The computer and electronics super geek superthread...

[DJ Loe Kee]

i'm tryin' to recover files with a hard drive enclosure. i had to downgrade my pc and my sata 2 hard drive is unusable. i have a 500gb 300 mb/s sata 2 hard drive.

but i've read reviews that ppl were able to recover files off of old pc's/hard drives with some of these external enclosures. but i was thinkin' that any enclosure should work like that too.

basically, i need to get my anime and music off of my hard drive and onto dvd-r. but i know nothin' about brands for external hard drive enclosures. should i go with one of these or another brand?

Newegg.com - EAGLE ET-CSESU2-BK Aluminum 3.5" Black USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail

^no fan

Newegg.com - KINGWIN Z1 Series 3.5" Black USB 2.0 & eSATA External Enclosure - Retail

^no fan

Newegg.com - Thermaltake EA3006 Aluminum 3.5" Silver eSATA External Enclosure - Retail

^fan

an eagle and a kingwin helped two ppl recover their files, but i gave out links for a higher up model. i really don't care for the fan since i only want to burn my files to dvd-r and not use it all the time (the hard drive is goin' back inside my case once i upgrade my mb and processor).

Newegg.com - Thermaltake EA3006 Aluminum 3.5" Silver eSATA External Enclosure - Retail

^no fan

Newegg.com - Thermaltake N0012US Aluminum & Plastic 3.5" Silver USB 2.0 & eSATA External Enclosure - Retail

^fan

my cpu's heatsink is a thermaltake, that's how it made the list, even tho' i don't want to spend $50 on a enclosure.

[VF-19]

I take it that the computer either only has IDE or Sata I ports right? Well, if it has SATA I you can flip a jumper on the drive (check with the manufacturer) to convert it to SATA I, which would make the drive completly accessable to you.

[DJ Loe Kee]

^ok, let me find this jumper. thanks.

would anybody happen to know where a jumper for seagate is? i didn't notice a jumper before but i need to get my hd back from my friend (he tried gettin' the sata2 and ide hd's to work too) so i can try this out.

edit:

nvm, i think i found it.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?loca...000dd04090aRCRD

http://www.seagate.com/images/support/en/u..._sata_block.gif

Edited February 16, 2008 by DJ Loe Kee

[VF-19]

^ok, let me find this jumper. thanks.

would anybody happen to know where a jumper for seagate is? i didn't notice a jumper before but i need to get my hd back from my friend (he tried gettin' the sata2 and ide hd's to work too) so i can try this out.

edit:

nvm, i think i found it.

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?loca...000dd04090aRCRD

http://www.seagate.com/images/support/en/u..._sata_block.gif

If you don't have a spare jumper to use, you could try a small piece of wire, twist tied around the two prongs you want to connect. Just be careful not to touch any other prongs with the wire.

[DJ Loe Kee]

^ok thanks, i think i have some spare jumpers, i just have to see if they fit.

i'm just wonderin' if anybody is runnin' a hackintosh.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=41Z0FJYBd5U

everybody says mac's own for music... why can't i just install their osx on my pc (mac's hardware is overpriced anyway...)???

and this is legal if you actually buy osx (it seems not only windows get pirated).

[jwinges]

Does anybody know of a DVD player that will play H263, H264 and MKV files? Its time to buy another DVD player and I'm hoping I can find something that will play all of the anime I download. Thanks.

[azrael]

i'm just wonderin' if anybody is runnin' a hackintosh.

everybody says mac's own for music... why can't i just install their osx on my pc (mac's hardware is overpriced anyway...)???

and this is legal if you actually buy osx (it seems not only windows get pirated).

You can install Mac OS X on your PC. You'll need to find a hacked copy of OS X as you saw in the Youtube videos. It's legal but it's not supported. If you screw up your machine, don't go running to Apple for help because they won't help you.

Does anybody know of a DVD player that will play H263, H264 and MKV files? Its time to buy another DVD player and I'm hoping I can find something that will play all of the anime I download.

Unfortunately, not in the US, not at this time.

This thread may help you but as of now, you won't find something like that in the States. Sorry.

[mikeszekely]

^ok thanks, i think i have some spare jumpers, i just have to see if they fit.

i'm just wonderin' if anybody is runnin' a hackintosh.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=41Z0FJYBd5U

everybody says mac's own for music... why can't i just install their osx on my pc (mac's hardware is overpriced anyway...)???

and this is legal if you actually buy osx (it seems not only windows get pirated).

