Computer Questions - One and All!

TheWolf · 2010-09-09T20:53:50+00:00

This thread will be for anybody that has computer questions relating to Windows. :notes:Any question at all - software, hardware or bios questions will be an...

wolfenspiel

Crap...better also say...if you DO buy a prebuilt system, stay away from Dell and Gateway if you can, for same reasons as laptops- certain things are starting to get proprietary....that's also a good reason to stay away from a Mac! You can't upgrade or repair a Mac yourself, you must send it back to get fixed! Macs SUCK!

If you have one where you are located, Sam's Club is actually a decent place to get a built system... but really, be careful what you get. If the power cord doesn't look like most other systems of different brands- RUN! Because replacing a power supply or cord will be COSTLY.

Oh yeah...with your new system, make sure you have more than enough power...get at least a 500 Watt supply, in case you get a new graphics card...those take power, as do some other peripherals. 500-750 should be fine.

wolfenspiel

ok... if you want speed, you need a MINIMUM of dual-core processr, and trust me if you build your own, make sure you get a motherboard with a possibility to upgrade it. You want more than 2 slots for RAM, fairly cheap nowadays... and the way things are heading you want DDR3. Just because you have 2-4 slots for RAM does not mean you have to fill them RIGHT AWAY, however, but make sure you have at LEAST 1-2 GB RAM to start.

Make sure you have expansion slots for graphics cards and such. Make certain you have at least ONE PCIExpress slot, no AGP those are out!. All your drives should be SATA, no IDE, those are also out! If you can afford it, get a solid state hard drive, but if not it isn't a big deal. If you download movies and music, make sure you have a MINIMUM of 320GB Hard drive space, but you will probably want 500GB -1TB. Just remember though, formatting/reformatting large drives takes TIME, as does scanning a full drive with an AV program. The more you have, the larger the drive, the more time it takes.... same thing with defragging a large drive!

Number of busses, and bus speed, are things you want to check as well.

If you want the name of a good manufacturer for motherboards, two of the best are MSI and ASUS.

If you have never built a system before, I'd suggest getting yourself what's called a "barebones kit". This usually comes with everything you need to assemble your own PC,but NO operating system. You install the OS yourself... so if you don't have a copy of Windows, pick up an OEM cheap at Newegg or TigerDirect. OR, conversely, Linux is free, the best 2 lately are Linux Mint, and Ubuntu (I use UbuntuStudio on my one PC, as it has everything needed almost for 2 & 3d graphics, audio and music production and editing, and video and multimedia editing...even a neat little Stop-motion movie maker!)

A little research goes a long way, but in all honesty and a bit of personal experience, nothing is more satisfactory than building a system to your own specifications, tailored to your own needs and wants. In fact, you can generally build a much better system than buying a prebuilt one at say Dell,Gateway,Walmart, or BestBuy!
(stay AWAY FROM GEEK SQUAD!!!!! They are NOT A+ Certified, lie and cheat your a$$ off, talk like they know what they are saying but really only spout BS, and will rip you off in a heartbeat!)
I can't stress that enough, but the horror stories I have heard plus my own experiences really are bad, and I would be frying in hell if I were to tell you to trust them!

Building your own computer is not that hard, especially with a barebones kit. You can get some really nice deals too. Just make sure whatever you get includes COOLING with the CPU, otherwise you will need thermal compaund, heat sink, and/or a CPU cooling fan or other type (they make liquid-cooled systems too!)

Also, if you want a really neat looking case, they sell all kinds of cool lighted ones. transparent cases, etc. :D

wolfenspiel

Heck, I'll take it a step further, and you can all cry along with me,lol!

My father had a laptop, he gave it to me in sore need of repair. What I have is an Acer Ferrari 4000...fully loaded with XP 64-bit, ATI Radeon XVGA Graphics,2 Gb RAM,Bluetooth, Wireless NIC... the system was well over $1,000 when purchased.
That wasn't TOO terribly long ago, however....

Today's laptops are better, faster, and cheaper than that huge price. Now let's talk about repairs-

The monitor was replaced. That was over $200.
The hard drive was replaced...more than once.
The power supply was recently replaced...a nice generic universal still cost $60 on sale.
At the moment, the battery is not charging, and either the battery is shorted out or it is causing more issues because the laptop will not stay running, and the cord is also loose where it plugs in.... It is ALSO possible that either something is messed up on the board, like a controller, or it is something else.

Needless to say, a new laptop is cheaper than spending more money on this "old" one... and my father already spent a lot. He gave it to me for a project for my PC Tech class. If I can get it running, it's mine.... a sweet,sleek, decent machine that I managed to install Linux UbuntuStudio on, to run Gimp, and some audio programs..... and yet I can't keep it running. Cheaper to buy a new laptop, and yet at the same time more expensive because I got this thing for even LESS than a song! Spend a couple hundred to get it fixed right, Spend a couple hundred on a new motherboard (BAD idea...you can do MORE damage trying to take out the old MoBo, and even more than THAT putting in a NEW one, so by the time it's in you have snapped several connections etc.!!!)..... or spend a couple hundred on a new one.

