Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with computer and hardware

Do I 'need' a gaming laptop to play MMOs?

Kurichina — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:37:12 -0800

Do I 'need' a gaming laptop to play MMOs? Computer hardware knowledgable people: what sort of system do you use for determining your 'needs' for a computer? My HP lappy conked out last week (very likely a motherboard failure, I'm told) and I'm in the market for a new one. It wasn't an ideal time financially for this to happen, so I don't want to spend anymore money than I have to. However, I also want this next laptop to last 4-5 years if possible, or, at the very least, 3.

I'm not a huge gamer, but I started playing a fair amount of WoW earlier this year and it's not unreasonable to think I may branch out into a few other MMOs. On my old, mid-range HP, WoW had many errors (not able to process the zone files and crashing) and was generally frustrating. Other than the games, my needs are fairly basic: a small amount of graphic design, word processing/spreadsheets, listen to music and watch DVDs/blu-rays. Is it worthwhile to splash out on a newer, more powerful processor *(quad core or I7, for e.g.) and some extra memory or will this be money wasted due to not using this power? Is there an objective (i.e. not trying to sell me something) site out there that will determine my hardware needs?

I've seen this but that question didn't discuss the needs of MMOs, and I'm not interested in the PC vs Mac side of things. (For reasons of cost and wanting to keep using the same software I already own, some of it purchased at "educational" prices for which I no longer qualify, I'm sticking with a PC.)

Bill Gates I ain't...

malibustacey9999 — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:12:26 -0800

The best way to go from knowing how to put a computer together out of the box but nothing else, to understanding how the 'innards' work? Apologies if this question has already been asked and answered. I searched, but I couldn't find anything that addressed my angle.

So, I can connect up the bits out of the box, and some extra bits you add later. I'm the one my friends/family call when they update and don't know how to connect it all up, but my hardware skills stop there. I can troubleshoot minor stuff, but mostly software based, I think. I had a crash course in being hacked a few months ago and, with the help of AskMe, minimised the damage.

I have learned a tiny little bit about software, programs, and whatnot, but open the tower (?), and I have no clue what's in there, what it does, and how to work with it.

I bought myself a new desktop PC, and now the old dead one is sitting on the floor behind me, tormenting me with the memories of all the music, pictures and documents that I didn't think were worth backing up. (I know. Silly me.)

There's nothing on it that I can't live without, but I'm probably capable of getting it working again, or extracting the information it contains, if I set my mind to learning how. And the more I think about it, the more I want to do it. I don't have any learned friends/acquaintances I can call on for help, so books and the internet must be my teachers, I guess. I've surfed various DIY sites, but they seem to vary in detail and assumption of, um, base knowledge.

So what would you suggest as a good resource for an enthusiastic learner? Computer Hardware For Dummies or similar? Have you taught yourself, or have your kids self-educated about hardware? What worked for you/them? What didn't?

Possibly relevant: I'm a handy girl, I have toolboxes I use regularly. I can fix a noisy toilet, a leaking tap, change fuses, service cars, so using a screwdriver or stripping wires won't be part of my learning curve. And I have the old PC just sitting there waiting for me to pull it to bits, but I'm not confident to begin until I have a source of guidance I can trust.

(Is it cheating if I also ask where I can find a list of MeFi acronyms and explanations, because I can't sleep until I know for sure that YMMV doesn't stand for You May Morph Violently?)

A beowulf cluster with nothing to do.

brenton — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:06:24 -0800

I scrapped all my junk computers together and made the most rag tag beowulf cluster ever in my living room. Mostly as a conversation starter. But now I have to figure out what to have it working on. What's something that will sound really cool?

What's cheaper, Windows based MBP-equivalent desktop computer?

niles — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:42:38 -0800

In lieu of buying a tricked-out MacBook pro, I'm thinking about taking the advice in this comment and picking up a mostly equivalent, Windows-based desktop for around $500. Can you give me advice? I'm going to school for Computer Science and minoring in Graphic Design/Media, so (once I have the money) I've been planning to pick up a Mac Book Pro and using Boot Camp and virtualization software for Windows.

I've realized that I can save a lot of money by sticking with my current low end laptop (just picked up a new battery so it doesn't have to plugged in 24/7), and buying a nice desktop.

I really only need to be able to run my IDEs, other development software, and Adobe CS4. My current laptop can only handle the graphic design software in CS4, not the video software such as Premiere and After Effects.

