Computer General Discussion Thread

[Cisairse]

When one is so familiar with computers, it is easy to assume that everyone will know to spot a shady executable from day one. However, S Mode has a lot of problems, such as the Edge and Bing lock-in: that could easily lead to yet another antitrust showdown between Brussels and Redmond, with Cupertino already facing hot water with allegations over how they treat their developers.

Problem is any action against S Mode would also have to go hand-in-hand with destroying the userland of the iPhone, as it's basically the same thing.

Of course, if that actually happens, I'll be a happy person.

[Minoa]

I think the most important issue for me is the ability to use Firefox by default, and since leaving S mode is a one-way route, it kinda makes S mode pointless.

[Saiwania]

What are people's thoughts about the thin client called the NexDock? The idea is that you can have your smartphone, tv stick, game console, OS on a USB, a single board computer (such as a Raspberry Pi) etc. all power the laptop with its hardware rather than the laptop having any actual hardware inside. The laptop only comes with a battery, a screen, and a keyboard and some ports. No actual CPU, storage, RAM, etc. that makes a real machine work.

It is not for me, in that I actually want to own my own hardware to do real work on, but it is quite compelling in that I can see a lot of people having a use for something like this, and the fact that it can save a lot of money from not including any real hardware inside it. It does appear to be flexible in terms of uses and innovative.

You effectively get a newer computer every time you get a new smartphone or device to hook up to it, being that it is otherwise a dumb terminal that projects what's on a small screen to a bigger screen with a keyboard and mouse. So far, only Samsung and Huawei smartphones have a compatible "desktop mode" but perhaps this will become standard to all newer smartphones eventually, whether Apple or Android.

Is this really the future of computing to some extent? One scenario is that an office or cafe can have something like 20+ of these available for people to just pick up and use with their own phones/devices and once they're done they disconnect and return the laptop where it was. But if even one was misplaced it'd be way cheaper to replace than even a Chromebook, much less an actual laptop with decent specs because it'd be way cheaper to mass produce.

http://nexdock.com/

[Minoa]

I think NexDock is a bit too limited for me. I know that the best platform for video games and professional editing is a parts-based computer, and earlier this year I learned how to fit standard parts into a shoebox sized Fractal Design Core 500. Nothing has convinced me to use the smartphone beyond calls and texts, and a store app.

[Valentine Z]

I can see some use for it, and I think the 2012-Me would really love it; back then, I was waiting for tablets with active styluses to become a norm, but it was still too early, and Windows 7 tablets are still very finicky.

Personally for me, I might perhaps use it for office work, but I would still take my desktop, or a laptop, for gaming on the go now and then. I like to push my laptop as a daily driver, and this might still not change even after getting a desktop in a month, or two.

[Asle Leopolka]

NexDock is an interesting concept, but I doubt it'll catch on. A tablet with an attachable keyboard is likely going to have more power and flexibility.

[Hirota]

What are people's thoughts about the thin client called the NexDock? The idea is that you can have your smartphone, tv stick, game console, OS on a USB, a single board computer (such as a Raspberry Pi) etc. all power the laptop with its hardware rather than the laptop having any actual hardware inside. The laptop only comes with a battery, a screen, and a keyboard and some ports. No actual CPU, storage, RAM, etc. that makes a real machine work.

It is not for me, in that I actually want to own my own hardware to do real work on, but it is quite compelling in that I can see a lot of people having a use for something like this, and the fact that it can save a lot of money from not including any real hardware inside it. It does appear to be flexible in terms of uses and innovative.

You effectively get a newer computer every time you get a new smartphone or device to hook up to it, being that it is otherwise a dumb terminal that projects what's on a small screen to a bigger screen with a keyboard and mouse. So far, only Samsung and Huawei smartphones have a compatible "desktop mode" but perhaps this will become standard to all newer smartphones eventually, whether Apple or Android.

Is this really the future of computing to some extent? One scenario is that an office or cafe can have something like 20+ of these available for people to just pick up and use with their own phones/devices and once they're done they disconnect and return the laptop where it was. But if even one was misplaced it'd be way cheaper to replace than even a Chromebook, much less an actual laptop with decent specs because it'd be way cheaper to mass produce.

http://nexdock.com/

Looks like a licenced copy of Samsung Dex, or vice versa. I can do that with my s20 Ultra and a monitor with a usb-c input.

Has anyone used Noctua CPU Coolers? I keep hearing good things about them, and I need something beefier than the stock wraith cooler.

[Asle Leopolka]

Has anyone used Noctua CPU Coolers? I keep hearing good things about them, and I need something beefier than the stock wraith cooler.

