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• USB mouse disconnecting and reconnecting in windows and linux

  - by Kalak

  I have a problem similar to what is described at "Why is my USB mouse disconnecting and reconnecting randomly and often?" except is is happening in both Windows 7 and Linux (Ubuntu 12/04TLS, fully patched), multiple mice, multiple OSs. It stops responding to input for about 3-5 seconds, then starts responding again. It's more frequent and lasts longer when running games (TF2, L4D, Dishonored, Borderlands 2, and more), but happens when just running the OS as well. I was hoping it was the motherboard so I bought a USB 2.0 PCI card to try that, but it's still happening. I've stripped it down to just the keyboard and mouse (different keyboard too just in case the keyboard was the problem), but it's still happening. All the hardware (mice and keyboards) work fine on other computers. I have literally pulled the mouse and keyboard out and plugged them into another computer (laptop) and re-joined the online game and had no problem with the keyboard and mouse combo that just failed on my gaming rig. Please no driver / Windows or Linux only suggestions, as that wouldn't effect both OSs. edit: known good mice I've brought home are now going bad. I suspect the hardware is messed up (voltage?) and has been frying the mice.

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• Which internet scenario would be better?

  - by JL

  I currently have an 8mbps (down) / 512kbps (up) telephone ADSL solution. I must say the reliability is excellent, and up until now its been the fastest connection I could get because I don't live in a cable zone. The real speed of my connection is around 7mbps, but sometimes I manage to get the full 8mbps. I use my connection for work, so it needs to be at least 99% reliable. Recently I was told by a guy who lives up the road that he has a wireless connection with an external antenna and his speeds are 20mbps / 512kbps - he's also paying about 1/2 of what I pay for my wired telephone connection. My question is, is wireless internet good enough for a power user who uses his connection for work 8 hours a day, including VPNing into servers remotely. Besides this I also enjoy playing the odd network game, not a WoW freak, but sometimes I do pick up the odd MMORPG and at times do indulge in some semi heavy gaming sprees. Will this wireless latency drive me crazy and seem slow in comparison? Will it be reliable enough, I also live in an area that snows heavily in winter. I guess its a question of - should I go wireless or not. I've only had 1 wireless connection before and that was years ago using iBurst technology and I remember it was terrible for VPN, but I guess the technology might have been improved since then? What do you guys think?

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• OpenVPN connected but not internet access on the client

  - by Stefan

  I've setup OpenVPN following this tutorial, and everything works fine except that I don't have an internet connection on the client while connected to VPN. http://www.howtoforge.com/internet-and-lan-over-vpn-using-openvpn-linux-server-windows-linux-clients-works-for-gaming-and-through-firewalls My VPS server config is as follows (Ubuntu): dev tun proto udp port 1194 ca /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/ca.crt cert /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/server.crt key /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/server.key dh /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/dh1024.pem user nobody group nogroup server 10.8.0.0 255.255.255.0 persist-key persist-tun status /var/log/openvpn-status.log verb 3 client-to-client push "redirect-gateway local def1" #set the dns servers push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.8.8" push "dhcp-option DNS 8.8.4.4" log-append /var/log/openvpn comp-lzo plugin /usr/lib/openvpn/openvpn-auth-pam.so common-auth My client config is as follows (Windows 7): dev tun client proto udp remote XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX 1194 resolv-retry infinite nobind persist-key persist-tun ca ca.crt cert stefan.crt key stefan.key comp-lzo verb 3 auth-user-pass redirect-gateway local def1 I've turned off the firewall on the server for testing purposes (it doesn't help), and tried both wired and wireless connecting on the client. I've tried many Google results... but nothing seems to help. Can you help me? Thanks so far...

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• Is a rubber keyboard suitable for heavy use?

  - by Vilx-

  Every keyboard wears out with time, and mine has some age already. The day it fails is coming closer and closer. So I'm slowly starting to look around for a new one. I use the keyboard for gaming and programming, so it gets some pretty solid use. I also tend to eat by the computer, so there's plenty of... uhh... lifeforms down there. Anyway, I was looking at these rubber keyboards. They come pretty cheap (my local computer shop has one for less than $20) and they seem to have some nice properties. They can be easily cleaned, they're quiet, and can be rolled up when needed (plus no worries about spilled drinks). However I'm wondering what their type-ability is. If I can't write on it at a decent speed, the rest of the features don't matter. Not that I'm a fast typer, but being a professional progammer does give a boost to the skill. I couldn't find any reviews on the net so I'm turning to you. Who has used these keyboards and what was your experience? Perhaps there is something else I haven't though of why such a keyboard would not be a good idea?

