What Have You Done Today - (Computer Version)

[SlowGrayAudi]

Yeah those would need an amp.
I know sometimes you can get 32Ohm, 250Ohm and 600Ohm drivers for the same headphone model
Was that an option for you?

Definitely.

But from what I've read the higher the impedance, the better the driver usually is so you'll get better sound quality/clarity as long as you can amp them properly.

A Comparison of Beyerdynamic DT 880 32 ohm, DT 880 250 ohm, and DT 880 600 ohm Headphones Page 2

The lower the output impedance of the amplifier, the less it will “feel” and be affected by the load reactance (phase angles).

www.stereophile.com

Picture of my box

 

[Grayfox]

Definitely.

But from what I've read the higher the impedance, the better the driver usually is so you'll get better sound quality/clarity as long as you can amp them properly.

A Comparison of Beyerdynamic DT 880 32 ohm, DT 880 250 ohm, and DT 880 600 ohm Headphones Page 2

The lower the output impedance of the amplifier, the less it will “feel” and be affected by the load reactance (phase angles).

www.stereophile.com

Picture of my box

View attachment 1064874

Seeing as they're the DT880s I cant see how the driver will be all that different.
Doing so will change the way it all sounds between the 32Ohm and the 600Ohm.
That doesn't sound all that ideal if you have customers who will buy the low impedance version for their phones and the high impeadence for their Hi-Fi system.

 

[NLxAROSA]

Loving my Dell XPS desktop, but Dell went el-cheapo on the CPU cooler so I'm going to replace that with an Arctic Freezer i13x CO on Tuesday.

 

[Grayfox]

Loving my Dell XPS desktop, but Dell went el-cheapo on the CPU cooler so I'm going to replace that with an Arctic Freezer i13x CO on Tuesday. 🙂

Going off what GN thinks of Dell at the moment.
That is most likely not the only place they went cheap.

 

[SlowGrayAudi]

Seeing as they're the DT880s I cant see how the driver will be all that different.
Doing so will change the way it all sounds between the 32Ohm and the 600Ohm.
That doesn't sound all that ideal if you have customers who will buy the low impedance version for their phones and the high impeadence for their Hi-Fi system.

Its interesting for sure. Its my first pair so its a whole new world to me.

But even without an amp, just running them off the mobo the clarity versus the sound bar ive been using is immense.

In assetto Corsa i was driving the 488 gtb and i could hear the actual click from the in car paddle shifter. Never heard that before on the sound bar.

 

[Grayfox]

Its interesting for sure. Its my first pair so its a whole new world to me.

But even without an amp, just running them off the mobo the clarity versus the sound bar ive been using is immense.

In assetto Corsa i was driving the 488 gtb and i could hear the actual click from the in car paddle shifter. Never heard that before on the sound bar.

Sound bars normally suck in general.
Unless it is a high end one.
Plus the speakers are widely spaced and not direct.

 

[SlowGrayAudi]

Sound bars normally suck in general.
Unless it is a high end one.
Plus the speakers are widely spaced and not direct.

Tell me about it

I just moved into my new house a few months ago and my $2000 Klipsch 5.1 bookshelf setup i have got put in the living room (which sounds so ****ing good!). So my game room got the ****** sound bar the gf had bought.

Hence me needing some decent cans for gaming. I'll never buy a sound bar thats for sure.

 

[NLxAROSA]

Going off what GN thinks of Dell at the moment.
That is most likely not the only place they went cheap.

Apart from the filmsy CPU cooler the rest is pretty solid on my XPS 8940. Performance is pretty much what I expected from a prebuilt system: not top-notch, but no slouch either. Hardly any bloatware on mine (except McAfee), which was a pleasant surprise. Considering I got the whole system including OS, mouse and keyboard for the same price that only the GPU+CPU would cost if bought seperately I'm pretty happy with it.

 

[SlowGrayAudi]

Apart from the filmsy CPU cooler the rest is pretty solid on my XPS 8940. Performance is pretty much what I expected from a prebuilt system: not top-notch, but no slouch either. Hardly any bloatware on mine (except McAfee), which was a pleasant surprise. Considering I got the whole system including OS, mouse and keyboard for the same price that only the GPU+CPU would cost if bought seperately I'm pretty happy with it.

You can google windows debloater i used it and it got rid of all sorts of ****. Lots of options as well.

Jayz2cents on YouTube has a good guide on it.

