Random Hardware topics

[Zed Clampet]

I think I run the case fans harder than GPU and CPU fans, so I could definitely get away with raising those curves and keeping case fans pushing a bit harder.


Do you secretly enjoy putting your body into fight-or-flight mode? The way you describe it, I imagine your PC looking like a bomb that's about to blow

I've got all the lights except for the RAM green, not flashing, just a steady color. But I have the RGB on my RAM red and they are flashing in sync. It actually looks kind of cool. Like you found a panel in a game, but you can't access it.

 

[Colif]

Lian Li O11 Vision

very popular case, it seems everyone has it. Or could be other makers copied the look.

This one looks cool but does it tie you into using their fans, I would want answer to that before buying.

LANCOOL 217 INF - LIAN LI is a Leading Provider of PC Cases | Computer Cases

Infinity Mirror, Now Breathing LANCOOL 217 INF continues our signature high-efficiency airflow design with an infinity mirror front panel for a striking visual effect, while dual tempered glass cutouts ensure ample airflow. Tempered-glass front panel Built-in infinity-mirror fans BTF motherboard...

lian-li.com

I haven't bough a Lian Li case in... 20 years now. It was my 1st really good case and spoiled me from then on. Before it I was happy with any box, ever since the case has been top of my list. If you have to look at the same box for 5 years, it might as well look good.

I still have that lian li case... I couldn't bring self to throw it away. Now its due. I currently have 3 semi working PC already, I don't need a dead one anymore.

Shame I can't use the corsair RGB program to control my lights, its the best software I have used so far but I don't want any of their fans in PC. Too expensive and can get better for less.

Most of the choices in the Gigabyte RGB program are useless. At least you found a use for flash. I sort of miss the moving light I had on my last GPU but I can't use its software to control lights on new GPU, just the motherboard. All the motherboard companies make it harder to use 3rd party programs to control them, which sucks as one program to control it all is the ideal solution. No one wants to give up control.

 

[Colif]

I knew I was one bios behind but it seems two more came out while I wasn't noticing. One was in beta and the other two snuck out in last 2 months.

So now on F10 which only came out last month. I don't generally update BIOS just because they exist but PC is still fairly new... or feels like it. I will slow down soon.

It changed something I had managed to avoid for the last 6 years, it enabled Secure Boot by default. Lucky my nvme have never been formatted as MBR so I didn't need to worry about a blank screen afterwards. I was a little concerned as I had seen it happen on Gigabyte boards in the past. Not to me, other people.

Guess I can play some of the new games that require it now.

One thing I forgot about BIOS flashes. They reset the TPM which in turn resets your PIN. Not ideal when you don't know what your password is. I thought I had it but turns out that password was for Google, which did help in the long run. As I had to logon to the account to get an email from Microsoft to confirm I am me. All this work to just set the PIN back to what it was. They can't tell, PIN only saved locally... which does explain all the steps required to confirm ID.

I think I now have to set that password for office as well. I do that tomorrow. At least PIN remains the same so I shouldn't have any problems on my old PC.

Set Expo so ram at right speed at least.

BIOS update program couldn't see my USB C flash drive with the BIOS files on it, but it could see my 4tb ssd so I just unzipped it into a folder in windows, and flashed it from there. I had problems getting program to see USB drives last time as well. Need to remember it sees ssd for next time.

I had noticed the segmented display on motherboard was showing different values and thought it was just cause I had ram installed that isn't on QVL. I then found out I could change the value to show CPU Package temps instead so I went into BIOS to change it, just to find it was already showing CPU temps. Which now that I look on HWINFO makes sense. It showing all the time on board means I don't need to track package temps in HWINFO.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I knew I was one bios behind but it seems two more came out while I wasn't noticing. One was in beta and the other two snuck out in last 2 months.

So now on F10 which only came out last month. I don't generally update BIOS just because they exist but PC is still fairly new... or feels like it. I will slow down soon.

It changed something I had managed to avoid for the last 6 years, it enabled Secure Boot by default. Lucky my nvme have never been formatted as MBR so I didn't need to worry about a blank screen afterwards. I was a little concerned as I had seen it happen on Gigabyte boards in the past. Not to me, other people.

Guess I can play some of the new games that require it now.

One thing I forgot about BIOS flashes. They reset the TPM which in turn resets your PIN. Not ideal when you don't know what your password is. I thought I had it but turns out that password was for Google, which did help in the long run. As I had to logon to the account to get an email from Microsoft to confirm I am me. All this work to just set the PIN back to what it was. They can't tell, PIN only saved locally... which does explain all the steps required to confirm ID.

I think I now have to set that password for office as well. I do that tomorrow. At least PIN remains the same so I shouldn't have any problems on my old PC.

Set Expo so ram at right speed at least.

BIOS update program couldn't see my USB C flash drive with the BIOS files on it, but it could see my 4tb ssd so I just unzipped it into a folder in windows, and flashed it from there. I had problems getting program to see USB drives last time as well. Need to remember it sees ssd for next time.

I had noticed the segmented display on motherboard was showing different values and thought it was just cause I had ram installed that isn't on QVL. I then found out I could change the value to show CPU Package temps instead so I went into BIOS to change it, just to find it was already showing CPU temps. Which now that I look on HWINFO makes sense. It showing all the time on board means I don't need to track package temps in HWINFO.