So, despite the convenience of a nice portable $1000+ laptop, I am better off sticking with my Pentium 3 with 756 MB Ram ATI Radeon 9250 256 MB RAM with Linux Studio, and my Intel Celeron 2.4GHz system with 2GB Ram running XP Pro with an Acer H203H LCD widescreen monitor and NVidia graphics card....

and rather than buying a new laptop, I will be saving to instead build a new tower system, hopefully with quad core or better, SATA,and DDR3 RAM. Gonna go Newegg all the way, unless I can find something better. I MAY go barebones kit, but...to be honest I'd RATHER build from the ground up...more satisfaction that way!

wolfenspiel

Quirk;197114 wrote
Hey dudes.
I am looking to get a new laptop, it will be used for music, writing, movies and general crap.
I am planning to get a external HD and then get the fastest laptop I can get with no need for much of a HD (I think). I shall be buying it through a Systems Engineer friend at an online scratch and dent place.
So what I need is some ideas of what brands and specs I should look out for.

P.S. what is the difference between laptop and Desktop, apart from size and moveability? I'm just getting the laptop so I can sit/lay easier when writing. I only know that laptops are less durable or something.

Several differences. Let's see...

Laptops run HOT! Even at their coolest, they run hot. You will want some sort of stand or cooling tray for it...and really, those USB fan-cooled trays are crap from what I have seen. If you just want to sit or lay while computing...bad idea. Fans and vents are not only on the side of a laptop, but the bottom as well, and these can NOT be blocked! (no setting it on a bed or pillow, in other words!)

Unlike "most" desktops (Gateway and Dell being the exceptions), laptops are proprietary for the most part. What fits or works with one usually does NOT with another brand or type. For example, there is no Universal Power Supply plug for a Dell as their power connection is patented. On "most" laptops, the majority of things are upgradeable and/or plug-n-play.

laptop hard drives, LCD monitors, and power supplies are the things that usually go wrong first. BTW, no matter what anyone says, LIQUID and LCD Monitors do NOT GO WELL TOGETHER!!!! NEVER!!!!!!! clean one with WINDEX! :D

Now, if you are doing a lot of travelling, or want to sit outside and work, a laptop is nice... as long as you don't plan on gaming. Gaming is another thing they will try to sell you on that a laptop just CAN NOT do...yeah, even those supposed Crossfire laptops!!! Try to play anything decent and graphics-intense, and it WILL crap out on you!

Now, I will say, a Laptop is better than a NETBOOK, which IMO are pure junk. You can't do anything with them, the OS is stripped down to the point of uselessness, and are too expensive for what they are worth. You can do more with your cellphone than you can with most netbooks, and cheaper!

In all honesty, if comfort is your concern, you are still better off with a desktop. By the way, that term is kindof misleading as well. A true "desktop" is a form factor. Those are those boxes that lay flat on your desk, usually with the monitor sitting ontop of them. Your best bet, all things considered, for ease of working, airflow and cooling, modifications if needed, etc. would be an ATX Mid-tower or an ATX Full tower. If you don't mind building one yourself, one of the BEST p[laces to go online for computer gear is Newegg.com, slightly ahead of the 2nd best place, TigerDirect. Both are great, but Newegg tends to be a bit cheaper, and ships a little faster.

Now, when you say "music and movies", are you meaning storing/watching/listening, or are you meaning actually working on, creating, editing, and/or transcoding? If you are creating music, trust me a good tower is the way to go! You can add in dedicated soundcards for instruments like guitar, keyboards, etc., the system has better cooling which is needed for rendering, transcoding, and burning videos, memory is upgradeable, etc.

The only thing a laptop is really good for is mobility/transportation, and for student work. Repairs are an arm and a leg, and just like inkjet printers, it is generally cheaper to go buy a new one than it is to repair one. As for modifying if it doesn't fully suit your needs- forget it!!!

desertleo

Well money isn't really an object, but if I had to set a limit maybe less than $200.

desertleo

You're right that my lap-top can't change the graphics card because it's integrated into the cpu, as well as the sound card. I checked on this website that analyzes your lap-top and tells you what it can do in terms upgrading RAM. It told me that it can handle at the most 2 gb of RAM and is capable of dual-channel...something.

What is a SSD? This is the first time I've heard of it. (I'm such a noob right now...)

desertleo

Cool, then that means I've been buying reliable brands. I was lying when I said that last question was going to be my last, this one might be though. In terms of RAM cards which are the ones that should be considered?

desertleo

Thanks for the tips! Just one more question before I go and make my lap-top a somewhat decent gaming machine. What brand should I consider buying?

desertleo

kamikazee;196763 wrote
200$ :o
hmmm with that price its really very hard to get a decent gaming laptop with that :onion18:

maybe used one or netbook prolly.

For a decent laptop, you should get at lease dualcore processor. As for graphics and memory, 2 gb should be enough ram and for graphics, Nvidia GT 350m or AMD Radeon (former ATI) 4830+/5730+ should give a fairly stable and decent framerates.

