Recent Posts

1001

General Software Discussion / Re: How many active DC member are there? 150? (Dumbar number)

« Last post by Lashiec on February 20, 2008, 06:07 PM »

Mouser, how many active users does DC have (Users with more than 50 posts)?

-Josh (February 20, 2008, 05:33 PM)

The Supporter Yearbook says... 160. Add to that those posters who clog the forum, but don't donate anything *cough*

1002

Living Room / Re: Making a dream PC for cheap (as possible) - help anyone?

« Last post by Lashiec on February 20, 2008, 12:37 PM »

Just to clarify your statement, you mean that the software is not ready, right? Because the hardware certainly is (assuming you're not too memory bandwidth limited, at least).

And sure thing, normal people won't be able to even nearly utilize a octa-core system, not even a quadcore. But for 3D rendering, servers (especially those running multiple VMs) et cetera, those CPUs can be utilized, and are welcome.

-f0dder (February 20, 2008, 09:57 AM)

Yup, software that is ready to use an octocore CPU can be counted with the fingers of one hand. For people in the media business, it's a welcome addition (Apple just released one of its monster servers with two quad core processors precisely aimed to that market), for the rest, only a money pit. Not even quad cores are used in their fullest by modern software.

hmmm,. that reminds me-
Do you need a cooling fan for the E8400 itself?
These companies are vague about that, at least tiger direct is.
They require a cooling fan purchase with a processor.

-cmpm (February 20, 2008, 12:25 PM)

That depends. If the processors is a RETAIL version, then it's not needed, the Intel cooler will be more than enough (unless you overclock), if it's OEM, then a third-party cooling device is mandatory.

1003

Living Room / Re: Making a dream PC for cheap (as possible) - help anyone?

« Last post by Lashiec on February 20, 2008, 05:45 AM »

The Skulltrail platform is not as powerful as it sounds. Not because of the CPUs, but the current state of software development. It's not ready to divide calculations between 8 threads running in real concurrency. Thus it's of no use to home users, as hardcore they may be, you're better off with a sole quad core CPU.

1004

Living Room / Water-powered mobile phone

« Last post by Lashiec on February 19, 2008, 05:42 PM »

This is pretty cool, a mobile phone that uses a hydrogen fuel cell in substitution of the usual lithium battery. You charge it in around 10 minutes, and it lasts twice more than normal batteries. And it's more environmentally friendly, of course. I hope the idea makes it to the mainstream soon.

1005

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 19, 2008, 05:32 PM »

Disclaimer: It's not the cooler I use, just some crazy device someone spotted in another forum. We haven't decided if that could bend the motherboard or not

1006

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 19, 2008, 05:25 PM »

This one will suffice

Or a Thermalright Ultra 120, that would definitely bring those temps down.

1007

General Software Discussion / Re: newspond: prettier, smarter app enters the news aggregation scence

« Last post by Lashiec on February 19, 2008, 05:18 PM »

Looks pretty cool, and the news are TRUE news, and not the usual dumb article that should not matter to anyone, but by the virtue of the stupidity of crowds makes a splash everywhere (God, the quality of the front page items in reddit and Digg are much, much worse than the last time I checked). It looks a bit funky in Opera, though.

What I like is that if something is reported over various sites, they will be listed as sources, that's something the other competitors do not have (well, reddit only has the headline, that's what I call link bait). And they list Digg and reddit between the sources

I'll bookmark it to see how it gets developed

1008

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 19, 2008, 09:03 AM »

Cool, thanks! And it goes BOOM!

Oh, man, the Duron made a hole in the table

1009

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 19, 2008, 08:39 AM »

Btw, the Pentium4's have thermal diodes, to make them shut down on overheating instead of frying. Funny thing is that they get so hot so fast that if you turn on a late-model "fast" P4 without a heatsink... you risk that they actually blow up. I saw a video of it, but iirc that CPU was overclocked as well

-f0dder (February 19, 2008, 06:45 AM)

Link, LINK!!

1010

Living Room / Re: Ring the bells!!! The HD Format war is OVER!!! Toshiba forfeits

« Last post by Lashiec on February 19, 2008, 08:27 AM »

2 years? I think in under 6 months we will see afforable blu ray players in the standalone model.

Heck, just look at this $150 US PC model. Others are sure to follow.

-Josh (February 19, 2008, 07:28 AM)

, but that unit was more than $300 not too long ago... anyway, Blu Ray units are still around 220 € around here, and discs are not exactly affordable nor available.

But yes, I would hope that toshiba joins the Blu-ray alliance so we can further spur development of this new format. I, for one, can't wait for a new profile 2.0 compatible player to be released so that I may purchase one.

-Josh (February 19, 2008, 07:32 AM)

Sony's trojan horse already supports the 2.0 specification. Clever guys.

No! Wait! It's only a flesh wound.

-BigJim (February 19, 2008, 07:50 AM)

You bought a HD DVD player?

1011

Living Room / Re: Ring the bells!!! The HD Format war is OVER!!! Toshiba forfeits

« Last post by Lashiec on February 19, 2008, 07:24 AM »

On that note, a moment of silence for all the unfortunate consumers who ended up with a now antiquated HD-DVD Player.....

-Josh (February 19, 2008, 06:35 AM)

It makes a good upscaling DVD player, anyway. And those who bite have the money to buy a Blu Ray player.

