Off-Topic Thread

Serephucus · 31-01-2012 02:39PM

Nasty surprise earlier in the week. Apparently, all the stress testing I was doing last month came back to bite me ... hard.

€365 ESB bill vs. the usual €120. Wasn't counting on that.

I've now narrowed the problem to my motherboard, but to return it, Gigabyte wants €45 for shipping. I'm seriously considering this as an excuse to pick up a Z68/2500K if I can't get it fixed myself.

Monotype · 31-01-2012 02:51PM

ShadowHearth wrote: »

they wont drop that much to be honest. there is article posted in hardware thread. it will drop just by 10$.

Which, the one about the 2550K? That's a Sandy Bridge CPU as well.

CPUs that are "obsolete" usually don't drop much in price after they stop being produce/main production stops. You should, however, be able to find a few second hand ones for a good deal for those getting the 3570K. The 3570K should be €10 or so dearer than what it is now.

If you really wanted to save money now, you could get the Celeron G530. It's only 2.4GHz in comparison to the 2120's 3.3GHz and it lacks the hyperthreading of the i3s. However, it still is a dual core, you won't be using the hyperthreading much in games and it's usually only about €40. It's not the best processor but the Sandy Bridges are quite powerful even at 2.4GHz so I reckon it would be okay as a stop gap for a few months.

Serephucus wrote: »

Nasty surprise earlier in the week. Apparently, all the stress testing I was doing last month came back to bite me ... hard.

€365 ESB bill vs. the usual €120. Wasn't counting on that.

I've now narrowed the problem to my motherboard, but to return it, Gigabyte wants €45 for shipping. I'm seriously considering this as an excuse to pick up a Z68/2500K if I can't get it fixed myself.

:eek: Holy crap! So your motherboard was giving problems and you were running CPU/GPU tests? How long were were you testing for?

nesf · 31-01-2012 03:08PM

Serephucus wrote: »

€365 ESB bill vs. the usual €120. Wasn't counting on that.

o_O

Serephucus · 31-01-2012 03:15PM

Monotype wrote: »

:eek: Holy crap! So your motherboard was giving problems and you were running CPU/GPU tests? How long were were you testing for?

I'm not sure exactly. I was running Prime95 a few times testing different settings, and I was also running memory tests and stuff. I'd say at least a solid five or six days of Prime, and other stuff. I can't see that doing that much damage to the ESB, but that's the only thing that changed. (Mind you, 383W under load...)

At this point, I've swapped out the PSU and memory, and I've tried my GPU in a friend's computer. Odds are if it was the CPU things would be a lot more unstable, so I think it's my motherboard. Going to try repasting the heatsinks at the weekend (it's a lot of work to get the board out).

nesf wrote: »

o_O

I know.

deconduo · 31-01-2012 03:35PM

Serephucus wrote: »

I'm not sure exactly. I was running Prime95 a few times testing different settings, and I was also running memory tests and stuff. I'd say at least a solid five or six days of Prime, and other stuff. I can't see that doing that much damage to the ESB, but that's the only thing that changed. (Mind you, 383W under load...)

At this point, I've swapped out the PSU and memory, and I've tried my GPU in a friend's computer. Odds are if it was the CPU things would be a lot more unstable, so I think it's my motherboard. Going to try repasting the heatsinks at the weekend (it's a lot of work to get the board out).

I know.

6 days of 1200W full blast only adds up to about €25. Are you sure it wasn't something else?

Serephucus · 31-01-2012 03:38PM

That's about what I got from ESB's calculator as well. Can't think of anything else that changed. I swapped out my 1200W unit for a 700W one, but if anything, that should have helped. Literally nothing else was different.

Anyone any idea how much I'd get for my CPU, motherboard and RAM, if I were to sell them now? (assuming functional motherboard)

Monotype · 31-01-2012 03:42PM

Two months non-stop 383W would be €82.59.

There's VAT increases too but it wouldn't add up to that. I reckon ESB got your numbers wrong or something else is going on. Plus your heating cost should be down. :P

jaykhunter · 31-01-2012 03:58PM

Maybe bring the comp into the library or work etc when stress testing!! That's a shockingly high bill, ask them to read your meter. Is finding the right overclocking settings high on the electricity?

ShadowHearth · 31-01-2012 04:32PM

well ESB doing estimates anyway. so you might look in to that.

or maybe misses bought some new appliances?

Serephucus · 31-01-2012 04:33PM

Nope, and nope. Checked the meter, and it's accurate, and there's nothing else in the apartment, other than heating, etc.

OCing shouldn't be that high on electricity, I just don't know what else would do it.

deconduo · 31-01-2012 04:47PM

Serephucus wrote: »

Nope, and nope. Checked the meter, and it's accurate, and there's nothing else in the apartment, other than heating, etc.

OCing shouldn't be that high on electricity, I just don't know what else would do it.

Could have just been heating I suppose. Dec/Jan have been a lot colder than Oct/Nov. November was the warmest on record.

ShadowHearth · 31-01-2012 04:50PM

my esb bill should be in soon too.... i am afraid! :eek:

Serephucus · 31-01-2012 05:02PM

Any idea how much those three would sell for guys? Considering my options at this point.

deconduo · 31-01-2012 05:13PM

Serephucus wrote: »

Any idea how much those three would sell for guys? Considering my options at this point.

Going off adverts maybe €300. There's a lot of people trying to sell i7s though, and not a whole lot of interest. This is the last one that I could see that actually sold, and that was 2 months ago.
http://www.adverts.ie/hardware/intel-core-i7-920/1113576

ShadowHearth · 02-02-2012 04:40PM

lads, it will be a long shot, but ill ask:

where can you buy those little rubber stripes with sticker on other side? you know the ones that are on the back of keyboards to stop it from sliding?

my keyboard has only 2 pieces on the bottom and nothing on top corners, so it is sliding off alot. any ideas?