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• Devices on one switch can't see devices on another switch

  - by jockey69

  I have RoadRunner Internet cable service hooked to a Motorola Surfboard modem. This is connected to a 10/100 wireless router (located in the garage). Downstairs, I have a ZyXEL GS-108b gigabit switch connected to one port on the router. From this switch I ran connections to a PS3, DVR, Vonage box and a wireless router (Buffalo AirStation 10/100). The Buffalo AirStation works as a wireless AP for other laptops, iPads and cell phones. Upstairs, I have an Asus gigabit switch connected to a gaming desktop, printer, and a media server on FreeNAS (PS3 Media Server on FreeNAS). The router is configured to assign static IPs to both the PS3 and the media server. Problem - I connect a laptop to the switch downstairs after disabling the wireless, thus making sure that I am accessing internet through the wired connection (and the router in the garage). All my computers, iPads and cell phones are able to connect to the internet without a problem. My PS3 connects to the interent with a wired connection but is unable to access the media server (I get a message that no media server is found). I used a wired laptop downstairs (connected to switch downstairs) but am unable to ping either the PS3 or media server! I may be doing something silly but am at my wits' end. Please help!

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• Sharing files between 2 different routers

  - by Chris

  I realize this has been asked before and I have read as much as I could find on the topic but I still need help with this because there are so many different approaches and the ones I am trying aren't working. So I have 2 routers, lets call them A and B. Both have a wireless feature and are active. A is in the basement and receives the internet. There is a TV on the ground floor that is connected to A through an ethernet wire. B is upstairs and gets the internet from A through an ethernet wire. Connected to B, is a desktop running Plex Media Server. What I want to do is make sure devices connected to both routes can access the Plex Media Server. So what I have read is that I should plug in the ethernet wire connecting B to a into a LAN port instead of the WAN port. After that I should turn off DHCP. I have tried this and B stops receiving internet. What am I doing wrong? Another thing I have read is to use Router B in bridge mode but Router B is running openwrt and I have QoS on it so gaming/VoIP/browsing is unaffected by heavy downloading/uploading. I would prefer to keep this active. I realize it might be ineffective if a device in Router A is doing some hardcore downloading but all that stuff is done on Router B anyway so it doesn't matter. Router A can't get openwrt because it is a shitty one provided by Bell. So, how do I proceed with this?

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• Expanding to dual video cards

  - by Anthony Greco

  I know a lot of factors can go into play here, so I will list my current hardware and setup: MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128441] Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Thuban 3.2GHz [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849] Ram: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) [https://secure.newegg.com/NewMyAccount/OrderHistory.aspx?RandomID=4933910872745320111128011418] Current video card: EVGA 01G-P3-1366-TR GeForce GTX 460 SE [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130591] OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Currently I can run 2 monitors just fine in my setup. However, I want to upgrade this to 4 monitors. My question is, what is the best way to do this? I remember in the past reading I need the same type of video card, however would any GeForce GTX work, or do i need that very specific model (EVGA 01G-P3-1366-TR GeForce GTX 460 SE)? Are there any issues I should be aware of before I order 2 new monitors and a video card? Are there video cards better setup for this? I know NVidia offers SLI, however I do not know if my mobo is compliant. My mobo also offers CrossFireX configuration, though from what it says only Radeon are compliant. Any suggestions / feedbacks on my best route with my current setup is appreciated. Even if you suggest buying 2 new identical video cards, as long as you can mention which and why that is better I really appreciate it. Note: I really do not do any gaming. I sometimes do some 3D work in Unity and very rarely in Maya. Besides that I mostly do all my computer work in Visual Studios and Photoshop. I however need the 2 extra monitors because I monitor sometimes 5 remote desktops at once and switching on only 2 is becoming a very big pain. Also seeing 3 side by side while I work on the 4th will be very helpful. Again, I appreciate any feedback, as I have googled a bunch and just want to make sure what I buy will work.