I put an older one in my parents' old PC some time back and it did a good job. Granted they weren't doing anything more strenuous than Excel macros, but it kept their CPU nice and frosty. Personally I'm a fan of the all-in-one liquid-cooled intercoolers a la Corsair, NZXT, etc.

[Minoa]

I have a Noctua CPU cooler on my shoebox computer, and the CPU seems to cope well with 3ds Max. I am not yet comfortable with liquid cooling: spillage is my biggest fear because of the potential for irreparable damage to the sensitive components.

[Vassenor]

What are people's thoughts about the thin client called the NexDock? The idea is that you can have your smartphone, tv stick, game console, OS on a USB, a single board computer (such as a Raspberry Pi) etc. all power the laptop with its hardware rather than the laptop having any actual hardware inside. The laptop only comes with a battery, a screen, and a keyboard and some ports. No actual CPU, storage, RAM, etc. that makes a real machine work.

It is not for me, in that I actually want to own my own hardware to do real work on, but it is quite compelling in that I can see a lot of people having a use for something like this, and the fact that it can save a lot of money from not including any real hardware inside it. It does appear to be flexible in terms of uses and innovative.

You effectively get a newer computer every time you get a new smartphone or device to hook up to it, being that it is otherwise a dumb terminal that projects what's on a small screen to a bigger screen with a keyboard and mouse. So far, only Samsung and Huawei smartphones have a compatible "desktop mode" but perhaps this will become standard to all newer smartphones eventually, whether Apple or Android.

Is this really the future of computing to some extent? One scenario is that an office or cafe can have something like 20+ of these available for people to just pick up and use with their own phones/devices and once they're done they disconnect and return the laptop where it was. But if even one was misplaced it'd be way cheaper to replace than even a Chromebook, much less an actual laptop with decent specs because it'd be way cheaper to mass produce.

http://nexdock.com/

Looks like a licenced copy of Samsung Dex, or vice versa. I can do that with my s20 Ultra and a monitor with a usb-c input.

Has anyone used Noctua CPU Coolers? I keep hearing good things about them, and I need something beefier than the stock wraith cooler.

I thought about a Noctua cooler when my Wraith shit itself and caused FF14 to keep making my PC overheat, but ended up going with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black.

[Hirota]

I thought about a Noctua cooler when my Wraith shit itself and caused FF14 to keep making my PC overheat, but ended up going with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black.

I have a Noctua CPU cooler on my shoebox computer, and the CPU seems to cope well with 3ds Max. I am not yet comfortable with liquid cooling: spillage is my biggest fear because of the potential for irreparable damage to the sensitive components.

I put an older one in my parents' old PC some time back and it did a good job. Granted they weren't doing anything more strenuous than Excel macros, but it kept their CPU nice and frosty. Personally I'm a fan of the all-in-one liquid-cooled intercoolers a la Corsair, NZXT, etc.

Thanks! The Cooler Master was on my list, but the height might be a little snug, since it's 159mm and my case has room for 160mm.

[Vassenor]

I thought about a Noctua cooler when my Wraith shit itself and caused FF14 to keep making my PC overheat, but ended up going with a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black.

I have a Noctua CPU cooler on my shoebox computer, and the CPU seems to cope well with 3ds Max. I am not yet comfortable with liquid cooling: spillage is my biggest fear because of the potential for irreparable damage to the sensitive components.

I put an older one in my parents' old PC some time back and it did a good job. Granted they weren't doing anything more strenuous than Excel macros, but it kept their CPU nice and frosty. Personally I'm a fan of the all-in-one liquid-cooled intercoolers a la Corsair, NZXT, etc.

Thanks! The Cooler Master was on my list, but the height might be a little snug, since it's 159mm and my case has room for 160mm.

Yeah, I have a full size tower and it's a bit tight in my case. Although it would be a bit weird if I couldn't get a CM cooler into a CM case.

[Hirota]

So, I had ordered a Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black, but I had to cancel because t wasn''t going to arrive till September, plus I still wasn't convinced it would actually fit.

So, I went for the smaller cousin, the NH-U9S, which is only 125m in height, as opposed to the 158mm of the original.

And for something so small, it does a very impressive job. Ambient temperature in here is roughly 78C at the moment, and my 3800X is hovering around the 46 to 52C mark. Previously it would bounce around the 70's at this temperature.

Edit: Oooh, and I'm reaching my max boost clock instead of just 4.2Ghz

[Hirota]

Why yes, I would like to be notified when the Nvidia 3080 is available for purchase.

