General PC Help Thread 2

[Dowbocop]

Is my monitor strawberry floated?

I was using my computer (monitor setup: one LG ultrawide connected via HDMI, one generic Compaq over VGA/DVI) and I got up slightly too quickly and knocked the bottom of the desk with my thighs. It was the sort of knock that would deactivate a screensaver but nothing fell over (my coffee and water didn't spill to contextualise it within the behaviours of common newtonian fluids). As soon as that happened my LG monitor clicked off and started making a loud buzzing noise. I looked at the back and the power cable was loose, but even once I'd connected it back and the power LED was back on the screen was lit but blank (the buzzing was quieter but still there). I tried a different HDMI cable: no luck. I tried accessing the monitor menu settings but the button seems knackered. I took it in to my bedroom and tried it on my PS3 and still no luck. It was there that I noticed some vertical lines on the blank screen (the ones you tend to get on knackered monitors oddly enough!)

The monitor needs to go back doesn't it? I bought it on Black Friday so it should still be within warranty.

[<]:^D]

just put it in a bowl of rice overnight and itll be fine

[Meep]

Huh, weird, I find it hard to imagine that a small knock could destroy monitor. LGs are pretty decent too. You'd need to take it to a repair shop to get it fixed, but if it's still in warranty I would just try to get a replacement unit or your money back.

[Dowbocop]

Huh, weird, I find it hard to imagine that a small knock could destroy monitor. LGs are pretty decent too. You'd need to take it to a repair shop to get it fixed, but if it's still in warranty I would just try to get a replacement unit or your money back.

I actually thought I'd severed the power cable against the back of the desk by the way it went off so suddenly, but the cables are all fine. I sent it off for repair today. Pro tip: if you buy a weird shaped monitor keep the box so you don't have to wrap it in bubble wrap and a bin bag

[Cuttooth]

Am I right in thinking that a HDD making boot-up style noises randomly (no clicking/grinding) is a pretty bad sign that it's on the way out after six years?

[<]:^D]

do a health-check. most manufacturers will have their own so just google "brand hard drive health check"

[That's not a growth]

I've got myself a NAS. I've not had one before - what should I know, or what uses are there I might not think of. Main thing was going to use it as a Plex server, but want to use it to its potential.

[SandyCoin]

Does anyone here have any experience using a Microsoft Surface or have much knowledge of them? I'm going away for 6 months and want something nice and portable to use (currently have a desktop). I like the look of it as I will be doing design work, and fancy using the pen etc. Anyone used one with Photoshop or anything like that?

[That's not a growth]

Cons:
Not a regular aspect ratio/ resolution
No dedicated graphics chip
Not great at standing on your lap
Keyboard not great

I'd look into HP and Dell. Both have consistently made good 13" laptops for a few years now, with touch/pen input, some with a GPU.

[Jenuall]

We've got a Surface Pro 4 and it's a brilliant bit of kit - but I haven't used it for anything particularly "heavy".

The display and touchscreen are both excellent which works really well for things like image touchups, but unless you go for one of the higher end models (we've got a lower end model as that suited our needs fine) I would have some concerns about the performance if you were doing a lot of image processing work.

[Robbo-92]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1

Bought this back in early 2015 and its still working fine for my needs but the fan seems to be getting progressively louder, was thinking of maybe updating it if possible to a quieter and more efficient fan if possible? Any recommendations for something that would definitely fit, is the fan is a pretty easy item to switch in/out? Or would I be better just opening it and giving it a clean?

[<]:^D]

Does anyone here have any experience using a Microsoft Surface or have much knowledge of them? I'm going away for 6 months and want something nice and portable to use (currently have a desktop). I like the look of it as I will be doing design work, and fancy using the pen etc. Anyone used one with Photoshop or anything like that?

i have a surface go - its brilliant but i only use it for making notes at uni, powerpoint, web browsing, typing etc - id imagine its a bit underpowered for Photoshop but the more expensive and larger models may have enough oomph.

[andretmzt]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O8SED2Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Bought this back in early 2015 and its still working fine for my needs but the fan seems to be getting progressively louder, was thinking of maybe updating it if possible to a quieter and more efficient fan if possible? Any recommendations for something that would definitely fit, is the fan is a pretty easy item to switch in/out? Or would I be better just opening it and giving it a clean?

Clean it first as a build up of dust in your system will have an impact on cooling performance. In terms of replacing the fan, from the photo it looks like a stock cooler in on the CPU and I'm not sure if replacing the fan on that would be possible. What you could do, depending on space, is replace the cooler. Refreshing the thermal paste would help anyway but if you could fit something like a Noctua NH-L12S or even a NH-L9x65, into the case, it would be quieter and cooler.