FlyingIrishMan · 02-02-2012 06:51PM

So I'm finally getting around to getting a monitor. Picking it up tomorrow.
My eyes are getting very sore trying to read small writing from a few feet away.

Anyway, I was wondering if there was such a thing as a HDMI video transmitter sort of thing?
Something like two small signal transmitters, one plugs into the computer and one into the TV so I could transmit the signal to the TV without the use of a wire? Its probably far fetched but I've always thought it would be a great device if there was such a thing available.

The reason I'm asking is I plan on having the monitor set up on the opposite side of the room of my TV, my TV is facing my bed, so I would like to be able to lie in bed watching TV programmes off the internet from my computer. I used to use my PS3, but I feel the PS3 isn't very good at it, and for some reason (perhaps overheating or something) the video starts lagging, and skipping lots of frames in the last 20mins of a show, but it is fine at the start of the show.

Headshot · 03-02-2012 12:33AM

Im in 2 minds here

Format my laptop and reinstall windows 7 or dont

You see iv MS word on the laptop and its pretty handy. Now I dont have the disk anymore since I sold it, so no serial number

Is it possible to format the laptop and keep MS word ?

game4it70 · 03-02-2012 12:56AM

Headshot wrote: »

Im in 2 minds here

Format my laptop and reinstall windows 7 or dont

You see iv MS word on the laptop and its pretty handy. Now I dont have the disk anymore since I sold it, so no serial number

Is it possible to format the laptop and keep MS word ?

Why not format and use open office?

Headshot · 03-02-2012 01:00AM

game4it70 wrote: »

Why not format and use open office?

I like MS word thou

Alot better than open office I find

Fluffy88 · 03-02-2012 09:55AM

Headshot wrote: »

I like MS word thou

Alot better than open office I find

Yesterday my Uncle called, his wife was typing out a document and long story short Word wouldn't save it for her, so she lost the 2 hours of work she spent on it.

They asked me if I could help get the doc back. So I found a backuped version of the file in a temp folder created by office, but guess what! Office couldn't open the file, *Queue the dramatic super hero music* Libre Office to the rescue. Libre Office could open the Microsoft Office backup format and save it as a Microsoft Office file.

Monotype · 03-02-2012 09:56AM

One program I'm aware of that will retrieve your keys is the new version of the Magic Jellybean Keyfinder, Recover Keys. Unfortunately, it will cost €19 ($25) for the full version.
The free version handles older programs and windows including office 2003, if I remember correctly, but I assume that's no good to you.

Edit: Found some more extensive info.

How to retrieve MS Office keys from a previous install: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/tp/office-product-keys.htm
They also have a list of free key retrievers in the tutorials which you can check out at your own risk.

Headshot · 04-02-2012 12:52AM

Monotype wrote: »

One program I'm aware of that will retrieve your keys is the new version of the Magic Jellybean Keyfinder, Recover Keys. Unfortunately, it will cost €19 ($25) for the full version.
The free version handles older programs and windows including office 2003, if I remember correctly, but I assume that's no good to you.

Edit: Found some more extensive info.

How to retrieve MS Office keys from a previous install: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/productkeysactivation/tp/office-product-keys.htm
They also have a list of free key retrievers in the tutorials which you can check out at your own risk.

Mono that has worked like a charm, thank you so much

FlyingIrishMan · 04-02-2012 01:13PM

With multiple displays do I have to use the same video output (DVI) on all of them, or can I use DVI on one and HDMI on the other?

I want to set it up with my TV, so when I'm watching shows on the internet I can just drag the browser over to the big screen and watch it on that.

dwighet · 04-02-2012 01:28PM

FlyingIrishMan wrote: »

With multiple displays do I have to use the same video output (DVI) on all of them, or can I use DVI on one and HDMI on the other?

I want to set it up with my TV, so when I'm watching shows on the internet I can just drag the browser over to the big screen and watch it on that.

Thats what I do....
Hdmi for the tv and dvi for the monitor...
works a treat

Monotype · 04-02-2012 01:46PM

Yeah, HDMI + DVI works fine with any recent generation graphics cards and Intel's current generation integrated graphics.

FlyingIrishMan · 04-02-2012 02:09PM

And how would I set it up? Through the Catalyst Control Centre?
I've been looking through it and there is options for Eyefinity, but all the Apply now buttons are not clickable.

Monotype · 04-02-2012 02:20PM

Eyefinity is for 3 monitors. I think you set them up with display options (Windows 7, right-click on desktop, screen resolution) or somewhere nearby those settings.

FlyingIrishMan · 04-02-2012 02:27PM

Yeah, I tried those too.
I set it to extend desktop but every time I click apply, it tells me that the settings can't be saved.

Monotype · 04-02-2012 05:52PM

Are you actually getting stuff showing up on the screen?
Also, are both connections connected to the graphics card?

FlyingIrishMan · 04-02-2012 06:20PM

Monotype wrote: »

Are you actually getting stuff showing up on the screen?
Also, are both connections connected to the graphics card?

I can get stuff to show up on either screens, just not at the same time. Only one at a time.
I'm pretty sure they're both connected to the graphics card.
There is two sections, one section has HDMI, DVI, and some other weird port that looks like HDMI, but its not.
Then below that, there is a single DVI port. Thats the one I had to use for my monitor as the top one would only show the desktop background, which I'm guessing meant it thought it meant it was my second display.

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