 

[Darla Starch]

Had to nuke my main browser from orbit and do a clean reinstall after my laptop had a rare flaky moment when logging back in from locking it...

...and OF COURSE I forgot to sync my passwords until the nuking was going on.

 

[GreatnessRD]

• Did my monthly cleaning
• Forced "Variable" refresh rate on MGSV so I wouldn't play at 55 FPS through Steam

Honorable mention: Changed my RGB colors. Because... reasons.

 

[NLxAROSA]

Loving my Dell XPS desktop, but Dell went el-cheapo on the CPU cooler so I'm going to replace that with an Arctic Freezer i13x CO on Tuesday. 🙂

Received it today and mounted it. The difference with the stock cooler is quite obvious: runs around 15-20 degrees C cooler under load. Higher core clocks too. Quite happy with this. 👍

 

[Sonygamer455]

Spent considerably less time on my computer today than usual, which is probably a good thing.

Decided to browse Internet Archive some in search of the old smilies we used to have just so I could save them and keep using them. Took longer than expected since Internet Archive decided to be abysmally slow for some reason, but thanks to GTP Red Pill, I eventually struck gold and managed to find all of them in one post since he posted them here years ago.

And here they are!

I still have a bunch of the Christmas ones I saved years ago, the only ones I think I am missing are "idea" and "gtpflag" from that set. Though I wonder if they are no different from the standard ones and that was why I didn't include them.

Edit: Found "idea" here.

GTPflag is on there, but sadly it won't load.

Deep down I have kind of wanted to collect smilies from other sites and maybe even the early days of GTP and I think I might start doing that now. Not really sure why I find this sort of thing satisfying, but I just do and couldn't tell you why. I guess it's just fun to see so many different kinds.

Edit 2: Holy crap!

 

[Tornado]

When I reinstalled Windows the most recent time back in... uh... January, I made sure to give the device name something appropriate for my plans.

6 months later...

I still need to mess with the fan curves a bit (they all reset anyway after I upgraded BIOS... after I remembered that I needed to when the computer wouldn't boot after swapping the CPUs) since it's a CPU that pushes out nearly twice the heat so my baseline from before doesn't work so well, but the quick and dirty setup I got now slowly ramps up to 80 and pretty much holds it there when stressing the CPU alone.











Now I just need to wait 3 years for a GPU to be available.

 

[GreatnessRD]

Now I just need to wait 3 years for a GPU to be available.

What GPU are you going to pair it with once they're readily available and everything's back to normal? I'm going to eventually grab the 5800x since Microcenter has it for $380. Just holding out a tad longer in case they drop it back to $370. (Because I am a patient man)


Also to stay on topic, I switched out one of my 120 Unifans to another I had lying around. For the last month I was enduring some clicking sound coming from the fan. Can't handle it no more and it had to go! Now its just peace and quiet.

 

[Tornado]

3080 won't fit so I want either a 3070 or a 3070ti FE.

 

[Dave A]

To test RAM.
Use a ram testing program and test each stick by themselves then in together.
If you have 4
Test A and B, then A-C, then A-D, then, B-C, then B-D, then C-D

The black screen of death reappeared after a few days. I did end up testing both RAM sticks anyway and they were both ok. so I borrowed some voltage measuring equipment check if there was an issue with power reaching anywhere. Given the cost of the build, it isn't a problem I was happy to live with, and at this point a bit desperate to find the solution.

Turns out, the power was fluctuating massively down one of the cables connecting to the GPU, completley disapearing for moments on occasion. So I've repalced that cacable with a spare one, reseated both RAM sticks and I think the problem now is solved. I certainly hope so.

It is wierd that it appeard to be fixed for almost a week after removing one RAM stick where it had been a daily occurerence before, but that seems coincidental as it did repeat and once it happened again it happened again and again and again. But a faulty cable to the GPU would certainly cause instability and crashes.

 

[Grayfox]

The black screen of death reappeared after a few days. I did end up testing both RAM sticks anyway and they were both ok. so I borrowed some voltage measuring equipment check if there was an issue with power reaching anywhere. Given the cost of the build, it isn't a problem I was happy to live with, and at this point a bit desperate to find the solution.

Turns out, the power was fluctuating massively down one of the cables connecting to the GPU, completely disappearing for moments on occasion. So I've replaced that cable with a spare one, reseated both RAM sticks and I think the problem now is solved. I certainly hope so.