I have a BIOS update, but I'm waiting until something goes wrong before I update it. Last time I did a BIOS update, it borked my computer

 

[Colif]

Normally you don't need to update the bios unless you upgrading CPU or if it might fix a problem you have. They not something you do on a whim. I had been stalling mine for a while and knew one had come out of beta, but had missed the last two.

I would do it if it fixes a security problem. Mine fixed a few
I had been on F7 before tonight

top one could help my ram as I do have sk hynix ram but the attacker needs to be local to even attempt the attack, and bios blocks it now.

But if PC is working fine, I would just leave it alone. Why break something that works.
All things considered it was one of the easier bios updates I had done. The Segmented display thing confused me for a while, would have been nice if one of the updates mentioned it enabled that by default as well.

Newer boards have ways to fix bad flashes. You just use bios flash back and put a new one over broken one. Most gigabyte boards let you flash bios without even having a CPU installed.

you probably have a specific USB port on back of board and maybe a button there as well.

if you use the Q flash tool inside the bios it can access your local drives, which made installing mine faster once I realised.

 

[neogunhero]

Cases have always been one area of PC building that I don't put much thought into. My next build I'd like to have something that is actually good and provides great air cooling performance.

My current case, Rosewill Challenger S (couldn't embed pic)


Definitely an "old school" look to it. The front USB hub barely works anymore. No side panel, and it has a mesh side which may not be good for cooling, but my temps are rarely ever above 50c so I don't mind it.

I like how there is a lot of space inside, but there is a lack of cable management features. I just have all the loose cables stuffed behind the mobo.

I have a bad habit of updating BIOS whenever I notice a new one available. The only time I was required to was when installing my 5700X. Besides that, I have a weird feeling that if I don't have the latest drivers and updates on everything I could be missing out on performance, functionality, whatever, or it's just a peace of mind thing knowing I have the latest updates. Thankfully I never had a BIOS update bork my PC, but it could still happen one day. I'm the same way about CPU chipset drivers, most people never think about them but I update mine every few months. No real reason to, it doesn't improve performance, just a weird thing I do.

 

[neogunhero]

I forgot to mention that I also ripped the HDD bay from the case. It had a couple screws holding it down and last year I decided it was not needed and could be removed to give front intake fans more space to push air. It made no sense with it directly in front of the intake fans, it wouldn't push the air through the case very well while having that bay obstructing it. Also top clearance of the case is very minimal. With my Deepcool air cooler, I had to get a Slim version of an Arctic fan to put up there. It's a hassle to build in but I've used it for 7 years now, and my previous case was the Rosewill Challenger non-S version, so I'm used to it I suppose.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Not many cases even have 3.5 inch Hard drive bays now, Ive always pulled them out for the same reason you did, they just obstruct airflow.

I also tend to update BIOS whenever I notice a new one, theres always something it improves even if its not noticeable. Always worth checking the reaction to it first though, doesnt have to be done until its a month or more in the wild. Never had one fail yet so havent felt the need to be cautious.

 

[Colif]

My next build I'd like to have something that is actually good and provides great air cooling performance.

Best idea is to look at Gamers Nexus case reviews and see what is at top of their cooling charts and go from there. That is how I picked my current one. There would be better choices now, I just decided I didn't want to know once I had mine... its too late. Mine was best Air cooling case of 2024.

Not many new cases include space for hdd. Some will in the PSU area. Mine came with this part that I could have put two drives in and mounted under blue fans in base of case (seen behind in shot below), but I don't have any and not having it in may help with air flow.

though looking at it, one would have to be an ssd.
I also have 3 drive bays attached to back of motherboard tray, and 2 ssd trays as well, I tend to forget those.
they don't obstruct air flow, my ssd is installed in one at back of board and its always coolest drive,

New motherboards are reducing number of sata ports as well, nvme replacing them. So there is that obstacle to new hdd as well. Honestly you should go nvme anyway. Mine only has 4 sata ports. That will cause problems in future for fan hubs that use them for power.

If your PC is a few years old and you haven't changed any hardware, new bios updates unlikely to do anything helpful. After a while I just stop looking.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I think mine has them under the PSU shroud but my last 2TB hard drive went bad and I never bothered getting another. I only really keep games and old photographs on discs, and my photos are all in the cloud these days anyway.

 

[Colif]

All my documents are created and saved on Onedrive. The only things on drives are the same as you, and applications. And flac files, but I think I copied those onto a USB drive now. Need to load them onto DAP as well.

10tb of space, about 7tb free.
2tb drive for C with only 287gb used
4tb Nvme just for games. 3tb free still
4tb ssd with a massive 55gb used on it.
Some of the games were there just to fill in space. I removed some last week.

multiple drives is just a left over from the bad old days when drives died faster than they do now. Last drive I had die was in 2012 or so. But memory of lost files keeps me wanting multiple drives, even if need no longer exists.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I've got 3 drives, guess I could put in another SATA one but at this point Id rather just put in a bigger NVME. That is, if and when prices ever come back to earth, luckily I can probably wait a couple of years and only have it be an inconvenience.