PC gaming hardware thread.

JohnCoffey · **Posted:** Mon Sep 07, 2020 14:44

After a bugger load of cutting, modding, making parts, wiring, soldering and wet sanding and buffing my FreeNAS is finished.

Findus Fop · **Joined:** 14th May, 2009 **Posts:** 3665

Mini Fop has had great fun playing games like Monkey Island with her grandad during lockdown, sharing her screen via Zoom.

However, it seems a bit laggy, and they're now keen to play portal.

I believe Steam lets you watch someone play a game - however, would you be able to communicate via voice?

I've never dipped my toes into that side of PC gaming before.

Grim... · **Posted:** Wed Sep 09, 2020 16:57

Findus Fop wrote:

I believe Steam lets you watch someone play a game - however, would you be able to communicate via voice?

Steam Voice Chat is a thing, but you can just use Zoom (or whatever) for voice.

There's always going to be latency, though.

Findus Fop · **Joined:** 14th May, 2009 **Posts:** 3665

Grim... wrote:

Findus Fop wrote:

I believe Steam lets you watch someone play a game - however, would you be able to communicate via voice?

Steam Voice Chat is a thing, but you can just use Zoom (or whatever) for voice.

There's always going to be latency, though.

Thank you! It just seemed particularly laggy when they were playing samorost over zoom, so figured portal would be even worse

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

Any suggestions for reasonably priced pc cases? Mine is very old and clunky. No cable management, no 2.5" drive bays.

Up to about £75 I reckon

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 21589

I bought this one last year and it has been very good at stopping my PC bits from sitting in a pile on the floor

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

Trooper wrote:

I bought this one last year and it has been very good at stopping my PC bits from sitting in a pile on the floor

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1

Good stuff, but I need more HDD bays

markg · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 15859

I just got this one:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07YQ7HXBD

Seems nicely made and really easy to work in and hide all those cables away.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

It's a bit bling for my tastes. Cases have changed since I last looked at them.

We don't seem to be doing DVD drive spaces any more. Not that I need one...

MaliA · **Posted:** Thu Sep 17, 2020 13:13

CD drive?

markg · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 15859

DavPaz wrote:

It's a bit bling for my tastes. Cases have changed since I last looked at them.

We don't seem to be doing DVD drive spaces any more. Not that I need one...

Yeah, I've always had the plainest black boxes so I decided it was time to let my hair down a bit! It's under the desk though and it's really quiet, runs really cool and went together nicely.

Trooper · **Joined:** 4th Mar, 2010 **Posts:** 21589

DavPaz wrote:

Trooper wrote:

I bought this one last year and it has been very good at stopping my PC bits from sitting in a pile on the floor

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1

Good stuff, but I need more HDD bays

My solution to that in the past for SSDs has been bluetack.

TheVision · **Posted:** Thu Sep 17, 2020 13:29

Trooper wrote:

DavPaz wrote:

Trooper wrote:

I bought this one last year and it has been very good at stopping my PC bits from sitting in a pile on the floor

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01 ... UTF8&psc=1

Good stuff, but I need more HDD bays

My solution to that in the past for SSDs has been bluetack.

I've only been able to get 500gb bluetack. Who's your bluetack guy?

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Mid-To ... 98031&th=1

This is more my speed. Plenty of HDD spaces. No LEDs!

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Sep 17, 2020 14:40

Daft Kovacs question number 934...

My PC has 2 x 4 GB 1333MHZ DDR3. This means I have two slots free, can I just buy 2 x 4 GB and double my memory?

DBSnappa · **Posted:** Thu Sep 17, 2020 14:55

KovacsC wrote:

Daft Kovacs question number 934...

My PC has 2 x 4 GB 1333MHZ DDR3. This means I have two slots free, can I just buy 2 x 4 GB and double my memory?

Matched pairs? As in buy two 4gb sticks which are matched

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

KovacsC wrote:

Daft Kovacs question number 934...

My PC has 2 x 4 GB 1333MHZ DDR3. This means I have two slots free, can I just buy 2 x 4 GB and double my memory?

Yep.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Sep 17, 2020 15:02

DBSnappa wrote:

KovacsC wrote:

Daft Kovacs question number 934...

My PC has 2 x 4 GB 1333MHZ DDR3. This means I have two slots free, can I just buy 2 x 4 GB and double my memory?

Matched pairs? As in buy two 4gb sticks which are matched

yes I have a matched pair, so just buy another matched pair?

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

KovacsC wrote:

DBSnappa wrote:

KovacsC wrote:

Daft Kovacs question number 934...

My PC has 2 x 4 GB 1333MHZ DDR3. This means I have two slots free, can I just buy 2 x 4 GB and double my memory?

Matched pairs? As in buy two 4gb sticks which are matched

yes I have a matched pair, so just buy another matched pair?

Yep. Make sure you get the same speed.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Sep 17, 2020 18:17

DavPaz wrote:

KovacsC wrote:

DBSnappa wrote:

KovacsC wrote:

Daft Kovacs question number 934...

My PC has 2 x 4 GB 1333MHZ DDR3. This means I have two slots free, can I just buy 2 x 4 GB and double my memory?

Matched pairs? As in buy two 4gb sticks which are matched

yes I have a matched pair, so just buy another matched pair?

Yep. Make sure you get the same speed.

That is the 1333mhz bit?

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

Yes, otherwise known as PC3-10600

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Sep 17, 2020 19:52

Cheers..

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

After my first choice was out of stock, I've ordered the following case

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BH23K53/ ... zFbTARYHNV

Sir Taxalot · **Joined:** 5th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 3781

It'd be neat if the red lights chased up and down that groove on the front, almost KITT style

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

New case should arrive tomorrow. For future reference, here's a "before" picture.