Dunno if there are any other fans in the case and what would fit for a CPU cooler without more pictures to be honest. Just the way it goes with SFF PCs: You can't rely on stock solutions that would work for a larger case.

[SandyCoin]

Does anyone here have any experience using a Microsoft Surface or have much knowledge of them? I'm going away for 6 months and want something nice and portable to use (currently have a desktop). I like the look of it as I will be doing design work, and fancy using the pen etc. Anyone used one with Photoshop or anything like that?

i have a surface go - its brilliant but i only use it for making notes at uni, powerpoint, web browsing, typing etc - id imagine its a bit underpowered for Photoshop but the more expensive and larger models may have enough oomph.

Yeah I think I'd go for a higher spec one. I wouldn't be doing movie editing or anything like that I doubt. Normally I'd get a laptop, but then that means bring a drawing tablet with me. I love the look of the Ipad Pro, but I can't use Adobe CC with it, but the pen sounds far better for drawing than the Surface. Hmmm......

[Jenuall]

Does anyone here have any experience using a Microsoft Surface or have much knowledge of them? I'm going away for 6 months and want something nice and portable to use (currently have a desktop). I like the look of it as I will be doing design work, and fancy using the pen etc. Anyone used one with Photoshop or anything like that?

i have a surface go - its brilliant but i only use it for making notes at uni, powerpoint, web browsing, typing etc - id imagine its a bit underpowered for Photoshop but the more expensive and larger models may have enough oomph.

Yeah I think I'd go for a higher spec one. I wouldn't be doing movie editing or anything like that I doubt. Normally I'd get a laptop, but then that means bring a drawing tablet with me. I love the look of the Ipad Pro, but I can't use Adobe CC with it, but the pen sounds far better for drawing than the Surface. Hmmm......

I've not used an iPad Pro to compare it to (and I'm no pro illustrator or anything so can't claim to be the authority on these things) but I've found the pen to be great on the Surface.

[Winckle]

Would anyone care to critique my proposed build please? Particularly the RAM, I've heard with ryzen 3, getting the right RAM is important.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (£319.99 @ AWD-IT)
Motherboard: MSI - B450 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard (£98.99 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£72.75 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (£193.98 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£83.33 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: PNY - GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB XLR8 Gaming OC Edition Video Card (£246.26 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case (£89.47 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£85.47 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1190.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-18 11:38 BST+0100

[andretmzt]

Getting the right RAM is important for any Ryzen build, and 3200 MHz will be fine. Annoyingly it is cheaper than my RAM and faster. Maybe I need an upgrade...

A NVMe SSD is nice but you still get a lot of performance out of a bog standard 2.5" SSD and you'd save £100 or so if you made the change. You could use that to get a CPU cooler and upgrade your GPU to a double/triple fan configuration that would perform better.

[Jenuall]

1TB M2 for sub £200! SSD prices really are coming down, Fairly sure I paid more than that for my first 64GB SSD back in the day!

I may be looking at a new build myself toward the end of this year, are Ryzen the go-to option on the CPU front now then? I've not being paying too much attention recently and assumed that the Intel monopoly on gaming performance was still holding strong?

[Robbo-92]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O8SED2Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Bought this back in early 2015 and its still working fine for my needs but the fan seems to be getting progressively louder, was thinking of maybe updating it if possible to a quieter and more efficient fan if possible? Any recommendations for something that would definitely fit, is the fan is a pretty easy item to switch in/out? Or would I be better just opening it and giving it a clean?

Clean it first as a build up of dust in your system will have an impact on cooling performance. In terms of replacing the fan, from the photo it looks like a stock cooler in on the CPU and I'm not sure if replacing the fan on that would be possible. What you could do, depending on space, is replace the cooler. Refreshing the thermal paste would help anyway but if you could fit something like a Noctua NH-L12S or even a NH-L9x65, into the case, it would be quieter and cooler.

Dunno if there are any other fans in the case and what would fit for a CPU cooler without more pictures to be honest. Just the way it goes with SFF PCs: You can't rely on stock solutions that would work for a larger case.

Sounds like a clean is the first option to try then, when I get round to it at least I'll be able to see how much space there is inside the case/maybe take a pic of the inside. Just hope my can of compressed air has plenty left in.

[SandyCoin]

Hey all.

I'm hoping one of you clever people can help me.

My girlfriend's laptop has been giving her some issues lately where out of nowhere she gets the "your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. we're just collecting some error info and then we'll restart for you" blue screen.

I'm guessing something was recently installed that went wrong but I'm not sure. I've tried watching a couple of videos but I've not found them very clear. Also, in these video the % has got to 100% (such as in the spoiler box), where as this isn't going over 0%.

Anyone had any experience with this?

Hopefully it's a simple fix, but I suck with this kinda stuff

Cheers