Random Hardware topics

[Brian Boru]

I am not in expert

But also clearly not inexpert

I do you the honor of copy to notes, from which I will prolly bully quote you back at yourself next year.

 

[Colif]

closer to an expert

note: AIO aren't only liquid coolers, some people use the more expensive version and buy separate parts of the system and make it themselves using solid tubing. It looks cool but I question how well it travels.

 

[Colif]

My AIO decided to not run curves again yesterday so I can't risk my AIO being unpredictable so I bought a

Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB | AiO CPU-Wasserkühler mit A-RGB | ARCTIC

Der Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB für individuelle Farberlebnisse. Bekannte Serie-Features sorgen für das ideale Verhältnis aus Performance und Ruhe.

www.arctic.de

it is the English link, Forums are just silly. It does that for German sites, for some reason.

[Mod edit: added translation below.]
"The Liquid Freezer Il 360 A-RGB for individual colour experiences. Well-known series features
for the ideal balance between performance and quietness."

Not going to say this is last hardware for the year as I said that last week. It should be as running out of parts to replace.
In the last few months I have added:

1. New CPU
2. New SSD
3. New Corsair rgb enhancement pack
4. And now a new AIO.
5. New keyboard last week.

I got a new GPU & new PSU in January.

What is left? Ram? Pass.
Monitor... haha... no. I like how monitor currently matches gpu ability.
Motherboard - obviously but then it would be an entire new PC.

I hadn't intended to replace almost entire PC this year. Original plan was what I got in January. It sort of grew. GPU needed new CPU to truly shine. CPU needs better AIO to really shine... maybe I play some games soon. Probably could use ram but no.

The one extra fan + extra radiator depth means its going to be quieter and cooler than the one I am replacing. Easily. Until Intel started releasing CPU that don't have power limits, the new AIO was highly placed on the 360 charts. Still close to quietest. It should be enough for my CPU since it keeps 12900K happy. Should be able to get about 5c drop in all temps.

Not sure if I will bother turning fans around so I can have them in pull instead of push. Might just put up with not seeing them inside case, could put case somewhere else so I can still see most of rgb in it. I need to check I have an extension cable for display port still or PC won't be going far. Mouse needs a longer USB as well. Keyboard is sorted. The AIO fans are already pre attached so might be too much hassle to swap them around.

Microsoft could at least fix problems I had 2 years ago. It seems the Win 11 search indexer is broken. It will rebuild the index every start up. I had mistakenly re enabled it a few days ago and ever since its been a constant thing running. Its stopped now, I restricted its access. It can't see my 3 drives now.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

I"m wondering, how long do keyboards last nowadays? I've replaced so much over the past 6 months, but keyboard isn't one of them. I think the keyboards I'm using now are from 2018 and 2019. 5 years for a keyboard doesn't seem that long but they surely aren't new anymore. Started to wonder because neither of the keyboards is for sale anymore (Corsair K68 and a K70 mk2 SE).

Other than than that, I certainly hope I don't need to replace anything anymroe this year and hopefully I don't need to replace anything next year either .

I'm planning to upgrade my setup though . I'm for sure going to change my optical setup from a soundbar to a 5.1 setup (soundbar + surround speakers). After my topic here I did some more research, wether or not 5.1 optical works really seems to depend on mobo, game / movie and everything but some soundcards do offer dolby which appears to make it more reliable. So I'll see what happens if I just use speakers on the optical connection. Otherwise I'll purchase a soundcard as well.

 

[Colif]

K70 mk2 SE

2018 for that one. I had a K70 RGB Mk2 up until last week. Corsair have since replaced it with a K70 RGB Pro Max... they need a new range soon... or a new number so name doesn't get too long

I think a keyboard should last at least 5 years... I haven't managed it yet but its a thought. I think since replacing my Microsoft keyboard, I have had a new one every 3 years.
Razer - 3 years
Logitech - 3 years
Corsair - 3 years (It was purchased 3 years ago this month in fact)
I have hopes new one can beat that but not sure how long battery lasts before it stops charging... it is only 3 days old so too soon to think about that. Since I can replace almost everything else in it, it would be only thing to stop me. Range is only new so no idea about life span.