Oh I should have clarified, I'm not looking to buy another lap-top I want to know which brands of RAM cards are reliable. Sorry about that, my lap-top is in good condition it's just that in terms of RAM it slows to a snails pace.

So I want to upgrade my lap-top myself by increasing the RAM.

desertleo

In terms of dual-channel, indeed my lap-top does support it. The only reason I asked was that I asked a guy at best-buy the same question and he said it's fine to use different brands and amounts of RAM like a 1 gb stick with a 512 mb stick.

I had the feeling that was the case, the guy at best-buy was definitely an idiot...

@Tom-the stick I was planning on buying was DDR3 and it was compatible with my lap-top's slots, but I heard somewhere that it might cause some unwanted...things to happen to it if my lap-top wasn't using DDR3 at the time.

desertleo

Since we're on the topic of RAM, I remember reading somewhere that if I do decide to upgrade my RAM I should choose cards of the same size like for example two 1 gb cards or two 512 mb cards and that they should be from the same manufacturer or something. Is that right because I don't want to mess up my lap-top?

Also I've looked at RAM cards for my lap-top that are compatible with it, however my lap-top uses something called "DDR2" and the cards are specified as "DDR3" is alright to use these cards?

@Tom-I really have to thank you for making a thread like this, this is going to make my time on the computer even more of an enjoyable experience.

desertleo

Alright I have a question that has been bothering me about computers for awhile now. Does having more memory as in RAM, improve the speed of gaming or is it the graphics card that affects gaming performance?

desertleo

Since we're on the topic of building you're own pc, where do you start in doing so? I've been interested in doing so, but a little hesitant as I might screw something up and then waste my money on something I can't salvage.

desertleo

Thanks for all the advice guys, you've all been very helpful in answering my questions. It seems the only one asking questions is me, I don't if that's good or not but at least I get a solution right or multiple solutions.

Edit: Nvm that last part, wolfenspiel asked for help from the computer gurus of FTP-Anime

1-2 years?! Wow, that's not long at all. I probably should replace my laptop then because it's 4yrs old now. However I don't have any problem in terms of hardware just speed when playing games and stuff of that sort.

Yea, I was thinking of getting something along the lines of Kingston since they seem to be the more widely used card according to my research though. After checking prices for an SSD, I definitely won't be buying that anytime soon.

desertleo

Thanks for the help Wolf, it was very insightful. Luckily it finally works now.

Edit: Alright I'm able to play the files now, but there is no sound this time and the video is somewhat laggy. I didn't completely watch a video before so I only discovered the problem now. Any idea how to solve this problem? Or better yet which player would you suggest playing .rmvb files on a 64-bit laptop?

Edit: Nvm I found a solution in using VLC player. Everything plays like it used to.

desertleo

Well I haven't got a computer question lately, however I do have a question concerning some video files that I downloaded previously...I guess it is a computer question afterall. For some reason or another I can't play them on my latest laptop. I downloaded the player for the files like on my last laptop, but it doesn't even play. The only explanation I could come up with is maybe it has something to do my with last laptop running 32-bit...something...(I'm not tech savvy so I don't really know the terminology, sorry about that...<.<?) and my laptop now is running 64-bits. Is it the player or perhaps the video files or the computer itself?

My apologies if the answer is pretty obvious or the answer was posted in an earlier thread.

desertleo

Thanks for the advice kamikazee! I knew something was wrong when playing my videos, but I couldn't pin-point the cause of the problem.

For one reason or another, after uninstalling some of the codecs and various other programs I thought would remedy the situation. I found that simply just re-installing realplayer, after removing some stuff, plays like it used to. In the end the solution was rather simple, if not somewhat aggravating...

I appreciate the help though, so thank you.

Quirk

Ever see Van wilder? They made money by getting topless chicks to paint math problems on their chests and the students would pay to 'study'
Also studies have shown that when reading or listening to words we only retain 25%, but when combined with a picture it goes up to 75%.

Do any of you guys know how to spped up a comp. I know deleting stuff and defragging help, but what are other methods?
Actually I don't know, but I'll pretend to.

Police: Can you take down those terrorists with the sick orphans hostage.
Me: Uh, those terrorists with the big guns held to the kids heads and constantly twitchy fingers?
Police: Yes
Me: Sure, I'll have a go.

Quirk

I think I shall just buy an already made tower and so save the stress, fear, horror of mucking it up.
But what you said makes sense, well not to me, but someone who understands computers no doubt.
I shall just be getting a new tower and a 1TB external drive for storage needs only.
But thanks for the explanation anyway.

Quirk

Well that settles it.
At the mo I have a slim screen of a size
wireless mouse and keyboard
and a 2003 Win XP
Now I am going to just buy a new tower and an external hard drive.

Thanks for the info, I have never heard half the crap about laptops and now am going to steer clear from them, the devils sandwhich.

Any suggestions for which kinda tower i should get? Only for playing music/movies, writing and lots of speed so no lagging. I may play games but most likely not. So what brand or type should i get?

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