About the hard drives... if you can't get the jumper thing to work right, it might be cheaper to buy an IDE-SATA II PCI card than an enclosure.

As for Hackintoshes, I don't run one anymore, since I bought a MacBook, but ironically enough it was a Hackintosh that introduced me to Mac OS and encouraged me to buy a MacBook (and later upgrade to Leopard).

Far be it to encourage piracy *hides hard drives*, but taking a clean retail copy of Mac OS and hacking it to run on PC hardware is a HUUUUUUGE pain in the butt. Buy a retail copy of Leopard to assuage your guilt, but it'll be a lot easier if you start looking on bittorrent sites for a pre-hacked version. Oh, and 10.4 Tiger is a single-layer DVD, but 10.5 Leopard is a dual-layer.

Also, make sure your hardware is good to go with a Hackintosh. I set mine up on a Pentium 4, and while it ran okay, Quartz applications were a no-go. Hackintoshes work because the development for Tiger occurred when Apple was getting ready to make the switch to Intel processors. The closer your hardware is to Apple-supported, the better it'll run. In fact, getting a Hackitosh to run with an AMD processor is pretty much a hit-or-miss kind of thing.

You can read Wikipedia's entry on OSx86 here.

[kensei]

Just need to ask for some advice again, my Tablet just happen to crap itself this time. All is fixed, save the wireless internet connection.

The wireless is VERY unstable. While it is possible to link up, it will always disconnect and reconnect again and again.

This has happened notably after every time I connect to network that is not one in my own home.

After deleting all the profiles (save my home one) and also resetting the modem and redoing the passwords and user name, my local connection is all good. It's just my wireless now. Any sugestions?

[JB0]

You can install Mac OS X on your PC. You'll need to find a hacked copy of OS X as you saw in the Youtube videos. It's legal but it's not supported.

Actually, it's NOT legal. At least, not if the license agreement is considered valid.

Apple's OS license explicitly forbids you installing the software on non-Apple products.

[azrael]

Actually, it's NOT legal. At least, not if the license agreement is considered valid.

Apple's OS license explicitly forbids you installing the software on non-Apple products.

I remembered that part yesterday but I was too lazy to change my post.

After deleting all the profiles (save my home one) and also resetting the modem and redoing the passwords and user name, my local connection is all good. It's just my wireless now. Any sugestions?

Do you have a spare wireless adaptor?

[David Hingtgen]

I've decided that upgrading my current system any more is pointless---any CPU it can take is only SLIGHTLY better, same for the graphics card. However, as my graphics card warranty expires in 2 weeks, I'm going to see about overclocking it. As it is currently a silent passively-cooled card, I have a PCI slot fan (adjustable speed) arriving tomorrow---for 8 bucks, we'll see what happens. If that doesn't allow enough headroom, I'm going to see if I can remove the massive heatsink and install an actual fan GPU cooler. Thinking Zalman VF700 all-copper. I mean, if it's used to NO fan, and I go with something like that on a low-med setting, it should run a lot cooler than it used to, with very little noise.

Now for my question for my future new PC:

I'll probably go with a 8800GT or GTS. I notice the GTS's usually have the dual-slot "exhaust duct through the back of the case" cooling. Are they quieter than the 8800GT's with their "just a fan blowing air to the bottom of the case"? I've seen a few comments that dual-slot cooling systems are "surprisingly quiet". Does that mean quiet overall as all graphics cards go, or just surprising considering how high-end cards like that usually are? (Since high-end cards are often very loud with screaming fans)? If the GTS's are are bit quieter (plus the higher performance) I'll gladly pay the 60 bucks or so GTS's seem to go for over a GT.

[VF-19]

I've decided that upgrading my current system any more is pointless---any CPU it can take is only SLIGHTLY better, same for the graphics card. However, as my graphics card warranty expires in 2 weeks, I'm going to see about overclocking it. As it is currently a silent passively-cooled card, I have a PCI slot fan (adjustable speed) arriving tomorrow---for 8 bucks, we'll see what happens. If that doesn't allow enough headroom, I'm going to see if I can remove the massive heatsink and install an actual fan GPU cooler. Thinking Zalman VF700 all-copper. I mean, if it's used to NO fan, and I go with something like that on a low-med setting, it should run a lot cooler than it used to, with very little noise.