I'm completely comfortable putting a machine together, but I really don't know how to spec out hardware. My main concern is getting something that will run After Effect so I can finally start doing more video work. Will something like this do the trick? I suspect the video card is under powered.
If the HP doesn't cut it, where is it lacking? Do you have any recommendations for what hardware I should get?

I have some sort of cold, so I apologize for any incoherency or wordiness.

FreeNAS Hardware Specs

tdreyer — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:07:38 -0800

I'm going to make a dedicated FreeNAS box. Looking for hardware suggestions. I am comfortable with assembling my own hardware, but I'm a little unsure of the kind of hardware I need. It's easy enough to get the top of the top hardware, but I figure I don't need the best of everything for a FreeNAS box, just something that can handle on-the-fly disk encryption/decryption, RAID, and the fileserving.

I would like guidelines as well as hardware reccomendations. Something like "get at least a dual core processor with xx Ghz" works just as well as "get the AMD Athlon xxxx."

For the hardware, I could use help with mobo, ram, and CPU. Basically, I want the minimum hardware specs to get the job done well (read: I'm cheap), but I need room for many large/fast SATA drives. I want to do RAID with FreeNAS, but i'm not sure if I need hardware RAID support on the mobo...

More info here.

As always, thanks!

What do I need to look at when buying a new laptop?

reenum — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:28:05 -0800

I'm in the market for a new laptop. Should I get a PC or Mac? What specs are important for me to look at when making a decision? My Toshiba Satellite A65 seems to be on its last legs, so I think I'm getting a new laptop.

In researching, I've become confused as to which specs really matter when looking at a computer.

Here's what I would use it for:
- E-mail, IM, and Web
- Watching DVDs
- BitTorrent
- Word processing and spreadsheets
- Tracking my finances
- Some music creation (mostly breakbeats)

I've seen some places say that I need as much RAM as possible, others stress the importance of a large hard drive, yet others say I need the fastest processor.

Also, any recommendations as to brands that are more reliable than others?

Please help!

What's a good simple and cheap media or file server setup?

wastelands — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:15:38 -0800

Advice for a server newb who needs help getting started with a simple media/backup/torrent server? I've got a 438 GB movie collection an on external 500 GB USB hard drive right now, so I need to upgrade. I was thinking of buying two 1 TB external drives and using rsync for a poor man's RAID 1 setup. But for good drives plus shipping, that's nearly $250, and I thought, why not just setup a real file server? And maybe get a Bit Torrent thingy going too, so I could turn off my main computer at night and keep transfers going? Heck, I'd probably come up with other useful things for the server to do too.

But I don't know where to start. For hardware, looking at, say, a Dell Inspiron 530 ($379), it's too powerful and too expensive for what I'd use it for.

And for the OS... Windows Home Server? Ubuntu? I don't know what'd be easiest.

Ideas? Thanks!

To RAID or not to RAID?

jluce50 — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:09:10 -0800

I just purchased two WD Caviar Black 500GB HDDs and I'm trying to figure out the best backup configuration for my home computer. Previously, I had two 160GB drives. On HDD-0 I had a partition for my OS and a partition for data. HDD-1 was used solely for backups. I used Acronis to do separate backups of the OS and data partitions. In addition to this I backup most of my data online with JungleDisk.

With the new drives I'm trying to decide if I should continue doing the same thing or set them up in a RAID 1. RAID 1 sounds great, but I keep reading that the the only reason to do RAID 1 is if you're concerned about maintaining server-level uptime. I don't care so much about uptime as protecting against HDD failure. I realize RAID 1 is not a "backup" solution, per se, but I do have online backups to cover that. Performance isn't an issue as long as I'm not losing too much speed compared to a single drive.

The advantage that I can see to my current setup is that if I get a virus or something gets corrupted I still have the backup locally and can restore from that, whereas a RAID will instantly copy the virus/corruption to the mirrored disk. I'm pretty careful so I see that as a pretty darn unlikely scenario.

Other than that it seems like RAID 1 is ideal here, but is there anything I'm failing to consider? I rarely see it recommended for home use so I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Computer hardware: In Over My Head

kurtroehl — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:07:13 -0800

Help a poor fool fix his computer. New motherboard has only one IDE slot. Have two old hard drives and two old CD drives. What to do? I clearly no expert at building computers, but a friend built me one several years ago, and I decided to upgrade it when my video card started malfunctioning. This was most certainly a bad idea, but I did it anyway.