[Cekoviu]

Why yes, I would like to be notified when the Nvidia 3080 is available for purchase.

isn't it like $1000, i have no idea how people have that amount of disposable income for a single video card or why they would need such an expensive one

[Minoa]

isn't it like $1000, i have no idea how people have that amount of disposable income for a single video card or why they would need such an expensive one

Let alone buy the first one that comes up in the search results. It turns out that there are many versions of the RTX 2080 and also the RTX 2080 Ti, and I decided against the Ti version due to the limited improvements from the standard version. In any case, the important thing is that my games and modelling are not lagging to a point of being unplayable, and it can also handle me playing with the developer tools to run as fast as 1970s Superman (which requires frequent swapping of buildings).

[Saiwania]

What are people's opinions on driver updates now being done from Windows Update in more recent versions and builds of Windows 10? I personally, don't like it. My belief is that it belongs in Driver Manager like was always previously the case. But the silver lining is that it is never mandatory so far as I can tell. Drivers are going to be optional updates.

From my standpoint, drivers are inherently risky in that a newer driver might be less stable than a previous one. I don't update a driver unless there is good reason to or if it is low risk in terms of undoing it if a newer driver sucks. I can't know if Windows Update even picked out the right drivers and my other major contention is that there is no description of which driver goes to what hardware component beyond some vague title. I now can't tell what is what.

One example of a driver I could get is only described as the following: "Insyde Software - Firmware - 12/11/2018 12:00:00 AM - 5.12.1.49"

I have no clue as to what it goes to being that its just vague enough. It's firmware but a firmware to what? If it is referring to a BIOS update, that is the last thing I'd ever want to happen, being that my laptop having an outdated BIOS but still working is worth far more to me than updating it but this process causing the motherboard for it to get bricked because something went wrong. It doesn't have a secondary or recovery BIOS chip that can recover from such a corruption.

Beyond the most tested and vetted of drivers, if any driver installs happen automatically for any reason, that could prove to be disasterous in terms of how it affects people's hardware.

[Minoa]

In the most ranting behaviour so far, I abhor automatic driver updates: this is why I have disabled Windows Update entirely and manually update the operating system via NTlite. All the drivers are downloaded straight from the manufacturer: at least most of them know what their devices really need.

[Shanghai industrial complex]

Windows update is mandatory, of course.Microsoft has even put out a patch to fix a bug where users can refuse to update.Every day, people ask how to disable automatic update of win10

[Saiwania]

Windows update is mandatory, of course.Microsoft has even put out a patch to fix a bug where users can refuse to update.Every day, people ask how to disable automatic update of win10

If something is considered an "optional update" however, it can be not installed if the user doesn't go out of their way to select it and click the install button so far as what I can tell. The updates will appear in a list but it won't ever be installed automatically. Whilst nearly all other updates can only be deferred temporarily, which is useful if a new update is breaking stuff and someone waits weeks after for a more stable update getting released that won't break anything.

It appears for now anyways, that device drivers are considered "optional updates" by default because it is usually so hit or miss. The wrong or bad driver can be less stable than a previous version or be incompatible. Truly a case of "newer isn't always better." When dealing with device drivers there always has to be an option to roll back to a previously installed version if the effects aren't good. That is currently lacking in Windows Update even though driver updates have recently been moved to Optional Updates within Windows Update now.

I'd say the most dangerous overall is any sort of BIOS/UEFI update in that the risks usually far outweigh any benefits. The update going wrong means the entire machine being bricked because it can't boot anymore if the firmware gets corrupted and there is no easy means to undo this. A secondary BIOS chip (that'd only take over if the primary BIOS is corrupted) could offer some insurance to enable people to take the risk but typically hardware manufacturers just don't include one on most motherboards. It's seen as an unnecessary cost.

[Cisairse]

Windows in general is just bad, if you want my opinion on any aspect of it it's that it's bad. Only good thing to come out of Windows is LDAP.

[Torisakia]

My PC has been making a rattling noise for a few months now and I always thought it was just something that was loose but turns out it's coming from the PSU. It (the PSU) is well over 4 years old and I've been meaning to replace it with a new one but I want to get a modular power supply but I can't ever find one because they're all sold out.

First world problems, man.

[Cekoviu]

Windows in general is just bad, if you want my opinion on any aspect of it it's that it's bad. Only good thing to come out of Windows is LDAP.

gentoo gang

[An Alan Smithee Nation]

Windows update is mandatory, of course.Microsoft has even put out a patch to fix a bug where users can refuse to update.Every day, people ask how to disable automatic update of win10

Windows nullified every performance gain on PCs with useless bloat. And now they are eating up internet traffic bandwidth updating crap like Edge that people don't even use. Why do Microsoft hate us?

[Cisairse]

Windows in general is just bad, if you want my opinion on any aspect of it it's that it's bad. Only good thing to come out of Windows is LDAP.

gentoo gang

arch gang