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• Building a PC for Work and play? [closed]

  - by Derek Organ

  Ok, Its been a long time since I build my own PC so I'm looking to get back into it again and build a new one. First off budget is about €800 excluding the monitor and windows 7 licence and mouse. (just bought a new g500) I plan on using my computer for work, lots of applications open at once but none particularly excessive (photoshop being the most demanding, mostly coding tools) I also use it for some gaming, e.g. COD, Starcraft etc. One thing I do want to do eventually is get a really good monitor with hight resolution and maybe 27" so the graphics card needs to be able to make best use of that. So a few questions 1) Is the bottle neck in performance mostly still the harddrives? 2) Aren't most processors e.g. i5 etc even i3 so far a head of other bottlenecks it makes litte difference the higher you go. Isn't the Graphics card dealing with heavy graphics so what really slows because of a slow CPU? So from this my thinking is to get a SSD drive as my primary drive for OS etc and have loads of memory e.g. 6-8GB and a decent mid level graphics card? It doesn't seem at my level worth spending much on CPU and any other parts really. I basic parts off the top of my head Case, Motherboard CPU SSD Drive SATA Drive Power Supply Memory Cooling (fan?) Graphics Card Network Card Keyboard DVD drive Mouse Windows Monitor Am I missing anything? Any helpful tips or general education much appreciated. Thanks, Derek

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• Campus VLAN Segmentation - By OS?

  - by Moduspwnens

  We've been thinking through re-arranging our network and VLAN configuration. Here's the situation. We already have our servers, VoIP phones, and printers on their own VLANs, but our problem lies with end user devices. There are just too many to lump on the same VLAN without being hammered with broadcasts! Our current segmentation strategy has them split into VLANs like this: Student iPads Staff iPads Student Macbooks Staff Macbooks Gaming devices Staff (Other) Student (Other) *Note that our network has many more iPads and MacBooks than most. Since the primary reason we're splitting them is just to put them in smaller groups, this has been working for us (for the most part). However, this required our staff to maintain access control lists (MAC addresses) of all devices belonging in these groups. It also has the unfortunate side effect of illogically grouping broadcast traffic. For example, using this setup, students on opposite ends of campus using iPads will share broadcasts, but two devices belonging to the same user (in the same room) will likely be on completely separate VLANs. I feel like there must be a better way of doing this. I've done a lot of research and I'm having trouble finding instances of this kind of segmentation being recommended. The feedback on the most relevant SO question seems to point toward VLAN segmentation by building/physical location. I feel like that makes sense because logically, at least among miscellaneous end users, broadcasts will typically be intended for nearby devices. Are there other campuses/large-scale networks out there segmenting VLANs based on end-system OS? Is this a typical configuration? Would VLAN segmentation based on physical location (or some other criteria) be more effective? EDIT: I've been told that we will soon be able to dynamically determine device OS without maintaining access lists, although I'm not sure how much that affects the answers to the questions.

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• Being a more attractive job candidate - Certs XOR Degree

  - by Zephyr Pellerin

  I'm currently working in an IT position, where I do helpdesk stuff, and predominantly security related issues/consulting (In the loosest sense of the term) In-House and for Service-Contract clients (as the only/acting CCSP [I guess I should say only person with Cisco experience] in my organization). I've professionally written Kernel Mode drivers for a gaming company. Among other things that I'm proud to put on a resume. I think of myself as very reasonably qualified as a System Administrator, With excellent Cisco experience, among other things I think would make a good addition to almost any IT staff in need of a new employee. However, Something has always tripped me up - Human Resources. Let me explain, I decided to skip the university route - I'm immensely glad that I did, The computer science graduates that I've met and work with rarely know much of anything about Computers (Until they gain some 'real' experience), Even when asked about Theoretical Computing fundamentals they can rattle something off about Turing Completeness but rarely do they understand the mathematical underpinnings. In short, I think instead of going to college, I'd rather pick up some real world experience. However, Apparently, Employers rarely think the same way. A quick perusal of jobs through the standard job search engine yields nothing short of a conspiracy to exclude anyone without 'A Bachelors Degree in Computer Science or Equivalent'. Interviews I've had in the past have almost always been entangled with - 1. My Age (Which I can't really change) and 2. Lack of Degree. Employers frequently disregard the CCNA/CCSP, The experience I've gained through internships, My extensive experience in x86 assembly and C, among so many other things I like to think are valuable to employers - In lieu of the fact that I don't have a piece of paper. So, AS AN EMPLOYER - Is it even worth working on my CCIE? Or should I pad my resume with certifications that are easier to acquire (Like CISSP, MSCE, Network+, etc.). Or should I ditch the whole idea and head back to get a Mathematics or CS degree?