The last two still work as keyboards. My logitech has a broken key cap, I only retired it because I wanted a new keyboard. Its my spare. My Corsair stopped syncing with Icue and instead of putting up with unplugging it every day to get it to work, I bought a new keyboard. The K70 is on my mums PC now. Beats what she had.

I know other people can get way more life out of theirs.

Only things I haven't replaced this year are Motherboard, NVME, RAM. And a mouse... but I have an idea what to buy next there... so I need to return back to not buying anything. New things are addictive.

 

[Brian Boru]

how long do keyboards last nowadays?

Current…
March 17, 2016
ROCCAT ISKU Blue Key Illuminated Gaming Keyboard, Black
…so 7.5 years so far, and not a sign it's feeling it yet—which is great, cos this is my 'perfect' KB so long may it serve. Was ~$60, current similar programmable models are over $100 on a quick look. This was my first premium KB.

Prior…
January 27, 2012
Microsoft Wired Keyboard 200 for Business (White)
…so 4 years from that cheap basic excellent KB—shame MS stopped selling M&KB, their basic ones were great quality and value.

mouse... but I have an idea what to buy next there

Must make thread.

 

[Colif]

Must make thread.

i will in a few months, I have whittled it down to just two mice,,, one from Logitech and one from Steelseries. My mouse isn't giving me any problems so maybe not,

 

[Brian Boru]

i will in a few months

Oh, that was a note to self, as my MX Master is dying.

I had a load of candidates and links ready for a 'Help me' thread, when I tripped over the one I just bought:

That debuted a couple of years ago at $120, altho reviews say it was more of a $100 competitor. It's big & heavy like I want, only thing I'm iffy on is the placement and accessibility of the side buttons, it's a different design.

Newegg | Amazon

Reviews: TechPowerUp | Rtings

 

[Colif]

My price range started way higher than that one

The Logitech costs 300 and the Steelseries costs $239 today but only as its BF. I will resist as I am waiting on something already. Its normally $269

I wish I had waited to buy something on BF but I never worry about sales.

watched video on new CPU worth $5000 with 64 cores... think, well thats out of my league
realise they are running all the tests using the AIO you just bought... guess you won't have any problems keeping a CPU with 8x less cores cool.

Not Gaming CPU

 

[Colif]

Icue really is being painful. It is getting worse, must know I am replacing it. It crashed twice tonight so I did a clean install of it, removing it from everywhere on pc using this - https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025166712
restarted PC.
Put it back on and it started a cycle of running fan plan, I would hear the USB disconnection noise, fans would slow down, colors would flicker, and it would start again. Did it about 6 times before I restarted PC
After the restart it was slightly better and I thought, I make a profile and its stopped doing it now I am running one.

I made an all blue theme, at least it matches GPU now.

 

[Brian Boru]

My price range started way higher than that one

So I guess you're not interested in 50 Mice for $37 then?

Hey, anyone fancy a Bunny mouse?

https://www.amazon.com/Dilter-Wireless-Noiseless-Computer-Portable/dp/B0C23YYMWQ/

I make a profile and its stopped doing it now

I have found that in occasional random situations, that making a deliberate manual choice rather than leaving to defaults can cure weird or intermittent glitches—doesn't matter if your choice is same as default value.

 

[Colif]

So I guess you're not interested in 50 Mice for $37 then?

lol. i thought it was going to be an article on 50 mice you could get for 37 or less, but no, it was sillier than that.

bunny looks like the Apple Puck mouse... one button.

I have set my profile as default, nothing happened so far today. I am just leaving it alone.

 

[Colif]

Shame it wasn't on special. I may have picked cheapest store but price wasn't reason I chose it.
Probably install it in the next few days, wet here over weekend. We shall see. Take longer to take the old one out than install it I think. Corsair use so many cables. Eight or more on their AIO compared to just two on the one above.