Now for my question for my future new PC:

I'll probably go with a 8800GT or GTS. I notice the GTS's usually have the dual-slot "exhaust duct through the back of the case" cooling. Are they quieter than the 8800GT's with their "just a fan blowing air to the bottom of the case"? I've seen a few comments that dual-slot cooling systems are "surprisingly quiet". Does that mean quiet overall as all graphics cards go, or just surprising considering how high-end cards like that usually are? (Since high-end cards are often very loud with screaming fans)? If the GTS's are are bit quieter (plus the higher performance) I'll gladly pay the 60 bucks or so GTS's seem to go for over a GT.

No, dual slot-exaust out the back cooling solution doesn't mean quieter. Take the stock ATI 1900 cooling solution. It's freaking loud at idle, worse while the cards are actually working, and it's annoying to boot (and I'm deaf! ). I know, I have two of those hot beasts. I finally got annoyed enough to swap out the heatsinks for Accelero X2s. While they don't exaust out the back, they're much quieter and they do run the cards cooler... Current problem notwithstanding.

If you can, go to a PC store and listen to the two of them, and pick the quieter one.

My whole adventure with nearly toasting my 1900s makes me wonder why there's no cooling solution for the backs of the cards...

[azrael]

Now for my question for my future new PC:

I'll probably go with a 8800GT or GTS. I notice the GTS's usually have the dual-slot "exhaust duct through the back of the case" cooling. Are they quieter than the 8800GT's with their "just a fan blowing air to the bottom of the case"? I've seen a few comments that dual-slot cooling systems are "surprisingly quiet". Does that mean quiet overall as all graphics cards go, or just surprising considering how high-end cards like that usually are? (Since high-end cards are often very loud with screaming fans)? If the GTS's are are bit quieter (plus the higher performance) I'll gladly pay the 60 bucks or so GTS's seem to go for over a GT.

The GT is a much better deal in terms of performance vs. price against the GTS. As for "surprisingly quiet", it depends on what they were comparing the card to to know the context of that comment. I have a 8800GTS and I can't hear the fan over my 2 120mm nor my 92mm CPU fan. Either that or it is the fan that I've been hearing all this time. The only issue I've been hearing about the GT is that it can run hot (like 40 degrees on idle, and jump to 70+ on load) since it is a single slot cooling system.

[Beltane70]

70 degrees is still quite far from what is accepted as the card's maximum safe operating temperature.

[promethuem5]

The GT is very nice, but mine does run hot (to the point of being a problem), right about what az said... it'll jump up to around 70+ in intensive games (Crysis), but it works great otherwise, and since I was cramming into my Dell, a single-slot was the only option, and the cooling problems are partially my fault (Dell cases have ZERO circulation... I added a super quiet fan, but the air-flow is still not enough and I run into over-heating crashes.)

[David Hingtgen]

Are there any "normal" cases with a second low-mounted fan to exhaust from the PCI slot area? I've seen some very weird/expensive setups with something like that, but I've never seen your "basic ATX case, with an extra exhaust fan in the lower section". Even looking for some venting in that area eliminates over half of all cases.

Also (newb question)---what's up with intake fans? Are they more for circulation than anything else? So many cases have "optional" intake fans. And you know me--noise! Having a fan right up front is about the worst thing I can think of for me.

[VF-19]

Are there any "normal" cases with a second low-mounted fan to exhaust from the PCI slot area? I've seen some very weird/expensive setups with something like that, but I've never seen your "basic ATX case, with an extra exhaust fan in the lower section". Even looking for some venting in that area eliminates over half of all cases.

Also (newb question)---what's up with intake fans? Are they more for circulation than anything else? So many cases have "optional" intake fans. And you know me--noise! Having a fan right up front is about the worst thing I can think of for me.

Case with a low mounted fan on the side? There's plenty out there, but if you don't find what you like, get a fan, mark the outline on the case, and attack the panel with a dremel! Just be sure to leave some material so that you can actually mount the fan. The Thermaltake Eureka has a pair of stylish (or not) cutouts on one panel, and you can actually mount a 120mm fan to it, provided you actually cut up some of the fan mounting material so that it'll sit flush.

Intake fans have one purpose:

1) to get a source of fresh, cooler air into the case, the air is heated by whatever heats it, and rises, so that it's blown out the back via the rear fan.