The problem is, I ordered a new motherboard that I thought was exactly what I needed, but unlike my previous one it has only one IDE slot. I was using two old-ish hard drives (Western Digital, 40gb and 100gb), and two old-ish CD drives (one ASUS and one Plextor CD-R). Obviously, this leaves me without the use of 2 of the drives (wasn't obvious to me at the time... I didn't know what SATA was, still don't to some extent).

So I guess my question is, should I buy a new motherboard with 2 IDE slots, or more likely upgrade some of my drives to SATA? If I do buy new drives how would I go about transferring the data from the old ones, or making one the boot drive? I don't have a Windows disk anymore.

I would assume that I should buy a new HD, transfer data onto it and designate it the master drive, and then use the ATA cables for the CD drives. But I don't really know what I'm talking about, so some advice is needed and will be much appreciated.

Any good computer stores in Melbourne?

Silentgoldfish — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:12:28 -0800

Does anyone know a good computer store based in Melbourne, Australia? I'm looking for a place that sells quality hardware with as little overhead as possible. Little to no support but a generous return policy for malfunctioning goods is what I prefer. I'm basically in the market for a new graphics card and want to get the best return for my dollar I can get.

I'm looking for the Melbourne version of u-mart, and I don't run in the circles here that'll let me find that place with world of mouth!

What type of capabilities should I look to include in a computer I'm planning on building within the next few months?

decrescendo — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:06:15 -0800

What type of capabilities should I look to include in a computer I'm planning on building within the next few months? I would like to make sure I'm prepared for future technology. I don't want to build totally for the present. I'm having some trouble sorting out what type of capabilities I want my next computer (or computers) to have. I have some ideas, but I'm curious as to what you all would be sure to include in this day and age.

A few things about my current set-up:
1. I have a Macbook Pro and a desktop PC that I built 2 years ago
2. I have a TON of music and videos already on the HDs of my desktop
3. I have a lot of DVDs that I would like to have on a computer for backup/playability
4. I'm a big audio guy. I'm going to have a 5.1 system in my living room and hopefully some very nice speakers in my room. This means 2 places for audio playback.

But, what I'm looking for is not specifications, but what this computer should be able to pull off. From there, I'll be then looking into hardware.

So if you were a big media guy, what type of computer would you build in the next few months? What would you want it to do in order to take advantage of soon-to-be-adopted technologies or current technologies?

Would it be a desktop? Would it be a HTPC next to the TV? Would it be a server in the closet that would talk well with my Macbook Pro? I'm looking to define capabilities at this stage.

Wanted: Multitouch hardware and software solutions

Mister_A — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:25:37 -0800

Looking for robust multitouch hardware and programming. I'm working on a sort of puzzle, more or less, and I want to create it on a tabletop multitouch monitor that will stand up to the rigors of a convention floor. Participants will be able to manipulate multiple pieces simultaneously, rotate pieces, zap pieces into the land of wind and ghosts, etc. Bonus points for insights and recommendations on programming the thing(s).

How can I get data off a bad hard drive?

deafmute — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:28:11 -0800

I am having a very unusual problem with my hard drive and CANNOT recover any data from it after trying numerous methods. Please help me with your technical expertise. A few weeks ago the hard drive for my Dell Inspiron 1520 became unable to boot into Vista after freezing suddenly. When trying to boot, I get a BSOD with the error message "Stop: c000142{DLL Initialization Failed} Initialization of the dynamic link library winsrv failed. The process is terminating abnormally." When attempting to launch startup repair, boot into safe mode, or boot off of several different Vista DVDs I am greeted with a cursor (that I can control) on a black screen that never goes anywhere.

I ran Dell's built-in diagnostic program, and after being given several hard drive related errors, Dell (very quickly) sent me a new hard drive. Now I need to send them the old one, and I would like to recover my data from it before wiping it and sending it back.

I first put it in an enclosure and connected it to Vista, but Vista does nothing more than prompt me to format the drive.

I then ran Spinrite, which, after 27 hours(!) of operation returned no bad sectors or errors of any kind. What's unusual, however, is that my old drive does not exactly match my new drive in terms of partitions. The data partition is flagged as being too large for the size of the drive, and I am advised to change my BIOS's "understanding" of the drive (which I can't do). It is also missing a partition labeled as "hidden CTOS memory dump". I have no idea what this means.

I then booted off of a Knoppix cd and attempted to mount the drive there. I was able to mount the two partitions containing Dell's hidden diagnostic and recovery data, but Knoppix was unable to recognize the existence of a third partition containing my data.

