gpu. Also, drivers would not install without first finding the hardware. I eventually discovered I had to disable secure boot and enable a legacy something-other in the bios (hold down ESC NOT F12!!!). When it finally started working, the TV I was using as a screen was incompatible, so now I'm using a crappy old monitor with terrible contrast and dull colors *face palm*.

[HF]

joshmnky: Nice.

And if updating your graphics drivers and/or manually setting the output resolution for your TV fails, now you've got a good reason to get yourself a massive touch-screen to make more use of Windows 8.