 

[Brian Boru]

when I tripped over the one I just bought

My on-the-way mouse made top pick in PCG's article:

These are my favorite bang-for-buck deals this Black Friday: from $20 gaming mice to $800 RTX 40-series gaming PCs

If you're looking for the best Black Friday PC gaming deals on a tight budget, we've got you covered.

www.pcgamer.com

Hope it lives up to promise, I'll get a second one if it does.

 

[Colif]

Given I replaced almost everything in PC this year, might as well look at the few things left

Best PC Speakers For Gaming Of 2023

We've curated some of the best speakers you can buy for PC gaming.

www.thegamer.com

why are 4 out 5 of them 2.1 speakers.... ewww. I haven't used 2.1 since... 20 years ago

Sucks when your current ones are still best choice: https://www.logitech.com/en-au/products/speakers/z906-surround-sound-system.980-000470.html
Have to hope they last as long as the Z5500 they replaced.

Maybe I am bored. Last few months I have been waiting for something... now not so much. Have to install a part but I already watched every video on it.

 

[Colif]

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Picked up a Gigabyte Gaming OC 4070. BF deals here not what I imagine they are in U.S. I basically got a high tier cooler for the price of a lower tier one. At least its supposed to be pretty quiet and effective.

 

[Colif]

Only took a year but Steve now recommends my card over the 7900 XTX mainly due to price.
I still can't buy my card here, lucky I don't need to.

Why do I keep buying cards that are impossible to get?

4070... I don't have anything to say about them. At least its not a 4060

I was going to buy something on BF this year, instead... I bought everything before it. And the one thing I bought this week wasn't on special.

Now its my Birthday soon and as usual I already have everything I want. Last year my money just went towards a new GPU. This year it paid for a pair of sunglasses

it used to be worse, I never tell people what I want so they would guess and often I would get a duplicate of some book I already had.

 

[Brian Boru]

Sucks when your current ones are still best choice

Eh, what? I'd be thrilled to have that 'problem'

Last few months I have been waiting for something

Godot?
[not the game engine]

I never tell people what I want

That's what public wishlists are for

 

[Colif]

Eh, what? I'd be thrilled to have that 'problem'

Well, it would be if say "finds a tree and knocks on it" they stopped working as then my replacement speakers would be the same ones again. At least they still exist in stores. Unlike the ones they replaced.

It wasn't always the same something. For 6 months of last year it was a GPU, then for another six months this year it was me waiting to see if CPU I wanted would ever drop in price... it did enough.

In the last month I felt I was waiting for freight half the month. The last few things I bought weren't planned. Keyboard & AIO weren't on the list... just as a Power Supply wasn't on list last year when I bought a GPU. Think I bought it while I waited for GPU to arrive at warehouse for shipping.

My family just give me money now. There are only two of them now so its easy for them to track my purchases.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Heres a question I couldnt find a quick answer for:

Say I were to upgrade my NVME Boot drive. I now have both M2 slots filled on my mobo. Would I be able to temporarily remove the secondary drive, put the new drive in that slot, clone the boot drive to the new one, replace original boot drive with clone and finally put the secondary drive back in without having to format it with old data accessible?

 

[Inspireless Llama]

Purchased some new stuff on Black Friday. The discount game to 15% on the cable . My mouse is a few years old by now and up for replacement. But since I didn't feel like buying a 70€ mouse I picked up this one. I'll see how it works.

 

[Inspireless Llama]

It's not the same I had with my case messing up my PC, but here's another video where something is messed up and giving a DRAM error.

 

[Colif]

@Kaamos_Llama that is probably how you do it. If second drive is just data, it should work,
My pc makes clunking noises if I start it now so until I replace my Aio I won't be here. Weather is main reason I am not rushing to fix it. Storms keep me from using pc anyway.

 

[Brian Boru]

Would I be able to

I have no experience with NVMes, but I haven't read about any significant difference in how they handle data. If that is the case, then what you outline will work—I've done it before with both SATA and IDE, since it's always a good idea to remove extra drives when (re)installing Windows.