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• Are These Parts compatible?

  - by ell

  I have never assembled a PC before, although I have taken an old one apart and replaced a few parts in others here and there so I have (very) limited experience. I have been looking to make a pc and here are the parts I might buy: Foxconn P45AL Intel P45 (Socket 775) DDR2 Motherboard (with onboard sound I believe) Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 OC 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card Already have 2 1gb sticks of dual channel DDR2 memory Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 LGA775 'Yorkfield' 2.66GHz 4MB-cache Processor Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache Hard Drive Antec Dark Fleet Series DF10 Gaming Enclosure – Black I already have monitor, mouse, keyboard and DVD/CD drive Akasa Freedom Power 1000W Modular Power Supply I have never done this before so feel free to laugh at me for getting something obvious wrong, forgetting a vital component etc. but is all of this compatible? And have I gone overkill on the PSU, if so, please recommend one. Thanks in advance, ell. EDIT: Added PSU which I forgot to mention EDIT: I would be using this to surf the internet, write e-mails, chat, word process, play games such as team fortress 2 & spring rts (at highest graphics hopefully), some 3d modelling in blender, some opengl programming, and image editing in GIMP.

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• Recommended open-source firmware for ASUS RT-N16

  - by MasterF

  I have recently acquired an ASUS RT-N16 router. My original plan for it was to install Tomato on it. However, after checking their website i found out that the firmware was not updated in the last 2 years. There seem to be a few updated mods but none of them really seemed mature/stable/well-documented. I would like to know what other people recommend as open-source firmware for this router. I know the answers will probably be subjective; so i will give a bit of background on my needs: for now i will only use the Wi-Fi on an Android phone the connection will not be shared with anyone (so QOS is optional) i want a stable (wired) connection on my PC (for online gaming etc.) i want the (wired) download/upload speeds to be as close as possible to those achieved by directly plugging the Ethernet cable to the PC's network card; i have a 100 Mbps connection my ISP uses PPPOE my technical level: i am a software developer and i have good knowledge of bash scripting, but no experience with networking Also, i know that i could probably just use the stock firmware (and maybe will use it for a while), but i'm interested in trying an open-source version (for more features, flexibility, as a learning exercise etc.)

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• PS3 controller -> PC -> emulators -> TV

  - by abrereton

  I'm researching a media PC for the living room. Playing videos, audio and streaming Internet is straightforward enough. I would also like to run a gaming console system. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this. So far I've discovered that a PS3 controller (thankfully it uses USB and Bluetooth) can be connected to a PC. I've also found that MAME, MESS and PCSX2 are all the emulators I need (I can even emulate a TI-83 calculator with MESS). These emulators can re-map keys, so for example I can make the Nintendo's A button to the PS3 X button, or the SNES key pad could be the PS3 keypad or the analog stick. There are also front-ends to these emulators which can do fancy things like image scaling, anti-aliasing and double-buffering to improve the image quality of an 8-bit Mario on a 50 inch plasma. My set up would be this: PS3 controller connecting over Bluetooth to the PC, PC with Windows, PS3 controller drivers, all my emulators, Network drive with all my ROMs, PC connected to TV via HDMI TV playing Super Mario Kart Does this sound feasible? Does anyone have experience of doing anything like this? Is this a good idea or should I grow up and stop living in the past?

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• New to building computers worried about temps

  - by dave

  I'm new to building my own computers and I was wondering about maximum temperatures. I understand that the room temp can affect the computers temp but how relevent is it? I understand that if my room temp is 20°C none of my computer parts could be lower than that. But if my room is 27°C instead of 20°C would this cause my computers parts to heat up more/faster? My new computer I built myself for gaming is i7 2600k 16gb ram ddr3 1600 hd6970 2 gb 240gb ssd ( bought a nas with 3 2tb drives in raid 5 for my home network ) 850w modular psu I also have my old hp computer i3 2120 8gb ram hd6770 1tb hdd I also have 3 laptops in my household, but I am not worried about their temps, they heat up my legs but they are never under stress. Due to size and money reasons I used an old case and it only has one of the sides left on it. Is this bad for the computer and will the extra dust cause problems? Or should I leave it this way or take the missus wrath and buy a case? If so is there any certain case I should get? I don't care about looks I just want card reader and usb slots and for it to run as cool or cooler than now, my case has 1 fan. Also what are the max temps for my new and old computer parts? Is 40°C under load ok for my CPU, what about 70°C for my GPU is that ok too, or should I worry? What are normal and safe temps for my components? I have looked around but there seem to be lots of different answers. I know that 100°C is bad but I want my parts to last as long as possible and this site always seems to give good replies without arguing or flaming.

