What Have You Done Today - (Computer Version)

[Tornado]

Replacement power supply (to replace my SF600 that blew up while I wait for the RMA) and fans (to replace the regular A9-14s that I already had) came today.

Back up and running:

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Built my son's computer.

I was particularly pleased with the janky-as-anything mod that I made to the case: By removing the power supply cage I was able to cable-tie in an ATX power supply. So it's running a 6 core Ryzen, 16GB RAM, and a GTX 1650, with a Corsair RM850i power supply which I had in a retired system. It looks horrid, but then there's no RGB in the case, so it doesn't matter.

I need to figure out what's going on with the fans: they're spinning and they seem to be reacting to some sort of signalling, but the Gigabyte fan software can't detect them. It means the system is noisier than it should be. He's not bothered because he plays using headphones 100%, but it's something that I want to resolve for professional satisfaction.

Once he gets the 3080 and the SFF power supply, I'll swap in the EK Vardar fans that I had on my system (replaced with Lian Li Unifans) to give him a bit of RGB.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

I figured out the fan issue in my son's case. The Cooler Master NR200 comes with two roof fans, and a 3-way splitter cable to connect them. The cable has two black plugs and one brown. Obviously, I didn't read the instructions, and I sort-of assumed that the brown plug was one of those low-noise adaptors. However, checking closer, I saw that the two black plugs only had 3 pins wired, and the brown plug has all 4. So I moved one of the fans from a black plug to a brown, and now it has PWM signalling, so the motherboard is able to get a readout of fan speed, and therefore control them properly.

I also got a notification from Corsair that the SFF750 power supply is in stock, so I've ordered it. Once it arrives, I'll cancel the order that I have with Overclockers for the 650W Seasonic PSU

 

[Outspacer]

I figured out the fan issue in my son's case. The Cooler Master NR200 comes with two roof fans, and a 3-way splitter cable to connect them. The cable has two black plugs and one brown. Obviously, I didn't read the instructions, and I sort-of assumed that the brown plug was one of those low-noise adaptors. However, checking closer, I saw that the two black plugs only had 3 pins wired, and the brown plug has all 4. So I moved one of the fans from a black plug to a brown, and now it has PWM signalling, so the motherboard is able to get a readout of fan speed, and therefore control them properly.

I also got a notification from Corsair that the SFF750 power supply is in stock, so I've ordered it. Once it arrives, I'll cancel the order that I have with Overclockers for the 650W Seasonic PSU

Saw your previous post but couldn't think of anything... splitter cable explains it, glad it's sorted out! PWM goes to all fans to control them (and did before, which is why they were reacting), but only one RPM output from the fans can be connected to the motherboard.

 

[Dave A]

I've finally gone back inside my new built PC and using a bracket kit I've managed to fit two 120mm Silnt Wings 3 fans under the GPU blowing air toward it, this has reduced GPU temps by almost 10°C in places.

Even though it's adding 2 more fans it's reduced noise slightly as it keeps the GPU fans running slower and they are the loudest fans in the build. Though at it's loudest so far it's only been a hum from behind the TV, not like a plane taking off which my laptop sounds like when it gets hot.

I've also taken the advice of @GilesGuthrie and plugged a seperate cable into the secong GPU power socket from the PSU rather than using the splitter on the end of the cable already attached.

I need to set some time aside to do some benchmarking.

 

[Nexus]

Cleaned out my PC and replaced the stock Wraith Spire with a Gammaxx GTE V2.

Haven't done any proper temperature comparisons, but my CPU isn't reaching 90° anymore on hot days, so I guess it's working fine.
The rest of my case fans look a bit out of place with the lack of LEDs, might look into getting RGB fans too...

 

[VFOURMAX1]

The rest of my case fans look a bit out of place with the lack of LEDs, might look into getting RGB fans too...

Had to chuckle as I am one of those that actually looks for products that does not have RGB lighting all over it.
It has gotten harder over the years to avoid and many times it comes down to okay how can I cut it off or eliminate the gaudy wave of colors.
I know I am probably in the minority these days but I prefer my system to not look like an amusement park but to in a darker state of reality as quietly as possible deliver my desired computing performance.
This is definitely one of those to each his own subjects! lol!

