Let's talk about computers

Off-Topic
1604

Well, that would explain it.

@MazeFrame is likely correct in that you would be fine with, say, an i3-10300 right now. But it’s going be another matter entirely if you plan to keep this for several years. Updates to Windows and various programs will start to show themselves after enough time and you’ll start to notice it. And if you plan on having several programs open at once a lot of the time, then yeah, should definitely go for 16 or even 32 GB of RAM and the 10400.

I really wouldn’t bother with a 256 GB SSD. The price difference between 256 and 512 is almost nothing, at least it is at retail anyways, and you’d be amazed at how quickly 256 GB can disappear.

GPUs are unicorns right now. And even if you did find one they are so overpriced it’s sickening. You are absolutely fine with the CPU’s integrated graphics for what you need.

1 Like
1605

8 Gig are enough!
I am currently using my secondary computer Specs/Picture is enough for gaming with 8 Gig RAM

1606

How many programs does he run at a time? How many browser tabs does he keep open? Does he have multiple monitors? Does he use an online data backup service that runs in the background? If he only does one or two things at a time, only has a single monitor, closes his browser tabs, doesn’t have several background processes running, etc. then 8 GB is enough. If not, then it isn’t.

1607

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1608

That still doesn’t say anything about his use case. Just that it’s enough for what you do. I’m currently sitting at 28% usage of my 16GB with just 4 tabs of Firefox open and my AV software idling in the background.

1609

I always have at least four tabs open and iTunes is always running. On Fridays I am always running YouTube and iTunes as I hunt for music. Extra headroom is nice as I want to get at least five years out of the next set-up.

With my current set-up the newest items are mother board, processor, ram and hard drive. They are 7 years old this fall. The box and everything else is about 12-13 years old.

I try to put in a little extra headroom for longevity.

1 Like
1610

I think I would go with the i5 since you want to keep it running that long. If you are comfortable adding more RAM later, you can always get less now and buy more down the road since it’s a really simple install, but it also doesn’t hurt to buy what you can afford now since no one knows what prices will do in the future and more RAM is never a bad thing.

1 Like
1611

In-Depth video looking into USB communication from keyboards:

1612

(sorry for the long read :slight_smile: )

As i posted in the “what did you buy today” thread, i bought a laptop the other day, a Lenovo Yoga slim 7. It sports an AMD Ryzen 7 4700u, 16gb ram and 512gb ssd.

I’ve been using an old Macbook Pro 13" mid2014, with 8gb ram and 128gb ssd. I’ve been using it around the house and whenever i need to drag a computer with me. Its been a great machine. But, it has started to show its age (for some time) and with a dying battery, need for more space (even getting OS updates are a huge struggle) and a cpu that starts to show its age i thought it was time to replace it.

I did want a new “m1” powered macbook, but if i where to get 16gb ram and 512gb ssd, as i wanted as minimum specs, the prices got a bit too hefty… and then there was a good offer on the Lenovo i ended up with. I ended up paying less than half of a macbook with said ram and ssd would have cost me.

First impressions of the Lenovo Yoga slim 7 are pretty good. My biggest fear was the touchpad, and i would say that is the weakest part of the Lenovo. Its not bad, but just not as good as my old macbook. Its far better than the one on my laptop at work, and better than most other windows laptop i have used, but my experience with “newer” laptops are limited.

My other fear was that the fan would be louder/spinn up more often than on my Macbook, but that really hasn’t been the case (that said, my old macbook could probably benefit from new thermal goo and a fan clean after all those years).

The feel of quality is a bit less on the Lenovo (thinner aluminum body), and the screen is “different” in the color representation but i am not sure what is more accurate. The keyboard is better than on my macbook, but that could also be a question of new vs old (i suspect that the Lenovo will not hold up as good over time, but i could be wrong). Also, since every other computer i own or use are windows based, so i never got that degree of confidence with MacOS as i have with windows, so there are a few everyday positives with a windows laptop in that regard, but there are also a few things i miss with MacOS on windows…