Well, now let's take a seat and wait for the outcome of the DVD vs. Blu Ray war (minimum: two years before a Blu Ray reader is affordable)

1012

General Software Discussion / Re: Maxthon (web browser) resource utilization...

« Last post by Lashiec on February 18, 2008, 11:00 AM »

Good, good, cleaning the junk is the first step in the SAA program

1013

General Software Discussion / Re: Spatial navigation or how to surf the web faster

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 06:03 PM »

How much? I reviewed the changelog a while ago, and could not find any explanation of how improved it is now (it's not that I use it that much, but...)

1014

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 06:01 PM »

I'll probably spare myself the grief then and just go for a new cabinet _and_ try to attach a fan to the GPU too coz I have a feeling general cabinet fans may fall a bit short there!

-nosh (February 17, 2008, 04:20 PM)

There's no need for a new case, as long as the current one allows more fans. A quick review of the spec sheet will tell you if there's that possibility.

As for the PSU running out of juice as a result of adding more fans, I would not count on it. Fans do not consume much power, but it depends on the max wattage of your PSU, and how many components you have.

1015

General Software Discussion / Re: File preview for TRichview (.RVF) native files...

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 05:49 PM »

Uh, no, no, there's no need to buy Total Commander to use the plugin. Both Lister (TC's built-in viewer) and Universal Viewer are offered for free, just like the plugins, so you install the plugin for one of the two, which exist independently of TC, and can be used with any file manager (I mapped F3 to use Universal Viewer in xplorer²). It does not get you a preview of the file directly under Windows' explorer, but it's better than nothing.

1016

Living Room / Re: Ralf Maximus - MIA?

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 05:41 PM »

He is online right now, so it's time to pester him with PMs

1017

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 03:18 PM »

Well, most cases usually come with pre-made places for putting more fans. One or two front fans to suck "cool" air (well, 30 ºC is lower than 85 ºC anyway :D) in the front would help to create some airflow in the inside. Look if the case accepts fans in the side panel (in this instance, it would be to get an influx of air directly over the CPU, the motherboard, and the GPU, and to not break the airflow created by the intake and outtake fans), the top (rare) or the bottom (even more rare).

You can usually attach an aftermarket cooler to the GPU, but if it does not use one (not even a heatsink?) maybe it does not need it. If it uses a heatsink you can attach a fan with zip ties (not very high-tech but works ;D)

I don't know about drive bay fans, but I guess that are primarily used to create a wind tunnel for the PSU.

A system to cool air? Now that's rare... maybe water cooling, but that's expensive. It does not cool air inside the case, but it's a better cooler than air. Even with those high temperatures, I think you would not have problems using simple fans. In summer, we're around 40 ºC, and the components are more or less at a good temperature. And I don't have any of those fancy air conditioners ;D

1018

General Software Discussion / Re: File preview for TRichview (.RVF) native files...

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 02:56 PM »

A good solution would be getting the RVF plugin for Lister, and install this viewer or Universal Viewer to preview the files. The problem is that you need to use a external viewer, but unless someone makes a explorer addon based on the plugin source code, I ignore a better solution.

1019

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 02:46 PM »

Uh, that I don't know. The BIOS upgrades were released a bit ago, but even with specifically designed boards for the chips, you usually run into problems. I suppose for a while it will be a hit or miss effort, although presently I don't know a single person who carried on the upgrade.

1020

Living Room / Re: about to switch to a Widescreen LCD.

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 02:29 PM »

Yep, I think it's more of a placebo effect than anything else. Just like insane sampling rate for audiophiles and all that.

1021

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 02:24 PM »

Yes, around 2.3-2.4 GHz, some reviewers got engineering samples from the 2.6 GHz model, which I think is the future 9900, that one can compete with the Q6600 up to some extent, but not with the Penryn. Oh well, at least AMD users can get a nice upgrade (if I had the money...)

1022

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 02:15 PM »

But core2 is certainly nicer for x86 code, I wonder if AMD will ever be able to make a comeback...

-f0dder (February 17, 2008, 02:07 PM)

Maybe with Bulldozer, unless AMD engineers makes miracles with the Phenom (and judging for the overclocking capabilities of the 9600 Black Edition, this is not going to be happening soon).

1023

General Software Discussion / Re: The definition of "bloat" - RE: Software

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 02:10 PM »

Em, I know that, but...

-Lashiec (February 17, 2008, 01:08 PM)

1024

Living Room / Re: Cooking my PC: what NOT to do

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 02:02 PM »

The NetBurst architecture it's probably one of the worst CPU architectures ever. If Intel didn't have tons of cash to throw to hardware assemblers, game developers, etc., AMD would have crushed its market back then.

Even then, nosh, the general temps in your computer are quite high, I suppose the heat the P4 is dissipating is frying everything there, as the HDDs are dangerously close to the 50 ºC mark. What cooler are you using?

1025

Screenshot Captor / Re: too long webpage gives a problem with autoscroll capture

« Last post by Lashiec on February 17, 2008, 01:55 PM »

Unfortunately, the autoscroll capture function does not work as good as it should, I ended up with the same problem as you in various occasions. Usually, repeating the process gets the page correctly. I just tested the page you said, and this seems to be not the case, after various attempts it only gets the top of the page

You can use another screen capture tool, like FastStone Capture. Though it's shareware now, the last free version is still floating around, and its scroll capture worked better for me in the past (uh, mouser is going to spank me for promoting the competition...)