 

[Nexus]

Had to chuckle as I am one of those that actually looks for products that does not have RGB lighting all over it.
It has gotten harder over the years to avoid and many times it comes down to okay how can I cut it off or eliminate the gaudy wave of colors.
I know I am probably in the minority these days but I prefer my system to not look like an amusement park but to in a darker state of reality as quietly as possible deliver my desired computing performance.
This is definitely one of those to each his own subjects! lol!

Fair enough, I can appreciate that.

While I'm not too keen on the "rainbow mode" lighting effects, I quite like the (relatively) subtle colour shifting modes, and the ability to set the colours to anything I like.

 

[Tornado]

Finally bought the bullet for a triple screen setup.

The rest of my case fans look a bit out of place with the lack of LEDs, might look into getting RGB fans too...

They are certainly questionable value, but depending on what fans you already have (like if they are something high quality already) another option is putting Phanteks Halos on them. That's what I did on mine because I already had an A12x25 for the intake and wasn't interested in changing to another style of fan.

 

[sesselpupser]

I prefer my system to not look like an amusement park

Same, imagine my disappointment when I saw my Zotac graphics card's RGB-lit "Push the limit" slogan, I don't think I've ever turned anything off so quickly. Weird thing is I've got a case with a dark tinted glass side panel, but it's as dark as possible inside. I just like shiny glass more than dull steel I guess. Also I've been looking at reviews for wireless headsets with their own dongles because my bluetooth headphones and Windows 10 don't play nice, I had a look at the Logitech G733 and the RGB strips on them are on the front edge so you'd have RGB nonsense reflecting off your screen during play... And you can't turn them off permanently, you have to have Logitech G Hub running. So I'm not getting those.

I mean, a nicely done RGB system is something I can admire, but I have no desire to have one sitting in my line of sight while I play.

Speaking of aesthetics, the PCIe power cables to my graphics card bug me quite a lot (even though I can't see them, but I know they're there being all ugly), has anyone got any experience of 180 degree PCIe power connectors like these? As my card has 2x8-pin connectors I'm a little concerned that there's absolutely no way a PCB trace that'll fit on a board this small could possibly have the same ampacity as wire, but maybe they're still conductive enough for it to not be a problem? I've read some reviews on an even cheaper one from Amazon where people have had power supply problems as a result of installing them, and frankly I can see why, but there's no harm in asking I guess. I'd like to get a couple of these and some kind of black sleeving to bundle them together, I could go nuts and do a custom cable with combs and everything but let's be honest, I'm not going to.

 

[Nexus]

They are certainly questionable value, but depending on what fans you already have (like if they are something high quality already) another option is putting Phanteks Halos on them. That's what I did on mine because I already had an A12x25 for the intake and wasn't interested in changing to another style of fan.

I considered getting Halos (got a mate of mine to buy them for his Noctua's), but then I'd have to buy better quality fans + Halos + the Digital RGB Controller to get everything working on my setup (I only have a single 12V RGB header, I believe Halos need a 5V ARGB header).

A mate of mine offered his old ML140 Pro's for cheap, but then I think I'd also have to buy the relevant Corsair hubs to get that stuff working (and have to use Corsair's bloated software)... I probably should've bought a motherboard with ARGB headers in the first place.

 

[sesselpupser]

I've got an ongoing intermittent problem with my Xbox controller adaptor dropping the connection to my controller for no reason during games, the problem is it can be fine for weeks then start dropping out several times in a day. Usually unplugging it and plugging it back in works to solve it for a few days, but today it's dropped out twice even after unplugging it twice. I've just tried disabling selective suspend (I'd already turned off "allow Windows to turn this device off to save power" months ago) on it and also disabled power management on all my USB root hubs reported in Device Manager just in case, but if it still carries on now I'm not sure what to try next. Any ideas? The internet isn't giving me much more than just disabling power management on the adaptor. I also have no idea if there's a log of power events relating to the adaptor that I can look at... Is there?

 

[JohnBM01]

Today, I have done some rearranging of my monitor setup. I started to now use my small HDTV to be used as my main monitor. I took my shortest HDMI cable and put it into the only HDMI port on my PC. This manages me to do something I never got to do- enjoy hearing sound from my PC to my small monitor. As for the other monitor, I hooked it in with my VGA cable. It previously had an HDMI to DVI cable that I purchased from Radio Shack years ago.

I was then contemplating if I could pull off a three-monitor setup with my new big HDTV. With my old HDMI switcher, I could make either my PC monitor or my big HDTV my second screen at any sort of time. A three-monitor setup for me is possible. However, I don't plan on continuously making it a three-monitor setup. I have not decided if I really want to go with a three-monitor setup.

