Jump to content

PCs for dummies


Strangelove
 Share

Recommended Posts

Yeah, my first thought was PSU, although it could be a loose connection on basically anything connected to the mobo.  It's just shutting off right, no bluescreen or anything?  That to me suggests it's something with the PSU or a power cable, not a data cable.

 

I hope it's not the PSU, a dying PSU can take the whole machine with it.

 

Sometimes when my cat jumps on my PC it restarts, which I've concluded has to be due to static discharge, so GOH's right that it could be almost anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So in the process of installing my new PSU I also reinstalled my old SSD. It worked initially but in the process of playing around with it it for some odd reason went to being not detected. I was about to completely wipe it since I think it still contains some elements of my old boot drive. No big deal, I'll just restart my computer to see if it comes back up. Nope! My current boot drive (a SSD) also goes undetected. This freaked me the fuck out but luckily unplugging my old SSD seems to resolve this issue.

 

So what do you guys think is going on here? BIOS problems? SATA ports/Mobo problems? If my current SSD didn't go dark I would assume that my old SSD is junked but my old SSD going undetected was the main reason why I replaced it in the first place. So an old problem resurfaces.

As a side note, modular PSU are pretty neat. No mess of extra cables to hide!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

So my HTPC is making a kind of burning smell, and I can't figure out what's causing it. I opened it up and blew out the dust from everywhere I could find (there wasn't much), it functions normally and nothing is visibly wrong. I have no idea what to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After further investigation (read: turning it on for a while until the smell got strong, then sniffing around the inside) I think it's the PSU. So I ordered a replacement, since I can't think what else to do other than start replacing parts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

PSU would be my guess as well. One of my first computers had it happen to it. The computer worked but there was a pretty strong burning smell, especially after sniffing the PSU exhaust. I think replacing that PSU was the first time I touched the inside of a computer... now look at me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, my initial thought was that it was the PSU, but I really didn't want it to be the PSU because this PSU came with the case and is a weird shape and I was worried about finding another one that would fit.  Upon closer inspection, however, I realized a panel can be removed and a regular sized PSU will slot in, so now I'm happy because that was probably about the cheapest component to replace.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay so I'm looking into getting a new laptop (and before anybody says anything a laptop suits my personal needs better than a desktop) and I am a little confused about two of the choices between GPUs.  One model I'm looking at has a 6 GB GTX 970 while the other has a 4 GB GTX 980.  Shouldn't the 980 have more memory?  Or is there something I'm not seeing here?  The two laptops are pretty close in price, so which card is better?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

And there was my second BSOD in like a week. I'm hesitant in saying it's Windows 10 that is causing the BSODs since my hardware is getting old. However... ever since I upgraded, I've been noticing quite a few longer than expected startup times. Sometimes it's snappy as it was back on Windows 7. Now the BSODs when doing not much of anything: streaming music, Photoshop and internet. Nothing that should tank my computer. If it was my hardware, I would expect the BSODs to be more consistent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there a point to USB 3.0 hubs?

 

I mean, if you plug in a hub with 3.0 ports (say 4-port with external power), into a USB 3.0 port, will you get the full speed on all devices attached to the hub? I mean, it's still using just 1 port...

 

If I want to move files from 1 USB 3.0 external drive to another (also USB 3), and I plug them both into a hub, would both run at full speed?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ideally, yeah? I never tried it with my hub. Main reason I got it was so I can have more than one hub which happens to be USB 3.0. I just don't see why it wouldn't work as designed...

 

You checked all your drivers? Probably worth having a bit of a check they're all updated (BIOS included) for Windows 10 and you're not kicking around with some Windows 7 stuff (which is many years old at this point)

My parts are ancient enough that there isn't any notable ones. My mobo doesn't even have Windows 8 drivers or BIOS. Network is from April of last year... I'll sleep while a RAM test is ran.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there a point to USB 3.0 hubs?

 

I mean, if you plug in a hub with 3.0 ports (say 4-port with external power), into a USB 3.0 port, will you get the full speed on all devices attached to the hub? I mean, it's still using just 1 port...

 

If I want to move files from 1 USB 3.0 external drive to another (also USB 3), and I plug them both into a hub, would both run at full speed?

 

They can't both run at 3.0 at the same time, no, because they're limited by the speed of the single connection to the computer they're sharing.  Though with moving files specifically you might get better results because one of the drives will be downloading and one uploading.

 

The point of a hub is the convenience of being able to plug things in without getting behind the computer, and also being able to plug things in at the same time.  Most people probably aren't going to be using multiple things that require 3.0 speeds at the same time, and even when you are you're still going to get better speeds than if you had them connected with 2.0.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Holy shit, I got my T100 working again. Apparently I can power cycle it a few times or flash the BIOS blind to get it working. It has been a while so I don't recall if things were ever this sluggish but hey, I can read PDFs in bed now. It's my main reason to try to fix it again and well, this time I got the patience to do it. Last time I lost my school computer so I was in a panic to replace it.

 

The T100TA everyone! Shit has problems but it never seem to be truly dead. Figuratively smack it a few times and it just might work again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What do you mean? Isn't copy/paste enough?

 

In any case, when I want to copy or transfer a large number of files, I use TeraCopy. Just makes it easier to deal with copy errors like file too long, etc. I can see exactly which files failed and deal with them manually.

 

It works for some programs, like the little ones that don't make registry keys, but for big programs like steam games, not so much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...