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• 2560 x 1600 screen resolution not available when a second monitor is attached.

  - by sgmoore

  I am running Windows 7 (64-bit edition) and have a 30" Dell 3007WFP monitor which runs at a screen resolution of 2560 x 1600. This works perfectly until I try to connect a second monitor, and then the screen resolution on the main monitor immediately drops to 1280x800 and I can't change it back up to the correct resolution until I disconnect the second monitor. The graphics card is a Nvidia Quadro FX 370. This has a dual link DVI connector (to which the 30" is connected) and a single link DVI connector. The second monitor can run at 1920x1080 and is connected using a VGA to DVI connector. Note, it does not seem to matter whether the second monitor is running at 1920x1080 or even at 800x600. Windows reports Total Available Graphics Memory: 3839MB Dedicated Video Memory: 256MB System Video Memory: 0MB Shared System Memory: 3583MB Does anyone know if this a limitation with the video card, memory, drivers, connectors or something else? If this is a limitation with the video card, can anyone recommend a PCI Express 16 card that would support at least this setup, but preferably support two 30" monitors both running 2560 x 1600. (I'm not into gaming etc, so it doesn't need to be very powerful)

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• Netgear CG3000D new Modem/Router - Random High Ping

  - by justin.chmura

  Cox just recently came out and looked at my internet and decided that the modem I had was causing high latency issue. The speed was fine but the ping would spike to around 100 and over when gaming or putting a load more than browsing on the line. After they replaced it, it seems like I get better latency, but when it spikes, I get upwards of over 300 ping with like 500 jitter. I figured I would hit the serverfault universe before sending another email to Cox. I opted not to do the Cox setup as it was an extra $20 which I thought would have just setup the wireless (which I can handle). Is it a setting or something that I missed that needs to be setup? The firmware for the CG3000D is awful and not fun to use. I did change some hidden settings on the RgServices.asp page (I'll attach a screenshot). I've also heard that the Router/Modem combos are awful and that I should go back and just ask for a modem stand-alone. Any input is helpful. All screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/JX6qu#0

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• Many different BSOD

  - by Exa

  I'm experiencing multiple bluescreens for a couple of months now. Their error code is as diverse as their time of occurence... Sometimes it happens during gaming, sometimes when watching videos, sometimes when the computer is idle. These are the bluescreens I see most often: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION INTERRUPT_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL DRIVER_OVERRAN_STACK_BUFFER Responsible drivers (according to the memory dumps): hal.dll tcpip.sys dxgmms1.sys ndis.sys mouhid.sys atikmdag.sys dump_atapi.sys and of course: ntoskrnl.exe My first thought was a driver incompatibility because I am using Windows 8 and some of the bluescreens seem to come from driver issues. All drivers are up to date. I'm afraid that my memory is broken or the mainboard or both. I used the windows integrated memtest which didn't find any errors. Memtest86 found some errors. Does it make sense to buy new memory? Couldn't it be a problem of the board as well? I also read that my memory could run at a too low voltage. But it's set to 1.5V as recommended. Another guess would be to set the memory's latencies manually, but how do I know which ones to try? Here is a screenshot of bluescreenview showing the latest bluescreens. Maybe someone has faced the same behavior before and found a solution. Any ideas or suggestions? Current setup on which the bluescreens occur. Windows 8 RTM (6.2.9200) Asrock 970 Extreme4 AMD FX-8150 ATI Radeon HD5850 16 GB RAM (DDR3-1800) Latest drivers for all devices

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• DVI output only working on Windows, not during booting or on Linux

  - by Mononofu

  So yesterday I booted my laptop up and the external monitor I have it connected to just stayed black. At first, I thought the problem would go away when Ubuntu was loaded, but it didn't. I tried to reboot a few times, to no avail. Then I decided to give Windows 7 a try, and suddenly (at the login-screen), my external monitor turned on and worked like normal. I have connected the monitor via DVI, and this only seems to work with Windows now. I don't even get a signal in my BIOS! Mind you, everything was working fine before that, and I didn't change a single thing. I then tried to connect the monitor via VGA (from my DVI jack, which can output VGA using an adaptor), and it worked again. However, 1920x1200 using VGA looks like crap - black print on white background is basically illegible. Do you have any ideas how to fix this peculiar problem? I only use windows for gaming, so it's no real help that it still works normally. Please also excuse any spelling mistakes, I am practically typing this blindly. Edit: I only have one graphics card in my laptop, and I can't select anything related to that in my BIOS. In fact, I can pretty much do almost nothing there. My laptop is a Nexoc Osiris E703, graphics gard is a GeForce Go 7900 GTX. As I mentioned before, DVI output during booting and on Ubuntu was working fine for years before yesterday!