Google searches have proved inconclusive (particularly in the case of my BSOD error message). Please help me get my data!

Computer hardware review sites?

ErWenn — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:25:56 -0800

Is there a website that tests computer hardware like Tom's Hardware does, but publishes comprehensive comparison artilces more regularly? I'm looking to do some serious upgrades to my system, but I've been out of the loop for awhile, so I need good information that compares the latest CPUs, video cards, etc. Tom's Hardware does excellent tests, but it's pretty rare (maybe once a year, at the most) that they'll do a comprehensive comparison of the various options that are available, taking into account performance, cost, etc. That makes it hard for me to use the site without reading through tons of articles. I'm looking for a site that publishes comparison articles for computer components regularly (maybe four times a year?). CNET's not terrible for full systems, laptops, PDAs, etc., but there's not much info on individual components.

Why do my DVD drives crap out so quickly?

chrisamiller — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:41:10 -0800

Between the 4 desktops that my immediate family owns, we've probably been through 6 or 7 DVD burners in the last few years. Does everyone else have this kind of failure rate? Any recommendations on reasonably priced, quality drives, so that I don't have to keep replacing them? These drives aren't in heavy use - watching DVDs occasionally, burning a CD or DVD once a week or so. That's why it's so annoying when they go out after a year or so of use.

I've been replacing them with whatever's on sale at the big box electronics store, but I'm beginning to wonder if the high failure rate is because I'm buying cheap brands, or whether I'm just unlucky.

Any other data points out there? Any recommendations for a decent CD-RW/DVD-RW drive at a decent price?

Diagnose a computer-death, and advise on migrating the dead one to an imac?

gleuschk — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:21:40 -0800

My desktop computer is dead dead dead (I think -- can you help me be sure?). I was going to get a new iMac anyway, so now I'll just move those plans up. I understand there's a utility to migrate all my files from the old Windows machine to the new Mac -- how can I make that happen when the old one won't start? We came back from 2 weeks away to find that the desktop Windows 2000 machine a buddy built for me back in 2001 doesn't boot anymore. Nothing. Push the button, all systems are silent. I suppose that means the power supply is dead. (Maybe we had a lightning strike while we were away? Though the cable modem and wireless hub are fine. Anyway.) Any suggestions for a more accurate diagnosis, short of taking it to some people somewhere?

And as for the switch/migrate process, is my best move going to be buying an enclosure for the hard drive(s)?

Would it be safe to hide cash in my computer?

bindasj — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:22:46 -0800

Would it be safe to hide cash in my computer? Say I'm not worried about someone stealing my computer. I have a desktop with a decent amount of space inside. Would it be safe to hide cash inside? Is there a risk of it catching on fire or getting sucked into the fan or anything else I should know about?

Upgrading a video card vs. upgrading a CPU for gaming?

joshrholloway — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:06:31 -0800

I just got a relatively new PC secondhand. What should I upgrade first in order to most successfully play games? I just inherited a custom-built box that's got some really decent parts in it. Basically I'm wanting to play some of the more current games out there and try to do it as cheaply as possible. I don't necessarily need to run these games at the highest settings, but I'd like some eye candy along with a good clip.

Here are the current machine specs:

-Celeron D 3.06 GHz
-nVidia GeForce 7300 GS (PCIe)
-1GB DDR2 SDRAM
-Generic Intel motherboard (sorry, don't have the exact model right in front of me...)

So I'm looking around online and I found a pretty sweet deal on a GeForce 8600GT (256MB GDDR3), which from what I can tell is a pretty good card.

Then, of course, we're dealing with that Celeron processor. I'd like to get a Core 2 Duo in there, but it would cost me almost twice what the video card would to get the one I want.

I'm going to be able to upgrade both relatively quickly, but my question is this: which of those two components is going to be the best option to upgrade first in order to see the biggest performance boost for gaming? I'm thinking the video card, but some friends are convincing me that whatever video card I get above what I have is going to be severely bottlenecked by the Celeron.

Help me, AskMeFi!

(P.S. Suggestions on components and/or deals are also welcome.)

How to share loads of peripherals between two or more computers.

swift — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:36:56 -0800

I'm trying to simplify my computer wiring situation, and could use some strategic advice. I have a bunch of devices, and 3 machines. How can 2 (or preferably all 3) machines share all the peripherals? My little KVM doesn't quite cut it. Here's the list:

USB keyboard
2 VGA monitors
USB mouse
USB printer
USB scanner
Speakers (mini-jack)
Firewire webcam
USB microphone
USB card reader
Firewire iPod
periphals as yet unpurchased..