All in all, if the macbook/macbookpro had been a bit cheaper, i would probably have stayed on with a new macbook (just for the feel of quality, the touchpad and to not lose touch with MacOS), but my computer budget is going to be stretched quite a bit when the chip shortage gone, as i do need to upgrade my “gaming rig” so the money saved on my choosing the Lenovo will go directly towards a new gaming rig at a later stage. There are always compromises to be made :slight_smile:

2 laptops came in handy when watching the F1 race today… streaming a second feed on my old macbook while keeping an eye on twitter and other social media during the race for some good banter…

IMG_9450
IMG_94503276×2492 1.61 MB

The minijack out is decent when powering the Koss kph30i, but i haven’t tried anything else yet, i do have a fiio e10k olympus2 i probably will hook up those times i will properly listen to music with it…

IMG_9435
IMG_94353024×4032 1.97 MB

2 Likes
1613

I actually found this rather interesting. Didn’t know SPIDIF came out back in the '80s

1 Like
1614

Any comments this quote? I had several questions for the guy, but likely won’t hear back until tomorrow. Keep inind we are talking Canuck Bucks.

BRILLIANCE COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES

ATTN: Shane D

AMD RYZEN 5 3600 System

Asrock B550M Pro 4 AM4 MB

16 Gigs DDR4 PC 3000 RAM (2X 8 Gig)

1 Gig Geforce 710 PCIe Video Card

250 Gig WD Blue M.2 SSD

4 TB WD40EZAZ Blue HDD

LG Blue Ray Burner WH14NS40

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Audio 7.1 PCie Sound Card

Cougar MG330-G with Cougar 500W Bronze

Windows 10 Pro

1 Year Warranty

$1345Plus HST:

Total: $1546.75

For Other Prices Please Call!

Prices are cash based and subject to change without notice

1615

that is a horrible GPU…no no no.

if you’re not in a hurry, AMD’s new Ryzen 5000 APU’s will be coming to the retail channel on August 5th.

you don’t need a sound card…not if you have a DAC.

any particular reason you want Win 10 Pro?

1 Like
1616

Was going AMD + GT710 cheaper than going Intel? Are you able to swap to different components as you want? Or are they limited with their selection.

If I convert to USD, it comes out to about $1270. That really doesn’t seem like a good price. But the Canadian market may just be more expensive in general.

I see the that mobo doesn’t come with an optical output. So you would need the sound card if you want that. I think it’d be preferable to get a different board though.

For the SSD, I’d definitely go with at least a 500 GB.

1617

yes…we are more expensive on electronics, much more than what exchange would be.

1 Like
1618

I would recommend that as well. But I wouldn’t be surprised if those are in short supply for months after.

That’s rough. I remember Linus talking about that when the US got hit with the new tariffs

Also it’s usually worth spending the little extra for 3600 RAM if your going Ryzen

1 Like
1619

I second this point. Right now the prices for the last gen Ryzen parts aren’t good.

This is going to be especially true with the APU’s since they don’t have onboard VRAM like dedicated GPU’s do and so rely on system RAM. Making sure it’s running dual channel is more important, but having at least a 2x8 3200 is something you’ll want to prioritize if you wind up going this route.

EDIT Okay, did some quick looking at a couple of things:

Found these three motherboards at around the same price as the Pro4, and they have both optical ports and display outs for the APU support.

GIGABYTE B550M AORUS PRO
MSI MPG B550 GAMING PLUS
ASUS TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS Wi-fi

2 Likes
1620

If anyone can get a hold of a Ryzen 4600 or 4700, I have an HP tower you can put it in and have a whole PC. I bought it to steal the 4700 in it.

1 Like
1621

I asked him several questions and one was, “Why Win 10 Pro?” Another was "Why a 1GB video card? As far as the sound card goes, he had no idea. I had just asked for the best audio solution, in or around budget.

1622

Would I better off just going with an Intel i5 to i7?

1623

for what you do with your PC, you do not need the added cost to get the Pro version of Windows 10. Home will more than suffice.

that video card is ancient and has a fraction of the performance that Intel’s lousy but sufficient for most iGPU.

and a sound card is quite redundant these days. if you get a motherboard with the Realtek ALC1220, you’ll be good for any audio you don’t want to patch through your DAC and amplifier.

being you want this to last 5 years, I would recommend an 8 core CPU…so AMD Ryzen 7 or Intel Core i7.