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• DVI output _only_ working on Windows, not during booting or on Linux

  - by Mononofu

  So yesterday I booted my laptop up and the external monitor I have it connected to just stayed black. At first, I thought the problem would go away when Ubuntu was loaded, but it didn't. I tried to reboot a few times, to no avail. Then I decided to give Windows 7 a try, and suddenly (at the login-screen), my external monitor turned on and worked like normal. I have connected the monitor via DVI, and this only seems to work with Windows now. I don't even get a signal in my BIOS! Mind you, everything was working fine before that, and I didn't change a single thing. I then tried to connect the monitor via VGA (from my DVI jack, which can output VGA using an adaptor), and it worked again. However, 1920x1200 using VGA looks like crap - black print on white background is basically illegible. Do you have any ideas how to fix this peculiar problem? I only use windows for gaming, so it's no real help that it still works normally. Please also excuse any spelling mistakes, I am practically typing this blindly. Edit: I only have one graphics card in my laptop, and I can't select anything related to that in my BIOS. In fact, I can pretty much do almost nothing there. My laptop is a Nexoc Osiris E703, graphics gard is a GeForce Go 7900 GTX. As I mentioned before, DVI output during booting and on Ubuntu was working fine for years before yesterday!

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• At what point does the performance gap between GPU & CPU become so great that the CPU is holding back a system?

  - by Matthew Galloway

  I know that generally speaking for gaming performance the GPU is the primary factor which holds back performance, with everything else such as RAM/motherboard/PSU/CPU being secondary in importance to the graphics card. But at some point the other components ARE going to be significant in holding back the whole system! For instance nobody would be silly enough to play modern games with 512MB RAM and the very latest graphics cards (such as an HD7970) as I bet the performance increase over such a system with only 512MB but a mid range card would be non-existent! Thus it would be a "waste" for such a person to buy any high end graphics card without resolving first the system's other problems. The same point applies to other components, such as if it only had a Pentium II a current high end graphics card would be wasted on it! So my core question is how do you determine at what point for your system is spending on extra GPU power be completely "wasted"? (also, a slightly more nuanced question is trying work out at what point might the extra graphics power not be "wasted" but would be "sub optimal" value for money, when the expenditure should then be split around graphics card and other components. As obviously a gamer shouldn't always just spend on upgrading the graphics card! But needs to balance it out)

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• Diagnosing RAM issues

  - by TaylorND

  I have an old Acer Aspire T180 desktop. The specs are as follows: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz 1GB DDR2 SDRAM 160GB DVD-Writer (DVD±R/±RW) Gigabit Ethernet 17" Active Matrix TFT Color LCD Windows Vista Home Basic Mini-tower AST180-UA381B According to the information in the computer's documentation the computer comes with 1 GB of RAM. It has two DDR2 SDRAM sticks. I used to have Windows Vista installed. Then I removed it and install Windows 7, and now I have since removed Windows 7 and installed Windows XP. According to Windows XP with both RAM sticks in the computer has 768 MB. Isn't this supposed to be 1 GB of RAM or 1024 MB of RAM? Is the amount of RAM installed only partly used by the Operating System? Is there's something I'm missing? If I remove either one of the RAM sticks I'm left with 448 MB of RAM. These numbers don't seem to add up. If each of the RAM sticks contains at least 448 MB of RAM shouldn't they (both being in) provide 896 MB of RAM. Even then, isn't that less than a GB of RAM? I'm not too experienced in hardware so I thought this would be the best place to ask. As a follow up question, is the RAM I have enough to run/multitask with Windows XP efficiently? I plan to do a lot of computing with the system (although not gaming), should I invest in more RAM?

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• Run 3 monitors on two different video cards?

