E-Chat Quick Question Thread

[SweeperDee]

Depends on what you're using it for but I'd be comfortable with it. Gaming or editing?

Gaming. I’ve not noticed anything significant in terms of a bottleneck. Used some websites to double check and there shouldn’t be a significant issue if any. Next upgrade will be a CPU anyway so not all that worried after some research. Cheers!

[SweeperDee]

I’m a bit scunnered looking for an adequate CPU, since I’m not entirely sure what exact model my Mobo is. I THINK it’s a H310M-HDV Asrock; so not top of the line and I’m not wanting to fork out good money to realise I need a new motherboard cause the current one lacks a particular socket. Any suggestions on upgrading an i5-9400f with that motherboard in mind? I’ve tried looking but coming up a bit short on definitive answers.

[charger29]

I’m a bit scunnered looking for an adequate CPU, since I’m not entirely sure what exact model my Mobo is. I THINK it’s a H310M-HDV Asrock; so not top of the line and I’m not wanting to fork out good money to realise I need a new motherboard cause the current one lacks a particular socket. Any suggestions on upgrading an i5-9400f with that motherboard in mind? I’ve tried looking but coming up a bit short on definitive answers.

The part number should be written somewhere on the board. If you can't see it, software like CPU-Z should give you the exact answer. Remember the rev. number too.

Board manufacturers tend to have a CPU support list on their website:

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/H310M-HDV/index.asp#CPU

I don't have an exact model recommendation but if it was me (if possible) I'd try to stick to the same BIOS version requirements to avoid having to mess around with that. Same with TDP wattage for consistency.

[RawB93]

How sick is the internet 

[BFTD]

11 hours ago, RawB93 said:

How sick is the internet 

Oh, you don't know the half of it. I've seen shit, man.

---

We don't have an eChat General Nonsense, do we? Don't know where else to share this, but I feel the need.

A while ago, I upgraded my NAS box with a couple of 4TB hard drives (I'd claim that's not related to the post above, but nobody's believing that), and was surprised to realise that I'd maxed it out a few days ago. I've since managed to free up 500GB purely by Zipping directories full of small files with zero compression due to the stupidly large cluster size the NAS box uses. Here's the properties for my folder of entirely-legal ZX Spectrum games.

(you're looking at the discrepancy between 'Size' and 'Size on disk', by the way)

[Homer Thompson]

20 minutes ago, BFTD said:

Oh, you don't know the half of it. I've seen shit, man.

---

We don't have an eChat General Nonsense, do we? Don't know where else to share this, but I feel the need.

A while ago, I upgraded my NAS box with a couple of 4TB hard drives (I'd claim that's not related to the post above, but nobody's believing that), and was surprised to realise that I'd maxed it out a few days ago. I've since managed to free up 500GB purely by Zipping directories full of small files with zero compression due to the stupidly large cluster size the NAS box uses. Here's the properties for my folder of entirely-legal ZX Spectrum games.

(you're looking at the discrepancy between 'Size' and 'Size on disk', by the way)

Exactly how many spectrum games do you have? 

[BFTD]

2 minutes ago, Homer Thompson said:

Exactly how many spectrum games do you have? 

50,675, apparently.

Bear in mind that includes a bunch of other shit too, like emulators, magazine scans, utilities, cassette inlays, clip art, maps, pokes...I'm basically reading off the directory listing now.

I'd guess there's a fair bit of duplication too, considering I can see at least six directories for games.

[Oscar P]

Trivial, but annoying, issue with email on iPad.

 

In the Junk Folder when I “Edit > Select All > Delete > Delete All” they are all moved to the Bin Folder.

However, it also drags a genuine email from my Inbox into the Bin Folder as well.

It’s always the same email (from November last year) (it has no attachments or links)

I have deleted this email often but it keeps reappearing when I do the above process.

This doesn’t occur if I delete emails in Junk individually, only when using Select All option.

 

Any advice gratefully received.

[BFTD]

Arrived home today and discovered that I couldn't connect to my WiFi, which was most annoying as I'd settled into my armchair and hadn't planned on shifting until bedtime.

Took a look at the router from a wired connection and it turns out that the radio was somehow turned off; worked just fine when I re-enabled it. Can't say I've ever noticed this happen before - just a weird glitch, or are there rogue bands of 1337 haxx0rs roaming the web, disabling people's WiFi for the lulz?

[Fuctifano]

Looking to buy my 14 year old a gaming PC for Christmas, is there a reasonable unbiased idiots guide somewhere that isn't just trying to punt you affiliate hardware?

I guess I'm trying to find breakpoints e.g. is it worth spending an extra couple of hundred in order to get CPU Y instead of X or GPU B instead of A or is there not much difference?

[BFTD]

4 minutes ago, Fuctifano said:

Looking to buy my 14 year old a gaming PC for Christmas, is there a reasonable unbiased idiots guide somewhere that isn't just trying to punt you affiliate hardware?

I guess I'm trying to find breakpoints e.g. is it worth spending an extra couple of hundred in order to get CPU Y instead of X or GPU B instead of A or is there not much difference?