It is weird that it appears to be fixed for almost a week after removing one RAM stick where it had been a daily occurrence before, but that seems coincidental as it did repeat and once it happened again it happened again and again and again. But a faulty cable to the GPU would certainly cause instability and crashes.

For voltage to be fluctuating on the +12v line is odd.
Either you were not measuring correctly(ie the probe was not touching the contract correctly) or their may be a bad joint on the connector or even PSU.
For 12v to go to 0v would mean SHORT TO GROUND.
That would trip the PSUs internal Short Circuit Protection.

Do you know which pin you were testing?
You may be aware of this pinout

But it is not 100% accurate

This one is more accurate

Not sure if Sense0 is a fixed 12v output and Sense1 is a fixed ground but according to the info, it is for voltage regulation with PSUs(would assume with logic when a circuit is pulled high as well as pulled low.)
But it could also be a PWM type signal too and multimeters dont like PWM all that much.

 

[Dave A]

It seems pretty certain it was the wire, I also borrowed brain of dad, he's an electrician by trade and helped with some (most) testing. In his assessment it seems to be a damaged or incorrectly seated pin.

There weren't any issues with the replacement or any of the other spares tested, no power fluctuations. Needless to say, much of it went over my head but it works now (so far).

 

[JohnBM01]

After a long time of wanting to get one, I finally got one. What, though? An XBOX One controller! I learned it was an XBOX Series X controller that I connected to my PC. It is a wired controller. Wireless ones go for about $59 USD, and Elite style ones for about $170 USD. The XBOX One controller is very comfortable in the hands. It has two Advanced Gaming buttons on the back of it, but I have not yet utilized them, nor have I played a game that uses them. I needed a new controller after my XBOX 360 controller finally gave out on me. Well played, Microsoft!

 

[JohnBM01]

For game development, I have drawn interest nowadays towards existing game engines. Namely, I've been looking at the iD Tech engines that powered games like the Quake series and various DOOM games. Limitations of older game engines will mean I have a limit of what sort of creative magic I can do with them. However, I do think I can get around those limitations. A recent example of older game engines used to create newer games is the PC game "WRATH: Aeon of Ruin" using the one of the iD Tech engines. There's also "Ion Maiden/Fury" using the Build Engine (famous for Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior among others). Because I thought of racing game projects, I even considered if there was some available deal using engines from Image Space Incorporated for "Sports Car GT," "rFactor," "GTR2," and some others. You all may probably think, "why don't you build your own game engine, John?" Well first of all, I don't have the skills to make one. I also feel I could get just as much done with already-made and proven engines other than trying to make my own.

There is also another reason why I am considering older 3D game engines. To me, I seem compelled to try to make low-polygon, low-resolution 3D material. Many times I have tried to get into the high-detail sort of work. Really, though, I have seemed to be more interested and more able to produce in older 3D rather than hyper-realistic material today from high-end engines. So I am thinking more about PS1/N64/Saturn era 3D. I am also going to say I am inspired by 3D Game Boy Advance games and 3D Nintendo DS games. I do want to try to put my own spin on things. If I do share anything cool, I may do so in the 3D art thread.

Other than that, I have been thinking of whether to get a new mini PC or a capable laptop. I want something more capable than my current PC to play a lot of the more intense games. Think of better able to play "Assetto Corsa," "Assetto Corsa Competizione," "iRacing," or some other decent modern PC game. One YouTuber is famous for trying to take mini PCs and turn them into gaming beasts. The only problem I'd have with a mini PC is that I would need to get a suitable external disc drive in case I want to play some older games that require the game disc to be used. The only way I'd consider a lower-spec laptop is if I could upgrade its memory later for better gaming performance. I still keep my options open and then think about what I'd want to invest in.

 

[Sonygamer455]

So last night I copied a save game from my PS1 memory card to my USB drive using my PS2 and was going to convert it, but then my computer would no longer read it for some reason. Tried another computer and the result was the same, yet my PS2 and PS3 could still read it just fine. 🤔 Taking advantage of this, I copied all my stuff to my PS3 overnight and formatted the USB drive on my computer later today. Then I had to spend several hours waiting for the PS3 to copy all my stuff back onto it.

Thankfully the issue is resolved now and it works as if nothing happened, but I have to wonder. What went wrong and why my PS2 and 3 could read my USB drive when my other computers could not? 🤔

 

[ICEYOU3]

Stick a disc in it

 

[Sonygamer455]

Perhaps I should have worded it better, but by USB drive I mean a USB flash drive.