However, in my case (litterally), the hard drives, all four of them, block the intake fan, so I had to modify a 120mm fan to blow air onto my videocards...

Trust me, you want at least one 120mm fan in the front and one 120mm fan in the rear. You need that air moving over the motherboard or it will get rather warm.

Besides, if you're worried about noise, you can spend a little extra and get antec Tri-cool fans. They come with a nifty speed selector on them, and you can set it to the lowest speed to make them almost silent, and you'll still have air moving around in the case.

[kensei]

I remembered that part yesterday but I was too lazy to change my post.

Do you have a spare wireless adaptor?

No I don't unfortunately. I have a home PC which runs on it just fine. i think it's exclusively my WiFi modem on board my Tablet.

As of 10 minutes ago, it is officially Screwed. It will no longer enable the wireless. Bluetooth is still fine though.

[David Hingtgen]

Turned on my PC this morning and SOMETHING was messed graphically, big time. I had just recently downloaded new graphics card drivers etc from Nvidia (I often avoid updating drivers for this very reason--if it works, don't mess with it---new drivers OFTEN cause problems where none existed). Long story short, I used a system restore point and now everything's OK I think. When I saw it loading "agp440.drv" in safe mode I knew something was up, as that was what the PC was using 2 years ago... (and 7600GS's do not like MX440 drivers)

[azrael]

No I don't unfortunately. I have a home PC which runs on it just fine. i think it's exclusively my WiFi modem on board my Tablet.

As of 10 minutes ago, it is officially Screwed. It will no longer enable the wireless. Bluetooth is still fine though.

You might want to consider that spare wireless adaptor then.

Turned on my PC this morning and SOMETHING was messed graphically, big time. I had just recently downloaded new graphics card drivers etc from Nvidia (I often avoid updating drivers for this very reason--if it works, don't mess with it---new drivers OFTEN cause problems where none existed). Long story short, I used a system restore point and now everything's OK I think. When I saw it loading "agp440.drv" in safe mode I knew something was up, as that was what the PC was using 2 years ago... (and 7600GS's do not like MX440 drivers)

"agp440.drv" is normally loaded during Safe-mode so that's really not an problem.

[David Hingtgen]

Strange that I never noticed agp440 in other safe-mode starts. Ok, well, either way the new Nvidia stuff (specifically "Ntune") was what was causing the problem. The new drivers themselves are ok (simply a new version of the main .dll) but the other stuff was causing almost total screen blackouts/freezing. Long post that most people won't care about follows:

Got my slot cooler. Works fine, quite quiet on medium. At low you just hear the fan rattle, at high it's a roar of air. At medium it all just kinda blends together with the background noise/PC.

Took apart my AGP card while I had the PC open. I'm not sure WHAT was between the heatsink and chip. Some sort of thermal pad I'd guess. Yellow, not stringy nor greasy. Reminded me a LOT of poster-tack. Only harder. Not sticky to the fingers at all. When I pulled off the heatsink, half the GPU chip was mirror-finish smooth---the thermal whatever completely came off on much of it (or there never was any to start). I had some Arctic Silver 5, so I thought "might as well" and cleaned up the chips and sinks as best I could and used it. Found something interesting--I'm guessing it's one of those "PCI-E to AGP" converter chips or whatever they're called. It was very small, but under a big heatsink of its own. Maybe a 2mm x 8mm chip, with a heatsink the size of most southbridges'. "U2" was the only identifying mark on the board, the chip itself had nothing I could see.

The slot cooler's fan is too close to the motherboard and too far forward to be at all effective when mounted DIRECTLY below the card, so I have it one slot lower. Testing today gives me about 7C lower in idle and unknown (guessing 5C) under load. (Due to the card's passive cooling and massive heatsink, it's basically always "very warm" regardless of idle vs load)

Will try some overclocking over the next 48 hours, and decide if this cooling is

A. enough to allow me to get a significant bump performance-wise when OC'ing, (unlikely),

B. promising enough that I'll spend another 30 bucks and get a Zalman fan and REALLY overclock the thing with the (hopefully) 15C margin I'll gain, or

C. realize it's so minor that nothing could help.

[mikeszekely]

Something like that happened to me once, although I don't know if I'd updated the driver or not. I think I might have. Rather than roll the drive back, I found it worked fine if I disconnected it from the VGA output then connected it to the DVI output with a DVI to VGA adaptor. Haven't had a problem since. I figured maybe there was a problem with my card's VGA output, but I wonder if the problem isn't inherent to the drivers running AGP cards.