Mac Mini
Dell Precision
and bonus, PowerPC

I need a new motherboard and processor.

mithiirym — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:28:09 -0800

I need a new motherboard and processor compatible with my old hardware. I need a new motherboard and processor. I previously had a socket A A7V333 with an Athlon XP; they're both dead now, and my computer is in need of replacements. I could really use some advice on a good motherboard and processor to get within a $150-$200 budget. I would prefer something that is compatible with my aging DDR SDRAM, EIDE hard drive and AGP 7600GS graphics card, and 20-pin power supply. I figure it's not really worth it to hunt down another Athlon XP and socket A motherboard so I'd like to get some faster, newer parts until I can save enough to build an entirely new system. This ASRock motherboard coupled with a Celeron D processor seems like a great improvement over what I had at a decent price. I don't need any fancy dual-core processors or SLI setups as I won't be using software that's too demanding. Basically, I'd like some advice on the best setup that meets my requirements for roughly $200.

Is this CRT monitor dying?

_dario — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 06:48:45 -0800

My old, faithful, color-reliable, flat screen, CRT computer monitor sometimes starts making a strange, extremely high-pitched noise, which - while not ear-piercing, is annoying. I used (and changed) many computer monitors in my career, and I tend to use them a lot, so I'm used to spot signs of malfunction early on, like the hum of a dying power transformer, or the extremely faint horizontal lines that usually precede a failing tube. This, however, is new to me.

An aside, supposing the monitor is leaving for good: how is the lcd monitor market now? Which are some recommendable alternatives (color fidelity has some importance, I am a graphic designer and I saw many bleak or too vivid LCDs out there) at the best q/p ratio?

Laptop motherboards that can boot from USB

DrSkrud — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 15:22:20 -0800

Can you name any laptop motherboards (brands, models, etc.) capable of booting from a USB flash drive? We're working on a robotics project at my university, and we're thinking that using a small linux kernel on a flash drive and a laptop motherboard would be much more sustainable (and easier) than dealing with microcontrollers.

What we need to find is a motherboard that can boot off of a USB flash drive. I know these exist, but I have no idea how to find them!

Best price/performance modern video card?

killdevil — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:40:06 -0800

Neeerrrrrrrrdfilter: I want to play Bioshock. Help me find the most economical way to upgrade my video hardware so that it will run the game satisfactorily. My desktop machine is a not-over-the-hill-but-not-brand-new Pentium D (last gasp of the Pentium IV architecture if I recall correctly) running at 3.2GHz. It came with an nVidia GeForce 6800 (AGP), which I use to play Source-engine games at 1920x1200 and about 30fps with HDR disabled.

My understanding is that Bioshock -- and other new games, for that matter -- will probably not run especially well on a GeForce 6800. What is the best modern ATI or nVidia card I can buy from a price / performance standpoint? I don't want to drop $500 on a bleeding-edge video card, but I do want to play Bioshock at or near full settings, and also be able to play Day of Defeat: Source at much better framerates WITH HDR enabled.

Suggestions?

Third Times a charm

DJWeezy — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:34:43 -0800

I am building a new computer and was wondering if this setup seems good I already have the OS and case/power supply more details after break. (previously, previously) LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 - Retail

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA

MSI NX8400GS-TD256E GeForce 8400GS 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

ASUS P5N32-SLI Premium/WiFi-AP LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Intel Xeon 3060 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX805573060 - Retail

Already have the case Alienware MJ-12 Mid-Tower ATX Case with 700 Watt Power Supply

Os XP

Does this work?

DJWeezy — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:44:07 -0800

I am building a new desktop pc for college and am going to leave it on 24/7 in my dorm room so i can just rdc into it from anywhere on campus (only until i get a mbp with leopard later on) Take a look at this hardware and see it everything looks ok. also this system wil work with vista ultimate x64 right Optical Drive - LG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache IDE DVD Burner with LightScribe - Retail

Hard Drive - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3500630AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Memory - CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Motherboard - Intel BOXD975XBX2KR LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

Processor - Intel Xeon 3070 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail

OS - Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate DVD - Retail

Case - Alienware MJ-12 Mid-Tower ATX Case with 700 Watt Power Supply

Video Card - 3D Fuzion GeForce FX 5500 Video Card, PCI, 256MB DDR - I got this last year for christmas i think i dont really want to spend the money on a new one and wont be gaming so i hope it will be fine