Sir Taxalot · **Joined:** 5th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 3781

That doesn't look so bad to me

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

Sir Taxalot wrote:

That doesn't look so bad to me

Current case has zero cable management options, seeing as I bought it in 2008

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2020 8:37

DavPaz wrote:

Sir Taxalot wrote:

That doesn't look so bad to me

Current case has zero cable management options, seeing as I bought it in 2008

Looks like the inside of mine. I think mine is circa that.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

Aaaaand of course the delivery arrives when I'm on the school run

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

To be fair to DPD, they did email me and tell me that the delivery slot was 8:30 > 9:30 and I was able to tell the driver to leave it inside the back gate. It was a happy ending

markg · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 15859

Is that case like mine where all the cables sit behind the panel that the mobo mounts to? It's so easy to make it look tidy.

I still have the same spaghetti mess as before, it's just that you can't see it. I know that some people seem to want to tidy all the hidden cables too but I couldn't think of a single good reason to bother, except to waste a load of time and make it more of a pain to change anything.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

Yeah, it has some space for that. I've done my best, but non modular power supplies mean you're kinda stuck with a bit of rat's nest.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

A big improvement, I'm sure you'll agree. Now to put the acrylic side window on. Extra 20 FPS I reckon

markg · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 15859

Ah yeah, the one I got has a bit at the bottom where the PSU and HDDs are all hidden away:

It also has TWO light-up fans and you can turn them to blue or white when you want additional cooling or red when you want to heat it up a bit.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:15

I am getting case envy

JohnCoffey · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2020 17:09

Upgraded rig two to a 2080Ti I got for £490 with a block already on. Upgraded to a bigger res and a Bitspower CPU block whilst I was there.

Satsuma · **Joined:** 20th Apr, 2008 **Posts:** 13826

The light on my modem annoys the fuck out of me; I’d beat a muthafucker into wine if that was flashing away in the corner of the room like a gaudy evening in Blackpool.

DavPaz · **Joined:** 27th Jun, 2008 **Posts:** 36709

Looks like a Decepticon on a stag do.

JohnCoffey · **Posted:** Sat Sep 26, 2020 19:17

Yeah that pink was really annoying. When I switched to Threadripper from an Intel board the USB system just collapsed. I took it apart last night and ran the offending items directly into the board.

For some reason if it can't find the device it defaults to pink, so it's been stuck like that since January !

KovacsC · **Posted:** Sun Sep 27, 2020 18:22

I ok am doubling my memory to a whopping 16gb

KovacsC · **Posted:** Mon Sep 28, 2020 9:34

Worked like a dream.. I can feel my PC being 100% faster

JohnCoffey · **Posted:** Thu Oct 15, 2020 13:58

And the last of the trio is nearly finished.

Lit up the wall of water last night.

Which actually looks more like oil. It's a new black UV coolant. I have a 360 Coolstream in the roof, Fat XSPC 120 in the floor with DDC pump and Barrow top (none of this will make much sense tbh). It uses a Phanteks Enthoo Pro and distro (the wall of water). Has my existing PSU, 2070 Super and memory with a Threadripper 1920x and MSI X399 Gaming Pro Carbon I picked up for £200 off a chum.

Runs very cool and very, very quiet. The fans and pump are set to 7v, so it's like a very gentle whoosh if you stick your head in it and pretty inaudible otherwise.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:04

KovacsC wrote:

Doctor Glyndwr wrote:

TheVision wrote:

It looks like they're sold out on Amazon at the moment though so I don't think that's very helpful.

Approximately every webcam is sold out or has gougers charging hundreds for even basic models. I wouldn't be too picky, Kov.

Just seen the price hikes... wow.

I have managed to get a Logitech 920 HD from CEX (2 year warranty) for £90. New ones are either out of stock are as Doc said, silly money.

Have any of you tried a webcam through a USB selector, do they work well? I am think of being able to share it between 2 PCs (one work, one personal)

Mr Dave · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2020 12:50

My setup at home is

Code:

 logitech c920 -> Dell monitor (as hub, along with keybord, mouse, sound etc) -> usb switch -> USB dock -> Work laptop
                                                                                           -> Desktop

Works fine

Zardoz · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2020 13:02

Just catching up on threads while I wait for jobs.

KovacsC · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2020 13:34

Mr Dave wrote:

My setup at home is

Code:

 logitech c920 -> Dell monitor (as hub, along with keybord, mouse, sound etc) -> usb switch -> USB dock -> Work laptop
                                                                                           -> Desktop

Works fine

Cheers..

KovacsC · **Posted:** Tue Nov 17, 2020 13:35

Zardoz wrote:

Just catching up on threads while I wait for jobs.

that looks...... bright

krazywookie · **Posted:** Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:32

hey, computery types - Am I right in thinking the speed on ram needs to match?

Ive got 2 x 4GB ddr4 2400

my mobo max is 32GB

can i chuck these at it? https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/teamgr ... re-3590364

Doctor Glyndwr · **Joined:** 30th Mar, 2008 **Posts:** 32573

It doesn’t need to match but you can only run it all at the speed of the slowest stick. So that should be fine, you’ll just be slightly underclocking it.

krazywookie · **Posted:** Sat Nov 21, 2020 23:23

I'm actually replacing the 2 4s with the 2 16s, just worded bad. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine, thanks for that.

Be Excellent To Each Other

PC gaming hardware thread.
Takes down the torture rack.

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Be Excellent To Each Other

PC gaming hardware thread. Takes down the torture rack.

Who is online

PC gaming hardware thread.
Takes down the torture rack.