Man, I need a new desktop.

[JB0]

Took apart my AGP card while I had the PC open. I'm not sure WHAT was between the heatsink and chip. Some sort of thermal pad I'd guess. Yellow, not stringy nor greasy. Reminded me a LOT of poster-tack. Only harder. Not sticky to the fingers at all. When I pulled off the heatsink, half the GPU chip was mirror-finish smooth---the thermal whatever completely came off on much of it (or there never was any to start).

My 5900 had thermal pads for the RAM, and something resembling old bubblegum for the GPU. For what it's worth.

I'd recommend changing the heatsink just on noise issues.

If they aren't passively cooled, video cards tend to have really offensive fans.

I'm using a Zalman on my 5900, and it's a night-and-day thing.

Granted the 5900 had a nasty squirrel-cage, but still...

[Dante74]

Hi guys,

I would like to start doing some 3D modelling and my current HP laptop just doesn't cut it anymore, so have you guys got any advise on what kind of PC I could get for around $1500?

A 22"widescreen monitor would need to be included into budget.

:::EDIT::: The budget could be stretched to $2000 but that's about it.

Edited February 19, 2008 by Dante74

[azrael]

Hi guys,

I would like to start doing some 3D modelling and my current HP laptop just doesn't cut it anymore, so have you guys got any advise on what kind of PC I could get for around $1500?

A 22"widescreen monitor would need to be included into budget.

:::EDIT::: The budget could be stretched to $2000 but that's about it.

Were you looking at replacing your laptop with a desktop or a new laptop?

[Dante74]

Were you looking at replacing your laptop with a desktop or a new laptop?

A laptop that can do decent 3D modelling is way beyond my bugdet if they even exist, so it'll have to be a desktop.

[emajnthis]

2000 dollars for a desktop, talk about a high end budget, that much money will build a SWEEEEETTTTT desktop, even with considerations for peripherals (high end monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc etc.)

[Dante74]

2000 dollars for a desktop, talk about a high end budget, that much money will build a SWEEEEETTTTT desktop, even with considerations for peripherals (high end monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc etc.)

2000 is my absolute maximum budget, I'd rather spend around 1500. Besides, I want to do 3d modelling and rendering on this thing and I want to be set for the next 3 to 4 years.

[misterryno]

2000 is my absolute maximum budget, I'd rather spend around 1500. Besides, I want to do 3d modelling and rendering on this thing and I want to be set for the next 3 to 4 years.

Damn.....I plan on replacing my current laptop and my desktop that the hardrive just crashed on with a new laptop and I though spendin a G was gonna be alot. But you plan on spendin 5 G's eh. I wish I had the duckets to drop.

[Dante74]

Electronics are a lot more expensive here in the Netherlands compared to the States. Usually for a dollar priced product I'll need to scratch the dollar sign and replace it with a euro sign, and remember, ONE euro is about 1,50 dollars. That means that if you pay 300 dollars for a video card, I'll pay 300 euro's which is about 450 dollars for the same product.

[misterryno]

Electronics are a lot more expensive here in the Netherlands compared to the States. Usually for a dollar priced product I'll need to scratch the dollar sign and replace it with a euro sign, and remember, ONE euro is about 1,50 dollars. That means that if you pay 300 dollars for a video card, I'll pay 300 euro's which is about 450 dollars for the same product.

I thought the Euro was kickin our collective arses

[emajnthis]

2000 is my absolute maximum budget, I'd rather spend around 1500. Besides, I want to do 3d modelling and rendering on this thing and I want to be set for the next 3 to 4 years.

Even 1500 is going to build you a high end machine, since you're looking for a high end 22" wide display then that's going to be the most expensive part of your budget.

[Dante74]

I did a little research.

A good 22'' screen will set me back about 300 to 350 euro.

[Ratchet]

Acer Aspire AS5920-6914 Laptop for $711 after taxes.

• Centrino Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66ghz

• 250GB hard drive

• 2GB of DDR2 memory

• Weight 6.6 lbs.

• 15.4 HD Widescreen

• Subwoofer speakers

• Webcam

Not bad for an average laptop. I wish I had a better video card than an Intel integrated video card....nasty. Going shopping for a gaming desktop puter soon.

Edited February 20, 2008 by Ratchet