Other than that, I have a handful of options in regards to my monitor setup.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Spent most of my day going through the sound files for Call of Duty zombies and looking for music to put in my video game music collection. Eventually I decided to reinstall said games and play them some to see what I all I need to add. However, I ended up spending quite a bit of time playing the games rather than checking for music like I initially planned. I guess I got nostalgia struck because I hadn't played some of them in years and found it more refreshing than I anticipated. I forgot how fun COD zombies was.

On another note, doing this again gave me a lot of flashbacks. It really had me reflecting on a lot of different things and what my life was like in 2015 and how it is now. Probably because this sort of thing was something I used to do a lot back then. Crazy how things have changed in just 5 years time.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Several weeks ago, I decommissioned a computer which had a perfectly serviceable 500GB SSD and 3TB HDD in it. I moved the disks to my new machine. to sit alongside the 2TB NVMe and 4TB HDD that were already there. Very impressed with the Lian Li hot-swap bay for the HDD, by the way.

But the SSD is causing my system to freeze for minutes at a time. In Task Manager, I see utilisation on the SSD jump to 100%, but read/write bandwidth are both near zero. The disk is only 30% full - I'm using it to store the files for some of my less-played games. The computer is almost unusable during those periods.

When the freeze stops, I go into Event Viewer, and see several events where StorAHCI is sending reset commands to Raid0. It's not a RAID system. Firmware is up to date on the disk and also the motherboard. I've tried the power settings that are recommended when one Googles the event ID.

It's pretty annoying really. I'm going to have to remove the drive I think. I'll donate it to my son, see if it behaves itself in his system. If not it's lump hammer time.

 

[PzR Slim]

Finally managed to snag a 6800XT! Specifically this one NITRO+ AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT SE 16G GDDR6 (sapphiretech.com)

I ordered a RTX 3080 3 mins after they went live on overclockers but it was obvious I would have to wait months for stock, so cancelled the order and thought I'd try team red after the relative benchmarks came out. The 6800XT stock situation was even worse so gave up hope of that and didn't expect to get a 5900X CPU either. However, I registered for stock update via Stock Informer. I managed to secure a 5900X just before Christmas from Curry's and now after months of getting stock notifications for RTX's 3080's but never managing to secure one, the first time I get a stock notification for a 6800XT and I hit the jackpot from Overclockers!

Edit: Forgot to add that I've already managed to sell my RTX 2080ti for close to what I paid for the 6800XT such is the state of the GPU market at the moment.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Finally finished gathering all the music from Call of Duty Black Ops zombies. It probably should've taken me no more than a few hours really, but it took me 3 days instead because I ended up wanting to play the game more so than look for music. I guess that's what happens when I don't touch a game for a few years, especially if it's something I was once extremely addicted to.

Now I just need to reinstall Black Ops 2 and see how long it takes me this time!

 

[JohnBM01]

I have been up and down and all around in trying to come up with a website. While I run a number of blogs and have a portfolio site on Weebly for my creative work, I have been feeling queasy about trying to maintain my paid Wordpress site. I later decided to do a free site on Wordpress-dot-com (not wordpress-dot-org). Now after practicing website layouts, I thought about going with a static HTML website. So I've been trying to build up a static HTML website while learning how to actually build one from start to finish. I been looking at Github Pages to start this possible new site deal.

If my skills in building a static HTML website work, I may also consider remodeling all of my blogs to have my own custom look and feel. It would be the first time as a blogger (since 2009) that I make my own template rather than use and modify others' templates.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Finished gathering up nearly all the music from Call of Duty Black Ops 2 zombies, only thing I need to look into is what's used in Turned mode.

Started looking for music in Call of Duty Black Ops III, but I quickly gave up. The way the music is stored is a bit convoluted compared to Black Ops II and seems to be scattered in multiple places I wouldn't think to look. It don't help that Black Ops III has a lot more music and I am not quite as familiar with it as the previous games. On top of that, I realized my rips were from between 2016-2017 and are probably outdated at this point since both the game and the tool I used to extract the sound files have been be updated a few times since then. In fact, one of the folders I had a whole mess of unnamed sound files since the tool I used couldn't decrypt them and theirs some files I simply don't have at all. That said, I have started reripping all of them again and will hopefully finish tomorrow.