My routine these days is to spend a few hours Googling <CPU A> v <CPU B> and see how their performance compares on the various benchmarking sites that are around these days. So much easier than it used to be. They'll usually have ranked charts to show which CPUs perform similarly, with price indicators so you can see which give the best value. Same goes for GPUs.

It's well worth doing. There are always some absolute lemons on the market that will have a fair performance hit over similarly priced models; it can be worth buying parts that have been on the market for a couple of years over the latest versions, for example, as the performance can be worse and the older models may be reduced to make way for the new ones.

If you set a day aside to do the research, you'll end up with an idea of what you're looking for by the end of it.

[Homer Thompson]

21 hours ago, Fuctifano said:

Looking to buy my 14 year old a gaming PC for Christmas, is there a reasonable unbiased idiots guide somewhere that isn't just trying to punt you affiliate hardware?

I guess I'm trying to find breakpoints e.g. is it worth spending an extra couple of hundred in order to get CPU Y instead of X or GPU B instead of A or is there not much difference?

I would say it very much depends what they want to play. 

That will dictated whether you want to go low, mid or high end. 

[Homer Thompson]

20 hours ago, BFTD said:

My routine these days is to spend a few hours Googling <CPU A> v <CPU B> and see how their performance compares on the various benchmarking sites that are around these days. So much easier than it used to be. They'll usually have ranked charts to show which CPUs perform similarly, with price indicators so you can see which give the best value. Same goes for GPUs.

It's well worth doing. There are always some absolute lemons on the market that will have a fair performance hit over similarly priced models; it can be worth buying parts that have been on the market for a couple of years over the latest versions, for example, as the performance can be worse and the older models may be reduced to make way for the new ones.

If you set a day aside to do the research, you'll end up with an idea of what you're looking for by the end of it.

Or you'll end up even more confused having wasted a day! 

I think you need to know what level you're aiming for and more importantly what your budget is. There's not much point spending a day comparing the 3090 founders with the ti if your budget is only £1000

[Fuctifano]

1 hour ago, Homer Thompson said:

I would say it very much depends what they want to play. 

That will dictated whether you want to go low, mid or high end. 

Yeah, he's not at this moment into AAA games (he likes what I believe is known on here as "weeb shit") but he does want to stream. 

He has already tried streaming on his Switch which was a *ballache* to get capture card & software set up and linked to his laptop (which is my old one and is way too old for gaming) then the editing software he liked was on his phone, so I'm hoping on PC it's easier to do all in one but I know we'll need something at least mid-range for that. 

I've been looking at a few sites (chillblast was one) which recommend default builds you can then tweak. Was surprised to see how few come with wireless as standard, suppose it takes up space but that's definitely something we'll need.

[Homer Thompson]

5 minutes ago, Fuctifano said:

Yeah, he's not at this moment into AAA games (he likes what I believe is known on here as "weeb shit") but he does want to stream. 

He has already tried streaming on his Switch which was a *ballache* to get capture card & software set up and linked to his laptop (which is my old one and is way too old for gaming) then the editing software he liked was on his phone, so I'm hoping on PC it's easier to do all in one but I know we'll need something at least mid-range for that. 

I've been looking at a few sites (chillblast was one) which recommend default builds you can then tweak. Was surprised to see how few come with wireless as standard, suppose it takes up space but that's definitely something we'll need.

A wifi card will be cheap enough to add but if he wants to stream you should really go wired. Streaming should definitely be easier. Theres a bunch of free software that will fit the bill.

A default build you can tweak is as good a place to start as any, to be honest. Have you checked the min/recommended specs for the games he wants to play? If he's streaming add a bit onto them to cover that and then see what you can get thats within budget.

Another option would be to pick up something second hand. People who build high end machines will quite often sell them on when they upgrade. What was a high spec machine a few years ago should be enough and might be a bit cheaper

Unfortunately, its a difficult thing to give general advice on but if you want to post some builds you're looking at and some of the games he plays, theres plenty of posters who'll be able to give an opinion on how the build looks and what you might want to upgrade.

[Arch Stanton]

I'm setting up a spreadsheet in Google sheets to work out my energy bills once my fixed deal ends.

For the standing charge column, what's the formula for multiplying the number of days in each month by the numerical value of the standing charge?

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Just now, Arch Stanton said:

I'm setting up a spreadsheet in Google sheets to work out my energy bills once my fixed deal ends.

For the standing charge column, what's the formula for multiplying the number of days in each month by the numerical value of the standing charge?

Dont bother, youre fucked like the rest of us. 

Sell your children/kidneys.

[Granny Danger]

On 31/08/2022 at 15:05, Arch Stanton said:

I'm setting up a spreadsheet in Google sheets to work out my energy bills once my fixed deal ends.

For the standing charge column, what's the formula for multiplying the number of days in each month by the numerical value of the standing charge?

Once you’ve done that they’re looking for a guy to rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic.

[Arch Stanton]

18 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

Once you’ve done that they’re looking for a guy to rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic.

Are you the chief writer for Mrs. Brown's Boys?

[Granny Danger]

1 hour ago, Arch Stanton said:

Are you the chief writer for Mrs. Brown's Boys?

I have only watched the tinniest snippets of that and determined that it’s the biggest shite on TV.

 

 

So that would be a know.