  - by hullot

  Can I run 3 monitors on two different video cards? I have an ATI and Nvidia brand card. The ATI has 2 HDMI connections. They both work. Both cards are also picked up in Windows, one being the ATI and the other one as the Nvidia, but it says VGA Controller, although the card only takes 2 DVi. So, one DVI cable goes into that Nvidia card. 3 Monitors, but only 2 the HDMI ones from the ATI pick up, not the third one which is connected to the Nvidia via DVI. How can I run three monitors then? I suppose I can't install both drivers, so I'm unsure what to do. Is this possible? I just want the Nvidia card to power the third screen, no gaming on it, nothing. Also the ATI is picked up as primary card as well, so no hurdle there. EDIT: Hm, just installed the Nvidia drivers and it picked up the third screen no problem. Hope there aren't any major conflicts. Will post this as an answer as correct when I'm able. Can't as a new user.

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• Computer makes odd noise. Replace almost every component. Computer still makes odd noise.

  - by ShimmerGeek

  My PC was getting pretty old, 5 years or so, and over the course of it's life I replaced the graphics card, HDD and a couple of sticks of RAM; but the PSU, processor, motherboard, fans etc. were all original. A few weeks ago, I started hearing an odd noise. I struggle to describe it, it sounded sortof like the 'click of death' you hear when a HDD may fail, but not quite... (And it was far less irregular) Also, I was sure I heard it once or twice a minute or two after I shut down the PC. This was going on very irregularly for a couple weeks. Some days I would hear no noise at all, others I would hear it often, maybe once every 30 seconds or so. I could find no common denominator - i.e. it did not happen more during gaming or any other intensive use. Anyway, I need my PC to sit some classes over the summer, so I put it in for them to run a HDD stress test and to replace a bunch of the components. I ended up replacing almost everything - the only elements I still have are my blu-ray drive and graphics card. They said when they started to run the HDD stress test it failed instantly (They started the test and it immediately said 'Test Complete' so they assumed it was at fault, and put a new HDD in since I was still under warranty with them.) I took it home a few hours ago, and I am still hearing the noise!!! Do you guys have any theories? I'm getting a little worried, I can't afford for my PC to suddenly fail during the next month - I have a lot of coursework to do. Any thoughts? Is it possible it could be the fan on the graphics card? I'm confused because it's so irregular. Any help would be much appreciated.

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• When buying hardware, what sites do you trust for information? [closed]

  - by Matt Dawdy

  I won't ask "what laptop should I buy" since the information is likely to change very quickly. However, I am about to buy a laptop, and I honestly don't know where to begin researching this based on my needs. I am hoping that asking about specific sites that do reviews/recommendations that this will still be on topic. I read the 6 guidelines for subjective questions and believe that this question scores favorably. I'm starting a new job in a few weeks, and they want to know what specific laptop to purchase. I'd like to get the most for their money and get a machine that will not need to be replaced in a year. When looking at a site like Dell, it's hard to get a full picture of the performance of a laptop. Does it work with a docking station, and if so, what kinds of video outs are on it? Will it work well when compiling several large projects in .Net? Has anyone had any issues with the machine getting flaky when dragging it from work to home and back all the time? etc. So, if people would enter in their preferred sites they use when researching hardware, and why they prefer that site (x is great for laptop comparisons, y is great for gaming machine reviews, etc) the I hope that this can be a question with valuable answers to others than just myself.

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• How can I extend / create a new partition from the following setup?

  - by Kiada

  I'm a little unsure what to do in this situation. When I try to create a new simple volume from the unallocated space I get an error because I already have 4 partitions. I have no option to extend either my C:\ primary partition or the E:\ logical drive. C:\ - Gaming Win7 install. D:\ - Storage Unallocated Space - Would somehow like to install OSX on a partition from this space. E:\ - Software Development Win7 install. I:\ - Ignore this. It's an external 1TB HDD. Do I have any options that do not involve formatting / losing information on either C:\ or E:\? Thank you. Link to visual disk partitioning setup image. Edit: A bit more information regarding partitions. Firstly, the image linked above is a screenshot of Windows 7 partitioning tool, easier to read than text I guess! H:\ System Reserved: 100MB NTFS C:\ 244 GB NTFS Healthy (Page File, Primary Partition) D:\ 294 GB NTFS Healthy (Primary Partition) E:\ 100 GB NTFS Healthy (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Logical Drive) Unallocated 292 GB Hope this helps :)

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