 

[Darla Starch]

Had to nuke my main browser from orbit and do a clean reinstall

Nuked it and reinstalled again. For whatever reason it's decided that tab stacking gets to act stupid, mainly that right-clicking and selecting "remove from tab stack" means either "lol no we'll ignore that demand" or "ungroup entire stack" and that I am to stack tabs it's way (stack two and them bring the others in individually) instead of my way (stack two and vaccum up the others with the stack I want them in).

No luck yet.

 

[Wolfe]

There is also another reason why I am considering older 3D game engines. To me, I seem compelled to try to make low-polygon, low-resolution 3D material. Many times I have tried to get into the high-detail sort of work. Really, though, I have seemed to be more interested and more able to produce in older 3D rather than hyper-realistic material today from high-end engines. So I am thinking more about PS1/N64/Saturn era 3D. I am also going to say I am inspired by 3D Game Boy Advance games and 3D Nintendo DS games. I do want to try to put my own spin on things. If I do share anything cool, I may do so in the 3D art thread.

Why pair lower-poly 3D with an older engine? You can work with whatever engine you like, and fewer details only help alleviate the bottlenecks of a general-purpose engine like Unity or Godot. There are also shaders floating around for things like the PS1's integer-based vertex positioning and lack of perspective correction on textures, or the N64's texture filtering.

The only problem I'd have with a mini PC is that I would need to get a suitable external disc drive in case I want to play some older games that require the game disc to be used.

I expected to dislike missing an interior disc drive more than I do. We needed an external disc drive for our new laptops, and when it comes to Linux at least, it is plug-n-go (USB). Totally painless. YMMV with Windows.

 

[JohnBM01]

Well, Wolfe, I can give you a little insight on seeking a different engine. I came up with my own little racing model using Duke Nukem 3D's Build Engine for many years. I even sampled with the vehicles you could command in "Redneck Rampage Rides Again." Then comes the Quake series, and while I only played Q1 and Q2, the popular "Quake Rally" has me thinking of how I could use the Quake Engine to develop a fairly decent racing game. The best version of "Quake Rally" utilizes the "Quake 3 Arena" engine. I am not thinking Assetto Corsa, but a little of everything without being too complex. I also basically just want to come up with something fairly decent.

Perhaps I have a feeling sometimes that I don't want to use popular material all the time. Like, I have been somewhat good with Unity and haven't made much with Godot, but I am simply looking for other options. The extreme would be to come up with my own game engine. I'm not ready for that.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Lately, I've been working almost relentlessly extracting music from video games I own, converting them to FLAC, and tagging them accordingly so I could put them on my phone. I was using VLC for IOS, but it had some pretty annoying bugs and I eventually got fed up with it. So I switched to Foobar2000 for IOS and I've been much happier with this one, so I guess that'll be what I used to listen to my FLAC's.

I was going to spend even more time doing that today, but I ended up taking a detour instead. I was made aware just today my siblings had 2 broken laptops they were going to get rid of and they told me it was okay if I salvaged the hard drives. So I did and decided to plug them into my USB adapter to see if anything noteworthy was on there. Much to my surprise, I found heaps of music from my brother's old HDD that I didn't already have on my computer despite him sharing his music with me before. Been going through and organizing them ever since and I'm almost done now.

While today certainly wasn't what I had in mind, it's been great because not only do I have a lot of music I didn't even know I was missing, but I now have a 1 TB HDD to use on my PS2!

 

[Grayfox]

Been making a dark mode CSS file for google search.
I really can not fathom why google has not done this yet, they've made a dark mode for youtube.

Still needs major work, but it is much easier on the eyes at night

 

[JohnBM01]

Well, @Grayfox , there is an alternate Google online called "Blackle." It's supposed to be like Google, but in dark mode. It isn't as feature-rich or intuitive as base Google, but it does the job pretty well if you want dark mode browsing with Google. I was reminded of Blackle (actually had to look it up) when I saw that Dark Mode Google CSS you prepared. Blackle mentions how much energy is conserved using a dark background prior to browsing.

When I tried to play around with W3 CSS, I was told that Bootstrap is a better interface for making quality websites. One of my game developer friends sort of inspired me to try out Bootstrap. One of the advantages I found out is that Bootstrap is better for making responsive websites. With a responsive website, the websites can seamlessly change between desktop, tablet PCs, and smartphones. I feel dumb for not developing my GitHub static web pages in months, but if and when I return to the website development realm, I will want to practice Bootstrap.