On another note, as I was typing this, I learned one of the old tools I used years ago was recently updated and now reads content for this game a lot better than before. Given that it allows me to replace in game audio with something else, that should help me quite a bit as it did in Black Ops II.

 

[JohnBM01]

I officially joined GitHub today and look to develop my own static HTML websites. During this weekend, I have been learning and practicing using W3.CSS. What you can do with it to build websites is pretty powerful and looks very good. I'm told it is easier to use than Bootstrap, which is fairly popular in making websites. I hope to learn and practice Bootstrap in the future, but I am enjoying W3.CSS so far.

 

[Grayfox]

I officially joined GitHub today and look to develop my own static HTML websites. During this weekend, I have been learning and practicing using W3.CSS. What you can do with it to build websites is pretty powerful and looks very good. I'm told it is easier to use than Bootstrap, which is fairly popular in making websites. I hope to learn and practice Bootstrap in the future, but I am enjoying W3.CSS so far.

You might like this site.
https://htmlcheatsheet.com/css/

CSS Cheatsheet.
Using the various sliders you can see how some elements look and how each value effects it.

HTML Cheatsheet
https://htmlcheatsheet.com/

JS Cheatsheet
https://htmlcheatsheet.com/js/

 

[JohnBM01]

Let's get one thing straight. I am NOT going to understand coding on my own without any sort of literature offline or online. So I can appreciate that CSS Cheat Sheet. I am using the popular W3Schools to learn coding.

 

[PzR Slim]

Just had full fibre installed. Newcastle is one of the first cities in the UK to get it and my area is one of the first in the city, I'm the 55th person to have it installed.

This should speed up over the next week but I'm pretty happy with that having come from a 60 Mbps connection

 

[SlowGrayAudi]

Got all my parts in. Guess its time to put it all together. Its going in a cooler master NR600 case with 6 fans. 3 intake 3 exhaust.

 

[Grayfox]

Worked on a rainmeter skin.
So far I've made a clock and a power options skin which are both easy.
The settings for both, working on the theme customize for them now.

 

[Team THRT Drift]

Stared at my parts list on pcpartpicker, as I do every day

Honestly I would much rather be broke and daydreaming about the impossible than have the funds but not the parts.

CPU, motherboard, GPU, and monitor shortages. Power supply shortages have also finally caught up in Canada.

Guess I'll go back to dreaming and build it in 2023

 

[Dave A]

Honestly I would much rather be broke and daydreaming about the impossible than have the funds but not the parts.

I know what you mean, it's very frustrating to know what you want, be able to afford what you want, but for it to just not be in stock anywhere with no idea when it will be available again.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Finally stopped being lazy and decided to get back to replacing my low quality music in my library with ones of much better sound quality. This was something I meant to get done back in the Summer I think, but I quit because it was pretty tedious and I kept overthinking it. What I have been doing is opening both songs in Audacity, one being the low quality one and the other being high quality, and listening to both and observing the wavelengths for any inconsistencies to make sure they're both the exact same song.

Fortunately I am making great progress on this and not overthinking it nearly as much and I am hoping I can finish no later than mid March. (I have a lot to go through)

 

[Nexus]

My PC randomly shut down in the middle of me gaming (and refused to show any signs off life after), so I tried diagnosing what went wrong. The RAM LEDs stayed on until I shut off the PSU, so I don't think the motherboard is fried.

I removed the PSU and did the paperclip test and it seemed to pass that, but plugging it back in still didn't let it boot. A mate of mine offered a spare temporary PSU so I can (hopefully) get the PC up and running again, then I'll take the PSU to a PC store and get it properly tested before RMA'ing it.

The box is unfortunately at my parent's house in another state, but seeing as they're visiting this weekend anyway I'll just ask them to bring the box containing all the other component boxes, just in case something else dies seemingly out of nowhere. Sigh...

 

[JohnBM01]

Yesterday, I learned about Chromeboxes. Chromeboxes are like the desktop version of ChromeOS machines. They seem pretty capable to have a desktop version of ChromeOS. However, most others would prefer Chromebooks instead for most tasks, even including gaming.

Other than that, I have been getting a bit better trying to build simple static HTML pages. Down the road, I may want to learn Bootstrap, but I am still getting accustomed to W3.CSS. I heard W3.CSS is easier and faster than Bootstrap. I have had no experience with front-end web design until recently. I am still planning on making a site package to one day upload to GitHub Pages.